10 Lessons Learned

Lesson #3: There’s Always Something You Can Learn - Beng Yeoh

Throughout a 40+ year career that spans corporate boardrooms in Hong Kong and Australia to humanitarian trenches in India and the Middle East, Dr. Yeoh’s secret weapon hasn't been knowing all the answers. It’s been his willingness to remain a student.

Here are 3 core pillars to adopting this mindset in your own professional journey:

1️⃣ Ego is the enemy of growth: The moment you think you’re the smartest person in the room, you block out fresh perspectives. True authority is built on asking the right questions, not giving the loudest answers.

2️⃣ Look for lessons in unexpected places: Valuable insights don't just come from management textbooks or senior executives. Frontline teams, clients, and cross-industry peers often hold the keys to the problems you're trying to solve.

3️⃣ Treat transitions as fresh classrooms: When Dr. Yeoh pivoted from telecom executive to humanitarian leader, he had to completely retool his mindset. Lifelong learning gives you the career agility to thrive no matter how much your industry changes.

If a seasoned global leader can walk into every room looking for a lesson, what’s stopping the rest of us?

🎧 Catch the full episode with Dr. Beng Yeoh for a deep dive into integrity, leadership, and maintaining a reliable professional compass: https://10lessonslearned.com/beng-yeoh-you-can-buy-talent-but-you-cant-buy-integrity/

In this episode of 10 Lessons Learned, host Robert Hossary interviewed leadership trainer and intercultural facilitator Matthew Hill - Corporate Presentation Trainer.

Matthew shares insights from his diverse career, including his stint as a standup comedian and his experiences in global leadership and coaching roles. Among the lessons discussed are the importance of forgiving yourself, the necessity of perfect preparation, the value of networking, and the significance of maintaining good health.

He also delves into practical advice on saving money early, the power of having multiple solutions to problems, and the need to consider others' perspectives.

This engaging conversation is peppered with personal anecdotes, making it both informative and entertaining. Watch it today: https://youtu.be/0mM20hOvQIY?si=5vV9Ms06r7hGG7yC

Lesson #10: People Don’t Leave Businesses – They Leave People.

Before finding her calling in workplace safety, Elena Lennox admits she had a tough-as-nails, traditional Scottish mindset. Her motto? "Get over it and carry on." But then she was tested in the fire. Elena went through a severe corporate bullying experience that completely reframed her understanding of resilience:

❌ It wasn't just the bully: The real failure came from above. Her manager refused to listen to her concerns.
❌ The bystander effect: Her colleagues, gripped by the fear of becoming the next target, put their heads down and withdrew their support.

Elena notes that going into an office feeling positive, only to be systematically chipped away at by a toxic environment with zero systemic support, will make anyone fall apart. It forced her to unlearn her rigid ideas about "toughness" and embrace radical empathy.

The takeaway for leaders: Your team's retention isn't tied to your company's brand name or your logo—it's tied to how safe your people feel speaking up.

🎧 Listen to Elena Lennox’s incredible journey through leadership, deep listening, and building resilient cultures: https://10lessonslearned.com/elena-lennox/

When most people prepare for an interview, they read through the job description, nod their head, and think, "Yep, I can do all of those tasks."

According to certified Resume Master Fatemah Mirza, that's exactly where they lose the competitive edge. In her guest appearance on 10 Lessons Learned, Fatemah reveals a strategic shift for job seekers: Lesson #4: Decode the Job Description to Expose the Hiring Manager’s Real KPIs.

✨ Find the hiring manager's pain: Job descriptions are written because someone has a problem they can't solve alone. Your goal is to figure out what is keeping that specific hiring manager awake at night. Is it a bottlenecked pipeline? A lack of team structure? A missed operational target?

✨ Be a "Fortune Teller": Cross-reference the posting with the company's recent announcements, website updates, or financial statements. When you can accurately predict their internal challenges, you instantly stand out.

✨ Tailor your "Billboard": Use the top of your resume and your opening interview responses to target those uncovered KPIs directly.

When you show a hiring manager that you don't just understand the duties of the role, but the business impact required to succeed, you change the entire dynamic of the room.

🎧 Listen to Fatemah Mirza’s masterclass on uncovering the hidden job market and nailing your next pivot here: https://10lessonslearned.com/career-fatemah-mirza/

Why your next big break is waiting on the other side of a "Leap of Faith." 🌉

We often want to see the whole map before we take the first step. But according to Marissa Nichol, a former traveler and marketing producer, the best opportunities are usually invisible until you’re actually in motion.

In her 10 Lessons Learned interview, Marissa shares a vital truth for anyone feeling stuck: Lesson #4: You have to take a leap of faith to make connections and be given opportunities.

Why the "Jump" is the strategy:

✨ Visibility requires Movement: You can’t make connections from the safety of your comfort zone. Marissa moved from NYC to Australia on a working holiday visa, trusting that she’d find her way once she landed.

✨ Opportunities find the "Open": By taking a leap—whether it’s moving cities or pivoting careers—you signal to your network and the world that you are ready for something new.

✨ Serendipity needs a stage: You won't know who you're going to meet or what you'll discover until you put yourself in a new environment.

Marissa reminds us that life has a way of working itself out—but only if you’re brave enough to give it a chance to do so. https://10lessonslearned.com/marissa-nichol/

Host Diana White welcomes returning guest CJ Cornell—entrepreneur, engineer, Arizona State University professor who helped start its entrepreneurship program, mentor/advisor, and author of book 'The Age of Entrepreneurship' plus a new children’s book series.

Stop "Toiling" and Start Finishing. 🏁🔥

We all love the rush of a new idea. But as Dr. CJ Cornell points out that the world doesn’t reward "work in progress"—it rewards completion .

The Truth About Your To-Do List:

✅ Energy vs. Results: Starting creates excitement, but only finishing creates results. If it isn't finished, it doesn't count.
✅ The Perfectionism Trap: Cornell argues that it’s better to get a project out the door—even if it's not exactly how you imagined—than to let it sit in a "beta" stage for years.
✅ The World Only Responds to "Done": You can spend a decade on a revolutionary idea, but if you never put it in front of a customer, you haven't made an impact .

CJ’s advice is simple: Crossing the finish line is a skill in itself. Don't let your talent be overshadowed by a trail of half-finished projects.

🎧 Listen to the full masterclass here: https://10lessonslearned.com/leadership-cj-cornell

Host Siebe Van Der Zee welcomes Lukas Hefti, founder of www.SPEACHERS.com, an international speakers bureau based in Zurich that has supported 100+ events worldwide by providing keynote speakers and connecting personalities with podcasts and news media.

This energetic interview focuses on how to get booked and how to improve as a speaker, covering such as being visible, memorable, and easy to book through clear positioning and a trustworthy website, and staying after talks to mingle.

Lukas also advises using stories even for technical topics, pausing and summarizing, using audience-friendly language, hooking attention early, and being specific to build trust, plus the importance of not putting everything on slides and being prepared when technology fails.

Aspiring speakers pay attention and it is a must listen! https://youtu.be/obERl5GWXiU?si=WX2iZ93G7kGOhw6g