Short Coffee Stops: A Morning with Chairman Lee
Today, I have had the longest one hour of my life with one of the most successful icons in the Trading World – Chairman Edward Lee of COL Financial. JP (my classmate in Caylum) and I were having our morning coffee and breakfast when Chairman Lee chanced upon us and sat down with us to check up on how we were progressing in the Recruitment Class. While there were a lot of trading-related discussions, I will be focusing on something outside the trading realm. I am happy to synthesize life lessons from someone who has been a successful businessman in his niche market.
As someone who has my own start-up and envisions to put up my own Corporation towards management systems certification and improvement consultancy services, I am so much delighted to hear decades of wisdom gained over someone who has experienced the ups and downs of the Trading World. Over the hour engagement we have had with him, here are some of the highlights I gained clarity from him:
Haste Makes Waste
Every individual has full potential on how he wishes to realize his dreams and aspirations. However, in the business world, you cannot “hasten” everything without a proper business model. The key element in every business is knowing what your value proposition is. However, this also entails knowing what your “moot” and your competitors “moot” is. One must truly understand well what the business landscape is, what your competitive advantage is and the business strategy that you will have to employ – whether red ocean strategy or blue ocean strategy.
Nurture Young Talents
I truly admire Chairman Lee’s eye for talents, as he showed ecstatic and genuine thrill as he describes one person he met a few years ago to be truly talented in his craft. More so, his openness to extend help and an open arm to this talented individual made me respect him even more. Of the companies I have been auditing, I can only count in a few of the business owners or CEOs who will really engage in supporting an individual or a start-up to harness their full potential. These business leaders are the ones I respect the most as they are but just a few of those who do not get threatened with younger talents.
Invest in propagating the Financially Learned Individuals
He shared a great deal of segment in this part, where we noticed that COL Financial has started opening their learning videos to the general public and allowing not only their clients but also those individuals who truly wish to understand the basics of trading. At this point, I started getting his world view and the context of why he has started becoming more visible in the public. He is truly dedicated in helping guide traders whom he is seeing at the brink of self-destruction – those who trade and has the most vague idea why they have entered a stock.
In this same light, I was in awe when he shared his vision to the Caylum Alumni – that we touch another person’s life as they have done with us through our engagements with them during this 8-week stay with the Recruitment Course. I am really excited to prepare myself to become a better trader because of this, so that I can proceed with my long stalled project – The Open Trading Curriculum. I can relate with him so much on propagating the culture of Financial Literacy and informed decision making before any trades done in any of the financial equity markets.
Embrace Competition
This statement is my most favorite during our conversation this morning. In a world of fast-evolving technologies and steeper competition, I have the highest respect for his vision and business insights on how to manage the risks and opportunities in the businesses they manage. While the traditional businessmen may focus resources and efforts on “killing” competition, he welcomes new and existing players and their disruptive innovations with open arms. However, they do not fail to become three or four steps ahead of their competitors in ensuring that their operations adapt to the evolving business dynamics – from new statutory and regulatory requirements passed to a more complex business environment. I can see that they have a great opportunity to define themselves much greater than their traditional competitors, towards establishing a new client base and a unique customer experience in the field of Financial Management.
It feels surreal to have had that one hour full of valuable insights for someone like me who dreams bringing not only value-adding services to my target market, but also envisions paying the goodwill I receive forward to those who just need support to realize their own Ikigai. My journey with Caylum Trading Institute is but just halfway through, and I am so thrilled what more I will learn in trading, in business, and in life.