April 17, 2009 • 8:17 am 1
Came across a review of a book that looks very promising. “Igniting The Third Factor” by Dr. Peter Jensen. Peter has worked with Fortune 500 companies in 8 countries to enhance performance. He has coached star athletes at the Olympics as well as business leaders across industries. He is the Founder of one of Canada’s premier training companies- Performance Coaching Inc.
Filed under: Books and Authors, Executive Coaching, People , Dr Peter Jensen, Executive Coaching, people development
April 12, 2009 • 9:37 pm 0
Some books have hit the market decisively and spawned a series of me toos. One such book published first in May 1992 was ” Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus ” by Dr. John Gray. He has been called the best selling relationship author of all time. This book was on the bestseller list of the New York Times for more than six years! More than 40 million books were sold in 45 languages all over the world.
Filed under: Books and Authors, Executive Coaching, People , Dr John Gray, Executive Coaching, relationship coaching
April 1, 2009 • 1:53 pm 0
Marshall Goldsmith is one of the world’s most renowned executive coaches. His recent book ” What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” speaks of what it takes to become successful in today’s business world. Goldsmith argues that approaches that guaranteed success till now, need not necessarily guarantee success from now on!
Filed under: Books and Authors, Executive Coaching , Executive Coaching, habits, Marshall Goldsmith
February 14, 2009 • 9:17 am 13
If you are a fan of P G Wodehouse, join the new network I have created at Ning called ” Celebrating Wodehouse”. To me he remains my biggest stress buster! Every one has their special way to relieve stress. For some active physical exercise does the trick. For others it’s listening to music. To each his own, in a manner of speaking.
Filed under: Books and Authors, People , humor, P G Wodehouse, Stress
December 21, 2008 • 7:46 am 0
Many subjects have created waves in our quest to learn who we are and why we behave the way we do. One such subject which continues to fascinate people is that of Body Language- the science of studying non-verbal communication. It is one of the most important aspects of communication and fashions interpersonal relationships.
Filed under: Books and Authors, Communication , body language, Communication, Julius Fast
December 8, 2008 • 9:39 pm 1
Many books are released in India these days. Some good, some bad, others indifferent. Few of them have received as much publicity as Nandan Nilekani’s “Imagining India”. The expectations of the book were very high- particularly considering the profile of the author. After all, he is the Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of Infosys, one of India’s largest IT companies. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Books and Authors , "Imagining India", Indian Economy, Nandan Nilekani
September 18, 2008 • 3:42 pm 0
We live in an era of instant gratification. Everything we want needs to be given us. Now. At the same time the world around us is changing rapidly. What was effective yesterday, doesn’t seem to necessarily work today. In this milieu, amongst a myriad of self -help books, one that stands out in my mind is a slim volume by Denis Waitley called “Empires Of The Mind ” As the blurb says it contains ” Lessons to lead and succeed in a Knowledge-based world”.
Filed under: A Step A Day, Books and Authors , A Step A Day, Books and Authors, Denis Waitley
December 20, 2007 • 2:51 am 1
Enjoyed “John Wright’ s Indian Summers” written by John Wright with Sharda Ugra & Paul Thomas. Wright was the first foreign coach of India’s cricket team. His appointment set to rest, although temporarily, the Indian vs. foreign coach issue.
I was impressed by Wright’s professionalism. He brought a lot of passion to his role as India’s cricket coach. A job, he quickly found out, which was more in the limelight than he would ever have imagined.
At the end of the day, the team did prosper under his regime. With Ganguly as the aggressive captain and Wright as the sobering influence, India did much better than in past years. Amongst other achievements, they reached the final of the 2003 World Cup.
Here is BBC Sports assessment of his tenure as coach. India left on the Wright track.
I believe Wright did a lot of good for Indian cricket. If he is to be believed, before he took charge, “nets” was a leisurely affair where porters brought out the kits of the players and they condescended to bat after having pots of tea and sandwiches.
The book has some interesting stories: How communication is vital in the game. How Rahul Dravid declared when Tendulkar was on 194 in a Test against Pakistan. How Wright himself lost his temper and caught Sehwag by the collar when he had once again thrown away his wicket, the machinations behind the selection process, the heyday of Jagmohan Dalmia, the changing complexion of the game and status of the players thanks to television and big time sponsors. The game – and the new found stars- changed for ever.
All in all a good read, if you -like me-enjoy cricket and follow the fortunes of the Indian cricket team.
John Wright is right in all his observations on Indian cricket. In attempting to change the mind set of our players, and in getting higher leverage for the coach, was Wright wrong?
Filed under: Books and Authors , Indian cricket team, John Wright
December 15, 2007 • 4:25 am 0
Die hard Dilbert fans have something to grieve about. Sadly, Asok the intern is no more.The IIT-educated supergeek with telekinetic powers, who charmed millions of readers across 2000 newspapers in 65 countries for over 11 years with his innocence and geekiness, is no more. He was created by Scott Adams in March 1996, 7 years after Dilbert was launched.
“I am sad to report that Asok the Intern died during a test of our moon shuttle prototype,” cartoon world’s most evil boss announced on Friday. Even in his death, Asok did not ignore the cause of science – “Before he left, he put a sample of his DNA in a jar,” the Pointy-Haired Boss added. “His plan is to reincarnate into his own clone.” That may seem doubtful, though. Carol, the misanthropic secretary, now uses the jar as her second candy storage device.
Although Soctt Admas never mentionesd Asok’s nationality, his education at the Indian Institute of Technology and his love for Hindi songs make his origins self-evident.
In his book Seven Years of Highly Defective People, Adams said why he left out Asok’s nationality: “I only like characters who have huge, gaping character flaws. The world is far too sensitive to let me get away with a highly flawed minority member.”
Adams gave Asok extraordinary powers, though. He had an IQ of 240; he could reheat a cup of tea by holding it to his forehead while thinking of fire; and once, in 2005, he vapourised an obnoxious Texan (sometimes, if he is hungry during meetings, he also steals doughnuts using only his mind). He also had the ability to solve complex problems with a few keystrokes. And yes, he also slept only during national holidays.
RIP, Asok. We’ll miss you.
PS: Considering his origins and geekiness, can we expect a re-incarnated Asok 2.0 in the future?
Filed under: Books and Authors , Asok, Dilbert, Scott Adams
November 27, 2007 • 1:19 pm 2
Just completed ” It Happened in India” written by Kishore Biyani (the man who revolutionised retailing in India) with Dipayan Baishya, a business writer. A very well-written story which gives tremendous insights into what makes an entrepreneur successful.
Kishore Biyani re-wrote the retail script in India. From a position when he was almost looked down upon as a trader who wouldn’t amount to much to his current position as the Group CEO of the rapidly growing Futures Group, he and his companies have come a long way.
“It Happened in India” is interspersed with comments made by various people associated with Biyani from both within and outside his organisation. The book is written in a simple yet effective style and grips the reader. It is described as “the story of Pantaloon, Big Bazaar, Central and the great Indian consumer”.
Right from the time he first started, Biyani showed amazingly accurate perception of the Indian consumer -especially in the retail space. He perhaps understands the psyche of his typical customers more than anybody else. Therein lies the secret of his success.
The Pantaloon chain , headquartered in Mumbai, has grown to operate over 5 million square feet of retail space. It has over 450 stores across 40 cities in India and employs over 18,000 people.
At the heart of the organisation is what Biyani calls the Pantaloon Genes. These precepts are :
As is said in the book, what we become is a result of the way we think. “Sometimes we a nation of billion people, think like a nation of million people” said former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
Kishore Biyani dared to think big. His story is worthwhile reading not only for entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs but also for those who want to understand the Indian consumer.
Filed under: Books and Authors, Entrepreneurs , Entrepreneurs, India retail, Kishore Biyani
