MM Leadership Call to Arms Speech by Alex Tan

Why Nestle? 

(Current situation of the company.Competition, Financial status and talents being poached by other companies)

Ive always feared change, it's always a frightening experience. Not all can adopt to change. But not all changes are bad, sometimes the changes we experience are the ones that bring meaning to our lives. That is why you are all here. We are in need of people that are up for a challenge. And shall contribute to the growth of this Company.

Most companies are built to improve but we in Nestle, we pride ourselves for being masters of innovation and creativity. We are not like Apple or Google, not even a pharma company that has lots of financial backing, nor a telecom company that never seems to run out of funds. But what we have here is development and enrichment of one's life. I

Like in Buddhism, self awareness is the key to conquer fear and weaknesses, so be aware, ask your selves, is this my purpose, look in to your heart and see what you are passionate about.

My mentor told me: "Those who do not grow, dies." So we promote growth not just for our company but for our people's personal growth as well.

In Nestle, Don't be afraid to fail, But instead innovative) learn so that you may put in your hands your own success.

So how do we do it? I will share to you our "secret" framework of success. 

> We Empower our employees, We toss our employees to the deep end of the pool, allowing them to swim through the sea of challenges,allowing them to rise from the depths and enter the high peaks of success.

>We allow them to "fail fast" so that they can learn faster. 

>We do what teachers do, we guide your people to change encouraging to be the proponents of change and to teach them how to ride the tides of change.

And lastly we, value and respect our people, we all ways believe that values and ownership is the core of everything we do here.

Joke: And if thats not enough, There are people like me, handsome and beautiful people of Nestle(inside and out) that will inspire you to stay in Nestle

I invite you to ride the tides of change, Coz tonight when you enter the halls of nestle, you are our future, you are change.

I'm not gonna promise you that it's going to be easy, but this I tell you, Promise you , This will be the most exciting, most challenging and the most rewarding experience in your entire professional life.

So who's with me?

Welcome the Future Leaders of Nestle.

Thank you.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Alex Tan <alexislouie_tan@yahoo.co.nz>

Subject: Leadership MM: Call to Arms Speech

Date: November 12, 2015 at 12:02:12 AM GMT+8

Cc: "profjorge.entrep.jermits@blogger.com" <profjorge.entrep.jermits@blogger.com>

To: profjorge.entrep.ateneoleader@blogger.com

November 11, 2015

Call to arms

Great Tides of Change

Ive always feared change, as it always brought frightingly new things it its fold. but now I learned that change can be for the better. For those who resist change are left behind into oblivion.

It is in the nature of people to resist change, especially if it threatens the comfort and stability in our lives.

We in Nestle have always prided ourself to be the movers of change, but by benchmarking with other companies like Google and Apple, even our competitors, we found out that we are not the forerunners of change like we used to think, but are left behind because of our bullish pride. We even hired an outside party to assess us to validate that we clearly are. And true enough, the results are sadly undeniable. We are left behind in terms of change we needed to be competitive and we lacked the motivation and the management will to change for the better. Most companies are built to improve, but what truly will set a great company from the rest, to give it an edge in this ever changing , ultra competitive world we have today, is the ability and the tenacity to innovate and loads of creativity. We were so used to being the giants in our field, we forgot the feeling of intensity and urgency of being an underdog. So now the reality sets in. We are no longer the the dominant number one. Our competitors have caught up with us through their innovative and unique offerings. They have copied our executions and made it even better.  We are embattled on all fronts, from the trade to the above the line spending of our competitors.

For us to survive this imminent threat , the first thing we need to do is be self aware and accept the need for a great change ahead. Our enemies are closing in on us and what works before, is no longer enough today.

Now all may seem bleak and full of dread, but the good news is that we still have a chance to change, we can still surf the waves of changes, just like those intuitive people before us. 

In the words of great innovators and leaders of our generation, "those who do not grow, die!" and the only way to grow is to change our perception. Gone are the days when the mear mention of Nestle, will ensure the brands' survival and success. Today, we are constantly battered by competitors, left and right with their new and innovative products. We lag behind in innovations and revolutionary change in our products and our systems.We are left behind wondering, could we have done more? It is not that we don't know how to do these changes and innovations, it's just that we fear a lot: the fear of rejection, fear of  making mistakes and the fear instilled to us by failure. We are taught first and always to align with the norms. As managers, we are taught to think that gap finding and fault searching is more important that highlighting our strengths and our wins. through all these we forgot what got us here in the first place, and that is our tradition of excellence and passion to create. To practice innovation in our day to day lives.

So I ask you, would like to share the ride with me towards change? Or do we lay down and die like some forgotten dinosaur? Do we get up now and learn from our mistakes, or do we let our competitors leave us stunned and flatfooted with their speed of action and response?

In Buddhism, it said that self awareness is of the key to successfully conquer fear and weaknesses. Here understanding one's self and emotions is integral. In short, the only way to real, sustained long term success is through self awareness. Only by understanding one' s strength and weaknesses, through ingrained moral values, we stand a chance of rising from this obstacle.

I invite you to ride with me in this treacherous journey. I'm not gonna tell you is going to be easy, if fact is going to be one hell of a run, but those who with courage, I tell you it going to be worth the ride.

I know there might be a chance that we fail,but thats not because we weren't good enough it's because we did not have the guts to take it. That's what passion for success is all about.

"If you fail, then fail fast, so that you may learn from it right away." That's what my mentor used to say. It is through setbacks,crisis and challenges, do we grapple with who we really are. What  do we want and what personal resources he have, and why he failed along the way ? Are questions we need to answer so one develop personal leadership capacity.

What do we do?

Innovating, and adopting to this ever-changing world is very challenging, but if we engage one another with a loving and positive attitude, we can indeed succeed. People work best when they are respected, valued and trusted by someone who genuinely cares for them. Be deliberate in your actions, only those who know what they want, can inspire others, by prioritising personal growth and improving learning agility. Allow your team to be flexible and be open to new ideas. By this my fellow leaders of this company,  we can lead and  influence others , thru your own example. Envive willingness to see challenging problems to its end. Engage your people through wonder, curiosity and creativity, this is how talented, well trained people do. Persevere! Lets devote ourselves to excellence, show your undying commitment and persistence on many challenges through seemingly overwhelming odds.

Don't be just managers, be teachers, and as teachers do, drive your people to innovate, to approach challenges in a different way, never before seen by their predecessors. Coz rarely does life unfolds with the predictability of a carefully made strategic plan. This is our moment, it is not defined by mere events but a series of slowly learned and etched experiences to make subtle but lasting difference steadily in our lives.

Make every moment an opportunity to make an impact.

So aim high to reach greater heights, Because ladies and gentlemen, we will gain so much more if we do this together. 

We will win not just because we are Nestle, but because we stood together and rode the Great tides of change. So when out time is over  and looking back, retired and rested. We look back, not with regret but with pride and joy as we fought and bled for what we believed in, holding on and  erecting a better, stronger Nestle.

Yes we can and yes we will.

Thank you.