Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Whole-Brain Thinking For Leaders

Imagine the World without the Wright Brothers, Alexander Gramham Bell, Thomas Alba Edison, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Sam Walton or our very own taipans like Henry Sy and John Gokongwei. We wouldn't have the airplanes , telephones, electricity, cars, and computers that power our daily lives, and the malls that we enjoy. We wouldn't have the conveniences and comforts that we commonly take for granted. These men became successful because they were creative innovators and grandmasters of their own business game. Their vision and creative abilities were powered by both analytical and intuitive genius. Theirs are the sharp minds of whole brain thinkers.

These achievers combined their left and right brain abilities to ensure success. In the age of the knowledge economy where intellectual capital is crucial to growth and development in business and in life, it is imperative to be whole brain thinker. At a time when competitiveness spurs an organization into becoming the best, we need to arm our businesses with whole brain thinkers. We need men and women who utilize all aspects of the brain to create value and opportunities for our business.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Dueling Diva

One of the great things about MP3 players like iPods and music download services like the iTunes Music Store is how they revive your interest in music -- in fact, not just revive what you already knew and liked, but open the door to the whole slew of other tunes and tunesmiths.

When I got my one gigabyte iPod nano a couple of months ago, I never thought I'd fill it up so fast. One gig is enough for about 180 songs in the .mp3 format, and 180songs are more than a girl like me can count on her fingers.

Music is meant for comfort. We listen to it not to get upset, or angry, or distressed; even the seadness that some music brings it bittersweet, because it reminds us of a past whose chief virtue seems to be, well, it happened.

That's why as soon as got my iPod, I launched into a personal campaign to acquire, digitize, and store every bit of todays music I could get my hands on. (Mp3 players and programs allow you to copy music from CDs and to download music files off the Internet. Please take note that legal restrictions may apply.)

Saturday, April 5, 2008

The World's Most Powerful Leadership Principle


This book is the much-awaited follow up to Hunter's first book. The Servant. The World's Most Powerful Leadership Principle details how one can develop the skills of servant leadership and emphasizes that it is not the book that will turn one into a better leader, but rather the implementation of its principles. Hunter believes that it is necessary to develop one's personal character in order to develop the qualities of an effective servant-leader. He places importance on authority over power and influence over intimidation. Each chapter discusses one principle in a clear and concise manner with real-life examples.

Make the rules or Your Rival Will


This highly informative book stresses the importance of playing by the rules, hence its title. Make the Rules or Your Rivals Will explores the use of legal strategy to strengthen all aspects of any business, from negotiating contracts to lobbying, branding, pricing and dealing with competition in the marketplace. Shell provides examples from companies like Microsoft and Napster, using true-to-life case studies to illustrate the principles that can help any company, whether it is a market leader or a small new player trying to break into the industry.

Ten Deadly Marketing Sins


Clearly presented and easy to follow, this book offers holistic approach by explaining how marketing affects all areas of an organization. Each chapter addresses one sin, beginning with how to recognize the signs and ending with proposed solutions. Signs and solutions are listed as bullet points then discussed in grater detail using both general terms and specific examples, illustrating how they can be applied to any type of business. Ten Deadly marketing Sins is geared more towards upper-level management, suggesting improvements in company policy to increase efficiency and keep both employees and customers for the long term.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Retrain Your Business Brain


This is not the typical business book. Retrain Your Business Brain teaches readers to increase their mental agility and challenge traditional ways of thinking through the use of visual and graphic puzzles and selected and arranged specifically to exercise little-used areas of our minds, providing new perspectives and insights to problem solving. Different minds react differently to each puzzle, so employees at every level can learn from these exercise in analogy, progression and relationships. After "solving" each puzzle, the authors provide hints that explain, step by step, ehat the correct answer is and why this is so. A must-read for anyone who wants to think "out-of-the-box."