Retention Strategies

It usually is less expensive and more rewarding to retain top talent than recruit new talent. This has prompted employers to become proactive, and add value to their employees' lifestyles. ESOPs, too is fast losing its charm. Today organizations are providing their employees with vacations to exotic locales, refrigerators filled with goodies in the office, turbo charged cars and massages. Yet the turnover rate is ever increasing.
What employers need to do retain??
# Calculate the turnover cost of every position:
The turnover rate might be higher for profiles like call centre representatives, sales executives and customer care executives. Employees with such profiles are willing to relocate for small hikes in salary. However, the cost of turnover might not be very high. After calculating the turnover cost, organizations need to understand the needs of the employee and address it. Precaution should be taken to see that the cost of retention does not exceed the cost of turnover.
# Identify the process or the job that leads to turnover:
Conduct employee surveys to see if employees are really satisfied with what they are doing or if they can do their jobs in a different way. The company should not be dependent on individuals; instead it should focus on automating functions so that the activities are process driven. This eliminates monotony and makes it easier for employees to focus on improvements.
# Re-assess the recruitment process:
Is your recruitment process good enough for you to gauge your employee's loyalty and commitment, the tenure of each of your senior staff in the company? Companies should proactively look for suitable candidates, with a long-term perspective in mind. Such an approach gives them a chance to get the best on board instead of making a hurried and often incorrect recruitment.
Review performance management and compensation practices: The performance management system should correlate with organizational values, goals, objectives and personal goals. Each of these parameters should also be related to compensation.
# Review training and development activities:
Training to enhance the competency and skills of the employee is always welcomed. However, these must directly impact the job of the employee. If an employer is willing to invest in the development of the employee's skills and expertise, then there are fair chances of his continuing for a longer time. Cross-functional training provides challenge to the employees and combats boredom.
Since, employees are the only assets a company has, it must invest in its employees. After all, it feels good to go home in the evening and not wonder if your employees are going to turn up for work next day.

Tips to make your business writing shine

Do you get irritated reading poorly written e-mails and documents sent by colleagues? I have experienced that, while most professionals are experts in subject matter when it comes to their fields, they rely on methods learnt at school when it comes to writing business messages. As a result, they mistake verbosity for intellect, and quantity for quality. They also ignore the fact that customers and employees today simply do not have time to read poor documents. Here are some simple tips to inject life into your daily business communication:
Keep away from boring phrases
The language of business has changed. The focus now is on clarity and getting the message across quickly. Expressions like 'With reference to our conversation' , 'Please be informed', 'Kindly be advised', 'I would like to bring to your attention' and 'I am writing to advise you' are considered old fashioned. You writing should reflect your personality.
Here are a few alternates you could consider:
~ Replace 'With reference to your email' with 'Thanks for writing to me' ~ Replace 'As discussed in our telecon' with 'Thanks for calling me today'
Don't use jargon
It can get in the way of comprehension. You may often come across messages that leave you confused. This happens when people use difficult words and phrases to impress, rather than to communicate. Keep your sentences short and simple. Make sure your average sentence length is approximately 15 words. You will keep your readers engaged by using simple words. Don't get absorbed in using flowery language. Instead, use language a reader will understand. ~ Replace 'Inspite of the fact that' with 'Despite' ~ Replace 'In view of the fact that' with 'because/since'
Focus on your tone
You can be firm, friendly or persuasive; it depends on the impression you wish to convey. It is important to get the tone right, because using the wrong tone could cause real offence to your reader. Tone in writing refers to the emotional context of your message, the degree of formality or informality you use in your writing, and your attitude towards the subject. Your tone typically conveys -- your position, relationship with the reader and content of your message. Here are a few examples:
Bad tone: This problem would not have occurred if you had connected the wires properly in the first place. Good tone: This problem may be resolved by following the instructions over the phone. Bad tone: You were late in informing us about the faults in the product and your guarantee has expired. Good tone: Unfortunately, we received your complaint after the guarantee expired.
Understand your reader
Business writing is persuasive writing. You will be able to write most persuasively if you know your audience and its expectations, and if you organise your message to address its needs. Before you write, ask yourself these questions about your reader:
How interested or involved in the subject is my reader? How knowledgeable is he or she on the subject? What is my reader's purpose for reading -- to make a decision, or to be better informed? Does my reader have special concerns or strong views about the subject? How does my reader regard me personally and professionally? What is my reader's style of doing business?
Choose fonts diligently
Although the choice of fonts is an issue of personal choice, fonts that look good in print don't always look as good on a computer. Reading information from a screen is easier if you use a font that has been specially designed for on-screen reading. Two such fonts deserve special mention: Georgia and Verdana. These are wider than most fonts and their lower-case letters are quite tall. This adds to their overall readability. A well written message reflects your professionalism and attention to detail. So pay attention to these basics before you send out your next e-mail.

The Fisherman

The American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied "only a little while".
The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish?
The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.
The American then asked, "but what do you do with the rest of your time?"
The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, senor." The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will this all take?" To which the American replied, "15-20 years." "But what then, senor?" The American laughed and said that's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions. "Millions, senor? Then what?" The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar."

Commonly Used Phrases at the Office and... What they really mean!

1. For your information, please. (FYI) Meaning : I don't know what to do with this, so please keep it.

2. Noted and returned. Meaning : I don't know what to do with this, so please keep it little while.

3. Review and comment. Meaning : Do the dirty work so that I can forward it.

4. Action please. Meaning : Get yourself involved for me. Don't worry, I'll claim the credit.

5. For your necessary action. Meaning : It's your headache now.

6. Copy to. Meaning : Here's a share of my headache.

7. For your approval, please. Meaning : Put your neck on the chopping board for me please.

8. Action is being taken. Meaning : Your correspondence is lost and I am trying to locate it.

9. Your letter is receiving our attention. Meaning : I am trying to figure out what you want.

10. Please discuss. Meaning : I don't know what the "****" this is, so please brief me.

11. For your immediate action. Meaning : Do it NOW! Or I will get into serious trouble.

12. Please reply soon. Meaning : Please be efficient. It makes me look inefficient.

13. We are investigating/processing your request with the relevant authorities. Meaning : They are causing the delay, not us.

14. Regards. Meaning : Thanks and bless you for reading all the nonsense.

Pond ! Chipkali ! Railway ! Hairs

Q - In a pond there are 10 fish, one of them dies, and the water level of the pond increases. How?

... scroll...










A - The other 9 fish are crying.................


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Once 5 CHIPKALIs (house lizards) : Phulwa, RaamPyaari, RaamDulari,RaamPuri and RaamChuri were crawling on the wall when all of a sudden, Phulwa started to sing a song. The moment Phulwa stopped singing the song, RaamPyaari,RaamDulari, RaamPuri and RaamChuri fell down from the wall !!!... WHY ???
scroll down for answer. . . . . .. . . .. -
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coz, they all started clapping !!!!
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A railway station beggar meets another beggar. A software engineer meets another software engineer. Both of them ask the same question to each other. What is the question?















"So, which platform are you working on?"



*****************************-************************* Question: Two hairs on a bald man's head fall in love with each other and want to get married, but cannot. Why?



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Ans: Because under Indian laws, "baal vivaah" is illegal.

Rearrange

This has got to be one of the cleverest messages I've received in awhile. Someone out there either has too much spare time or is deadly at Scrabble. (Wait till you see the last one)!

DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE:
When you re arrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS:
When you r rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE

AND FOR THE GRAN D FINALE:

MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER

Things to do when u are (doing nothing) in the office...

If you find it very boring in the office, here are some tips:
1. Form a detective agency to find out who is quitting next.
2. Make blank calls to your Boss.
3. Rearrange the furniture, i.e. flick someone else's chair just to irritate him/her.
4. Watch other people changing their facial ex-pressions while working and try changing your ex-pressions also.
5. Make faces at strangers in office.
6. Have a two hour lunch; it's a big social occasion.
7. Learn to whistle.
8. Practice aiming the coffee cup into the dustbin.
9. Compile "How to waste your day"
10. Pick up phone and dial non-existing nos.
11. Have work breaks in between tea.
12. Count maximum no of applications your computer can open at time.
13. For Win NT/95 users....Move things to Recycle bin and restore them..Then repeat this process.
14. Look at someone & try to imagine how(s) he/she might have looked when(s) he/she was 5 years old.
15. Read jokes and send jokes.

and the most important
16. Make full use of the comfortable chair and table provided and take a nap.

A CEO's challenge

A CEO throwing a party takes his executives on a tour of his opulent mansion. In the back of the property, the CEO has the largest swimming pool any of them has ever seen. The huge pool, however, is filled with hungry alligators. The CEO says to his executives "I think an executive should be measured by courage. Courage is what made me CEO. So this is my challenge to each of you: if anyone has enough courage to dive into the pool, swim through those alligators, and make it to the other side, I will give that person anything they desire. My job, my money, my house, anything!"
Everyone laughs at the outrageous offer and proceeds to follow the CEO on the tour of the estate. Suddenly, they hear a loud splash. Everyone turns around and sees the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) in the pool, swimming for his life. He dodges the alligators left and right and makes it to the edge of the pool with seconds to spare. He pulls himself out just as a huge alligator snaps at his shoes.
The flabbergasted CEO approaches the CFO and says, "You are amazing. I've never seen anything like it in my life. You are brave beyond measure and anything I own is yours. Tell me what I can do for you."
The CFO, panting for breath, looks up and says, "You can tell me who the hell pushed me in the pool!!"

little boy

A little boy wanted Rs.50 very badly and prayed for weeks, but nothing happened. Finally he decided to write God a letter requesting the Rs.50. When the postal authorities received the letter addressed to God, INDIA, they decided to forward it to the President of India as a joke.
The President was so amused, that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy Rs.20. The President thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy, and he did not want to spoil the kid. The little boy was delighted with Rs.20, and decided to write a thank you note to God, which read:
"Dear God: Thank you very much for sending the money. However, I noticed that you sent it through the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, and those donkeys deducted Rs.30 in taxes ...."

Narayan Murthy Lecture at the New York University

N R Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor and Chairman of the Board, Infosys Technologies, delivered a pre-commencement lecture at the New York University (Stern School of Business) on May 9. It is a scintillating speech. Murthy speaks about the lessons he learned from his life and career. We present it for our readers:
Dean Cooley, faculty, staff, distinguished guests, and, most importantly, the graduating class of 2007, it is a great privilege to speak at your commencement ceremonies.
I thank Dean Cooley and Professor Marti Subrahmanyam for their kind invitation. I am exhilarated to be part of such a joyous occasion. Congratulations to you, the class of 2007, on completing an important milestone in your life journey.
After some thought, I have decided to share with you some of my life lessons. I learned these lessons in the context of my early career struggles, a life lived under the influence of sometimes unplanned events which were the crucibles that tempered my character and reshaped my future.
I would like first to share some of these key life events with you, in the hope that these may help you understand my struggles and how chance events and unplanned encounters with influential persons shaped my life and career.
Later, I will share the deeper life lessons that I have learned. My sincere hope is that this sharing will help you see your own trials and tribulations for the hidden blessings they can be.
The first event occurred when I was a graduate student in Control Theory at IIT, Kanpur , in India . At breakfast on a bright Sunday morning in 1968, I had a chance encounter with a famous computer scientist on sabbatical from a well-known U.S. university.
He was discussing exciting new developments in the field of computer science with a large group of students and how such developments would alter our future. He was articulate, passionate and quite convincing. I was hooked. I went straight from breakfast to the library, read four or five papers he had suggested, and left the library determined to study computer science.
Friends, when I look back today at that pivotal meeting, I marvel at how one role model can alter for the better the future of a young student. This experience taught me that valuable advice can sometimes come from an unexpected source, and chance events can sometimes open new doors.
The next event that left an indelible mark on me occurred in 1974. The location: Nis , a border town between former Yugoslavia , now Serbia , and Bulgaria . I was hitchhiking from Paris back to Mysore , India , my home town.
By the time a kind driver dropped me at Nis railway station at 9 p.m. on a Saturday night, the restaurant was closed. So was the bank the next morning, and I could not eat because I had no local money. I slept on the railway platform until 8.30 pm in the night when the Sofia Express pulled in.
The only passengers in my compartment were a girl and a boy. I struck a conversation in French with the young girl. She talked about the travails of living in an iron curtain country, until we were roughly interrupted by some policemen who, I later gathered, were summoned by the young man who thought we were criticizing the communist government of Bulgaria .
The girl was led away; my backpack and sleeping bag were confiscated. I was dragged along the platform into a small 8x8 foot room with a cold stone floor and a hole in one corner by way of toilet facilities. I was held in that bitterly cold room without food or water for over 72 hours.
I had lost all hope of ever seeing the outside world again, when the door opened. I was again dragged out unceremoniously, locked up in the guard's compartment on a departing freight train, and told that I would be released 20 hours later upon reaching Istanbul . The guard's final words still ring in my ears, "You are from a friendly country called India and that is why we are letting you go!"
The journey to Istanbul was lonely, and I was starving. This long, lonely, cold journey forced me to deeply rethink my convictions about Communism. Early on a dark Thursday morning, after being hungry for 108 hours, I was purged of any last vestiges of affinity for the Left.
I concluded that entrepreneurship, resulting in large-scale job creation, was the only viable mechanism for eradicating poverty in societies.
Deep in my heart, I always thank the Bulgarian guards for transforming me from a confused Leftist into a determined, compassionate capitalist! Inevitably, this sequence of events led to the eventual founding of Infosys in 1981.
While these first two events were rather fortuitous, the next two, both concerning the Infosys journey, were more planned and profoundly influenced my career trajectory.
On a chilly Saturday morning in winter 1990, five of the seven founders of Infosys met in our small office in a leafy Bangalore suburb. The decision at hand was the possible sale of Infosys for the enticing sum of $1 million. After nine years of toil in the then business-unfriendly India , we were quite happy at the prospect of seeing at least some money.
ALSO READ: The amazing success story of Infosys
I let my younger colleagues talk about their future plans. Discussions about the travails of our journey thus far and our future challenges went on for about four hours. I had not yet spoken a word.
Finally, it was my turn. I spoke about our journey from a small Mumbai apartment in 1981 that had been beset with many challenges, but also of how I believed we were at the darkest hour before the dawn. I then took an audacious step. If they were all bent upon selling the company, I said, I would buy out all my colleagues, though I did not have a cent in my pocket.
There was a stunned silence in the room. My colleagues wondered aloud about my foolhardiness. But I remained silent. However, after an hour of my arguments, my colleagues changed their minds to my way of thinking. I urged them that if we wanted to create a great company, we should be optimistic and confident. They have more than lived up to their promise of that day.
In the seventeen years since that day, Infosys has grown to revenues in excess of $3.0 billion, a net income of more than $800 million and a market capitalization of more than $28 billion, 28,000 times richer than the offer of $1 million on that day.
In the process, Infosys has created more than 70,000 well-paying jobs, 2,000-plus dollar- millionaires and 20,000-plus rupee millionaires.
A final story: On a hot summer morning in 1995, a Fortune-10 corporation had sequestered all their Indian software vendors, including Infosys, in different rooms at the Taj Residency hotel in Bangalore so that the vendors could not communicate with one another. This customer's propensity for tough negotiations was well-known. Our team was very nervous.
First of all, with revenues of only around $5 million, we were minnows compared to the customer.
Second, this customer contributed fully 25% of our revenues. The loss of this business would potentially devastate our recently-listed company.
Third, the customer's negotiation style was very aggressive. The customer team would go from room to room, get the best terms out of each vendor and then pit one vendor against the other. This went on for several rounds. Our various arguments why a fair price ?-- ?one that allowed us to invest in good people, R&D, infrastructure, technology and training -- was actually in their interest failed to cut any ice with the customer.
By 5 p.m. on the last day, we had to make a decision right on the spot whether to accept the customer's terms or to walk out.
All eyes were on me as I mulled over the decision. I closed my eyes, and reflected upon our journey until then. Through many a tough call, we had always thought about the long-term interests of Infosys. I communicated clearly to the customer team that we could not accept their terms, since it could well lead us to letting them down later. But I promised a smooth, professional transition to a vendor of customer's choice.
This was a turning point for Infosys.
Subsequently, we created a Risk Mitigation Council which ensured that we would never again depend too much on any one client, technology, country, application area or key employee. The crisis was a blessing in disguise. Today, Infosys has a sound de-risking strategy that has stabilized its revenues and profits.
I want to share with you, next, the life lessons these events have taught me.
1. I will begin with the importance of learning from experience . It is less important, I believe, where you start. It is more important how and what you learn. If the quality of the learning is high, the development gradient is steep, and, given time, you can find yourself in a previously unattainable place. I believe the Infosys story is living proof of this.
Learning from experience, however, can be complicated. It can be much more difficult to learn from success than from failure. If we fail, we think carefully about the precise cause. Success can indiscriminately reinforce all our prior actions.
2. A second theme concerns the power of chance events. As I think across a wide variety of settings in my life, I am struck by the incredible role played by the interplay of chance events with intentional choices. While the turning points themselves are indeed often fortuitous, how we respond to them is anything but so. It is this very quality of how we respond systematically to chance events that is crucial.
3. Of course, the mindset one works with is also quite critical. As recent work by the psychologist, Carol Dweck, has shown, it matters greatly whether one believes in ability as inherent or that it can be developed. Put simply, the former view, a fixed mindset, creates a tendency to avoid challenges, to ignore useful negative feedback and leads such people to plateau early and not achieve their full potential.
The latter view, a growth mindset, leads to a tendency to embrace challenges, to learn from criticism and such people reach ever higher levels of achievement (Krakovsky, 2007: page 4
4. The fourth theme is a cornerstone of the Indian spiritual tradition: self-knowledge. Indeed, the highest form of knowledge, it is said, is self- knowledge. I believe this greater awareness and knowledge of oneself is what ultimately helps develop a more grounded belief in oneself, courage, determination, and, above all, humility, all qualities which enable one to wear one's success with dignity and grace.
Based on my life experiences, I can assert that it is this belief in learning from experience, a growth mindset, the power of chance events, and self- reflection that have helped me grow to the present.
Back in the 1960s, the odds of my being in front of you today would have been zero. Yet here I stand before you! With every successive step, the odds kept changing in my favor, and it is these life lessons that made all the difference.
Sub::Life Lessons from N.R. Narayana Murthy My young friends, I would like to end with some words of advice. Do you believe that your future is pre-ordained, and is already set? Or, do you believe that your future is yet to be written and that it will depend upon the sometimes fortuitous events?
Do you believe that these events can provide turning points to which you will respond with your energy and enthusiasm? Do you believe that you will learn from these events and that you will reflect on your setbacks? Do you believe that you will examine your successes with even greater care?
I hope you believe that the future will be shaped by several turning points with great learning opportunities. In fact, this is the path I have walked to much advantage.
A final word: When, one day, you have made your mark on the world, remember that, in the ultimate analysis, we are all mere temporary custodians of the wealth we generate, whether it be financial, intellectual, or emotional. The best use of all your wealth is to share it with those less fortunate.
I believe that we have all at some time eaten the fruit from trees that we did not plant. In the fullness of time, when it is our turn to give, it behooves us in turn to plant gardens that we may never eat the fruit of, which will largely benefit generations to come. I believe this is our sacred responsibility, one that I hope you will shoulder in time.
Thank you for your patience. Go forth and embrace your future with open arms, and pursue enthusiastically your own life journey of discovery!

Top 10 Networking Mistakes

10. Going for one-night stands. Networking is about building long-term relationships. Approach every networking contact as if you will be interacting for years to come. Your attitude will be much different than if you want something from this person and then you'll toss him or her away like a greasy burrito wrapper.

9. Thinking, "It's all about me." If you want to turn people off, talk only about yourself, recite your resume, never ask a question and sell, sell, sell. Networking is about helping, not selling. Networking is about the other person. Get over yourself.

8. Not having a plan. Be clear on what you want to accomplish from each networking opportunity. Have a strategic plan that includes what organizations you'll join, whom you want to contact, how often you'll contact them and how you'll leverage every networking experience.

7. Not leveraging every networking experience. Many think networking is just "meetin' and greetin'." Many think networking is handing out business cards faster than a Las Vegas blackjack dealer. Leveraged networking is taking one opportunity and spinning the heck out of it. For instance, you can just attend an event. Or, you can attend an event and work as a volunteer at the event and introduce the speaker and write an article about the speaker and submit the article to the association or company newsletter, a business or trade journal and send copies of the article to the speaker and offer to send the article to his/her mailing list and send the article to your mailing list and offer to write other articles for people on your mailing list and speak on the article topic and offer a tip sheet on the topic and on and on. Leveraging is a beautiful thing.

6. Not managing networking data. Shoe boxes full of business cards you've collected since 1987 is not an efficient data management system. Think software or even a card file system.

5. Not knowing what you want and what you can give. If someone asks you what you're looking for and you say, "Anything," you'll get nothing. Paint a picture of what you want. Be clear. Be brief. Determine your areas of expertise from technology wizard to gardening guru. Ascertain what information you have that would help your networking partner.

4. Being invisible. Get out of your jammies and into your suit. Get out there. Attend functions. Volunteer. Be an MC. Get interviewed. Write articles. Speak. You have to be seen to be heard. You can't stand out if you're hiding under the covers.

3. Not listening. A few good reasons to listen: You can't learn anything when you're talking. When you listen, you are considered a terrific conversationalist. You don't have to be extroverted if you can come up with a few open-ended questions such as, "What brings your here?" or "How did you get into that field?" You'll be wildly popular because people love to talk about themselves.

2. Not following up. Has anyone ever said to you, "I'll call you" or "Let's do lunch," but they never get back to you? Don't be one of those people. If you want to build long-term relationships, follow up with a note, call, e-mail or any one of the other 99 ways Ms. Susman has written about.

1. Not networking if you have a job or have all the business you can handle. Your network must grow and be maintained as a lifelong career or business strategy. Ask the job-hunting millions who forgot to network during the good times.

Art of Listening

Sixteen Commonsense Listening Tips - By Dr. Tony Alessandra The reason you don't understand me, Edith, is because I'm talkin' to you in English and you're listenin' to me in dingbat!" - Archie Bunker
Archie was right about finding a common language or wavelength, but it takes two to communicate - the speaker and the listener. Both need to make the effort to understand each other. According to a French proverb, "The spoken word belongs half to him that speaks and half to him who hears."
All skills require learned behaviors and rules. The rules for good listening involve basic courtesy, sorely needed by Archie, and common sense. Some of the rules may seem obvious, but it is amazing how many people forget them and unintentionally insult the speaker.
Often, without intending to be rude, your enthusiasm for a subject and your own desire to hear yourself talk cause you to forget courtesy. At other times you may be so involved with your own point of view that you forget to listen to what your client is saying; you just plain stop listening!
So, when conversing with another person, be aware of and practice the following rules:

1. Let others tell their own stories first. When others explain their situations, they may reveal interesting facts and valuable clues that will aid you in helping them solve their problems or satisfy their needs. By letting them speak first, you also save time. When their interests are revealed you can tailor your discussion to their particular needs, goals, and objectives and can dispense with inappropriate conversation.

2. It is impossible to listen and talk at the same time. This basic rule of effective listening is most often broken, especially by Archie Bunker. People anxious to add their own views to the conversation try to interject comments while another person is speaking. They wait for a pause in the conversation and "rapid fire'' their comments at the other person. This interjection of random comments is irritating to the speaker and actually slows the conversation because the initial speaker must dodge the comments and still keep his train of thought. Why not wait until the speaker's point is made? Then you will have your chance.
An enormous benefit of listening to your client is that he may "sell himself." He may solve his own problems or even come up with some product benefits that hadn't occurred to you. In addition, encouraging the client to talk keeps him from feeling pressured into a sale. Building confidence and reducing tension strengthen the trust bond between you and your client.
A client who "sells himself" is likely to be more fully committed and less likely to have "buyer's remorse." He may become a staunch defender of your product, be open-minded in future dealings, and be more likely to listen to you.

3. Listen for the main ideas. Specific facts are only important as they pertain to the main theme. They can cause misinterpretation if taken out of context. Relate stated facts to the arguments of the speaker and weigh the verbal evidence used. Take advantage of the superior speed of thought over words and periodically review a portion of the discussion that has already been completed.
A good listener also tries to guess the points the speaker will make. Ask yourself: "What is the speaker getting at?" or "What is his point?" Then get feedback. If you guess correctly, your understanding is enhanced, and your attention is increased. If you are incorrect, you learn from your mistake.

4. Be sensitive to your emotional deaf spots. Deaf spots are words that make your mind wander or go off on a mental tangent. They set off a chain reaction that produces a mental barrier in your mind, which in turn inhibits the continued flow of the speaker's message. Everyone is affected by certain words so it is important to discover your own individual stumbling blocks and analyze why these words have such a profound effect on you.

5. Fight off distractions. Train yourself to listen carefully to your customer's words, despite such external distractions as a ringing telephone, passersby, or other office noise. Localized distractions, such as the idiosyncrasies of the speaker, may also be irritating, but make a conscious attempt to judge the content of the message - not the delivery.
Focus your attention on the words, ideas, feelings, and underlying intent. Through practice you can improve your power of concentration, so that you can block out external and internal distractions and attend totally to the speaker.

6. Do not trust to memory certain data that may be important. Take brief notes because listening ability is impaired while you are writing. Remember - you cannot effectively do two things at the same time. Write notes in words and phrases rather than complete thoughts. All you need is something to jog your memory later in the day, and then you can recall the complete content of the message. Read your notes as soon as possible to make sure you understand what you put down on paper and always review them before subsequent contact with your clients.

7. React to the message, not the person. Don't allow your mental impression of the speaker to influence your interpretation of his message. Good thoughts, concepts, and arguments can come from some of your least favorite people. George Jefferson planted the seeds of many ideas in Archie's fertile imagination.

8. Try to appreciate the emotion behind the words (vocal and visual messages) more than the literal meaning of the words.
Try to ask yourself these questļons when another person is speaking: a. What are the other person's feelings? b. What does he mean by what he is saying? c. What is his point of view? d. Why is he saying this? e. What is implied by what he says?

9. Use feedback. Constantly try to chėck your understanding of what you hear. Do not only hear what you want to hear. In addition, chėck to see if the other person wants to comment or respond to what you have previously said. Archie and Edith could have avoided many misunderstandings by simply using feedback.

10. Listen selectively. Critical messages may be hidden within the broader context of a conversation. Listen in such a way that you can separate the wheat from the chaff. Always ask yourself: "What is he telling me that can help me satisfy his needs, solve his problems, and accomplish his goals?"

11. Relax. When another person speaks, try to put him at ease by creating a relaxed, accepting environment. Do not give the speaker the impression that you want to jump right in and speak. Give him a chance to speak his mind.

12. Try not to be critical of the other person's point of view. Hold your temper and your emotional feelings and try to listen to truly understand. Be patient, Archie. Allow the speaker plenty of time to fully finish his train of thought. You might find that what you were initially going to disagree with wasn't such a bad idea after all. Keep an open mind. If you give the other person half a chance to tell you his views, you might find that you have learned something.

13. Listen attentively. Face the speaker with uncrossed arms and legs; lean slightly forward. Establish gentle, intermittent eye contact. Use affirmative head nods and appropriate facial expressions when called for, but do not overdo it. Occasionally respond to your customer with "uh huh," "go on," or "yes," to demonstrate that you are listening.

14. Create a positive listening environment. Shoot for a private atmosphere away from sources of distraction. Make the effort to ensure that the environment is conducive to effective listening.

15. Ask questļons. Ask open-ended questļons to allow the speaker to express his feelings and thoughts. A simple "yes" or "no" is not enough. Use development questļons like "How can I help you?" or "Where do we go from hėre?" to ask the speaker for more details on specific subjects. Clarifying questļons seek information by restating the speaker's remarks.
These techniques demonstrate that you're hearing correctly. If you keep the other person talking, potential ambiguities clear up. The effective use of questļons also allows you to contribute to the conversation.

16. Be motivated to listen. Without the proper attitude all the foregoing suggestions for effective listening are worthless. Try to keep in mind that there is no such thing as an uninteresting speaker, only disinterested listeners. Put out the extra effort to try to listen.
Learning to listen effectively pays off in stronger trust bonds and increased säles. Others feel relieved to find people who actively listen and try to understand what they have to say about their problems and needs. Once that occurs, the speaker generally reciprocates by listening when it's the other person's turn to speak. That leads to an open, honest information exchange, the kind Edith Bunker was yearning for. Isn't that what communication is all about?

About the Author: Dr. Tony Alessandra helps companies build customers, relationships, and the bottom-line. Tony has a street-wise, college-smart perspective on business, having fought his way out of NYC to eventually realizing success as a graduate professor of marketing, entrepreneur, business author, and consultant. Dr. Alessandra earned his MBA from the Universļty of Connecticut and his Ph.D. in marketing from Georgia State Universļty. He was inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame in 1985.

How Companies Got their Name!!!

Apple Computers It was the favourite fruit of founder Steve Jobs. He was three months late in filing a name for the business, and he threatened to call his company Apple Computers if the other colleagues didn't suggest a better name by 5 O'clock. CISCO It is not an acronym as popularly believed. It is short for San Francisco.
Compaq This name was formed by using COMp, for computer, and PAQ to denote a small integral object.
Corel The name was derived from the founder's name Dr.Michael Cowpland. It stands for COwpland REsearch Laboratory.
Google The name started as a joke boasting about the amount of information the search-engine would be able to search. It was originally named 'Googol', a word for the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros.After founders - Stanford graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry Page presented their project to an angel investor, they received a cheque made out to 'Google'
Hotmail Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing e-mail via the web from a computer anywhere in the world.When Sabeer Bhatia came up with the business plan for the mail service, he tried all kinds of names ending in 'mail' and finally settled for hotmail as it included the letters "html" - the programming language used to write web pages. It was initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective uppercasing.
Hewlett Packard Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.
Intel Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore wanted to name their new company 'Moore Noyce' but that was already trademarked by a hotel chain so they had to settle for an acronym of INTegrated ELectronics.
Lotus (Notes) Mitch Kapor got the name for his company from 'The Lotus Position' or 'Padmasana'. Kapor used to be a teacher of Transcendental Meditation of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Microsoft Coined by Bill Gates to represent the company that was devoted to MICROcomputer SOFTware. Originally christened Micro-Soft, the '-' was removed later on.
Motorola Founder Paul Galvin came up with this name when his company started manufacturing radios for cars. The popular radio company at the time was called Victrola.
ORACLE Larry Ellison and Bob Oats were working on a consulting project for the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). The code name for the project was called Oracle (the CIA saw this as the system to give answers to all questions or something such). The project was designed to help use the newly written SQL code by IBM. The project eventually was terminated but Larry and Bob decided to finish what they started and bring it to the world. They kept the name Oracle and created the RDBMS engine. Later they kept the same name for the company.
Sony It originated from the Latin word 'sonus' meaning sound, and 'sonny' a slang used by Americans to refer to a bright youngster.
SUN Founded by 4 Stanford University buddies, SUN is the acronym for Stanford University Network. Andreas Bechtolsheim built a microcomputer; Vinod Khosla recruited him and Scott McNealy to manufacture computers based on it, and Bill Joy to develop a UNIX-based OS for the computer.
Yahoo! The word was invented by Jonathan Swift and used in his book 'Gulliver's Travels'. It represents a person who is repulsive in appearance and action and is barely human. Yahoo! Founders Jerry Yang and David Filo selected the name because they considered themselves yahoos

M.A.D.

Excerpt from Edward de Bono's "Why Do Quality Efforts Lose Their Fizz?" Quality is No Longer Enough, The Journal for Quality and Participation, September 1991
Early in the 1980s Dr. de Bono invented the Six Thinking Hats method. The method is a framework for thinking and can incorporate lateral thinking. Valuable judgmental thinking has its place in the system but is not allowed to dominate as in normal thinking. Dr. de Bono organized a network of authorized trainers to introduce the Six Thinking Hats. Advanced Practical Thinking (APTT), of Des Moines, Iowa USA, licenses the training in all parts of the world except Canada (and now, Europe). APTT organizes the trainers and supplies the only training materials written and authorized by Dr. de Bono.
Organizations such as Prudential Insurance, IBM, Federal Express, British Airways, Polaroid, Pepsico, DuPont, and Nippon Telephone and Telegraph, possibly the world's largest company, use Six Thinking Hats.
The six hats represent six modes of thinking and are directions to think rather than labels for thinking. That is, the hats are used proactively rather than reactively.
The method promotes fuller input from more people. In de Bono's words it "separates ego from performance". Everyone is able to contribute to the exploration without denting egos as they are just using the yellow hat or whatever hat. The six hats system encourages performance rather than ego defense. People can contribute under any hat even though they initially support the opposite view.
The key point is that a hat is a direction to think rather than a label for thinking. The key theoretical reasons to use the Six Thinking Hats are to:
* encourage Parallel Thinking * encourage full-spectrum thinking * separate ego from performance
The published book Six Thinking Hats (de Bono, 1985) is readily available and explains the system, although there have been some additions and changes to the execution of the method. The following is an excerpt from John Culvenor and Dennis Else Engineering Creative Design, 1995) White Hat on the Hats There are six metaphorical hats and the thinker can put on or take off one of these hats to indicate the type of thinking being used. This putting on and taking off is essential. The hats must never be used to categorize individuals, even though their behavior may seem to invite this. When done in group, everybody wear the same hat at the same time.
White Hat thinking
This covers facts, figures, information needs and gaps. "I think we need some white hat thinking at this point..." means Let's drop the arguments and proposals, and look at the data base."
Red Hat thinking
This covers intuition, feelings and emotions. The red hat allows the thinker to put forward an intuition without any ned to justify it. "Putting on my red hat, I think this is a terrible proposal." Ususally feelings and intuition can only be introduced into a discussion if they are supported by logic. Usually the feeling is genuine but the logic is spurious.The red hat gives full permission to a thinker to put forward his or her feelings on the subject at the moment.
Black Hat thinking
This is the hat of judgment and caution. It is a most valuable hat . It is not in any sense an inferior or negative hat. The rior or negative hat. The black hat is used to point out why a suggestion does not fit the facts, the available experience, the system in use, or the policy that is being followed. The black hat must always be logical.
Yellow Hat thinking
This is the logical positive. Why something will work and why it will offer benefits. It can be used in looking forward to the results of some proposed action, but can also be used to find something of value in what has already happened.
Green Hat thinking
This is the hat of creativity, alternatives, proposals, what is interesting, provocations and changes.
Blue Hat thinking
This is the overview or process control hat. It looks not at the subject itself but at the 'thinking' about the subject. "Putting on my blue hat, I feel we should do some more green hat thinking at this point." In technical terms, the blue hat is concerned with meta-cognition.
Keep Learning..!!

Interview with Banta Singh

Interviewer : Give me the opposite words. Banta Singh : Ok

Interviewer : Made in India Banta Singh : Destroyed in Pakistan

Interviewer : Good... Keep it Up Banta Singh : Bad.... Put it Down

Interviewer : Maxi Mum Banta Singh : Mini Dad

Interviewer : Enough! Take your Seat Banta Singh : Insufficient! Don't Take my seat

Interviewer : ******! Take your Seat Banta Singh : Clever! Don't take my Seat

Interviewer : I say you get out! Banta Singh : You didn't say I come in

Interviewer : I reject you! Banta Singh : You Appoint me

Interviewer : ....!!!

Techno vocabulary

Do you want to impress or confuse clients or Vice versa?.........use Techno vocabulary.. It can be called the "Buzzword" writing method. It is simple. There are three columns of words involved, as follows:

0. Balanced0. Management 0. contingency
1. total 1. Organization 1. Hardware (or software)
2. integrated 2. reciprocal 2. projection
3. compatible 3. monitored 3. time-frame
4. synchronized 4. digital 4. concept
5. optimal 5. modular 5. programming
6. responsive 6. transitional 6. mobility
7. functional 7. Incremental 7. capability
8. parallel 8. third-generation 8. flexibility
9. systemized 9. policy 9. options

Just select any three-digit number; then use the corresponding Buzzwords from the above grid, e.g., 257: "integrated modular capability". Don't worry if it doesn't make sense to you; it won't mean anything to anyone else either, but they'll think you're just smarter than they are so they won't say anything!! ..

You can propose "systemized reciprocal options" (929) to achieve "optimal transitional flexibility" (568), so that we can think of an "integrated monitored projection" ..............and your boss will probably promote you or your customer will be blown away with your technological superiority !

Labels

On a hairdryer : Do not use while sleeping. (Gee, that's the only time I have to work on my hair!)
On a bag of sweets: You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside. (The shoplifter special!)
On a bar of Soap: Directions: Use like regular soap. (And that would be how?)
On some frozen dinners: Serving suggestion: Defrost. (But it's *just* a suggestion!)
On a dessert: Do not turn upside down. *printed on bottom of the box* (Too late! You lose!)
On a Pudding packet: Product will be hot after heating. (Are you sure? Let's experiment. )
On packaging for an iron:Do not iron clothes on body. (But wouldn't that save more time?) (Whose body?)
On Children's cough medicine: Do not drive car or operate machinery. (We could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction accidents if we just kept those 5 year olds off those fork lifts.)
On a sleep medicine: Warning: may cause drowsiness. (One would hope!)
On a Korean kitchen knife: Warning keep out of children. (Or pets! What's for dinner?)
On a string of Chinese-made Christmas lights: For indoor or outdoor use only. (As opposed to use in outer space? Or underground?)
On a Japanese food processor: Not to be used for the other use. (Now I'm curious.)
On peanuts packet: Warning: contains nuts. (Not to mention the nut who wrote the warning )
On an American Airlines packet of nuts: Instructions: open packet, eat nuts. (DDDUUUHHH)
On a childs superman costume: Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly. (That's right, destroy a universal childhood fantasy!)

29 Motivations Quotes for Business and other Work Environments

Mahatma Gandhi: You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
Jim Stovall: You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins.
Robert Frost: The only way around is through.
Warren Buffett: You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong.
Les Brown: You must remain focused on your journey to greatness.
Theodore Roosevelt Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.
Charles F. Kettering: Where there is an open mind, there will always be a frontier
Henry Ford: Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right!
Jim Rohn: You must either modify your dreams or magnify your skills.
William Hazlitt: Who likes not his business, his business likes not him.
Denis Waitley: Winners take time to relish their work, knowing that scaling the mountain is what makes the view from the top so exhilarating.
Le Iacocca: Management is nothing more than motivating other people.
Dwight D.: Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.
Drucker: The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The truly dangerous thing is asking the wrong question
Max Schmelling: Why did I want to win? Because I didn't want to lose!
J. Paul Getty: To succeed in business, to reach the top, an individual must know all it is possible to know about that business.
Pierre Corneille: To win without risk is to triumph without glory.
Tony Dorsett: To succeed... You need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you.
James Broughton: The only limits are, as always, those of vision.
George Kneller: To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.
Peter McWilliams: To the degree we're not living our dreams; our comfort zone has more control of us than we have over ourselves.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goeth: To think is easy. To act is difficult. To act as one thinks is the most difficult.
Tryon Edwards: To waken interest and kindle enthusiasm is the sure way to teach easily and successfully.
Spanish Proverb: Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.
Lyndon B. Johnson: The noblest search is the search for excellence
Charles M. Schwab: The man who does not work for the love of work but only for money is not likely to neither make money nor find much fun in life.
Chinese Proverb: The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water; but to walk on the earth.
John Naisbitt: The new source of power is not money in the hands of a few, but information in the hands of many.
Henry Ford: The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.

Kenny and dead donkey

A city boy, Kenny, moved to the country and bought a donkey from an old farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day.
The next day the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died last night."
Kenny replied: "Well then, just give me my money back."
The farmer said: "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."
Kenny said: "OK then, just unload the donkey."
The farmer asked: "What you goanna to do with him?"
Kenny: "I'm going to raffle him off." (Note: To raffle is to sell a thing by lottery - draw lot -! to a group of people each paying the same amount for a ticket)
Farmer: "You can't raffle off a dead donkey!"
Kenny: "Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."
A month later the farmer met up with Kenny and asked, "What happened with that dead donkey?"
Kenny: "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $998.00."
Farmer: "Didn't anyone complain?"
Kenny: "Just the guy who won. So I gave him back his two dollars."
Kenny grew up and eventually became the CEO of the American Energy Company : Enron

Funny Definitions....

School: A place where Papa pays and Son plays.
Life Insurance: A contract that keeps you poor all your life so that you can die Rich.
Nurse: A person who wakes u up to give you sleeping pills.
Marriage: It's an agreement in which a man loses his bachelors degree and a woman gains her masters.
Divorce: Future tense of Marriage.
Tears: The hydraulic force by which masculine willpower is defeated by feminine waterpower.
Conference: The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.
Father: A banker provided by nature.
Criminal: A guy no different from the rest....except that he got caught.
Yawn: The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth.
Experience: The name men give to their mistakes.
Doctor: A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you by bills.
Politician: One who shakes your hand before elections and your Confidence after.
Atom Bomb: An invention to end all inventions.

Impact of job change....

A taxi passenger tapped the driver on the shoulder to ask him a question. The driver screamed, lost control of the car, nearly hit a bus, went up on the footpath and stopped centimeters from a shop window.
For a second everything went quiet in the cab, then the driver said: "Look mate, don't ever do that again. You scared the daylights out of me! "The passenger apologized and said, "I didn't realize that a little tap would scare you so much."
The driver replied, "Sorry, it's not really your fault.
Today is my first day as a cab driver - I've been driving a van carrying dead bodies for the last 25 years."

Cool Jokes

WOMEN'S REVENGE
"Cash, cheque or charge?" I asked, after folding the items the woman wished to purchase. As she fumbled for her wallet I noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse. "So, do you always carry your TV remote?" I asked. "No," she replied, " but my husband refused to come shopping with me, and I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him legally."

MARRIAGE SEMINAR
While attending a Marriage Seminar dealing with communication, Tom and his wife Grace listened to the instructor, "It is essential that husbands and wives know each other's likes and dislikes." He addressed the man, "Can you name your wife's favorite flower?" Tom leaned over, touched his wife's arm gently and whispered, "It's Pillsbury, isn't it?

WIFE VS. HUSBAND
A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position. As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically, "Relatives of yours?" "Yep," the wife replied, "in-laws."

W O R D S
A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day... 30,000 to a man's 15,000. The wife replied, "The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men... The husband then turned to his wife and asked, "What?"

CREATION
A man said to his wife one day, "I don't know how you can be so stupid and so beautiful all at the same time. " The wife responded, "Allow me to explain. God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!

The Silent Treatment A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM." He left it where he knew she would find it. The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up." Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.

Labels

On a hairdryer : Do not use while sleeping. (Gee, that's the only time I have to work on my hair!)
On a bag of sweets: You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside. (The shoplifter special!)
On a bar of Soap: Directions: Use like regular soap. (And that would be how?)
On some frozen dinners: Serving suggestion: Defrost. (But it's *just* a suggestion!)
On a dessert: Do not turn upside down. *printed on bottom of the box* (Too late! You lose!)
On a Pudding packet: Product will be hot after heating. (Are you sure? Let's experiment. )
On packaging for an iron:Do not iron clothes on body. (But wouldn't that save more time?) (Whose body?)
On Children's cough medicine: Do not drive car or operate machinery. (We could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction accidents if we just kept those 5 year olds off those fork lifts.)
On a sleep medicine: Warning: may cause drowsiness. (One would hope!)
On a Korean kitchen knife: Warning keep out of children. (Or pets! What's for dinner?)
On a string of Chinese-made Christmas lights: For indoor or outdoor use only. (As opposed to use in outer space? Or underground?)
On a Japanese food processor: Not to be used for the other use. (Now I'm curious.)
On peanuts packet: Warning: contains nuts. (Not to mention the nut who wrote the warning )
On an American Airlines packet of nuts: Instructions: open packet, eat nuts. (DDDUUUHHH)
On a childs superman costume: Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly. (That's right, destroy a universal childhood fantasy!)

A funny lil story

Jack and Max are walking from religious service. Jack wonders whether it would be all right to smoke while praying. Max replies, "Why don't you ask the Priest?" So Jack goes up to the Priest and asks, "Priest, may I smoke while I pray?"

But the Priest says, "No, my son, you may not. That's utter disrespect to our religion." Jack goes back to his friend and tells him what the good Priest told him. Max says, "I'm not surprised. You asked the wrong question. Let me try." And so Max goes up to the Priest and asks, "Priest, may I pray while I smoke?" To which the Priest eagerly replies, "By all means, my son. By all means."

Moral: The reply you get depends on the question you ask.

Enjoy this ......Quotes

ORIGINAL QUOTE
If you love someone, Set him free... If he comes back, he's yours, If he doesn't, he never was....

THE NEW VERSIONS.....

Pessimist
If you love someone, Set him free... If he ever comes back, he's yours, If he doesn't, as expected, he never was.
Optimist
If you love someone, Set him free... Don't worry, he will come back.
Suspicious
If you love someone, Set him free... If he ever comes back, ask him why.
Impatient
If you love someone, Set him free... If he doesn't come back within some time forget him.
Patient
If you love someone, Set him free... If he doesn't come back, continue to wait. until he comes back...
Playful
If you love someone, Set him free... *If he comes back, and if you love him still, set him free again, repeat*
Animal-Rights Activist
If you love someone, Set him free, In fact, all living creatures deserve to be free!!
Lawyers
If you love someone, Set him free, Clause 1a of Paragraph 13a-1 in the Second Amendment of the Matrimonial Freedom Act clearly states that...
Bill Gates
If you love someone, Set him free, If he comes back, I think we can charge him for re-installation fees but tell him that he's also going to get an upgrade.
Biologist
If you love someone, Set him free, He'll evolve.
Statisticians
If you love someone, Set him free, If he loves you, the probability of him coming back is high If he doesn't, your relation was improbable anyway.
Over possessive person
If you love someone, don't set him free.
HR specialist
If you love someone, set him free by offering him VRS and other benefits. Then outsource him!!!

ELEVEN RULES OF LIFE By Bill Gates

Rule 1 --> Life is not fair, Get used to it.

Rule 2 --> The world won't care about your self-esteem & will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 --> You will NOT make $40,000 a year - right out of high school & won't be a vise-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 --> If you think your teacher is TOUGH, wait till you get a BOSS.

Rule 5 --> Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity, your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping -- they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 --> If you mess-up, it's not your parent's fault, so don't whine about your mistakes and learn from them.

Rule 7 --> Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now, they got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes & listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8 --> Your school may have done away with Winners & Losers, but life has not. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades & they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9 --> Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers Off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself - DO that on your own time.

Rule 10 --> Television is NOT real life, in real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop & go to work. Rule 11 --> Be nice to nerds, Chances are you'll end up working for one.

Excellence

A gentleman once visited a temple under construction. In the temple premises, he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he saw, just a few meters away, another identical idol was lying. Surprised he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statutes of the same idol?"… "No", said the sculptor, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage". The gentleman examined the sculpture. No apparent damage was visible. "Where is the damage?" asked the gentleman. "There is a scratch on the nose of the idol"… "Where are you going to keep the idol?". The sculptor replied that it will be installed on a pillar 20 feet high. "When the idol will be 20 feet away from the eyes of the beholder, who is going to know that there is scratch on the nose?", the gentleman asked. The sculptor looked at the gentleman, smiled and said "The God knows it and I know it!!!" The desire to excel should be exclusive of the fact whether someone appreciates it or not.

Excellence is a drive from "Inside" not "Outside"

SCARY STORY

My friend lives in Unit 1 ... One day he went to Mobeni Heights to visit his uncle for some days as his parents had to attend a wedding in Ladysmith . One evening he and some other of his college friends went for a movie. He had so much fun that he forgot that it's very late. He caught the last local bus to Mobeni..... he reached the house just b4 midnight......

He had to walk about a 1km from the bus stop to home.... As he was walking alone, he could sense that the night felt very creepy as it was so dark. While walking, he was astonished to see an old creepy looking guy selling some books. It was a very unusual thing to see a thing like that..... He got the shivers on him when he noticed that his old guy is unusually pale and staring at him...

The old guy said "Son why don't you get a book...it would keep you company". Then he did something which he would regret for the rest of his life......... My friend started to act brave & thought why not & had a look at his collections... My friend's hair started to rise up as he noticed that all the books were related to supernatural activities...but he found one that was very interesting. So he asked the old man "how much is it, uncle?"....

The old guy replied, "Well son...this is an interesting book...it's only for R 250. My friend was shocked and said "but...but... it's expensive" This time the old man stared which freaked my friend. My friend quickly checked all his pockets & found R200 & said "This is all I have." The old guy replied "its OK son ..you can have the book for that price" As my friend was just about to run for home...the old man called back & said "Son . Whatever happen, you don't ever flip the book to its last page... remember these words or you would regret...!"

My friend nodded and never looked back ... Reaching home...he quickly asked his Uncle whether there was any old book seller nearby? The Uncle replied "not that I know of but ...we've heard that there's 1 old man comes once in a while during full moon nights but heard that there is something creepy about it...why son?"

My friend freaked out.. He told his uncle "nothing uncle...just asking". He started reading the book with the old man's words on his mind. At night, 12 O'clock, as he went to bed, a gush of wind blew which chilled him up to his bones. At that glimpse, he noticed the wind had blown the pages to its last page. He remembered what the old man has said! But we humans tend to have the tendency to know. Out of curiosity, he flipped to the last page & fainted...

What he saw at the last page is stated below:

Don't look further down if you have a weak heart I warn you
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Original price: -- R 20

Thanks Syma

Cool Jokes

WOMEN'S REVENGE

"Cash, cheque or charge?" I asked, after folding the items the woman wished to purchase. As she fumbled for her wallet I noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse. "So, do you always carry your TV remote?" I asked. "No," she replied, " but my husband refused to come shopping with me, and I figured this was the most evil thing I could do to him legally."

MARRIAGE SEMINAR

While attending a Marriage Seminar dealing with communication, Tom and his wife Grace listened to the instructor, "It is essential that husbands and wives know each other's likes and dislikes." He addressed the man, "Can you name your wife's favorite flower?" Tom leaned over, touched his wife's arm gently and whispered, "It's Pillsbury, isn't it?

WIFE VS. HUSBAND

A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word. An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position. As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically, "Relatives of yours?" "Yep," the wife replied, "in-laws."

W O R D S

A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use a day... 30,000 to a man's 15,000. The wife replied, "The reason has to be because we have to repeat everything to men... The husband then turned to his wife and asked, "What?"

CREATION

A man said to his wife one day, "I don't know how you can be so stupid and so beautiful all at the same time. " The wife responded, "Allow me to explain. God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!

The Silent Treatment

A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM." He left it where he knew she would find it. The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up." Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.

Thanks Kshama

Climbing 80 floors without a lift

There were once 2 brothers who lived on the 80th floor of a tall building. On coming home one day, they realized to their dismay that the lifts were not working and that they have to climb the stairs home. After struggling to the 20th level, panting and tired, they decided to abandon their bags and come back for them the next day. They left their bags then and climbed on.

When they have struggled to the 40th level by this time they had gone sufficiently mad and irritated. The younger brother started to grumble and both of them began to quarrel. They continued to climb the flights of steps, quarreling all the way to the 60th floor.

They then realized that they have only 20 levels more to climb and decided to stop quarreling and continue climbing in peace. They silently climbed on and reached their home at long last. Each stood calmly before the door and waited for the! other to open the door. And they realized that the key was in their bags which were left on the 20th floor.

THIS STORY IS A REFLECTION ON OUR LiFE AND TiMES .

All of us climb the tall building called LiFE. Some climb till all the 80 floors and some less. Many of us climb under the expectations of our companion.

Time to time these are our friends and parents till the 20th floor, then our spouse and our dear ones till the next level of the building. We seldom get to do the things that we really like and love and are under so much pressure and stress so that by the age of 20, we get tired and decided to dump this load. Being free of the stress and pressure, we work enthusiastically and dream ambitious wishes.

By the time we reach 40 years old, we start to lose our vision and dreams. We began to feel unsatisfied and start to complain and criticize. We live life as a misery as we are never satisfied.

Reaching 60, we realize that we have little left for complaining anymore, and we began to walk the final episode in peace a! nd calmness. We think that there is nothing left to disappoint us, only to realize that we could not rest in peace because we have an unfulfilled dream.

A dream we abandon 60 years ago. So what's your dream? Know your dreams and follow it so that you will not live with regrets.

* ACCEPT YOURSELF
* BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
* LIKE YOURSELF

Inside each one of us are powers so strong, treasures so rich, possibilities so endless, that to command them all into action would change the history of the world.

Thanks Mohamad

A Conversation

Hello, The following conversation did take place and though its a bit long do take some time and go through it. Its for all the genuine trainers to learn.....

A Conversation -- Please Do Read Till the End

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to stand and.....
Prof: So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?
Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?
Student: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm? Student is silent.

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fellow. Is God good?
Student: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?
Student: No.

Prof: Where does Satan come from?
Student: From...God...

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student: Yes.

Prof: So who created evil? Student does not answer.

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them? Student has no answer.

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student: No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student: No, sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student: Yes.

Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Now the student said can I ask something to you Professor.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it. (There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness? Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light... But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you? Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class is in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)
Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son. Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive. .

WANT TO KNOW WHO THAT STUDENT WAS?
This is a true story, and the student was none other than

DR. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India.

Thanks M.Peer Mohamed Sardhar

Management tips

L1: Fix the problem, not the blame. It is far more productive, and less expensive, to figure out what to do to fix a problem that has come up than it is to waste time trying to decide whose fault it was.

L2: Tell people what you want, not how to do it. You will find people more responsive and less defensive if you can give them guidance not instructions. You will also see more initiative, more innovation, and more of an ownership attitude from them develop over time.

L3: Manage the function, not the paperwork. Remember that your job is to manage a specific function within the company, whatever that may be. There is a lot of paperwork that goes with the job, but don't let that distract you from your real responsibility.

L4: Don't DO Anything. Your job as a manager is to "plan, organize, control and direct." Don't let yourself waste valuable time by falling back on what you did before you became a manager. We know you enjoy it and you are good at it. That's why you were promoted. Now you need to concentrate your efforts on managing, not on "doing".

L5: You never have to make up for a good start. If a project or a job gets off to a bad start it can be difficult to catch up. Do your planning up front so you get a good start and you won't regret it.

L6: Get out of your office. Management By Walking Around (MBWA) does work. You make yourself more approachable. You get information first-hand. You find out what's really happening.

L7: Lead by example. If you ask your employees to work overtime, be there too. Just because company policy allows it, don't fly first-class if your associates are in coach on the same plane. Be a leader - it's tougher than being a manager, but it's worth it.

L8: Delegate the easy stuff. The things you do well are the things to delegate. Hold on to those that are challenging and difficult. That is how you will grow.

L9: Don't get caught up in 'looking good'. "Work happily together. Don't try to act big. Don't try to get into the good graces of important people, but enjoy the company of ordinary folks. And don't think you know it all. Never pay back evil for evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honest clear through."

L10: 'Quality' is just conformance to requirements. You get the behavior you critique for, so set your standards and then require conformance to them. Quality will come from that effort, not from slogans, posters, or even threats.
L11: Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.

L12: Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals. Goals you set for yourself, or others, should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-based.

L13: Set an example. "One of the most significant parts of a manger's job is for them to become a positive role model that can pull a team together and deliver the level of service expected from their customers."

L14: Know Your GPM. In engineering, gpm is gallons per minute, a design criterion. In Management GPM is an acronym for Goals, Plans, and Metrics. To achieve your goals, you must first determine what your Goals are. Then you have to develop a Plan that gets you to your goal. Finally you need Metrics (measurements) to know if you are moving toward your goal according to your plan.

L15: Train Your Supervisors. The key to your business success is the productivity of your employees. The key to employee productivity is their perception of their immediate supervisor. Invest in training your supervisors and managers. It will pay off.

L16: You Can't Listen With Your Mouth Open. Your associates, your employees, your suppliers, your customers all have something of value in what they have to say. Listen to the people around you. You will never learn what it is if you drown them out by talking all the time. Remember, the only thing that can come out of your mouth is something you already know. Shut up and learn.

L17: Practice what you preach. To lead, you have to lead by example. Don't expect your people to work unpaid overtime if you leave early every day. Don't book youself into a four star hotel on business trips and expect your employees to stay in the motel off the freeway.

L18: Leaders create change. If you lead, you will cause changes. Be prepared for them and their impact on people within, and outside, your group. If you are not making changes, you are not leading.

L19: Don't Limit Yourself. The difference between leaders and managers is that leaders do not set limits on themselves. There are enough people trying to limit what you can do. Don't be one of them.

L20: Anyone can steer the ship in calm waters. What will set you apart in your career is how you perform during the tough times. Don't become complacent and relax just because things are going well. Plan ahead for the downturn.

L21: You have to make a difference. The group you manage has to be more effective, more productive with you there than they would be if you were not. If they are as productive without you, there is no business sense in keeping you on the payroll.

Thnaks Barbiejasmine