I have just finished the book “How Successful People Think” by Dr. Maxwell and I thought I would teach about it today in our Leadership class and post to our Blog.

• A key to a successful company is Leaders who think about Winning.  We must all focus or THINK on “how” we can succeed.
• Many many issues will arise, however Leaders who are thinking about Winning will find the “opportunity” in a situation to make it into a Win.  This type of thinking takes effort, it does not happen on its own or by itself.
• We can make a decision, “Do you think about winning or losing?”
• And the best news about Winning Thinking is that everyone can do it.  It does not a Harvard degree to do it.  Trust me on this point!  Some that I graduated with had it and some did not.
• Having worked in companies that inspire and create positive environments and ones that do not, it is far easier in the ones that do create a positive thinking environment.  When you are in a positive environment, people are infected with positiveness and pass on the belief, feeling and attitude.  Positiveness builds on itself and becomes a company’s momentum to handle to thought tough times.

How to become a Better Thinker:

1. Expose Yourself to Good Input
2. ​Expose Yourself to Good Thinkers​
3. Choose to Think Good Thoughts​
4. Act on Your Good Thoughts​
5. Allow Your Emotions to Create Another Good Thought​
6. Repeat the Process​

Lead On!
Sutton

Khidmah L.L.C (Khidmah), Abu Dhabi’s first Emirati owned and operated services management company, has implemented Yardi as financial and services management software to assist in the information management and transactions of all its operations for its communities across U.A.E.

Abu Dhabi, U.A.E – June 25, 2009
Khidmah, the first Emirati owned and operated services management company in Abu Dhabi, announces that it has licensed and completed the Phase I training for financial and services management software from Yardi Systems, INC to assist in the operations of its communities across U.A.E. Yardi will provide integrated property management capability enabling Khidmah to provide high quality services to its residents.

“We are very excited about our new relationship with Khidmah” said Terri Dowen, Senior Vice President, Global Sales of Yardi Systems. “As one of the world leaders in management software, Yardi is ready to service and support Khidmah with its tremendous growth opportunity in the coming years. This relationship will be a win/win for both companies.”

This software will deliver operational efficiencies by integrating Khidmah support services, including resident management, call center management, inventory management, accounts receivable and payable, budgeting and forecasting, business intelligence and applicant screening, into a single-point-of-entry data model.

“Yardi is a state of the art web based system that delivers a complete solution for our business. It will help us meet our obligations by providing better management of our critical information. With efficient reporting and the convenience of access to information on our properties, Yardi will help us provide the excellent service our customers deserve” said Mr. Sutton Turner, Chief Executive, Khidmah.

About Khidmah
Khidmah provides comprehensive services management to the finest properties in the world. Employing clear processes and standardized practices across all the properties, Khidmah is able to manage and maintain every aspect of a successful, profitable development. Khidmah’s Services Management approach includes consulting, facilities and maintenance, leasing, cleaning, landscaping, health and fitness, customer call centers and an ever expanding list of specialized capabilities, all provided under a single point of contact. With highly trained employees, integrated processes and in-depth understanding of the people and properties they serve, Khidmah serves the vision of Abu Dhabi and the U.A.E.

About Yardi
For more than 25 years, Yardi Systems has been solely committed to the design, development, and support of real estate investment management and property management software. Recognized as an industry leader, Yardi continues to develop and deliver software and services with the highest dedication to responsiveness, quality, innovation, and customer focus. Yardi Systems has offices throughout Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. More information about Yardi products and services may be found by visiting www.yardi.com.
For more information on Khidmah L.L.C, visit www.Khidmah.com

Loneliness is not a positional issue; it is a personality issue.  There are lonely people at the top, middle and the bottom of an organization.  Being lonely is a choice, not a result of your job.

“Its lonely at the top” means that you are on a mountain looking down on your team – separated, isolated and lonely.  This statement does not go with a Great Leader.

1. No one Ever got to the Top Alone
2. Making it to the Top is Essential to Taking Others to the Top
3. Taking People to the Top is More Fulfilling that Arriving Alone
4. Much of the Time Leaders are Not at the Top

Advice to Lonely Leaders

1. Avoid Positional Thinking
2. Realize the Downsides of Success and Failure
3. Understand That you are in the People Business
4. Buy into the Law of Significance

Lead On!
Sutton

(taken from Leadership Gold of John C. Maxwell)

Khidmah, Abu Dhabi’s first emirati owned and operated services management company, recently held interviews in Bangladesh and India. Khidmah leaders interviewed around 1200 candidates and hired 138 skilled / semi skilled workers and team leaders to provide services to its communities and properties in U.A.E.

Abu Dhabi – June 16, 2009
Khidmah, L.L.C, an emirati owned and operated services management company, based in Abu Dhabi, recently held interviews in Bangladesh and India for skilled and semi-skilled workers and team leaders for its facility management team to provide services to its communities and properties in U.A.E.

“It’s a big day for Khidmah! We are here to hire quality workers to help us run our properties. We interviewed and skills tested over 1200 candidates in 5 days. It was awesome. Today is just the beginning however, of bringing good quality, service oriented workers to the Emirates to make Khidmah’s vision a reality.” said Sutton Turner, CEO of Khidmah.
Khidmah held interviews, seeking to hire for the openings in its services management teams for skilled and semi skilled workers and team leaders. The candidates were skilled tested for the positions of electrician, plumber, painter, mason, cleaner, gardener, driver, A/C technician and team leader for MEP, landscaping and cleaning. The interviews were conducted in Dhaka in Bangladesh, in Delhi, Chennai, Kochi and Mumbai, in India. Khidmah leaders screened and interviewed nearly 1200 candidates with the help of local recruitment agencies and hired 138 workers and team members to efficiently manage its services in U.A.E.

As the company continues to grow and more properties continue to come online in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and throughout the UAE, Khidmah will hold more interviews for jobs related to services it provides.

Khidmah’s comprehensive services management approach combines all aspects of a successful property, from pre-development planning through sales and leasing, into one service, to improve communication, increase customer satisfaction and maximize quality, all while optimizing costs for developers and property owners. Khidmah’s back to front services management includes consulting, facilities and maintenance, leasing, re-sales, cleaning, landscaping, health and fitness, customer call centers and an ever expanding list of specialized capabilities, tailored to the unique qualities of each property.

For the latest information on Khidmah, visit www.Khidmah.com.

No Journey is Easy, and No Friendship is filled only with Laughter.  But if you want to make a difference, to create a company that builds a future where customers, employees, shareholders, and society win – then it is NOT easy, but it is WORTH it!

We will not “win” by taking customers from an already established industry but we create a new Market Space where our Vision will be able to swim in fresh blue waters that are not bloody from competition.

Again, this will NOT be easy.  If it were easy, everyone would do it.  However, not many people will ever be apart of the creation of a company that is bigger than any one person.

The waters of this blue ocean are NOT calm; they come with big waves – waves with big ups and downs.  Some might be lost in a down, but if you believe in the Vision, and believe in each other, the Ups will come and we will ride some great waves together.

It is time, time for Service, time for Khidmah, and time for us to LEAD ON!
Sutton

Creating a New Market Space or a Blue Ocean Strategy

The only way to BEAT the competition is to stop trying to BEAT the competition.

RED Oceans: There are known market spaces, where everyone currently competes and the water is made bloody from the competition.  The competitors are trying to outperform their competition on price or on quality.  As the competition increases, the prospects for profits and growth decreases.  Products become commodities, and cutthroat competition turns the red ocean bloodier.

BLUE Oceans: Then there are Blue Oceans where no one competes and there is UNKNOWN market space, demand creation, and the opportunity for highly profitable growth.  Most blue oceans are created from within red oceans by expanding existing boundaries. In Blue Oceans, competition is irrelevant because the rules of the game are waiting to be set.   Companies must go beyond competition to seize new profit and growth opportunities.  They need to create blue oceans.

Most strategies lead to Red Oceans and are based on either to choose a strategic position of low cost or differentiation, or focus to benchmarking the competition.

Value Innovation: This is the cornerstone of blue ocean strategy.  It is called value innovation because instead of focusing on beating the competition, you focus on making the competition irrelevant by creating a leap in value for buyers and your company, thereby opening up new and uncontested market space

Value Innovation places equal emphasis on value and innovation. Value without innovation tends to focus on value creation an incremental scale, something that improves value but in not sufficient to make you stand out in the marketplace.  Innovation without value tends to be technology-driven, market pioneering, or futuristic, often shooting beyond what buyers are ready to accept and pay for.

Value innovation occurs ONLY when companies align innovation with:

• Utility
• Price
• Costs positions

Lead On!
Sutton

Khidmah LLC (Khidmah), an emirati-owned and operated service Management Company located in Abu Dhabi, has hired Ensaf Ahmed Ali to lead the company’s leasing department. As a Leasing Manager, Ms. Ensaf will lead the leasing team to achieve leasing objectives, develop and execute leasing strategies, manage supply and availability of properties and maximize revenue by leasing Khidmah’s real estate portfolio.

Abu Dhabi, UAE – June 3, 2009

Khidmah an integrated services management company based in Abu Dhabi, today announces the hiring of Ensaf Ahmed Ali as Leasing Manager. Ms. Ensaf will bring 12 years of leasing experience and customer knowledge to the company’s management team. She will manage the extensive portfolio of Khidmah’s residential & commercial leasing units.

“Leasing is one of the core businesses for Khidmah. With her extensive experience in real estate business; Ms. Ensaf will play a major role in developing and executing the leasing strategies to achieve the maximum revenue, occupancy and satisfaction of our clients”. said Mr. Sutton Turner, the CEO of Khidmah.

Ensaf has specialised in Leasing and has developed a prominent reputation by the provision of high quality leasing services in U.A.E. With her dynamic and customer focused approach, she quickly gained extensive knowledge of the Abu Dhabi and Al Ain property market.

She has worked with a number of high profile clients in, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Kuwait, where she developed new business opportunities for these companies and added new portfolios to the business. Ms. Ensaf holds Certificate in Brokerage / Business Planning and in Professional real estate management from U.A.E Academy, American institute of real estate –Virginia, U.S.A

Khidmah provides comprehensive services management to the finest properties in the world. Employing innovative processes and proven practices across a range of services, Khidmah is able to manage and maintain every aspect of successful, profitable development. Khidmah’s Services Management approach includes consulting, facilities and maintenance, leasing, re-sales, security, cleaning, landscaping, health and fitness, customer call centers and an ever expanding list of specialized capabilities, all provided under a single point of contact.

For more information on Khidmah, LLC, please visit www.Khidmah.com.

Are you managing your team or yourself in the Zone?  Are you providing the right level of pushing and pulling to your team to promote the best of them?

Managing in the Zone means that you are individually managing your people at the right pace and degree of influence.  However, the only way to know the correct degree is to better know your team members and closely watch for signs of too hot or too cold management. 

Too Hot Management: 
This level of intensity causes your team members to burn out, quit, or shut down.  It fosters enemies and division within the team.  Good people leave your team unger this level of intensity.

It creates an uncomfortable environment. 

Too Cool Management:
This level of intensity causes your team members to take it easy and spurs/fosters laziness.  Lazy people develop and good people who want to be challenged leave.  A resistance to change develops because people that are left like it easy. 

It fosters a “Friends” environment, and protection of your friends becomes more important than the job or company. 

It creates a too comfortable environment.

Analogy:  Management is a lot like cooking – it can be too hot and it can be too cool.  If a steak is not cooked to the correct temperature, or too fast, or too slow, it can ruin the dinner. 

Management is a lot like this analogy.  The leader must manage his team in a manner that each individual person reaches their full capacity of performance, pruning, production, and progress. Each person is different and each person can move from Too Cool to Too Hot quickly. 

A LEADER must be a READER of people.  You cannot keep the “heat on” an employee for too long and not know that that person will burn out, quit, or shut down. 

On the other side of the same, if you are too cool with the person you are leading, then you must understand you will end up with laziness, resistance to change, and people wanting to be your friend and not be lead by you. 

It is a balance – what is the right temperature for one person is not the same for another.  Remember, to be a LEADER you must be a READER of people.  Learn the different attitudes of your team.  Know what is too much for a person to handle and when it is not enough.  This is a learning exercise for the leader that never stops.  The more you learn about your team and the way they react to situations the better you will be to moderate the temperature that is applied.

Lead On!
Sutton

1. Positive, always positive.
   • Problems are opportunities for success
   • When you raise a concern you must have a solution
   • Willingness to be enthusiastic at all times
2. We are Leaders – and the first person you learn to lead is yourself before you can lead others.
3. Whatever it takes attitude
4. Customer focused results and service (always knowing what the customer wants)
5. We take responsibility – whether it is our fault or not.
6. We direct momentum, we don’t allow it to direct us (aka: we don’t do what everyone else is doing)
7. We are all leaders of leaders who train up leaders.
8. Our differences are our greatest strength (Culturally, religiously, gender, language, education, age, etc.)
9. An absolute respect for authority
   • We make team decisions and discussions when appropriate
   • When a decision is made (especially when we might not have originally supported the idea in the discussion or it was not discussed at all) we support the decision and work as hard as we can for the Team’s success.
10. Work Smart: Doing the right things, vs. doing things right. We do the right things. (don’t waste your time on things that don’t add value)

Create a culture that celebrates the successes of each other. Work to see your fellow employee or some you manage succeed and give them all of the praise

Lead On!
Sutton