Today, I had the privilege of hearing from Francis Kong at the Paragon Business Summit, hosted at Ateneo de Manila.
Mr. Kong is a renowned speaker and business leader, and today he has shared a lot of stories, practical (if not life-changing) ideas, and humorous tidbits:
- Mr. Kong struggled in high school. When he was in 2nd year, his high school sweetheart (now wife and love of his life) was in 1st year. The next year, they were both in 2nd year. He repeated 4th year, garnering him six years in high school. Thus, he had a PhD. Passing High school with Difficulty.
- Be in control of your own life. At that time, he was just going along with the flow of his friends. Well, they graduated, and he stayed in 4th year. It was then that he finally got the sense to be in charge of his life. Which brings us to the next point:
- “We are products of the choices and experiences we have from day to day.”
- In college, he pursued a degree in business, and graduated magna cum laude, only a few points from summa.
- Thus, all he needed was an attitude shift. He shared an insightful exercise which I detailed here.
- He mentioned IQ (intelligence quotient), EQ (emotional quotient), and AQ (attitude quotient). In addition, there is also SQ (spiritual quotient).
- Today, something else trumps those previous four: LQ (likeability quotient).
- Some of his classmates in high school who used to be physically fit are not so fit anymore. Looking great then does not guarantee that you will be the same now. In life, business, and career, nothing is certain as well.
- Business may be successful now, but in three years you do not know what’s gonna happen.
- There is no such thing as a lifetime career.
- Thus, you should be a perennial learner. You are told by your parents, “graduate so you can stop studying and get a job.” But learning should not stop.
- “learn, unlearn, and relearn” — Alvin Toffler
- He finishes an average of four books in a month.
- From the start until the end of the day, he uses his smartphone to listen to audiobooks. He was also very particular about his smartphone’s brand and unit (inside joke).
- He has his audiobooks, so traffic is tolerable. He says that music is okay, but may knock a few screws loose. *does funny head rocking movements*
- If things go in one ear and out the other, then there may be little in between.
- There are three kinds of people: the one who makes things happen, the one who waits for things to happen, and the one who wonders, “huh, what happened?”
- Right behavior = right outcome. Wrong behavior = wrong outcome.
- Success has to be sustainable and replicable. If it is not sustainable or replicable, then there’s a Filipino word for that: tsamba (luck).
- From geometry, we know that the shortest path between where you are and where you want to be is a straight line. You need to be focused and stay on track. However, life is full of bumps and detours and is never smooth sailing, but you need to keep on track. When you get out of track, pick yourself up and dust the dirt away.
- The goal of business is to solve problems.
- Today, he is not very much concerned about his own happiness, but that of his family’s.
- Family is his second priority, right next to God.
- Mr. Kong also gives talks to young girls. He tells them of the 7 B’s: Books before boys, because boys bring babies.
- There is a counterpart for boys: Books before babes, because babes bring bankruptcy.
- Funny story: when talking to a young crowd, he usually looks for the youngest and asks that person to guess his age. A 13-year-old answered, “94.” He is currently 63.
- Mr. Kong is very expensive. As a corporate institution, you would be coughing out several thousands for each person you send. However, Mr. Kong gives talks to academic institutions for free. He treats it as an investment, that it will help bring his listeners success. In turn, their success will spill over to others, and it would help make the country a better place.
- Success is to be shared with others.
Thanks to Prabhmehar Chhabra and Madie Tiu for helping out with the details.
You can follow Francis Kong here: https://www.facebook.com/franciskong2
