I thoroughly enjoyed Shobhan Bantwal's first book, The Dowry Bride. It was well written and the glimpses into Indian culture were fascinating. Learning that paying or not paying a dowry could be a matter of life or death was shocking to me and she handled it very well in her book. So, I've been looking forward to reading her second book.
This weekend I took time to read The Forbidden Daughter and my wait was rewarded. The book is about female infanticide. That is the practice of killing female babies and unborn female babies. I've heard various reasons for female infanticide in India and that is one of the elements of this story. Are women less worthy or important than men? The characters have a variety of feelings about this question. Another element is the financial angle to performing abortions along with the social repercussions.
Isha Talik is drawn into this web of lies, deception and money when her obstetrician informs her and her husband that their unborn child is a girl. In an off handed comment, he says that he's willing to perform an abortion if they want to be rid of this child. Isha and Nikhil vehemently insist they will have their child, but they realize Nikhil's parents will want them to abort the child. The couple have one daughter and Isha knows her in laws treat her daughter Priya as less worthy than her male cousins. When the news is shared with the elder Taliks, they insist the child must be aborted.
This debate rages and is only interrupted late one evening when the family receives news that Nikhil was stabbed to death at his job. Isha, Priya and the in laws are all shaken by the news of Nikhil's death. The news is especially devastating to his parents because Nikhil was their only son and he had no sons to carry on the family name. Life for Isha and Priya is tougher each day and after her father in law beats Priya, the young, pregnant widow walks out of the house - with almost no money and only some of her possessions.
Isha and Priya are taken in at the local convent and make their home in a small, bleak room and they wait for the birth of her daughter. The day after Diya is born, Isha is seen by the doctor who helps the convent. He was a student at the college Isha attended and he had a crush on her in school.
Doctor Harish Salvi becomes a very good friend and his affection for Isha and her children continues to grow over time. Isha is reunited with her sister in law Sheila. With Sheila and Dr Salvi, Isha finds the support she needs.
Over time things begin to look better for Isha and her family and her support network grows again. But, the story isn't over and Isha must deal with a couple more concerns before the end. Isha and her closest confidantes realize who killed her husband and why. She has evidence of his wrong doing and the time stamp on the computer disc makes it very obvious, who is responsible for his murder. Will they go to the police? Will the murderer pay for his crime? Who else will have to pay for this man's actions?
I don't want to ruin the story for anyone, but I highly recommend this story. You will grow to admire, you will admire and cherish Dr Salvi and you will care what happens to Isha's daughters. This book is a wonderful work from a talented author who share her knowledge of India with us.
Shobhan Bantwal is touring with Promo 101 Virtual Tours in October. Visit www.virtualblogtour.blogspot.com for more details.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Bounce! by Barry Moltz
Bounce! Failure, Resiliency and Confidence to Achieve Your Next Great Success by Barry Moltz
In the United States and in other countries around the world people are facing very tough economic times and it doesn’t appear that will change drastically in the near future. We see huge companies failing and/or being taken over by the government or being sold on a pretty regular basis. If multi billion and multi million dollar businesses are failing, doesn’t it make sense that other businesses consider that failure is possible and to be ready for the possibility? No one is saying that failure is inevitable, but develop the mindset and skill set that make it easier for you to face failures and the situations we encounter as a business faces tough times.
Barry Moltz built his original business reputation at IBM. That’s where I initially heard about him, but he decided to leave IBM and start his own business venture. At one point in the book, Moltz mentions how his stature and income increased each year while he was at IBM and he had the mistaken opinion that the trend would continue even when he left IBM. That’s something I’ve heard from people who left a fulltime job to begin their own business. That can be one of the first things to rattle a new entrepreneur. The steady paycheck and job security disappear overnight.
Moltz gives the example of a rubber band ball that is created by wrapping rubber bands and creating a ball. Each band increases the size and strength of the ball. Through the pages of Bounce!, he shares the key “bands” we need to create sufficient bounce. They include:
Environmental and Cultural DNA – Attitudes in your country and associates about success and failure have an impact on how you view these elements of business.
Humility – Humility has the ability to lift us up or to pull us down. If you fail, will you wallow and brood over it or will you understand that people fail and pick yourself up and move on?
Face Your Fear of Failure – Failure is always possible. No matter how qualified or prepared we are in business, it is always possible to fail. Its best to be prepared for that possibility. If we never fail, that’s wonderful. But, if it does happen, be ready to deal with it.
Give Up Shame About Failure – This is not simple, but it is necessary. Once you decide to stop feeling shame over failure, tackle the things thrown at you by others. Some people will be obnoxious about any failure, but you need to be convinced it’s a temporary situation and move forward.
Failure Offers a Choice – How many people do you know that are stuck in a “no win” situation because they decide to stay in a failing business instead of admitting defeat? Give yourself the choice to say, “It’s not working” and get out of a losing situation. Make the choice to fail and move on to something better.
Be Careful About the Risks You Take – As your decision making skills improve, you are better qualified to make careful decisions and to limit the potential for risk and failure. Make sure that you understand the full risk and the full benefit of any major decision you are going to make.
Refine and Improve the Process to Improve the Outcome – Business goes through cycles and its important to understand that the processes we use make a difference in the outcomes we get.
Develop Patience About Success and Failure – We must be realistic and many times we don’t succeed as quickly as we hope. So, patience is needed. Set realistic goals and work toward these. Even when progress is slow, goals and benchmarks enable us to see the progress that is being made.
Develop Your Own System to Measure Your Success and Failure – Most people realize that just having money is not a guarantee of happiness. Decide what you need to feel successful. No one else’s idea of success should guide you – what makes you happy? Once you know that answer, strive to be happy.
Place Value on Action and Progress – Read the book, but then realize that you need to make things happen. Your experience is a great way to build confidence and the humility to face the tough situations and to move on to bigger and better things.
Those points are the key elements that the book covers and is built around. The longest chapter in the book, is Chapter 5 Forget the Archetypes: Messy Lines Teach Humility. At first glance this was interesting and a bit confusing because we all know that strong entrepreneurs need confidence, to be self assured and to be strong. So, why did Moltz include such a long chapter about humility? He discusses ego and how it does and does not help a business person. He discusses how humility is crucial is facing problems and failures in a way that helps us start over and rebuild or future.
There is so much great information in this book, but I highly recommend that no one skip the last chapter, Read This Book – Then Throw It Away. He makes great points including the fact that planning is great and needs to happen, but we also know that you will never succeed or fail until you take the leap and actual work to make it happen. Anyone who is waiting for the “perfect” time to start will be waiting forever. There is never a “perfect” time.
Do sufficient research and planning and learn to make sound decisions. Then develop true and positive humility and move forward. It’s also critical to realize many great people have failed, some failed in huge ways. The great people, large and small, are the ones who pick themselves up and start over. There is always another possibility and another opportunity. Will you move on and find your next opportunity?
In the United States and in other countries around the world people are facing very tough economic times and it doesn’t appear that will change drastically in the near future. We see huge companies failing and/or being taken over by the government or being sold on a pretty regular basis. If multi billion and multi million dollar businesses are failing, doesn’t it make sense that other businesses consider that failure is possible and to be ready for the possibility? No one is saying that failure is inevitable, but develop the mindset and skill set that make it easier for you to face failures and the situations we encounter as a business faces tough times.
Barry Moltz built his original business reputation at IBM. That’s where I initially heard about him, but he decided to leave IBM and start his own business venture. At one point in the book, Moltz mentions how his stature and income increased each year while he was at IBM and he had the mistaken opinion that the trend would continue even when he left IBM. That’s something I’ve heard from people who left a fulltime job to begin their own business. That can be one of the first things to rattle a new entrepreneur. The steady paycheck and job security disappear overnight.
Moltz gives the example of a rubber band ball that is created by wrapping rubber bands and creating a ball. Each band increases the size and strength of the ball. Through the pages of Bounce!, he shares the key “bands” we need to create sufficient bounce. They include:
Environmental and Cultural DNA – Attitudes in your country and associates about success and failure have an impact on how you view these elements of business.
Humility – Humility has the ability to lift us up or to pull us down. If you fail, will you wallow and brood over it or will you understand that people fail and pick yourself up and move on?
Face Your Fear of Failure – Failure is always possible. No matter how qualified or prepared we are in business, it is always possible to fail. Its best to be prepared for that possibility. If we never fail, that’s wonderful. But, if it does happen, be ready to deal with it.
Give Up Shame About Failure – This is not simple, but it is necessary. Once you decide to stop feeling shame over failure, tackle the things thrown at you by others. Some people will be obnoxious about any failure, but you need to be convinced it’s a temporary situation and move forward.
Failure Offers a Choice – How many people do you know that are stuck in a “no win” situation because they decide to stay in a failing business instead of admitting defeat? Give yourself the choice to say, “It’s not working” and get out of a losing situation. Make the choice to fail and move on to something better.
Be Careful About the Risks You Take – As your decision making skills improve, you are better qualified to make careful decisions and to limit the potential for risk and failure. Make sure that you understand the full risk and the full benefit of any major decision you are going to make.
Refine and Improve the Process to Improve the Outcome – Business goes through cycles and its important to understand that the processes we use make a difference in the outcomes we get.
Develop Patience About Success and Failure – We must be realistic and many times we don’t succeed as quickly as we hope. So, patience is needed. Set realistic goals and work toward these. Even when progress is slow, goals and benchmarks enable us to see the progress that is being made.
Develop Your Own System to Measure Your Success and Failure – Most people realize that just having money is not a guarantee of happiness. Decide what you need to feel successful. No one else’s idea of success should guide you – what makes you happy? Once you know that answer, strive to be happy.
Place Value on Action and Progress – Read the book, but then realize that you need to make things happen. Your experience is a great way to build confidence and the humility to face the tough situations and to move on to bigger and better things.
Those points are the key elements that the book covers and is built around. The longest chapter in the book, is Chapter 5 Forget the Archetypes: Messy Lines Teach Humility. At first glance this was interesting and a bit confusing because we all know that strong entrepreneurs need confidence, to be self assured and to be strong. So, why did Moltz include such a long chapter about humility? He discusses ego and how it does and does not help a business person. He discusses how humility is crucial is facing problems and failures in a way that helps us start over and rebuild or future.
There is so much great information in this book, but I highly recommend that no one skip the last chapter, Read This Book – Then Throw It Away. He makes great points including the fact that planning is great and needs to happen, but we also know that you will never succeed or fail until you take the leap and actual work to make it happen. Anyone who is waiting for the “perfect” time to start will be waiting forever. There is never a “perfect” time.
Do sufficient research and planning and learn to make sound decisions. Then develop true and positive humility and move forward. It’s also critical to realize many great people have failed, some failed in huge ways. The great people, large and small, are the ones who pick themselves up and start over. There is always another possibility and another opportunity. Will you move on and find your next opportunity?
Monday, September 1, 2008
Polarizing Your Life Toward Perfection by Philip F Harris
The Little Book That Will Alter Your Life
Many books about how to move yourself to a better place have hit the market since the phenomenal success of The Secret. They deal with the Law of Attraction, manifesting, and much more. Polarizing Your Life Toward Perfection helps you take an honest look at your life and what happened to create the person that you have become. Its not just a book about – “I want”, “Give me” and that sort of mentality. Philip Harris gives you the tools that you need to create a more positive, happy and successful life. It truly is “the little book that will alter your life”. So much information packed into a small book. Isn’t there a saying about the best things coming in small packages? This is a great example of that idea.
Harris provides various examples of things we do, say and think which has a negative impact on our life. He lists many phrases and words that we shouldn’t use. Many of the examples show how a small change in the wording we use, can make a big difference in our outlook. Learn which phrases you should not use and the easy ways to adjust our thoughts. It may sound silly, but there are many great ways that we can “look on the bright side” and “be more positive”. The first two chapters provide many ways to do this in your life.
Once you start to work on the way you think and talk about things, its time to take a look inside yourself. There are a variety of people in your life and who have played a part in your life over the years. Your beliefs, job and health are all things that affect who you are and how you feel about things. Chapter 3 is titled “Life Assessment”. Simply, this chapter is about helping you evaluate the people and things in your life – to determine what does and does not work for you. In some cases, you can evaluate a person or situation and adjust the way you view it. In other cases, you need to make changes in your life. This chapter helps you with this assessment.
When we look into a mirror, we assume that we are seeing a true reflection. However, consider this. The reflection you see is affected by your beliefs, your mind, your job, your relationships and much more. How often have you been around people who are negative? When you look in a mirror with those comments fresh in your mind, do you see yourself differently? Even if its only a stray gray hair or lines around your eyes that someone talked about earlier, this is an example of ways that your reflection is affected by these outside forces. The good news is that Harris also provides a chapter about “How to Change the Image in the Mirror”. You can change your perception of yourself and that reflection.
No book on changing yourself would be complete without a section about how to alter the things you put into your body. Polarizing Your Life contains chapters about your body and the environment that you are in. Learn ways to change your environment to improve your life. Your diet can have a big impact on how your feel and how your body functions. Harris provides many ways to improve your diet, your health and your environment – all of these things go a long way in polarizing your life.
The chapter about visualization provides great insights. Do you limit your success by approaching visualization in the wrong way? If you start with “I want”, “I need” and similar phrases, you can limit your success. Harris provides many illustrations of how our phrasing makes us focus on the negative things in our life and this makes it more difficult to achieve a better life. Another thing to consider, do you vocalize appreciation for the things you have? Even for people who don’t have much, you should be appreciative for the things you have.
You will be amazed by the wealth of life changing information that Philip Harris has packed into this small book. If you’re interested in “the secret”, the law of attraction, manifesting, visualization, being in tune with the universe and creating a better life for yourself – this is a must read.
Many books about how to move yourself to a better place have hit the market since the phenomenal success of The Secret. They deal with the Law of Attraction, manifesting, and much more. Polarizing Your Life Toward Perfection helps you take an honest look at your life and what happened to create the person that you have become. Its not just a book about – “I want”, “Give me” and that sort of mentality. Philip Harris gives you the tools that you need to create a more positive, happy and successful life. It truly is “the little book that will alter your life”. So much information packed into a small book. Isn’t there a saying about the best things coming in small packages? This is a great example of that idea.
Harris provides various examples of things we do, say and think which has a negative impact on our life. He lists many phrases and words that we shouldn’t use. Many of the examples show how a small change in the wording we use, can make a big difference in our outlook. Learn which phrases you should not use and the easy ways to adjust our thoughts. It may sound silly, but there are many great ways that we can “look on the bright side” and “be more positive”. The first two chapters provide many ways to do this in your life.
Once you start to work on the way you think and talk about things, its time to take a look inside yourself. There are a variety of people in your life and who have played a part in your life over the years. Your beliefs, job and health are all things that affect who you are and how you feel about things. Chapter 3 is titled “Life Assessment”. Simply, this chapter is about helping you evaluate the people and things in your life – to determine what does and does not work for you. In some cases, you can evaluate a person or situation and adjust the way you view it. In other cases, you need to make changes in your life. This chapter helps you with this assessment.
When we look into a mirror, we assume that we are seeing a true reflection. However, consider this. The reflection you see is affected by your beliefs, your mind, your job, your relationships and much more. How often have you been around people who are negative? When you look in a mirror with those comments fresh in your mind, do you see yourself differently? Even if its only a stray gray hair or lines around your eyes that someone talked about earlier, this is an example of ways that your reflection is affected by these outside forces. The good news is that Harris also provides a chapter about “How to Change the Image in the Mirror”. You can change your perception of yourself and that reflection.
No book on changing yourself would be complete without a section about how to alter the things you put into your body. Polarizing Your Life contains chapters about your body and the environment that you are in. Learn ways to change your environment to improve your life. Your diet can have a big impact on how your feel and how your body functions. Harris provides many ways to improve your diet, your health and your environment – all of these things go a long way in polarizing your life.
The chapter about visualization provides great insights. Do you limit your success by approaching visualization in the wrong way? If you start with “I want”, “I need” and similar phrases, you can limit your success. Harris provides many illustrations of how our phrasing makes us focus on the negative things in our life and this makes it more difficult to achieve a better life. Another thing to consider, do you vocalize appreciation for the things you have? Even for people who don’t have much, you should be appreciative for the things you have.
You will be amazed by the wealth of life changing information that Philip Harris has packed into this small book. If you’re interested in “the secret”, the law of attraction, manifesting, visualization, being in tune with the universe and creating a better life for yourself – this is a must read.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Brillante Weblog Premio Award For This Blog
Isn't this a beautiful award? Joyce Anthony over at: http://joyceanthony.tripod.com/blog
nominated me for it. This is a pay-it-forward award and my instructions were to now choose some blogs I find worthy of this award. The choice wasn't easy, but I have finally narrowed it down to the following. These are in no particular order; that would be impossible to do.
Joyce Anthony - http://joyceanthony.tripod.com/blog - I know she nominated me, but Joyce is always willing to work with me and to help the authors that I work with each month. She puts together an event on her blog which is a part of my tours. Her help is wonderful and very appreciated. I hope that I've been able to introduce her to some interesting new people.
Yvonne Perry - www.yvonneperry.blogspot.com - I met Yvonne as I was coordinating my very first blog tour- it was for her. We worked together and got to be friends and when I started doing more tours, she was one of the people I contact about upcoming tours. She's hosted a number of people for me, on her blog and in her newsletter. Its been great getting to know her even more as we;ve worked together on various projects and she offers a wealth of info for writers and others on her blog.
Dyan Garris - http://blog.voiceoftheangels.com - I met Dyan early in 2008 and we've worked together for a while. During this time I've come to know her as a person who truly wants to help others. She wants to share the information she has that can help other people improve the quality of their lives. She shares plenty of great information on her blog and her website. She has also become a friend and someone who has words of wisdom and comfort at the right time.
Carolyn Howard Johnson - www.TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com - Carolyn created a review blog where she is willing to post reviews for all sorts of authors, not just big name authors, but even the lesser known authors. Her instructions are very clear and it is very easy to take advantage of her offer. She has hosted a number of authors for me on their tours and her assistance is certainly appreciated.
Philip Harris - http://philipharris.blogspot.com - Phil Harris has been a good friend and he has hosted a number of authors for me. There are a number of topics that he is very knowledgeable about and those are great opportunities for him to host an author and to ask very targeted questions. He has a knack for getting to the heart of a topic and asking great questions. This has been helpful on a number of tours and I think he's also made some friends along the way.
I'm sure there are others that I've forgotten and I am sorry. I've also discovered some new blogs that are going to be very good for the authors to work with me. More great resources to come in the near future.
The rules for the above recipients are as follow:
Rules for next recipients of the Brillante Weblog Premio are as follows:
1. The award may be displayed on a winner's blog.
2. Add a link to the person you received the award from.
3. Nominate up to seven other blogs.
4. Add their links to your blog.
5. Add a message to each person that you have passed the award on in the comments section of their blog.
There you have it, folks, my nominees for this wondrous peer-driven award. Please stop by the above blogs and drop everyone a note of congratulations!!!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Email Marketing for Complex Sales Cycles by Winton Churchill
We’re all familiar with the long drawn out and unpredictable sales methods. How many times have your sales people spent endless hours coddling sales leads? How often do these hours generate few sales? You know that isn’t cost effective, but every body does cold calling, trade shows and similar sales approaches. Or do they? You won’t need to continue these unpredictable sales strategies after you read and apply Email Marketing for Complex Sales Cycles by Winton Churchill.
To illustrate the wealth of information in this book, these are some of the topics–
· Email Marketing is Not About Spam.
· Email Marketing… Relatively Easy and Extremely Powerful – When You Do it Right.
· Change your Mindset, Change Your Future.
· Six Special Needs of Complex Sales Cycles.
· Three Critical Stages of Success.
· Unhooking – The Process of Un-Training Your Brain.
· Four Ways to Identify and Qualify Legitimate Prospects.
· The Rapport Sequence.
· Eighteen Essential Components Simplified.
· Seven Damaging Mistakes Many Executives Make.
· Eight Indispensible “Fast Track” Strategies.
Recipients have mental blocks about spam and supposed junk mail. So, the first thing to realize is that Winton Churchill isn’t talking about spam or junk mail. In various places throughout the book, he admonishes the reader to find a quality list. This helps you get better results because those lists contain people who want to receive information about a product or service that is similar to yours.
Email marketing is reasonably easy, but you need to understand why it works and how it works. The complex sales cycle is a powerful sales tool and Churchill helps you learn how to use it properly. Are you one of the business people who spent your budget on an address list, but didn’t know how to properly use the list? This book is for you. Just having the list isn’t enough. You need to reach the people and determine who needs your product or service. You also need to build up a rapport with these people in order to lead them to make a purchase.
The email complex sales cycle allows you to screen these potential clients, show them that you are an expert in your field, demonstrate ways that you can help them and lead them to your business to make a sale. That does not mean that every one on the list will become a client, but when you start with a targeted and qualified list, your chance of making the sale increase. Once you have the right list, work on the cycle of messages that prove your credibility and illustrate how you can fill their needs.
In several of the chapters, Churchill addresses the mindset and that re-training are necessary to make email marketing work. The content of this book helps you get past the preconceived ideas about spam and to see the strategic way that a complex sales system works.
I enjoyed the entire book and I really enjoyed the sections on how to identify qualified prospects, how to simplify the eighteen components that are necessary and learning about common mistakes. I learned long ago that we can learn through past mistakes – the ones we make and the ones that other people make.
Finally, the eight “fast track” strategies are very useful. We all want to fast track our sales cycle, but it needs to be done correctly. Throughout the book, Churchill explains that we can ruin the sales cycle by pushing too hard to fast, so learning how to effectively “fast track” the program is helpful and will help us avoid mistakes.
My copy of the book has all kinds of information highlighted for future reference. I found many great ideas and tips that I will use. As I was reading the book, I also noticed an idea forming to use email marketing for a client’s business. I hadn’t thought about the approach before, but it made so much sense as I read Email Marketing Solutions.
The content could inspire you to make radical changes in the way your sales force finds and how they handle sales leads. Think of the time and money you could save with a more effective sales prospecting system for your business. Let Winton Churchill show you how to make these changes and how to increase sales that are generated for your company.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Vietnam Air Rescues by Dave Richardson
I have to start by saying that I love to read true stories - the good, the bad and the ugly :) This is a good one.
Dave Richardson is a man who was sent to Vietnam in the late 60's and he chose to be a helicopter rescue pilot while he was in the war. This put him in a position to have some fascinating experiences and it gave him a chance to see his faith in action during trying and dangerous times.
Vietnam Air Rescues started out as a book from a father, to his family. It was the chance to share his experiences and to help the family understand what he did during his time in Vietnam. A big part of the book are Dave's recollections and pictures from his rescues. There are many pictures throughout the book which are a great addition. I should mention that Dave does remind us that the pictures were taken over 30 years ago and most were taken under "less than favorable" conditions. Some of the pictures are out of focus, but when you read the content and realize what he was doing at the time he was taking the pictures, a bit of fuzz should be ignored.
The book begins with Dave Richardson's "Totally Unauthorized History of the Vietnam War". He shares his reflections of the war and his time overseas. He also explains the various editions of the book. The first edition was written for Dave Richardson's family, but as others requested copies, slight changes were made to make the story appropriate for other readers.
Dave shares many interesting details throughout the book, a jargon section, information about a typical day, details about the missions he flew, he shares maps of the area and full details on each of his rescues.
I feel that the personal feel is very obvious in the book. It feels like a friend is telling you about a year in his life and you get involved in the things they did to kill time when they had time to spare. We also feel the tension as he struggles to rescue a pilot who was shot down, realizing that a mistake would mean death for a number of people. It was never a situation where he only had to worry about his own life.
I interviewed Dave Richardson on my radio show and I got the chance to learn so many additional details. Learning more about how a person handles a helicopter added more tension to the rescue sections. I highly recommend listening to the interview for plenty of details. (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nikkileigh/2008/08/18/Nikki-Leigh-Talks-with-Dave-Richardson)
On August 25th, I will interview Dave Richardson and the last person he rescued, Kenny Fields. Both men wrote books about their experiences. One of the interesting things is that these two books give us the perspective from the air and the perspective from the ground. Dave was days from going home and he agreed to go out one more time. Little did he know what would happen over the next 48 hours. Kenny Fields was stranded on the ground and the rescue planes and helicopters had a very difficult time - these men will share their stories with us.
If you prefer to read the details - Dave Richardson's book is Vietnam Air Rescues (www.amazon.com/Vietnam-Air-Rescues-Dave-Richardson/dp/1434891348/nikkileighaut-20)
Kenny Fields book is Rescue of Streetcar 304: A Navy Pilot's Forty Hours on the Run in Laos (www.amazon.com/Rescue-Streetcar-304-Pilots-Forty/dp/1591142717/nikkileighaut-20)
Dave Richardson is a man who was sent to Vietnam in the late 60's and he chose to be a helicopter rescue pilot while he was in the war. This put him in a position to have some fascinating experiences and it gave him a chance to see his faith in action during trying and dangerous times.
Vietnam Air Rescues started out as a book from a father, to his family. It was the chance to share his experiences and to help the family understand what he did during his time in Vietnam. A big part of the book are Dave's recollections and pictures from his rescues. There are many pictures throughout the book which are a great addition. I should mention that Dave does remind us that the pictures were taken over 30 years ago and most were taken under "less than favorable" conditions. Some of the pictures are out of focus, but when you read the content and realize what he was doing at the time he was taking the pictures, a bit of fuzz should be ignored.
The book begins with Dave Richardson's "Totally Unauthorized History of the Vietnam War". He shares his reflections of the war and his time overseas. He also explains the various editions of the book. The first edition was written for Dave Richardson's family, but as others requested copies, slight changes were made to make the story appropriate for other readers.
Dave shares many interesting details throughout the book, a jargon section, information about a typical day, details about the missions he flew, he shares maps of the area and full details on each of his rescues.
I feel that the personal feel is very obvious in the book. It feels like a friend is telling you about a year in his life and you get involved in the things they did to kill time when they had time to spare. We also feel the tension as he struggles to rescue a pilot who was shot down, realizing that a mistake would mean death for a number of people. It was never a situation where he only had to worry about his own life.
I interviewed Dave Richardson on my radio show and I got the chance to learn so many additional details. Learning more about how a person handles a helicopter added more tension to the rescue sections. I highly recommend listening to the interview for plenty of details. (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nikkileigh/2008/08/18/Nikki-Leigh-Talks-with-Dave-Richardson)
On August 25th, I will interview Dave Richardson and the last person he rescued, Kenny Fields. Both men wrote books about their experiences. One of the interesting things is that these two books give us the perspective from the air and the perspective from the ground. Dave was days from going home and he agreed to go out one more time. Little did he know what would happen over the next 48 hours. Kenny Fields was stranded on the ground and the rescue planes and helicopters had a very difficult time - these men will share their stories with us.
If you prefer to read the details - Dave Richardson's book is Vietnam Air Rescues (www.amazon.com/Vietnam-Air-Rescues-Dave-Richardson/dp/1434891348/nikkileighaut-20)
Kenny Fields book is Rescue of Streetcar 304: A Navy Pilot's Forty Hours on the Run in Laos (www.amazon.com/Rescue-Streetcar-304-Pilots-Forty/dp/1591142717/nikkileighaut-20)
If you would like to learn more about what happened behind the scenes this is a great place to start. There is no grandstanding, no political undertones and no agenda in Vietnam Air Rescues. But, there is a great story told from an author who is proud to share his story with us.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
What the Best CEO’s Know by Jeffrey Krames
What traits are needed to be a top CEO? How do you build a business that can weather the inevitable storms that will come? The stories of these men will inspire you, help you analyze your abilities as a CEO along with learning how to improve your effectiveness in business. Some of these men survived personal and business pitfalls, but established durable companies.
You are given the chance to “Assess Your CEO Quotient” by using questions to evaluate your performance and your business. These unique features offer you the opportunity to learn improved ways to handle your business.
Six Traits That Connect 7 CEO’s
1 – “Outside-In” Perspective – This perspective requires the ability to analyze varying aspects of the target market. The organization must focus on and satisfy the market.
2 – “Evangelical Leadership Gene” – A common mistake that people make, is to confuse this trait with charisma. A CEO must arouse enthusiasm and devotion.
3 – Importance of Culture and the Difficulty in Changing Culture – Some CEO’s create a fun, family culture in their businesses and others opt for a culture of a healthy fear of competition and failure.
4 – “Next Generation” Companies – Top CEO’s must anticipate what the market will need and how their business can fill that need. They need to have vision about what will be needed.
5 – “Implement Best Idea” – Some people must take credit for all good ideas. These CEO’s realized that a good idea should be utilized, no matter who originated the idea.
6 – Advance Leadership Body of Knowledge – These men understood the knowledge of a leader should always increase and improve their performance.
Focus Your Business Around the Customer
Michael Dell was a Fortune 500 CEO at 27. He realized any product needed to fill the customer’s need. His system eliminated the need to stockpile items. Each system is custom built to meet a specific customer’s needs, after the order was placed.
He learned an expensive lesson, when a new product was designed without consulting the public. After this setback, Dell returned to the principle of listening to his customers. They realized a profitable use for the internet was placing orders online. This also collected information from customers and freed employees for other duties. These things help Dell to maintain a competitive edge and rock bottom prices. By eliminating the middleman and inventory, he held prices down and ensured a higher profit. Focusing on the customer and satisfying them multiplied potential profits and made Dell a company to watch and learn from through the years.
Create an Authentic Learning Environment
Imagine being promoted to CEO in an established company and the best move is to totally reorganize the organization? This is the situation that confronted Jack Welch as CEO of GE. To make the situation worse, key vice presidents and thousands of managers didn’t see a problem.
Welch needed a better learning environment to reorganize GE, but his first priority was to cut expenses. The company needed to be financially stable before the education could be implemented. The training would be costly, but the cost would be offset through increased productivity and more effective management of the companies which made up GE.
Welch knew a key source for valuable ideas could be competitors. He encouraged his employees to actively search for ideas in any place. Employees were rewarded for bringing ideas to his attention. New ideas were celebrated within the company and the best were shared in a company newsletter. He felt the employees needed to share information and this enabled them to understand how the company operated and their part in the process.
GE spent billions to train their employees, but their revenues proved this was a worthwhile endeavor. When Welch took over as CEO in 1981, the total market capitalization was $13 billion. While this was a very respectable number, the value in 2000 was an impressive $596 billion.
Focus on Solutions
What if you were chosen as the CEO of a company founded by Thomas Edison. If that isn’t intimidating enough, the previous year the company posted the largest annual loss to date - $8.1 billion. How could one person remedy the problems in that company?
At one time, IBM was the largest computer company. As the CEO, Gerstner’s first priority was to stop the financial bleeding. The last CEO wanted to break up the company, but Gerstner planned to keep the company together. The decision was to expand and make IBM a full service computer company. The existing customer base needed more and the new plan would enable IBM to capitalize on long term and loyal customers by satisfying more of their needs.
Each part of the company needed to be involved in this restructuring and expansion to make it a success. Gerstner also went to the customers and asked for their input. In the past, IBM became arrogant about their business position. They developed the mindset that they didn’t need to study their competitors or talk to their customers to maintain their position.
Gerstner turned to Jack Welch for help. He “shocked” the company into understanding the situation by cutting expenses by $1.5 billion in six months. The original idea was to sell products, but under Gerstner, they needed to provide solutions. One of Gerstner’s primary goals was to increase research and development. The researchers put their emphasis on finding and creating ways to solve their customer’s problems.
Prepare the Organization for Drastic Change
Intel developed and manufactured microchips. They discovered that limitless information could be stored without needing more space, the potential was limitless. But, a Japanese company found the same answer and could make the chips cheaper. This shook Intel’s foothold on the market. It took three long years, but Intel bounced back. They shifted from microchips to microprocessors and regained their footing in the industry. This decision by Andy Grove put the company in a profitable position and positioned the company to become a giant in the industry. He viewed the company in a brutally honest way and saw what was needed. It was a drastic answer, but it was what the situation needed. He found this answer by thinking like a person outside the business.
A small defect was found in a chip. He had two possibilities, one was to convince the public it was a small problem or he could replace the part. Grove decided to replace the parts, which cost the company $500,000,000. Andy Grove helped Intel survive several large crises by insisting that there was no place for complacency within the company. Regular meetings with managers help everyone keep an eye on potential problems and deal with many before they become large problems. A healthy fear also needs to be instilled in employees. This will keep them watchful for trends that can harm the company and their future.
Bill Gates became involved in the computer industry at a key time. He was able to get in on the ground floor and build his business while the industry was young. His belief that every employee had something to contribute was a key to forming an idea driven company and that gave an employee the confidence to come to him about the potential of the internet. An employee noticed how Cornell students were using the internet for more than research, and he brought the information back to his employer.
Create a Performance Driven Culture
Airlines were especially hard hit after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Even in these tough times, the CEO for Southwest Airlines showed a profit for three decades. Herb Kelleher’s strategies contributed to that success. Southwest originally flew commuter routes in Texas and grew into a $5.7 billion business.
There is little conventional thinking at Southwest Airlines. These ideas begin with the low pricing structure and include the policy of no assigned seats. The overall attitude creates an incredible loyalty among employees. In 2000, fuel prices that had tripled and that could threaten the company. Each employee found ways to save $5 a day, in 6 weeks they saved $2 million.
The company hiring policies are a little unorthodox, but people’s attitudes play a big part in their hiring decision. The attitudes they want include: “cheerfulness, optimism, decision-making ability, team spirit, communication, self-confidence and self starter skills.” Kelleher told his people to focus on service and pleasing the customer. He believed if you give excellent service and satisfy the customer, profits will follow.
Learn from Competitors, but Remain Faithful to the Vision
Sam Walton started with a small retail store and created a mega store. He had a trial and error process, but he learned from each mistake and continued to make changes throughout the years. He admitted that he “borrowed” ideas from competitors. He kept an eye on their product selection, prices, customers and service. Walton understood to keep an eye on the competition and to learn from them.
Many people have a hard time comprehending Walton’s most prevalent idea – the belief that lower prices bring higher profits. He bought products at very low prices because he bought in such bulk. Then he sold more than others and the profit grew. Look down the aisles of your local Wal-Mart. Most products are represented on the shelves, but there are only a couple of types of each product. Limiting the depth of selection gave Walton a wide breadth of products.
Summary
What common threads are seen with these seven CEO’s? Each one knew customers were a key to their success. They needed to supply a product the customer wanted and to do it better than their competitors. To do this, they needed to study their competition, use good ideas and improve on the bad ideas. These men knew a good idea was important, no matter where it originated. Many rewarded their employees for sharing good ideas and didn’t penalize bad ideas. The CEO’s acknowledged some of the best ideas came from employees.
Through the “CEO Quotient” questions in each chapter and practical examples, each CEO or small business owner can find invaluable tips. Even if you have heard the idea before, these men may procide a different slant on it that would benefit you and your business to reach heights you didn’t think was possible.
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