tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27518686096356875472011-05-20T03:21:58.369+08:00A working man's view of management, sales, customer service, technology, work and life.Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.comBlogger551100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-64069645800730168642008-12-28T15:40:00.002+08:002008-12-28T15:46:04.657+08:00

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-82654302515497508852008-11-19T16:18:00.004+08:002008-11-19T16:25:25.327+08:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a serious book fiend.  I don’t nearly have enough time to read my books but I just can’t stop buying them.  What makes the matter worse is that in this economy, there are way too many book sales.   When I can’t visit the stores physically, there are these internet ones ...  I got curious about The Commercial Press’s cp1897.com.hk  the other day, and decided

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-40649332393277791472008-05-25T15:36:00.000+08:002008-05-25T15:39:03.113+08:00

A key element to how we operate in the world is our perception of the world.  Ted Koontz observed "Where we stand depends on where we sit."  Our particular perception of a situation, the point of view we take and the interpretation of which we decide to make dictates our actions.  To most people, perception is reality.  Skilled negotiators and salespeople are adept in altering perceptions by

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-54575855842319824982008-04-27T17:05:00.003+08:002008-04-27T17:15:50.421+08:00

It looks like someones big country kitchen or what someones ideal kitchen should look like. There were two long wooden tables with an assortment of kitchen chairs that look surprisingly well together. The wooden floor creaked pleasantly, but the thing that hit me was the smell of freshly cooked clams.I was greeted, not in the usual "professional" restaurant manner, but as if I actually just

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-41422656023292653732008-03-09T22:09:00.004+08:002008-12-13T05:10:07.715+08:00

When Customers approach their Customer Service agent for help, they often come with a lot of preconceived notions, hopes and fears. The manner with which they deal with their customer service agent, is often colored by their previous experience with that same company or other companies in the same industry. As they approach the customer service desk - they often have the following thoughts in

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-50905915628286443392008-02-23T21:35:00.005+08:002008-12-13T05:10:09.876+08:00

Sales meetings are always about the prospect and never about the salesperson. Prospects talk, salesperon listen.Almost everything that comes out of a salesperson should be questions not statements: questions about facts and opinions, questions that highlights gaps between where they are and where they want to be, questions that lead them to the path (solution) the saleperson would like for them

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-61604283773566603952008-02-03T19:04:00.001+08:002008-12-13T05:10:10.121+08:00

Salespeople love objections because they realize the toughest prospects to sell are the one with NO objections. Yes: salespeople love objections because getting NO objections is worst.Reasons why they don't object :They don't see themselves using your product for whatever reason.They are just not mentally engaged, they don't see how your product is relevant to their lives, at all!They are not

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-53472664772995481302008-02-01T22:06:00.001+08:002008-12-13T05:10:10.305+08:00

A student I knew from two years ago called me a couple of days ago. She said she's looking for work and was wondering if she can come talk to me and take a look at the firm. I said "sure, come on up, I am happy to have a chat."She came by sat down, and for a while she couldn't get to the point. Eventually I realize she's actually working for an insurance company as a financial planner and I am

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-52288700628446170782008-01-20T16:24:00.001+08:002008-12-13T05:10:10.697+08:00

Deferred gratification, according to Wikipedia, is the ability to wait in order to obtain something that one wants. It is considered a personality trait that is important for life success. We have all been taught to work hard so that one day, we won't have to.However, therein lies a problem: we don't know how long we can defer gratification to, ie. we don't know how long we are have to live.In

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-45699049565272072622008-01-06T15:46:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:11.087+08:00

Customer Service - we talk about it endlessly. We write stacks of business books and articles on it. We all stress its importance to bottom lines. Almost every CEO presents themselves as strong advocates of remarkable customer service. Every company tells the world how much their customers are number one. Most of us have our favorite stories about some idiotic customer service rep somewhere

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-44595814535376182092008-01-05T23:12:00.001+08:002008-12-13T05:10:11.406+08:00

Mention "salesperson" and most people will conjure up a picture of a sweaty and pushy salesperson who talks nonstop. They look at everyone as a mark.That's because salespersonship is an art that is vastly misunderstood, especially by most of those who works the job. We think salespeople are pushy because we don't see the best salespeople. The best salespeople are "invisible" - you don't notice

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-6145063002430534132007-12-26T18:09:00.001+08:002008-12-13T05:10:11.585+08:00

May be the near-US$100 per barrel oil is a good prompt for us to stop driving all these SUVs?Okay, we aren't imagining it. It IS getting warmer.Inflation's back? OMG, they are stealing our money!!I wish I get something actually handwritten in the mail (yes please, my snail-mail box).Please, don't let them have cellphone access on planes!Okay, when is the last time you had un-processed food?How

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-23205319848498287432007-12-25T23:56:00.001+08:002008-12-13T05:10:11.759+08:00

"It's so great to wake up in the morning knowing that your life is notso bad after all, you have a wonderful family, some great friends, aroof over your head, and meals three times a day. What more can anordinary person ask for?"This is an excerpt from Sri Dj's Dec 25 entry in her blog "Oreo Delight". It's the most positive piece that I have seen in a long long time.She went on to say :"I look

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-27444102096281522152007-12-23T15:14:00.001+08:002008-12-13T05:10:12.171+08:00

It's two days before Christmas and the year is almost over. Things finally slow down at work last Friday. Folks started hanging about and talking about their holiday plans. This is a good time of the year, when friends and colleagues take a break to connect with each other again. That reminds me of the other group of people that I have been connecting with throughout the year - you.You -

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-47170121229905452772007-12-07T13:40:00.001+08:002008-12-13T05:10:12.337+08:00

The last time I flew back from Tokyo, I was on a newly refitted Cathay Pacific flight. It was a Boeing 747 with part of the business class on the "upper deck" but as opposed to having two seats on each side of the aisle, they now have one on each side at a slanted angle (the New Business Class). This configuration allows a flat bed plus a lot more privacy for the passengers.I was pleasantly

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-67062094544438018432007-12-06T20:15:00.000+08:002007-12-29T09:14:54.844+08:00

I have experimented with a few too many time management schemes. I have done Stephen Covey’s “First Things First”. I have tried GTD (of course), and PoIC (“Pile of Index Cards”). Like some of you, I have several Filofaxes, I have used “Remember the Milk”, I have used an implementation of GTD on Gmail, GTD implementation on Moleskines, I have a few Palms, I have even used a Psion (it’s still in

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-88604781453329779582007-11-25T17:34:00.001+08:002007-11-25T17:41:20.973+08:00

A friend of mine took me to this delightful Indian restaurant last week. Its name is Annalakshmi and it's located at the basement of Chinatown Point, Singapore.It's entirely vegetarian, and the food is simply amazing. What perked my interest is a statement at the bottom of their menus that stated that they respect and trust me but ask me not to waste food. Then I noticed that there are no

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-5003047624568317502007-11-04T21:01:00.001+08:002008-12-13T05:10:12.508+08:00

So let's see .. I work as hard as I can at my job so that the boss might grant me a bit more salary. My salary allows me to go to the mall or to the internet to buy the latest book or the latest gadget they promise will change my life, make me more attractive, or give me peace. I spend my money like they told me I should, and I feel like what I think a rich man might feel like. I look like

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-38747216358904679632007-10-14T13:18:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:13.115+08:00

To be successful in life, you have to find your passion. Your passion is something that you are willing to do everyday for free. You need passions that comes together in courses that are bigger than yourself and become courses that take on a certain charisma of it's own. You then need to figure out a way where these passions can be of benefit to others as well as to you. This is all according

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-56587978317258447572007-09-30T07:28:00.000+08:002007-09-30T08:03:14.632+08:00

Have you heard of the term "WiTricity"? WiTricity refers to wireless electricity transfer. It is a technology that exploits the age old principle where objects in electromagnetic resonance can transfer energy through short distances (2 meters). It's a viable technology right now. I think this technology will bring significant changes to the world.No need for roadwarriors to carry around

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-87872663820326371072007-09-16T14:19:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:13.339+08:00

I know it's easier but don't spend a majority of your time in designing an ironclad process. Invest your time instead in developing people and give them the freedom to be creative - they will design a process that will be far better than what you can imagine.This is also a show business. Your staff draws interpretation from the way you act or didn't act, in what you say and didn't say. This is

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-47869994315320359532007-09-15T20:52:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:13.491+08:00

I took this picture today. The colorful paintings caught my eye. More than a few tourists were snapping pictures too. I remember seeing a couple taking wedding pictures at this very spot last week.When I got home, my friend noticed that the name of the store is "Por Kee Glass & Frames". I thought : that's a funny name for a shop that sells pictures. Then I realized that this shop probably

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-3425312723367946762007-09-08T17:56:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:14.135+08:00

I always thinkthat the real camera is in your head.If you are good, you can take the picture with anything.Obviously .. the better the equipment, the easier to communicate what you see in your head ..but .. you have to see it first.YOU are the camera.

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-65689775492418134072007-09-02T17:16:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:14.480+08:00

It's in times like these when the right people makes an absolute difference for an entire company. Let me tell you about this lady I met.I was trying to get a safe deposit box in a newly renovated bank in Central. It's cheaper there, the box is bigger and the bank branch's location is a lot closer to my office than that of the other bank I was frequenting before. I was planning to get a new

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-80109320517145828022007-09-01T23:37:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:14.916+08:00

I have always walked past by this secondhand bookstore. Sometimes I would be going up SOHO for brunch, other times I would be coming back down to Central after dinner. I see book stacks all the way to the ceiling even through its windows. I decided to get off the escalator today, and take a look at the Flow Organic Bookstore.This shop sells books at 45% to 60% of the list price but buys them

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-4209578409899649462007-08-25T21:09:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:15.116+08:00

I recently joined Facebook and I am surprised at how many of my contacts are already on. I find it very interesting at how ready people are in adopting this networking medium. I got curious about the parameters that bring us social networking. Here are my thoughts on Facebook:We spend so much time at school and at work that our lives seem to be so isolated from the folks we know. So we want

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-25312705944595257072007-08-09T12:42:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:15.275+08:00

Bruce Sterling's "Dispatches From the Hyperlocal Future" is a great read. It prompted my thinking below about my cell phone and our likely future: In the not-so-distant-future truly everyone will carry their cellphones everywhere. More people will use them to take and to send pictures and movies directly to the internet along with global positioning system ("GPS") information, showing their

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-36913808850358583062007-08-07T16:26:00.000+08:002007-08-07T16:34:36.176+08:00

How do you rally a playground full of 3 year olds and focus them onto doing one thing together? Scream and play dead? Hand out ice-cream? Pay them cash?Try blowing some soup bubbles.As soup bubbles dance gaily through the air, the effect is nothing short of magical. Toddlers everywhere immediately drop what they are doing and chase through the park, laughing and chatting like a flock of

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-14827096221048871072007-07-29T18:18:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:15.440+08:00

It has been a terrific year or couple of years economically for a lot of countries. For a lot of us, it has been a run of good career opportunities and also an accompanying series of sacrifices we have invariably made along the way. We are hurting from the crazy hours, the ever continuing series of conference calls and the endless traveling. We are stunned at the soul numbing speed at which

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-17627331912763441082007-07-22T23:19:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:15.587+08:00

(Not very good reasons)You pay above market rates or you give Google-sque benefits.They are waiting for the yearend bonus and so they won't leave yet.The more competent ones left already. The rest has hit their 'optimal performance' with you - no one else is offering.They got pretty established with you. With any new employers they will have to work much harder.(Better reasons)They like the

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-8209921149598747102007-07-21T16:48:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:16.530+08:00

I tried meditation. I need a lot of practice as it takes great effort to rein in my mind from all over the place but I know it works. I know certain activities can also put people in a similar state of mind and leave them calm and refreshed: when they find themselves focusing entirely to the task at hand, when time seems to slow down and everything else seems to melt away - no past, no future,

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-58842853467745965302007-07-08T08:33:00.001+08:002008-12-13T05:10:16.726+08:00

If all salespeople will just ask good, pertinent questions and focus on what the customer wants, the (business) world will be a very different place.I walked into a Mac distributor during lunch the other day, looking for a “FM Transmitter” for my iPod Nano that will pipe the music to my home stereo. Something that I want but absolutely don't need. I picked one up and asked the salesperson if

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-63110105132234863832007-07-02T22:32:00.000+08:002007-07-02T22:36:32.216+08:00

It's perfect for starting the day off at the beach.Even if you are not going to the beach, they make you feel like you are anyway, and that feels good.They make you look laid back and cool. You look relaxed, you feel relaxed and you are relaxed. It feels good feeling the breeze on your toes after a whole week of wearing shoes.They force you to walk slower and that makes you relax. They make

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-67707793098269972392007-07-02T05:47:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:17.361+08:00

The best salespeople are not always the ones who are really gregarious and outgoing. A lot of them only appear to be born salespeople because they fit the common mass market image of a pushy salesperson. The best salespeople listens well, asks the perfect questions, remembers what you say and follows up well. You might think of them of them as really slick talkers, but they are slick talkers

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-28188622541908294872007-07-01T12:11:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:17.581+08:00

You love being with your colleaguesYou can see clearly how your work impacts the business or better yet, the worldYour work challenges you without being horribly overwhelmingYou are coached by someone who genuinely takes pleasure in you doing wellYou get recognition from your boss and your peers, for the good work you doYou are respected for your judgement and creativity and you get the room to

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-60015982163441666432007-06-24T17:20:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:17.802+08:00

One day.One day we will stop messaging or IM'ing the colleague 10 feet away, but walk over and have a conversation.One day we will stop messing with business correspondence, but take a client out for lunch and get to know him/her as a person.One day we will switch off our Blackberries in the evening and BE WITH our families.One day we will switch off our TVs, pick up a book and read up from among

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-7606670792251157702007-06-17T15:52:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:17.975+08:00

If you hope to reap the possible productivity gains from getting up at 5:00am everyday and would like to give it a try, there are a few things that you might need to take note of, especially if you don't live alone:Turn off your cellphone's network connection, put it on vibration mode, slip it under your pillow and use it as a silent alarm. Until you can get up naturally at 5:00am, this will

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-12685234912549740882007-06-17T06:24:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:18.220+08:00

I get up at 5:00am everyday even on weekends. I have been doing that for about three weeks. What initially seems like a satanic ritual is now something that I look forward to everyday.I get to work by about 6:20am. My primary constraint is that I am slow in the morning and that the first subway train runs at 6:02am. I read a book while I am in the subway and when I get to work I use the time

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-71983053270528836912007-06-09T17:34:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:18.430+08:00

I took a taxi home from a nearby taxi stand on Friday night. Upon learning where my desired destination is, he said "Great!". I asked "Why?" and that's how the conversation started.He rents his taxi in 12 hour stretches. The rental and his fuel costs him about HKD 520. Since he can't be driving for all 12 hours, his cost is about HKD 52 per hour. He explained that his using the taxi stand I

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-61114999548582187732007-06-03T20:04:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:18.716+08:00

Working in a global media company, I take tremendous pride in our use of technology to be faster and better than the competition. Our business is around the world and around the clock, and I can be reached anywhere in the world at any time via a variety of means. You can send me emails, you can call my cellphone, you can page my pager, you can page me on the Public Announcement system, you can

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-56943014184232879962007-06-02T14:52:00.000+08:002007-06-02T15:08:26.625+08:00

In a classic case of taking a business model from one industry and applying it to another, I read on Engadget that a Japanese vending machine company, Apex Corporation, appears to be laying out plans for a vending machine that will give free drinks in return for your attention to advertising videos. This again highlights how much our attention is worth. It's not hard to extend the example and

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-82948511426099323572007-05-27T07:54:00.000+08:002007-05-27T08:15:27.509+08:00

I was in Causeway Bay yesterday when I saw a chap holding up a sign in the middle of the street saying "FREE HUGS". I thought, that's perhaps the best idea I have seen for the longest time! A friend of mine pointed me to a few YouTube videos (definitely watch this one) and I learned it's in fact part of a global campaign. Take a look, tell me if it doesn't bring a smile to your face! "Free

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-49721225364948775162007-05-26T20:25:00.000+08:002007-05-26T20:55:12.042+08:00

This is called a Tune'N Radio, designed by a Dutch firm called wouter Geense Design Studio. I came across this product from a design magazine called "Design 360°" (July 2006). This is an AM/FM radio that invites user participation. Namely, you need to find a suitable object around your house to be used as an antenna. You need to open up holes on the side as the speaker grill. You need to fix

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-43468323931596518602007-05-25T09:32:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:19.152+08:00

My friend and I had lunch at the Peak yesterday, and he was giving me a ride back home afterwards. We passed by a ritzy block of apartments and he said "This is where we put up one of our expats, costs about $150,000 a month (USD 19,404)". I observed that the company must regard him as a heavy revenue generator as his total compensation package must be a considerable amount. "Oh we don't

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-78679632389265719942007-05-19T19:00:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:19.379+08:00

I need a desk lamp, so I took a walk at the local mall. There's this young lady standing by a bank of desk lamps. She greeted me nicely. When I ask about the lamps, she handed me a pamphlet and proceeded to describe the range of choices she has. She was nervous but I sensed that she's really trying to do a proper job. I made a quick decision and decided to buy one. She explained that she

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-50562631119966913622007-05-13T18:35:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:19.580+08:00

Do yourself a favor this week. When life gets a bit too busy and things are not going your way, drop everything and get out of the building. Don't worry, just get out, it will only take about 10 minutes.Walk to a relatively open space and look up.Take a look at the skies ahead. Take a long good look. Look at the blue, the smooth glassy blue. Look at the gradient of colors and feel the

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-20733714066361751902007-05-12T20:37:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:19.864+08:00

One of the most valuable currency in advancing our careers is influence. Our ability to influence people and therefore events, to gain cooperation and understanding, to negotiate common objectives and to draw resources is a powerful engine in our drive towards our business objectives. Influence might arise from formal titles and positions, but yet, formal titles and positions doesn't guarantee

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-40617806197653213852007-05-06T16:10:00.000+08:002008-12-13T05:10:20.031+08:00

My weekdays, like yours, are nonstop meshes of emails, phone calls, meetings and conversations, business and casual. My attention is continuously "time sliced" between my computer screens, my desk phone, my Blackberry, my cellphone, and the occasional human faces.We've got to call timeouts from every now and then. I don't mean the annual family vacation that you spent months planning. I mean

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-67390074553350109862007-05-01T15:23:00.000+08:002007-05-01T15:57:05.458+08:00

I am a true believer that a manager's job is to understand her employees, know their strengths, weaknesses and motivations, develop their abilities to the fullest, each in their own way. However, reality is, if you have a sizable department, there are bound to be employees whose personalities are not quite in sync with yours. In which case you might be inclined to pay more attention to those

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-47269750734368655452007-04-29T15:35:00.000+08:002007-04-29T18:23:35.597+08:00

Lunch time in Hong Kong has always been a bit of a challenge. There are just too many people and too few food outlets. More often than not, I spend most of my lunch hour waiting in line trying to buy takeaway food.What if there's a way where you don't have to stand in line to place your order or to pay? What if all you have to do is to stop by and pick up your order at a designated time?

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-67177312498245520472007-04-25T23:06:00.000+08:002007-04-30T06:21:38.978+08:00

I picked up a copy of the Reader's Digest recently, first time for a longtime. It's really quite good. I came across this article titled "Two Mothers, One Message" by Maria Zulfiqar. It's about how she grew up in Pakistan and becoming a doctor. Therein lies a message that I find to be a terrific axiom for life : "we should do everything we can; the rest lies in God's hands."

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-39577974421880691982007-04-21T14:38:00.000+08:002007-04-21T14:43:20.873+08:00

Working as a Customer Service professional is tough. Clients hold us to high standards. Some even hold us to unrealistic standards. Others demand the world just to see how much they can get away with. Most clients are quick to with their threats and yet few are generous with their praises.I know. Trust me, I do.We are all clients one way or the other in our daily lives. As clients we want

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-12899414081934566372007-04-21T14:22:00.000+08:002007-04-21T14:36:19.740+08:00

If you are a salesperson like I am, this is what I am telling you : your competitors don't matter, stop fixating on what the competition does and does not do. Fixate instead on what your CUSTOMERS do and do not do. That's right, your competition does NOT matter.Customers don't make purchasing decisions based on the raw number of features your product has versus the number of features your

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-42484822430558809132006-08-19T20:10:00.000+08:002007-04-06T17:41:25.893+08:00

Having been through a little too many books on management lately, I turned to a book on cosmology, relativity, quantum mechanics, time travel and parallel worlds - Parallel Worlds. I am only half way though and I obviously don't claim to understand all of it, but I am nevertheless intrigued. First you need to subscribe to Bohr's idea that the universe exist only because we perceive it to be.

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2751868609635687547.post-84760309245665712852006-06-04T19:58:00.000+08:002007-04-06T09:29:57.157+08:00

What is a manager? What does a manager do? Some managers manage work processes, others people. Some want to be popular. Some lord over their staff as if they are serfs. Some do it for the heightened visibility, the enhanced prestige and the increased remuneration. Others rather continue with the work that they know and not have take on the burden that management introduces to their days.I just

Kiranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10526851252697704652noreply@blogger.com0