A Long Overdue Recruiter's Rant - Part 2

Following on last Friday's rant, here are some case study examples to give you some insight, perhaps you can relate to my experience, or perhaps you can avoid making the same fatal mistakes as a job seeker:

CASE 1: CAN YOU ENDORSE ME?

This guy, we will call him Super Senior, So Super Senior here, sends me an invitation to connect, on October 12th, 2011, I accepted, since his profile was smart enough, and I do regularly get clients within the IT industry, and Super Senior does actually work at a Super company that I personally admire. you never know when you're going to need to consult with or recruit a Super Senior. Anyhow, Early this month, our Super Senior boy here, sends me a CAN YOU ENDORSE ME? request on LinkedIn.

The Facts again: I never met Super Senior in person, I never exchanged emails with Super Senior, I never worked with Super Senior online or offline. Yet here he was, 8 weeks later, asking for an endorsement. I mean he has presented his case and request so brilliantly, how can I refuse? so here is my Endorsement just for you Super Senior:

Super Senior Boy, is very easy going, and builds relationships quickly with total strangers, he's an asset to any team, for he's a senior process associate, way ahead of his peers, his unique Senior processing skills allow him to eliminate the natural and lengthy course of building any business relationship, he believes strongly in building trust in a matter of weeks, with minimal interaction, he is well known to cut to the chase . a go-getter and nothing will stand in his way!

Now, Do you really want to be that guy? 

Please, a pretty please decorated with dandelions, choose carefully whom you request an endorsement from.

DO Request Endorsements from:

• People you know well.
• People you worked with (colleagues, bosses, supervisors and clients)
• People you trust to be fair and have integrity. 
• People who are not family or friends.

CASE 2: GET ME A JOB, that's an order

This brilliant project manager, is polite, he uses the word PLEASE. The fact that he is currently working in a limited liability company in Dubai is qualification enough to get him any job, NO?. 

At least other job seekers, might add another line referring to their LinkedIn profile, or include a little introductory paragraph of what they can do and what they are looking for in a job, some might offer to send their CV.

Note dear reader, that both cases occurred on the same day, and that's just from LinkedIn, my business email and Gmail are another story altogether.

In a trivia survey years ago, that a colleague sent me, I answered a question of what is your favorite sport? my answer was watching my inbox download. Seriously, you never know what to expect! 

Am quite fond of emails that have NO subject, no email body, and attachment titled mycv.xxx , CV1.xxx, or CV[1].xxx.  Yaaay for me, a guessing game!

I especially like job seekers with a great sense of personal branding: the attachment will hold their name! WOW! just their name blows me away, how can I pass such a resourceful and talented candidate?  I want to hire them on the spot! At least that's what they think.

Yes, some actually do have something in the email body, some of what I see daily in my mailboxes :

see my CV

I am looking for job, attached is my cv

Please find the attachment word file

Dear Sir, Please attached my cv for any suitable jobs

Just brilliant! sometimes, I do open the attachments when I have the time, and actually have a job order to fill, and to my surprise, the majority of those people are not entry level or fresh graduates, many of them have years of experience and at least a certification of some sorts or a post-graduate degree! (sometimes PhDs even)

Dear Job Seeker, 

If you have the wits to attain any degree beyond high-school, then it is expected that you know how to apply for jobs properly, it is expected that you introduce yourself adequately and clearly, it is expected that you do your homework before you apply for any job. Be professional, be creative, encourage us recruiters and hiring managers to be interested to at least to review your application. That's the first step, and a very important step for you, that's what you need to worry about. Don't worry about us, we know how to find the people we need, we don't really rely on unsolicited applications, but if that's what you want to do, you really have to stand out (get short-listed, that's your second step), and make us want to interview you, (that's the third step). 

regards,

a concerned recruiter

P.S. Don't get me started on your un-professionally sound email address. 

Pinky19xx@domain.com

theman@domain.com

sexylady@domain.com
cdght.dgfdfj@domain.com
smartboy@domain.com
....
....
....
the list is a mile long

The moral of the story is, use your real name as your professional email, show confidence in who you are, there is no need to show how sexy, clever, mysterious and unreliable you are when creating your professional email address! AND

Don't use another person's email to apply, always use your own. 

Read  A Long Overdue Recruiter's Rant - Part 1

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your feedback is appreciated, 

A Long Overdue Recruiter's Rant - Part 1

(a WARNING: this is a rant of the recruiter in me, Technical Writer mode is switched OFF at the moment of RANTING)

Dear Job Seeker,

Yes, am a recruitment consultant, I cater to hiring managers and their companies.
Yes, I can give you free advice on how to improve your resume. 
Yes, I may know someone "in" the company you want to work for...
Yes, I can coach you and help you prepare for interviews...and plan your career path
Yes, do send me your CV or resume, I'd love to see it in case a match comes up

NO, I will not recommend you, just because you are in any one of my social media networks, DO I KNOW YOU? I cannot recommend you and endorse you on LINKEDIN or write a recommendation letter of any type, if I haven't worked with you! I cannot attest to your character if we never met in person and never had a long-term social or business relationship.

NO, I will not write your resume / CV / profile if you don't hire me, neither expect any of my recruiter colleagues to do so, this is what we do for a living, not for charity. 

NO, I don't influence hiring decisions in companies or the hiring managers there who are not my clients! even if I know them. You see, I get paid by the client and not you my dear job seeker, as most of my fellow recruiters do. Even then, and even if I have hiring decision making power in most cases, all that I can do is recommend you based on your passing your interview evaluation with me. After-all, I'd be recruiting on behalf of the client.

NO, Don't email your CV with no cover letter what so ever! It doesn't have to be something fancy, or another attached file for that matter, just write a short paragraph (5 - 8 sentences long):

• introduce yourself, 
• tell us what position(s) your are applying for or are interested in
• give us a reason to open and read your resume
• distinguish yourself from the tens and hundreds of applications we receive daily
• make sure you have your correct contact information on your resume and in the body of your email too (add it after your signature)
• Give us something to work with for your sake!

Again NO, recruitment consultants don't run  charities; money is on the clock, yes we want to help, but for us to spend hours on hours working with you on your career or interview skills without compensation is not something we do if the client is paying us to find them the right candidates. 

There are specialized recruiters that will work with you, to develop your career and help you with leads to job opportunities; and yes, you have to pay them a percentage of your annual salary or a retainer. Seek them out, Unfortunately for you am not that kind of recruiter, but; ...if you want my help you can hire me as your career coach, but you really got to invest time and money in yourself and actually do most of the work yourself. You see, if you don't then after you are hired, this is what will happen YOU'LL GET FIRED eventually! and that's not good for either one of us! don't you agree?

We really want to hire people, and do our best to review all applicants, but can you please, a pretty please decorated with dandelions, can you just use the reference code we asked you to use in the subject line for any advertised vacancy? 

After going through hundreds of applications each day, we may as well, just overlook you because you already have demonstrated that you lack certain important skills, you didn't pay attention to details and you are unable for the life of your CAREER follow simple straightforward directions. You already have lost our attention, and probably would be moved to the Dump file, instead of getting shortlisted for second screening.

It is in the second screening mostly that a decision to call you in for an interview is made. SO please, a pretty please decorated with dandelions, Pay attention to details and follow instructions. 

If you don't meet  50% - 80% of the job requirements, please try and explain why you think you'd be the right candidate for the job? We really want to know what makes you the right choice. If you don't even meet 50% of job requirements, then, don't apply. Seriously, don't bother, because we won't!

please, a pretty please decorated with dandelions, help us help you

if you liked this post do leave a comment 

your feedback is appreciated, 

The Most Crowded Marketplace Of All - A guest post by Paul Andrew

Paul Andrew Founder of The Leadership Coach™

I have always pursued the ideal that if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well.

As I’ve worked with leaders around the world, I have discovered that mindset is not only a more satisfying way to live but it’s also a hallmark of those who rise above their competition.

The most crowded marketplace of all is mediocrity.

Think of your own industry. How many leading companies or organisations are there that have clearly risen above the crowd? And by comparison, how many of the “mediocre masses” are there? The eagles have a different experience of this world than the pigeons.

So here are a few exits on the highway to mediocrity that you might consider if you long to escape the throng-

1. Do less.

Thin out how much you do… in order to do what you do with excellence. Hold three events not ten. Offer two services instead of seven. Creativity is as much about what you leave out as what you leave in. And often doing too many things is the enemy of doing the most important things with excellence. Often, but not always…

2. Do more.

At the risk of contradicting myself, sometimes the answer is to do more. Go beyond what others offer. Market research would have told Ford and Jobs that people just wanted faster horses and smaller phones. Instead they gave them something more, something they didn’t even know they needed until they experienced what “more” looked like in the automobile and the iPhone.

3. Do it differently.

There’s a wine shop in my neighbourhood that I like. They’re not the closest, the largest or the cheapest. But they do something their competitors don’t- they get out from behind the counter and talk about their wines. They make it fun and educational without making customers feel inferior. Remember that whether you’re selling a product or a service, you’re really selling an experience. So do it differently.

So if you’re ready for the air up there, scorn mediocrity and ask yourself, “How could we do less, do more or do it differently?”

------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Andrew is Founder of The Leadership Coach™
He is a Keynote Speaker and Management Consultant based in New York

LinkedIn Company Pages - Update Your Company Status

LinkedIn just announced a  new feature for Company Pages—"Status Updates".  What a brilliant idea! You can now, engage your audience with Company Status updates, which will allow you to:

• Post updates directly from your company overview page.
• Share company announcements, product releases, promotions, and other news.
• Engage directly with your followers and possibly their entire network.
• Optimize the conversation by seeing which updates are most engaging.

Updates can only be made by company "Administrators" when the Company Page is set to "Designated Admins Only". And make sure that your News Module is set to Show news about my company, (you can see the News Module by clicking on the Admin Tools - a blue drop down menu - choose EDIT, the New Module feature is located at the bottom of your page), otherwise, the Company Status update field won't show on your company overview page; and you won't be able to post any company updates.

For more information go to LinkedIn's Company Status Updates

Taking my own advice - a moment of truth

This October is indeed a very busy month for me and my company! Although the business is doing well considering the multitude of challenges I had to face since Decapolis Consulting's inception; from financing to buying out a partner, from building my teams to networking, from acquiring new clients and retaining existing clients - I haven’t  been able to meet all of my goals as well as I could have.


As this month marks Decapolis Consulting one year anniversary in business, and since business has been slow for quite some time now, and in a moment of truth; I have decided earlier this month to hire myself and my team to conduct a Current Situation Analysis, to figure out why we haven’t met our set goals.

Our findings were surprisingly simple, yet crucial. Which I will share with you in a moment, after I shed some light on the background dynamics that led to my decision to hire our very own services.

As I said earlier, business has been slow for quite some time, and I found myself with some free time, so last May I joined Mowgli Foundation as a mentor, gave out free coaching packages to a number of individuals, and I just recently volunteered with Injaz’s Company Program.  The experience of volunteering and  helping others is its own reward. But I was pleasantly surprised that I have gained a lot too!  The insight into my own self and into my business alone which came through my involvement with Mowgli Foundation and the wonderful people I met through the program, is priceless. I started asking myself questions like what is my story?  What is my company’s story? Where am I going with the business?  What am I missing?

Questions that every entrepreneur should ask themselves, but sometimes just get too caught up with building and operating day-to-day business that we miss paying attention to the big picture, we forget our story, or worse yet we get emotionally attached to our story. 

I directed my team to be objective in their analysis, and to be emotionally detached upon making recommendations. It wasn’t easy, but we managed.

As simple as the reasons were, the result recommendations were brutal. They were brutal because we were very emotionally attached to the original story. You see, circumstances have changed; mainly due to the dissolving of partnership and incurred additional financial commitments as a natural result of buying out a partner. We went from a partnership to a sole proprietorship, but our message and story didn't change, and we realized that potential clients were confused and overwhelmed with our many offerings that didn't seem to tie well together in light of our new situation. Our story was amiss and a mess!

Our own recommendations for ourselves can also benefit all entrepreneurs who find themselves a bit too emotionally attached to their startups:

1.     FOCUS and Niche Our Story

2.     Modify and Restructure our services to fit our target niche

3.  Redo our business & marketing plans to align with our new modified business

4.  And as a result of all of that, the company profile, website and other promotional content will be rewritten.

5.  Add to the team: starting with hiring (aggressive) marketing and sales professionals for each service line; adding more consultants to our support teams. (yes we are hiring)

6. Put in place a new Action Plan with SMART goals with emphasis on measurable and objective evaluation mechanisms.

Taking our own advice,  we have decided that Decapolis Consulting will Focus on providing management support services and consultancy to SMEs and we will continue to support other consulting firms as their backhaul support kitchens.

We are currently restructuring our offered service lines and some lines will be discontinued altogether. The next step remains to present our recreated story through our website and promotional material. So stay tuned, as we would love to have your feedback!

To Err is Human

Allow yourself to make mistakes and learn from them. Be your own best friend, support yourself when things go wrong. Listen to what you say to yourself. Watch out for the negatives, for when you knock yourself back.

Give yourself a break. Accept when you have given something your best shot. If you didn't succeed this time, so what, have another go. Work out why you went wrong and what you need to do to succeed next time. Allow yourself time to build skills.

My Top Four Social Networks - and how I relate to each

Am probably on 100+ of social and professional networks that I can't even remember joining. The ones I kept on using are the ones that provided the most value to me personally and professionally one way or the other. I still use about a dozen other professional and niche networks, but am not talking about those today.

This post is about the social networks I love using the most and use almost on a daily basis; which are Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Despite the many similar features, I find each network is unique; in how I use it and what it means to me.

Twitter, I find provides a window to the world, or one big social event that never ends; from news to gossip, music & videos, intelligent and not so intelligent conversations, and I just love the topic focused chats. Twitter offers great two way exposure.  About 40% of my coaching clients found me on Twitter. 

LinkedIn, is brilliant in every possible way, professional and very useful, great for brainstorming ideas and sales leads. Groups, InMail and LinkedIn Today; well I just love. LinkedIn results in about 60% of my Consulting business, and 50% of that are of clients initiating first contact! 

Google Plus, well you just got to love the clean and simple layout. Google+ is where I learn about things and meet great people of brilliant minds. Hangouts are super cool, I've even used them for business meetings and coaching sessions. Though I found that most people are more comfortable having those over Skype. Circles make me happy, and Sparks I enjoy. Google+ to me is more about the people.

Facebook, well, its FACEbook, it's an interactive  family album and a school yearbook that updates me on what every family member, classmate and friend are all doing, playing and Liking. A little bit more personal than professional for me. Facebook Ads I found great for generating Page LIKES and creating traffic to outside links, that's about it. But Pages I like, more than Groups. Feel free to visit my pages. Coach Ghada Facebook Page  , Decapolis Consulting Facebook Page go ahead and LIKE them! 

Now concerning privacy issues on all social networks, most of posts and updates are PUBLIC, Facebook is where I pay more attention to privacy settings since the family and friends are almost all addicted to posting pictures almost instantaneously; and for the occasional awkward shared joke or link.

My personal Advice about privacy online, applies to the same advice I give about writing: if you don't want people to find about it, don't write it! simply don't put into writing anything that might come back one day and bite you!

With constant privacy policy and layout changes on any given social network, you just can't be sure! So, if you don't want people to find about it, JUST don't write it, don't post it, don't upload it. don't share it, don't tweet it, or even like or plus it.

The cat always gets out.

I had someone ask me yesterday whether they should be writing follow up letters to sales leads. My answer was Absolutely! And I shared with them this article for Stacie Heeaps which am sharing with you here. Hope you find it as useful as I do!

Write Effective Follow-up Letters

By Stacie Heaps

Follow-up letters can be very important to help you accomplish what you want or need to. For one thing, follow-up letters show to the recipient of the letter your interest in a particular subject or position or your dedication to a responsibility or cause. Furthermore, when written correctly, follow-up letters can be effective tools in helping or ensuring that important tasks get done.  

Purposes of Follow-up Letters

Follow-up letters are written for a wide variety of reasons, but they are most often written for one of four main purposes:

·       Provide further information and show continued interest after an interview.

·       Recap important points or decisions made at a meeting, seminar, workshop, etc.

·       Reiterate the benefits of a product or service, or demonstrate continued interest in a client or potential customer by announcing a special offer.

·       Remind readers of an upcoming meeting or other important event.

8 Tips for Writing Effective Follow-up Letters

1.     Send your follow-up letter promptly, especially after an interview (usually within 24 hours; 48 hours at the most).

2.     Indicate to the recipient of the letter whether or not you need a response, and specify how the person can respond to you: via phone, e-mail, in person, or by mail.

3.     Send reminders about meetings and appointments well in advance so that the recipient has sufficient time to prepare or fulfill assignments. You may send other reminders as the need arises. The message of your letter should be brief and clearly stated to avoid misunderstandings.

4.     Take advantage of follow-up letters to reiterate the positive aspects of your service or product, and gently urge your client or potential customer to take the next step in negotiating a sale. If the reader has already expressed interest in your business, give a firm sales pitch. Highlight the benefits of your product or service, but don't push too hard.

5.     Don't duplicate previous sales pitches, but offer something new, such as more information or a special discount.

6.     When following up after an interview, indicate that you are willing to provide additional information or references (if applicable).

7.     If you do not receive a response from an initial follow-up letter, you may want to write a second letter. Include a copy of the previous follow-up letter with your new one, or repeat the message. Reiterate the importance of receiving a response.

8.     Avoid negative remarks. If you do not receive a response after a first letter, do not imply in later letters that the reader is forgetful, thoughtless, or negligent, as this will likely make him or her feel defensive. Showing your frustration will usually make the situation worse.

  

Follow-up Letter after an Interview

When writing a follow-up letter after an interview, you should:

Thank the interviewer and briefly remind him or her of your name and qualifications.

Reiterate your interest in the position.

Add important information that did not come up during the interview.

Remind the interviewer of some aspect of the interview that went well, briefly elaborate on an idea brought up in the interview, or work to repair any damage that may have been done during the meeting.

Send information the employer may have asked you to provide during the interview.

Send the follow-up letter within 24 hours. Sending a follow-up letter will show that you are courteous and professional, and it will give you an edge over job applicants who do not send thank-you or follow-up letters (many do not).

Follow-up Letter to Recap Important Information

Send a follow-up letter after a meeting or other occasion in order to:

Remind individuals who attended a meeting of the decisions and assignments that were made (this can help to move the work along).

Reiterate important ideas that were shared.

Promote further discussion and collaboration.

Follow-up Letter to Reiterate Benefits or Announce a Special Offer

Writing follow-up letters to customers allows you to:

Establish or renew a relationship with a current or potential customer.

Remind a client or potential customer of your continued willingness to serve him or her.

Emphasize the advantages of doing business with your company, and propose a course of action that the customer can take.

Thank a customer or announce a special sale or limited-time offer.

Keep your company's name before the customer, and reinforce the impression that you are a good person to do business with.

Follow-up Letter to Remind Readers of Important Events

By sending a follow-up letter, you are able to:

Include reminders about upcoming meetings or appointments.

Include in the letter the date, time, and location of the event, along with any other important information that the reader may need to know before attending.

Business Strategy - How To Become A Strategic Thinker In 10 Exercises?

Business Strategy - How To Become A Strategic Thinker In 10 Exercises? Strategic thinking is a very important skill for every business person. The best way to master this skill is to do a series of exercises, that will help you understand how to be a strategic thinker. I is very important to follow this exercises step by step. It will help you train your mind for success.
Exercise 1, the game theory.
Take a sheet of paper and write down everything that you have to work with. How much capital do you have? How much you can spend? Do you have any products or content? How much value can you provide for your costumers? Do you have any other assets, like an email list? You have to know every piece of your business. Thinks of your business as the game and the end result to win the game is making money. Everything you wrote on a sheet of paper are pieces of the game. Put them together and think how you can be better.
Exercise 2, of strengths and weaknesses.
Write down all your strengths and weaknesses. Be really honest with yourself. When it comes to business, you have to really think about what are your strengths and weaknesses. Are you a really technical person? Are you a good copywriter? Are you good at graphic design or is that a weakness. You really need to verify strategically what you are good at, or you need help with something. This goes along with creating strategy for running your business and making money.
Exercise 3, of your likes and dislikes.
It's simple. Write down every thing that you like or dislike about running your business. Maybe you don't like to do certain stuff. Maybe you don't like to write articles or create content. It is a big deal for you to maintain your happiness and do what you want to do. The happier you are, the more fun your having the better it is for you and your success. This way you will spend your time more creatively.
Exercise 4, outsourcing.
Now you know what you like to do, but things you don't like to do still need to be done. Now write down all the repeating tasks in your business. Then determine which ones you don't have to do. You will find out that some things can be done by someone else so you can have more time for creative business ideas. Your time is most valuable limited resource there is. Any time you can buy yourself more time you will make more money. So why not pay a little bit of money to somebody who will do certain tasks for you. You can find a lot of people on the online who are willing to do your tasks. Outsourcing is always a smart investment.
Exercise 5, practicing abundance.
It's very important to ask yourself if you are abundant minded or scarcity minded? Which one are you? There is an abundant source of supply and by that I mean costumers, money, resources or in one simple word everything. This is how you should think about. If your competitor asks you to promote his product, don't say no or think that he might steal your costumers this way. You have to think like this. I don't mind helping you because I know this will benefit me in the future and all the good I did for you will come back to me. Abundant thinking will also help you improve relationships with your partners, clients or competitors. This is a very important exercise, go and apply it in your business.
Exercise 6, grow your assets.
This is something you always have to think about. No matter what you do you always have to be focused about growing your assets from week to week. Assets are things of lasting value and they get more valuable as they grow. A very good example in an online business is an opt-in email list. Bigger list, bigger value as an asset. Bigger asset can produce more money for your business. Another asset can be content. The more content you create better chance you have people finding it and buying your product. Your knowledge and skills are also important assets. The better knowledge and skills you have, the better value you can provide to your costumers. Focus on this and you will get better results.
Exercise 7, have a singular focus.
Take a moment and write down all the opportunities you are currently thinking about pursuing. Then choose only one to work on. Pick the one that has the most promise or the one that can make you money the fastest or one that you like the best. It doesn't matter you choose. If you do multiple projects at the same time you will burn out and fail. You will get distracted and won't complete your projects. Focus on one thing, complete it and make some money then pick another opportunity. If you want to be a good strategic thinker you must have a singular focus. I have seen a lot of entrepreneurs fail because they wanted to pursue many opportunities at the same time. I am sure you heard the phrase it is better to do one thing great than ten things fair.
Exercise 8, action to acquire method.
Think of something specific that you want to buy in the bear future and focus on building a plan to acquire it. It can be anything that can help your business, something small or something big. It can be a new laptop or a new car, whatever you need. Visualize it first and build a plan how you will get it. Smart strategic move would be to run a special offer to raise the money you need. A lot of marketers do this to raise money for a charity or anything they need in their life or business. Don't be afraid to do the same. It is a good strategic move and it works. Remember, be specific. Know what you want and how much money you need to get it. It will change your thinking and your progress.
Exercise 9, fail first.
Don't be afraid to fail. Strategically this is a positive thing so you can get the results that you can use to improve your business. If you fail, never quit, use it for improving your business and get better every day. If you do this success will knock on your door. Important thing is to take action and get that first result so you know how you can improve. If you get good results, there is always room to improve. You can always tweak it and get better so you can get even better results. Get results fast and get better. It is that simple.
Exercise 10, build simple models.
Write down the major components of your business that you could define structured model for. In other words write down some big parts in your business that you do every day. Stuff that make your business work. For example if you are doing pay per click to drive traffic to your website, you should define a model for your pay per click campaigns. If something works for you, stick to it. Build a model and be better. Build models in advanced. That will save you a lot of time when you have to decide which direction you will go in your business. Making decisions in advance will speed up the whole process. It will make things easier for you as an entrepreneur. This will help you make more progress. If you write articles all the time, then you need to structure a model for creating your articles. Break down components and regulate decisions in your model. What decisions you have to make for writing articles. Think about it. The title, the keywords, the writing itself, the resource box and so on. That will provide you with more information and solutions for your model.
Use this exercises to become a strategic thinker and to improve your business. After you do this exercises you will get a better vision of what you want from your business or your life. First you need to change your thinking to get that money mindset that will bring you great results. I know you want it all you have to do is apply it.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6073408

http://ezinearticles.com/?Business-Strategy---How-To-Become-A-Strategic-Thinker-In-10-Exercises?&id=6073408

Full List - The 25 Most Influential Business Management Books - TIME

Full List - The 25 Most Influential Business Management Books - TIME

There's never a shortage of new books about how to be more effective in business. Most of them are forgettable, but here are 25 that changed the way we think about management — from the iconic "How to Win Friends and Influence People" to groundbreaking tomes like "Guerilla Marketing" and quick reads like the "The One Minute Manager".

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2086680,00.html#ixzz1UkcyfN8y

The Monica Bird, Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her... - StumbleUpon

The Monica Bird, Date a girl who reads.

"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilightseries.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes."

What is Life - The Essence of Success in Life

 A story I always loved, appreciate life for what it is

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to hot coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in han d, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

What all of you really wanted was coffee, ! not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups.

"Now if life is coffee , then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change. Some times, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

So folks, don't let the cups drive you..., enjoy the coffee instead.