In today's rapidly changing world, filled with challenges and a constant flow of information, organizations must adapt and continuously develop to cope with the dynamic environment. Therefore, specialized expertise alone may not be sufficient to lead employees towards success. Thus, pushing employees towards becoming well-rounded leaders, or what is known as
“T-Shaped Leaders,” has become crucial in driving sustainable growth for the organization.
Ngern Tid Lor (Public) Company Limited, as an organization committed to creating opportunities for people to succeed, has organized various workshops and training activities to continuously enhance the capabilities of its employees. One of these is the T-Shaped Manager workshop, focusing on providing vision and guidance to middle management in designing their own lives to become leaders capable of enriching their knowledge and skills comprehensively in various disciplines without limitations.
T-Shaped leaders: The key to self-development and organizational growth
T-Shaped leaders are individuals who possess deep expertise in one specific area (the vertical bar of the T) coupled with broad knowledge and understanding in various other disciplines (the horizontal bar of the T). These individuals act as bridges, connecting knowledge from diverse fields, resulting in better understanding and more creative problem-solving abilities. They are able to analyze situations comprehensively and adapt to changing circumstances more effectively.
Furthermore, as individuals transition from being I-Shaped (deeply knowledgeable in one area) to T-Shaped (besides deep expertise in their own field, they also start acquiring knowledge in other disciplines), they can break boundaries or limitations by 'delving deeper into other disciplines' and, most importantly, utilize their broad knowledge across multiple domains to analyze, design, experiment, and innovate, leading to better solutions or new methods. When that happens, T-Shaped individuals can transcend to a 'higher level.'
The main question is how can we shift ourselves from an I-person to a T-person?
Khun Piyasak Ukritnukun, MD at Ngern Tid Lor Public Company Limited, once remarked,
“I used to wonder about the behaviors of wealthy and successful people in this world, and then I found that one thing many of them have in common is 'reading books.' That means the formula for success exists. However, it depends on whether we are committed to continuously cultivating the habit of seeking new knowledge or not, and how much intention we put into designing our lives for success.”
The T-Shaped Manager workshop has been designed to empower middle-level leaders at Ngern Tidlor to break boundaries and limitations. The workshop features experience sharing, inspiration enhancement, and hands-on activities as well as Khun Piyasak’s 'Not-So-Secret Tips' which he gathered from studying, observing, analyzing, thinking methods, and lifestyles of successful leaders from various industries in the hopes that sharing these insights would lead to professional improvement and organizational growth for the leaders of Ngern Tidlor.
Tip 1: Change Behavior and Thinking Patterns
By seeking knowledge beyond what you're familiar with, stepping out of your comfort zone, and striving to deepen your understanding in other fields and areas of knowledge continuously as well as analyzing and connecting insights from more than one subject.
Connecting the dots is the starting point for creating new innovations because knowing alone is not enough; you must be able to apply what you know to be beneficial.
Tip 2: Understand the 'Core' or 'Principles' of What You Learn
Every discipline has its core. Understanding the core of each discipline and knowing how to discard irrelevant parts will enable deeper understanding and better application of what you learn.
Tip 3: Borrow Ideas from other Successful People
Accumulating great ideas from many talented individuals is like amassing a wealth of knowledge. It allows you to mold and adapt those ideas to fit what you want to do. It’s important to focus on replicating their mindset and methodology rather than the results.
Tip 4: Read Books Recommended by Successful Individuals
This method not only helps to inspire us but also provides a shortcut to understanding the thought processes and ways of life of people we admire.
Tip 5: Gain Knowledge from Activities Around You
In addition to knowledge acquired through reading, there is much to learn from experiences around us, whether it's from sports, watching movies, traveling, etc. Every field has its legends of success, and it's not wrong to adopt the mindset and lifestyle of these successful individuals.
Tip 6: Allocate Time to Talk to Smarter and More Skilled People Outside of Your Field
Having the opportunity to converse and surround ourselves with smarter and more skilled individuals helps increase our knowledge and improve our methods and ways of thinking in various aspects.
Tip 7: Experiment and Get Hands-On
Putting our knowledge to the test and getting hands-on experience helps us identify any flaws or mistakes that need to be addressed. Importantly, taking action is the final key to turning our ideas, methods, or innovations into reality because merely thinking without taking action never leads to success.
The T-Shaped Manager Workshop reflects Ngern Tidlor's commitment to developing people, believing that "people" are the heart of driving the organization towards success. Providing opportunities for employees to develop their skills and grow into "T-Shaped Leaders.""
The results obtained not only benefit the employees and customers but also contribute positively to society as a whole. These leaders can innovate, drive businesses forward, and create sustainable benefits for society.