14 Things Lim Goh Tong Taught You

From part I: Doing it the Lim Goh Tong’s Way.

1. Never make language barrier a limitation to succeed. Lim Goh Tong did not speak or write in English. He spoke Hokkien in his native land China, and after coming to Malaysia, he learned Bahasa Malaysia, Cantonese & Mandarin. But that did not stop him to negotiate one of the biggest business contracts in the country.

2. Be polite, humble and respectful to others. If you can rub shoulders with tycoons, politicians and high officials, ask yourself, can you get along well too with hawkers and manual workers? Often times, success goes to our heads and we forget where we came from and our hardship seems to be a forgotten past.

3. When it comes to appointment and meeting, have a habit to be punctual. Better still, come 5 to 10 minutes early. Malaysians have a very weird habit when it comes to appointments, interviews and meeting. Don’t be one. Make punctuality your personal and business principle.

Do not make excuse to cancel appointments just because the person is not important. Also, a good advice is that, if you want to know if a person will be a good friend and business partner, watch if he arrives on the appointed time when you set a date or meeting. If you are late for job interview when you can be early, know that you will not make a good employee.

4. Live a disciplined, simple life. Get up early from bed to start your day. You will see prosperity coming your way.

5. Make effort to carry something that you can write or jot down when you have anything coming to mind. Lim Goh Tong used small notebook. Now you are spoiled with choices when it comes to note taking – PDA, mobile phone, note book and so on. Do not make excuses. Also, organize your day with a diary or personal organizer. Always create a to do list.

6. Be bold yet cautious (the Chinese say ‘dan da xin xi‘). Try things that have never been done before. Challenge the norm of ways of doing work or job. Be willing to take that risk. A reward is waiting at the end of it.

7. Believe the power of conviction. If you make a decision and you believe that is a strong one, go ahead with it, no matter what you are up against. Believe in yourself.

8. Don’t make enemies. Avoid stepping on other people’s toes which is quite a norm in business and corporate world. People who do this will not last long. People who take short cut will have their success short lived. You have witnessed this. People say sometimes this can’t be avoided. That’s a lie. Under all circumstances, stay away from it.

9. If you build a successful business and organization, always believe that the most valuable asset of a company is its people. It is the people that make up the organization. It is the people that run the organization. It is the people that makes things happen.

10. If you don’t have benefit and exposure to modern management, never doubt you can run a company as big as Microsoft. Good education is essential, but lack of education and training is never a barrier to become a boss to the smartest people on the planet.

11. Employ a person or make business with a person when you trust him or her. If you do not trust them; don’t employ and don’t make business with them.

12. Do good to others; you will be rewarded somehow. Learn to give first, and receive later.

13. Prepare for personality makeover. If you are shy and quiet (like Lim Goh Tong when he was 20s), learn to be articulate and more extrovert. Banish the shyness and the inferiority complex. Otherwise, you will not get that job, or awarded that business contract. If you are rude, learn to be polite.

14. Be grateful for what you have. Life has been kind to us. Hence we should treasure our life and make it a meaningful one. Drive yourself harder and become more committed to work.

Other posts you may want to read:

1. Do it the Lim Goh Tong’s Way
2. Why You Should Hate Meetings
3. Stay in a Job For a Long Time
4. Minutes of Meeting Template
5. 117 Unique and Weird Business Ideas

Author's bio: Zul is the founder and principal contributor for the SKOR Career blog. He is the author of two books, The Malaysian Job Seeker's Dilemma and Buat Duit Tanpa Kerja Makan Gaji (How to Make Money Without a Job), available in major book stores nationwide. You can reach him at zulkiflimusa[at]gmail.com.