Winning

John Robert Wooden, a retired American basketball player and coach, attained achievements in American sport most would dream of. He is the first person to be a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame both as a player (class of 1961) and as a coach (class of 1973). As a coach, he won 10 NCAA National Championships in 12 years at UCLA, a feat unmatched by any other college basketball coach. But his legacy will be best remembered he gave an amazing lucid speech on true success in life on his 91st birthday.

Valerie Chia described Leonard Yap, the winning captain from Raffles Junior College, falling to his knees in front of his father after the final whistle of the schools A Division Rugby final, and then weeping in his father's Henry shoulder. He said, "we wanted to win so badly as we'd never made it to a final in our six years together since Secondary 1". At the same time, she described the ACS(I) players, who were tear stained and devoid of smiles during the prize presentation. These are students from our elite schools, who will go on to taste both success and failure in life.

I quote John Wooden.

"My definition of success is peace of mind, in the self satisfaction of knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable...... Never mention winning. You can lose when you outscore somebody in a game. And you can win when you are outscored...... When a game is over, and when you see somebody who did not know the outcome of the game, I hope they could not tell from your actions, whether you outscored the opponent or whether the opponent outscored you. And that is what really matters."

Quality advice from a winning coach and a successful man who was reknowned throughout his life for developing individuals - not simply "winning" teams.

Robert Budi Hartono

Robert Budi Hartono is the richest man in Indonesia. His net worth is US$2.5bn, but he must control assets at least five times that amount.

You would not know this on meeting him.

A soft spoken, humble, conservative man in his 60s, he has spent a lifetime avoiding the limelight. The core of his business empire remains Djarum, a company his father started in the small sleepy central Javanese town of Kudus in 1951. The factory remains in Kudus and employs a disproportionate number of its working population. Djarum remains completely private. Following the Asian Financial Crisis, Djarum acquired Bank Central Asia, the largest private bank in Indonesia.

I first met Robert Budi Hartono in his modest office in the suburbs of Jakarta. Budi Hartono speaks in soft tones. He speaks fluent Indonesian and English, and has a penchant for history. He is obviously intelligent and thinks deeply about the world around him. In my first encounter with him, we engaged in many topics. He recalled events in his lifetime and strung experiences together to formulate lessons in life. We spoke about politics and about the challenges of the tobacco industry.

He never spoke about himself.

Even though I far exceeded my half an hour time slot, he never looked rushed. He was far too gracious. He was polite, totally focused and gave me his full attention. In the end, it was I who ended the conversation.

On every other occasion since, Budi Hartono has displayed the same graciousness – never distracted, always focused on the person in front of him, always polite and always low key. After one lunch, he waited patiently for me and my staff to get into our cars before proceeding to board his minibus together with his six staff. No Rolls Royce or Ferraris. At the end of the last dinner he hosted, he stood at the door to thank everyone, individually, for attending.

His example has clearly rubbed off on his children. They too turn up at functions punctually, are equally conservatively dressed and always exchange handshakes with warm smiles. They are never ever rude or showy. They appear, well – almost ordinary.

They are just so different from people who think they are rich. The ones who name drop, who cannot wait to talk about their new Lamborghini, or private jet. Who talk about their holiday plans to Sao Paolo.

I have discovered the definition of true class. It is being able to treat everyone around you with respect and graciousness, and never having the need to remind people how important you are.

Management Lessons from Football

Manchester United are Premiership champions and kudos to them. Three times in a row. Long term success in soccer is not easy. Soccer management is one of the more challenging jobs on the planet and has many lessons for business management in general. Sven Goran Erikson's book "On Football" remains one of the best books I have read. As I get wiser in management, I thought I would share some observations to a wider audience on the parallels that exist in both universes.

1. A winning team depends most of all on having a winning mentality. Sure many other factors are important. Great players, great backroom staff, great infrastructure and support. But the winning mentality is crucial. In business, many say they want to be number one. But how many businesses really believe it? In his book Sven Goran Erikson relates that when he was in his first season at Lazio, he asked his players in the pre-season to write on a piece of paper who would win the Scudetto (the Italian Championship) that season. Most of his players penned down Juventus. In 2000, after three years in charge, Lazio pipped Juventus to win their first Scudetto in 23 years. At the start of this season, how many teams truly believed they could beat Manchester United? Liverpool needed Torres and Gerrard fit all season, Chelsea needed to bring youth into their ageing squad, Arsenal needed to age their young squad. Articulating a vision is easy. Imbuing a winning belief is far more difficult. If you walk into a company with a winning belief, you can feel it. The electricity fills the atmosphere. And employees tell you how they are going to be great.

2. Building a winning franchise is a long term endeavour. The Board's vision and trust in the management through the lean years is everything. It is not surprising that three out of the top four clubs soccer clubs have had their managers for more than four years - which is a long time in the Premier League. It took Alex Fergurson seven years before he won his first Premiership title. He has won ten more since. It takes time for a great team to gel. Culture is important, but getting the youth scheme right is too. United's greatest ever team is not today's team, but the team that introduced the young stars of Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, Sharpe and the Neville brothers to the world - all home grown. Asia Pacific Breweries invested in Indo China when no one believed it was the right thing to do. In the first few years, the firm faced losses. Today, almost 50% of the group profits come from Indochina, and it is their fastest growing market. It has grown more than ten times as a firm and is on a strong footing to conquer the region.

3. A great team is not an assembly of great players. A great team has players that understand that the team comes first. The great players must take instructions, make sacrifices, must be willing to sit on the bench, willing to bring the younger players into the squad and to stop behaving like prima donnas. They need to know the squad's strength and weaknesses and cover each other. This is not easy. All good managers lead, but also know that they have to be ruthless. They must cut prima donnas down to size for the benefit of the greater group.

4. The Manager is Everything. A great team cannot win anything without a great manager. A soccer manager has to handle the Board, the staff, the players, the young players, sponsors, fans, and the media. He is charged with the youth program, transfers, etc. Lesson : Choose your CEO wisely. Not primarily for technical skills, but certainly for leadership skills.

Oh yes, I put Torres up because any Manchester United player on my blog would not be right.

A Strong Government for Indonesia in 2009?

In a recent conversation with Giang, a western educated lady I met in Vietnam, she told me that she preferred a strong single party government to a multi party democracy for Vietnam at this stage of her development. Vietnam was a poor country and needed stability to grow. She reasoned that a strong government ensured that there was good leadership, consistent direction and clear policies, things that guaranteed that things got done. This was what Vietnam had, and this was why there was clear progress all around Vietnam. Why compromise with the messiness democracy brings? While Giang’s conclusion is not entirely accurate - I did not have the heart to point out the example of Myanmar, or many other African states - many people understand her point.

Take Indonesia and its free flowing democracy. 38 parties took part in its third free election since the fall of Suharto. The result is likely once again to be a fragmented parliament. Like in Italy, Israel or India, Indonesian political parties have to build coalitions to govern. In smoke filled rooms, parties negotiate, haggle and compromise. Once agreement is reached, a cabinet is formed, filled with representatives from the coalition partners. Minor parties in the coalition enjoy influence completely disproportionate to their support. The unwieldy nature of a coalition means that the platform is kept simple, and the government can proceed as quickly as the slowest member wants it too. The system favours inertia. And if the government chooses to do otherwise, the parliament (DPR) stands ready to veto any government initiative or worse, bring the government down.

This was the system designed by the Indonesians. After having endured years of rule by a dictator, the Indonesian system of government today is all about checks and balances. The last thing Indonesia needs is a strong executive right?

Ten years after the fall of Suharto, more and more Indonesians are beginning to revise their answer to the question above. While a strong executive without checks and balances exposes the system to corruption and abuse, a weak government serves to ensure that little gets done in a country that painfully needs a clear agenda for development. Indonesia has tremendous problems, and decisive action needs to be taken to improve the fate of millions of people. Many Indonesians agree with Giang. They want an effective government. SBY has been repeatedly criticized for not being as effective as he could be in his first term. Although he is clearly intelligent, people say that he worries too much about opposition to his policies, is consultative to the point of being tiresome, and is simply not decisive.

But this time, SBY has responded with renewed confidence. The Indonesian people have voted for SBY with a much stronger mandate. Partai Demokrat captured 20% of the vote - up from just 7% - and SBY is by a mile, the front runner in the polls for the Presidential contest. There is a distinct possibility that there will not be a second round as SBY may capture over 50% of the vote in the first round no matter who stands against him.

Even before the results are out, instead of pleading to Golkar for support, he dictated terms to the party. So much so that Jusuf Kalla, its leader, decided that he stood a better chance of remaining at least as a Vice President if he joined the opposition coalition. PKS, the Islamic based party, has been a lot more accommodating. With 8% of the popular vote, they are still viewed suspiciously by many because of their Islamic agenda. They know that they need time in government to grow in legitimacy. Joining SBY is the best route. PAN and PKB also looks set to join the SBY coalition.

The challengers to SBY make unlikely bedfellows. PDI-P and Golkar have put both Megawati and Jusuf Kalla as their Presidential candidates respectively. The coalition cannot support more than one Presidential candidate, and it is hard to see either of them yielding to the other. Prabowo and Wiranto, the leaders of Gerindra and Hanura respectively, were sworn enemies. Political expediency has brought them together. All four parties do not share an ideology or a common platform. The only thing that unites them is the goal of stopping SBY from being the first Indonesian President to win re-election in a free vote. They may yet split.

So what is the chance of Indonesia having a strong government this round? This is the best chance yet under a free vote. SBY will win the Presidential vote at a canter. If he structured a rainbow coalition, it would be based on compromise again. So, he is trying to change the status quo and is getting parties to join him under his terms. If SBY is not able to translate his popularity into executive strength this round, it will be years before anybody else can.

Its time for Indonesia to stop drifting and have an effective government. Otherwise the Vietnams of this world, which are still behind Indonesia in the GDP per capita rankings, will overtake it and leave it far behind.

The Fuss About AWARE

The inordinate attention given to AWARE in the national media in Singapore over the last few months was a reflection that in a country where things are usually very orderly and controlled, a saga of this scale is rarely seen. Josie Lau and her friends from the same Christian church executed a coup d’état against the leadership of the influential women’s group, when they rallied like-minded woman to join the organization a few months before, and organized enough of them to turn up at the AGM kick out the old leadership. Thio Su Mien, the ex-dean of the Law Faculty in NUS, freely admitted to being the mentor that orchestrated the effort. Given that they were all members of the same church, there was talk that the Christian right had taken over the leadership of an errant secular group to “set it straight”. Josie said that the old guard had turned AWARE into a single issue group promoting lesbianism.

In a heated and highly charged EOGM on the 2nd of May 2009 that followed two months later, the tables were turned. Josie and her supporters were outnumbered by supporters of the old guard. In a series of speeches, Josie, her committee and her mentor were denounced and ridiculed. For hours, people came forward to voice their opposition to her leadership. Caught on the defensive, Josie and her committee decided that their position was no longer tenable, and resigned.

What is the fuss all about and what is really at stake?

The first question is whether it was right for Josie and her supporters to execute a power grab in the way that they did. I think the answer to this one is no. While everything they did was consistent with the constitution, their action raised many moral issues. Did Josie really believe that she had the moral authority to lead a woman’s umbrella group having come to power is such a divisive way? The open criticism of the old guard, the changing of the locks, the sacking of a 15 year employee, the failure to invite the treasurer from the old committee to an AWARE press conference only added to the divisions. These were all missteps a more seasoned leader would have avoided. A new leader must always unite members and firm up her support base - not divide people further after an election. Even though Josie was passionate about her cause, she must know that organizations cannot be changed overnight. Her actions simply spurred the old guard, caught unprepared at the AGM, to strike back. Josie spent two months defending her position, spending $90000 of AWARE’s funds, and still ended up losing her position.

The second question is a moral question. Should AWARE be involved in lesbian causes at all? I believe that most Singaporeans are actually on Josie’s side. If we took a straw poll of Singaporeans, the answer would most certainly be a resounding no. Heartland Singapore is socially conservative and were shocked to learn about AWARE’s activities in this area. The reaction is of course very different from white collared-intellectual, English speaking Singaporeans who are more liberal and whose opinions dominate AWARE. They believe that it is wrong to ignore the issue and wish it away. While I share this, I think the group needs to exercise some prudence in putting this message across. Nevertheless, one good outcome of this saga is that the new AWARE leadership is now more aware of how sensitive this issue is, religious or otherwise, to many Singaporeans.

The third question is whether groups should bring their religious agenda into secular, umbrella organizations. I think the answer to this is a resounding no. For all the explanations that Josie and her team attempted following the event, it rang hollow once it was revealed that a disproportionate number of her new committee members were from the same church. It did not help that the Pastor from her church unwisely rallied support for Josie from his church members from the pulpit, thus confirming people's fears that there was a religious agenda behind this. If Josie had been a wise leader, she would have immediately appealed for greater diversity in the committee. In multi racial, multi religious Singapore, even the hint of a suggestion that a secular umbrella organization is dominated by a single religious movement, with a single view, is totally unacceptable. There must be tolerance for other viewpoints. I know Josie feels that it is her moral obligation and her calling as a Christian to correct the wrongs of AWARE. But surely she too can understand that Singapore will be a worse place if her actions prompted other faith groups to promote their causes by doing exactly the same thing.

Postscript: In just the week following this blog, the Ministry of Education suspended all sex education in school subject to a review given concerns over AWARE's promotion of lesbianism as "normal" (which they regard as is, and the majority of Singaporeans regard as not). The Pastor of the Church of Our Saviour apologise for speaking on the AWARE saga from the pulpit. And the letters to the forum keep pouring in.

The Learning of Languages (Part 3)

One way out of this conundrum is to of course have two reference languages. It is true that children, under the age of 5, are capable of learning multiple languages easily. In fact, if the child is not exposed to languages with "foreign" sounds early, it is possible that the child will never be able to pronounce the words of the other language like a local - eg Japanese struggle with "v"s and "d"s for it is alien in Japanese; English speakers cannot pronounce "r"s in French or guttural Arabic words because they are alien to English.

A child can have two or more reference languages if, and only if, one or both parents use both langages with equal frequency. If the parents have a preferred language, so will the child. There are just too many examples of this. Not many parents in Singapore can speak both languages with equal fluency.

We must then admit that by and large, it is difficult to teach Mandarin to children whose first language is English. It is not about effort or motivation. [Of course, there will be children who are gifted. But any education system cannot be based on the exception but the norm. We can allow the exceptions to embark on a different track - Higher Chinese.] Because it is difficult, it requires enthusiasm and motivation from the learner, and it requires time and patience from the teachers and the education system. The Singapore system needs to change its teaching methods. The drilling for exams, the railroad speed in which we advance the students, must give way to something which the children can cling on too. The sole focus to pass exams takes away the real purpose of language teaching - to allow students to use the language as a living language in the future. There is enough anecdotal evidence to know that in spite of many people who go through 12 years in the Singapore education system, coupled with countless hours of tuition, who pass O levels and A levels Chinese, simply cannot speak the language. This must count as the height of folly and a large waste of resources.

The traditional way of teaching Chinese is for Chinese people who use Mandarin as a reference language : you memorize long lists of uncommon words, proverbs or poetry. You read about ancient stories, legends etc. You commit to memory passages and learn to read, write and speak all at the same time. Of course, Singapore has moderated on these teaching methods. But if the teacher comes from China, then it is also likely that he or she will bring along this method. After all, it worked in his or her country.

I believe that there is a better way. I taught myself to speak two languages, including Mandarin, and I can converse with any native user of the language with ease. And yes, I do have a "foreign" accent which will never leave me. But who cares? I speak it. This is the purpose of learning a language. Moreover, I want to improve.

These are my beliefs. I believe languages are learnt in sequence, like the way our parents taught us how to speak. Words, then sentences. Speech, then reading followed by writing. The first phase for any learner - at any age - is the acquisition of vocabulary and the verbalisation (ie pronounciation) of single words. Once a student has acquired about 1200 to 1500 words, an epiphany will dawn and the student will pass the initial hurdle of the language being alien. Suddenly, he can listen to conversations. He has formed a foundation.

This is where he moves on to sentence construction and grammar rules. This is learnt best not through "complete the sentences" exercises, but through watching and hearing live conversations using tapes, TV, radio, and listening to people, and then letting the learner infer through listening what is right and what is not. Learning is enhanced when the student is actually interested in the topics presented. It is far better when the topics are cool and interesting. We should ditch ancient legends and asinine Aesop fables for topics that are fun.

Real learning of a language takes off when a child reaches adolescence. There is educational proof that children learn a second language better once they are grounded in their reference language and have a base in the second. So I would very much, for younger students, focus on speech, have some reading but really limited writing and make Chinese really fun. The success of a Chinese program in primary school is good vocablulary, some speech, and the feeling that Mandarin is really useful.

So for my exams, I would take my primary six students to a supermarket. If I could bring them to Taiwan or China, I would. I would give them a shopping list with items written in Mandarin and ask them to pick out those items. They would have to go spaek to the sales lady and clarify whether the items were on sale, and whether they could pay with a NETS or cash. The items need not be easy, and I could have 50 on the list. They could ask a salesperson for help to find an item. And the cashier would have to interact with them as well. If they walk out of the supermarket with the 50 items, they pass with distinction. No writing of essays at 12 years old.

The Learning of Languages (Part 2)

Singapore's problem lies in the fact that more and more people use English as their first language. The first language functions as a reference language. Much has been said about the Swiss and Dutch people being linguists. But the languages that they learn are all closely linked to their first or reference language. European languages in general (Greek and Russian excepted) all share the same latin alphabets, and the same latin roots. This makes the learning of multiple languages much easier.

But when the reference language is not linked, the learning is much harder. English and Mandarin is a perfect example. English is phonetic. Mandarin is character based. English is an atonal language. Mandarin has four tones. A student learning to read English is taught to pronounce words through verbalising consonents and vowels of the alphabet. A student learning Chinese has no choice but to commit the meaning of the word and sound to memory. You can read an English word even if you do not understand the meaning. You cannot read a Chinese word unless you know the character. Moreover, a Chinese character can have multiple pronounciations, and when combined with another character, can have multiple meanings. Mandarin requires a lot more memory work.

Chinese is an exceptionally difficult language for an English speaker to learn. The US Department of Defense uses a Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB)to test an individual's potential to learn a foreign language. Only students with the highest scores are deemed capable of learning Chinese. Chinese is grouped together with Arabic, Japanese and Korean as a Category IV language - languages which are the hardest for an English speaker to learn.

With more and more households in Singapore using English as their primary language, is it surprising that Singaporeans are struggling to learn Mandarin? Moreover with English still the dominant language in our world today, students who are disillusioned with Chinese simply give up.

If this is the root of the problem, then a radically different approach may be needed to make a nation that is increasingly speaking English at home, raise children that are comfortable using Mandarin.

The Learning of Languages (Part 1)

When Lee Kuan Yew weighed in recently to encourage the learning of Mandarin in Singapore, it was a reflection that the majority ethnic Chinese nation was still struggling with the use of Mandarin.

The intention to make many in the nation conversant with Mandarin is a correct one. Mandarin will be one of the two most important languages of the 21st century. Having a mastery of it will put the nation in a far advantageous position.

But why are Singaporeans doing so poorly in a language that it is surely predisposed to do well in? Well, Singapore is not the only country that has struggled to promote a second language. Japan and Taiwan have tried for years to promote English as a second language. 20 years on, both countries still rank bottom three in the English literacy scale in Asia. Japan and Taiwan relied very much on local teachers to teach a foreign language. This churned out a generation of students with sub standard pronounciation, limited vocabulary and poor grammar. Moreover, there was no real downside for doing badly in the language in school.

Singapore took a different path. It hired teachers from China. In addition, it made the language count for a substantial part of the primary school leaving examination and a prerequisite to enter University. The formula of using native teachers and having large incentives were coupled with lots of urging from Lee Kuan Yew, access to Chinese TV and books, a strong speak Mandarin campaign and the discouragement in the use of dialects. The booming Chinese tuition industry show that Singaporeans get the importance of Mandarin. So Singaporeans get it.

And yet the nation struggles. What's going on?

After so much effort, surely we must have got something wrong in the formula. I believe it is time to consider carefully that perhaps the inability of younger Singaporeans to learn Mandarin as a functional language has more to do with the education system than with incentives or distractions of learning the language. The manner in which Mandarin is taught I believe has the unfortunate effect of losing many early on, making many students believe that they cannot master the language, and making many plod on and hate the language as a result.

Postscript : On 11 May 2009, a half page article was published in the Straits Times announcing that Taiwan was setting up English villages to promote the speaking of English. To be accurate, I cite some of the rankings I alluded to above. Taiwan was 12th in 2007 in terms of average Toefl scores. It was in the bottom three for the International English Language Testing system. It was 18 out of 20 Asian countries subscribing to the test in 2007.

Searching for the Solution to Running the Marathon Part 2

I write this blog three years on, and another three marathons later. In 2007, I ran my fastest ever marathon 4 hours 21 minutes, breaking the 4 hours 30 minutes target I had set myself in 2006. I did two marathons in Taiwan with minimal training. The Taipei Marathon I did in 4 hours 48minutes. So yes, I have figured out the solution to running a marathon and make a decent time.

There are just two things to focus on : prevent cramp, and to run not jog.

For a beginner, my suggestion is to focus on the first. To prevent cramps, your muscles have to be used to running long distances. So there is no escape. Mileage in training is the key. The more miles you clock, the better. At the peak, three weeks before the marathon, you should be clocking about 70km in a week, split in three days. If you can do this, you will finish the marathon without a cramp. Guaranteed. Of course, drink regularly during the race and take isotonic drinks or salt. But mileage is king.

The second is to run and not jog. And yes, the run-walk technique is way superior to the jog-all-the-way technique. Of course, if you can, do the run-all-the-way technique. But remember, my blog is for a first time amateur runner. So trust me, when you take a break, you run a lot faster than if you attempt to jog all the way. So walk. Walk 500m at every 10km mark. After the 25km mark, walk every 3 km. This is to get past "the wall" - which hits you anytime around the 27km-35km mark. Once you are past it, you can run all the way. Believe me, accept this advice and you will finish way better!

Education for Tomorrow's World

What are the skills and experiences that will make a difference for a young person today entering the work force in tomorrow's world?

Tomorrow's world requires a young person to have some foundation in the hard subjects - science and mathematics. Technology will continue to drive fundamental changes in our future and will transform our lives. Developments in the internet and mobile telephony, breakthroughs in biotechnology and the life sciences, renewable energy and the conservation of water resources will make fundamental changes in our lives. Those of us who understand the science and mathematics behind these developments will be in the best position to see the trends and take advantage of them.

But it is also important that young people blend an education in hard sciences with humanities. Globalization has changed the way we live. It is an irresistible force, driven by cross border economics, global media, ease of communication and travel. We increasingly interact and do business with people from different countries, backgrounds and languages. And appreciation of cultural differences, the history of a country, the politics of the present, the social issues of the day, the understanding of religious beliefs will put anybody in a much better position. Fluency in more than one language I believe is critical. Already half the world has decided to learn Mandarin, a language that will increase in importance over our lifetimes. But so will knowledge of other languages like Indonesian, Vietnamese, Hindi, Arabic and Spanish. Knowledge of any of them will open so many doors.

Societal attitudes are also changing. Younger people entering the workforce are spoilt for choice, are more demanding and want challenges. Communication skills and leadership skills will be very important. Having high IQ is insufficient. High EQ coupled with high IQ will separate the good from the average.

To succeed in tomorrow’s world, a young person will need a lot more breadth in their education than their predecessors. I remembered one Minister telling me in 1985 that Singapore simply needs more Engineers. What he said was for then, not for tomorrow. Sure we need specialists, but we need a blend of people for tomorrow's Singapore. I think the realisation of this is what is driving a lot of the change in our education system. There are attempts to broaden the syllabus and giving more choice. There is encouragement to learn Mandarin. Yes, this makes education more challenging – for parents, teachers and students. But in the end, we get educated not to pass exams. We get educated to help us succeed in life.

Be open to learning. Be hungry to improve yourself. I have met amazing learners during the course of my young life. I have met a designer of a combat tank whose first degree was international relations, a mathematician who became an expert in the life sciences and a chemical engineer who is a central banker. Its never too late to learn. I learnt how to speak a third language, Indonesian, late in my life. I devoted myself to getting good at Mandarin even later. I speak both reasonably well. I will write in another blog about this.

Travel offers plenty. I would recommend every young person to spend some time visiting, living or working in a foreign country early in his life. You will learn to see the world in a different way and appreciate the differences in attitudes people have. Spend some time in particular in countries of tomorrow - ie developing countries, and not of yesterday.

This strive to grow and learn is congruent with what I regard as success in life. Success in life is not about the accumulation of material wealth or power but is best defined by two things. First, it is having the peace of mind and satisfaction of knowing that you did your best to develop the talent the God gave you. Secondly, that you did something meaningful with that talent, something that made a great difference not only to those close to you, but to the wider community. For it is only then, that the the people you touch, the admirers you gain hold you great esteem not because of your power you have (which is temporary), or the money you have, but because of the person you are. That is true success.