Inno:Blog

江燕來's Memo 36-- "The Leader in Me" : A Great Book by Stephen Covey for Parents & Educators in Hong Kong

Do not just outsource parenting to your Philippine maids, no matter how helpful they are.

Do not just stuff your kids with toys or video games from Toysrus, no matter how "convenient" this can be, when it comes to parenting.

Do not just let the TV programs, gossip magazines or the media do the parenting for you, since kids are just too vulnerable to the teachings of negative values, when they are still too young to be choosy about what they read or expose to.

Garbage in, garbage out. Good in, good out.

Kids really deserve more of our time and unconditional love. After all, they are our kids. They deserve the best of our time and kind attention.

Recently, I came across a great book, "The Leader in Me" by Stephen R. Covey. If you are parents, teachers, or educators who are 100% serious about our kids and our future generations, you will find this book practical and thought-provoking.

Personally I have learned a lot from it, and have reflected upon my parenting style and approach too, upon having finished reading this book in one seating.

This is a great book about institutionalizing the 7 Habits in kindergartens and primary schools. It is far better written than "Living the 7 Habits", "The 8Th Habit", and "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families", all by Stephen R. Covey too, since this is a real case book on how the 7 Habits paradigm was applied in teaching leadership to kids. The book is well written because it is written in plain English and less pretentious than Covey's latest book, "The 8Th Habit" (which is poorly written and filled with theoretical jargons). 

This book is as great as Covey's landmark work, "7 Habits of Highly Effective People", but great in different way though, when it comes to book presentation style and approach.

Covey shows a lot of passion in educating future kids with correct principles that ignite their "primary greatness" like integrity, honesty, and responsibility. Many families and schools in Hong Kong and many parts of the world these day focus on developing kids' competence in many academic subjects, but not necessarily developing their character. Character education is just as important as academic education. Many parents want their kids to be future doctors, lawyers, scientists, professionals, or even CEOs. They want their kids to be the "future leaders". But only those kids who are well trained or developed with both "character" and "academic" education are true leaders. They have the true "heart" and "brain" for other people. They know how to get along with other people and touch their lives in a positive way. They will become the true doctors, lawyers, scientists, professionals, or even CEOs, who have both "integrity" and "abilities"!

This book is not only a good read for parents, teachers, and educators, but also for 7 habits lovers. Looking forward to reading more books written by Covey on 7 Habits real case histories and applications in the real world, especially in the business setting. Many of his previous books are too theoretical and focusing purely on principles ("Living the 7 Habits" is more like a "customer testimonials" book which is too much of a PR exercise!). This book certainly helps Covey break new ground in his book authoring approach.

I think serious parents who are serious about their kids will be serious about reading this book.

So are the serious teachers or educators...

Book Marketing to the Teens (or Pre-teens)

My 11 years old son read "6 Most Important Decisions" book last summer, and so did I (doing the Daddy Thing, Ah!?). He is not a teenager yet, strictly speaking! But  he has read 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens (another book of Sean), and listened to the audiobook version of the book a couple of times.This is a very practical, useful, and interesting book for teens. It is also available in Chinese (Simplified Chinese Characters, for sure!). As a Daddy, I want to give my son good sources of influences while he is still very young and open to many new ideas! He has become a "book lover" like me in recent years. I always have to introduce and market good books to him. I always tell him "meaningful" book reading is "positive addiction". And I think this book is great for kids, pre-teens, and teenagers in the turbulent world of today.

In this new book, Sean did solid research and focus groups with teenagers beforehand, and that's why the "6 Most Important Decisions"--such as School, Friends, Parents, Dating & Sex, Addictions, and Self-Worth are so touching, relevant, and appealing to the target readers (teens, and parents too!). Besides, Sean also markets the book very well under the "7 Habits" brand franchise.

One thing that I like about Sean's writing is that his writing style is creative, humorous, and keeping 7 Habits simple to understand and fun to apply. This book is as great as "The Speed of Trust" by his elder brother (that book is also introduced in my Inno:Blog!).Interestingly, both Stephen R. Covey (the Dad) and Stephen R. M. Covey (the elder brother) tend to write books mostly from the left brain, whereas Sean Covey (the youngest brother) tends to write books from the right brain. Maybe three of them can crack out a new book together to further combine both "their left and right sides of their brains"!

As a daddy, I think the Covey Family is a source of positive and great influence for the present and next generations. Both Sean and Stephen R. M. Covey are spreading the great and meaningful words of 7 Habits on an ongoing fashion for their father.

In the turbulent world of today by which humanity, love, and family ties are eroding, and more teenagers have become "slaves" instead of "masters" of computer, internet, and videogames, adults really need to understand and spend time with their kids more.

Covey Family, great work! Keep it up. Don't rush out new books too quickly. Less is more. Great is better than Good ...or Mediocre.

Selling Means Service and Branding

Personal selling mindset affects service, branding, and word of mouth, especially for the frontline service or sales staff who have to create the positive brand experience for the customers.

I must congratulate Ron Willingham for having written such a great book on the mind power of selling. It is easy to read and loaded with useful wisdom and common sense. It is as good as Advanced Selling Technique by Brian Tracy by which still ranks very high in my "mental bookshelf", since that book deals with the mindset (and skill set) of selling as well. There is no doubt that Ron's book will become a classic in the field! Most books on selling are written by the "head", not by the "heart" these days. Besides, Ron introduces us to the spiritual yet practical side of selling, such as finding the WHY of selling, locating your governing values when it comes to selling, achievement drive, hot beliefs, being professional yet non-manipulative, and so forth...

This book deals with blockage of performance when it comes to selling, be it resting too long in the comfort zone, self-limiting beliefs, wrong map or paradigm about selling (remember, the map is not the territory ?).

One thing I like most about the book is its sincere tone of voice, making you feel inspired and renewed, when you think about selling as a commercial art of convincing others to buy your product, service, or idea positively.

I hope I have not over-rated the book! I shouldn't have! I just had a feeling of "love at first sight" when I first saw the book in a HK bookstore. I could feel it, smell it--- it should be a great book, when it comes to recharging the selling batteries of the brand-centric sales force.

I read it. This is one of the lovable books on selling in recent years. Simplicity, natural, and useful.

十本著作10種感情

十本著作--- 有10種感情?

多年來, 我的著作多不算多, 少不算少。它們記錄了不同時間, 我的不同寫法和想法---創意辦法!

由後期《信報》的「創造新意」到近年《東方》產經版「B智略」的專欄, 我亦嘗試用不同的手法去寫...

至於著作方面, 不同時期則順序式地, 生了我的10個Babies:

--《廣告爆棚》
--《廣告創見》
--《廣告出擊》
--《創見行銷》
--《個人充電》
--《嘩式行銷》
--《架勢品牌》
--《動力十足》
--《燃點競爭動力》
--《最緊要腦力》

因此, 餓了出書數年, 我打算將於2007年內,"腦"力出版兩本新作及DVD專輯, 同讀者Reunion...!

Stephen Covey Junior

Great Book In the Covey's tradition of Principle-centred Leadership, 7 Habits, Power Principle, and First Things First

Really enjoy Stephen M. R. Covey's book. A great book written with wisdom and well-researched information. It is no empty talk, filled with examples, real life business and personal cases, and ancedotes. There is no doubt the book will become a classic and an all time bestseller in the leadership and trust-building field. This is definitely the "definite work" in the trust-building literature. Most of the suggested ideas are very doable in the real world, such as leveraging on the SPEED of Trust (speed things up, lower costs through establishing high trust!!), 4 Cores of building self-trust (integrity, intent, capability, and results), and the 13 behaviours, when well balanced with the 4 Cores, can help building relationship trust (such as talk straight, create transparency, right wrongs, deliver results, confront reality, to name a few!). This book really calls attention to the "Ethics Renaissance Age" by which business ethics and trust must be strengthened and restored (remember Enron, WorldCom, and so forth?). As far as the 13 behaviours are concerned, I suggest a better, more logical, easy- to- remember arrangement of their sequence of importance in the next revised edition of the book, namely:
1. Show respect, 2.Listen First, 3. Clarify Expectations, 4. Talk straight, 5. Create Transparency, 6. Confront Reality, 7. Right wrongs, 8. Show loyalty, 9. Practice Accountability, 10. Keep Commitments, 11. Deliver Results, 12. Get Better, 13. Extend Trust

Basically this book is far more well-organized and practical than his Dad's latest book, the 8th Habit, by which I am sorry to say, has really disappointed me and many of his loyal readers. The book just doesn't deliver the promise! 7 Habits, First Things First, and Principle-centred Leadership are far more sincere, less jargons-loaded and gimmicky! Stephen R. Covey could have re-edited or relaunched the book to restore trust with his readers! Disregarding the marketing flop of the 8th Habit (although still high on Amazon's best-selling list!) , Stephen R. Covey is certainly a great father. He gave good role-modelling to his son, Stephen M. R. Covey, when it comes to living the 7 Habits (Green and Clean story!) and book writing (in the 7 Habits' tradition). With the help of Rebecca R. Merrill (co-author of First Things First, Life Matters, and the editorial assistant of 7 Habits of Highly effective People/Families) in assisting Stephen M. R. Covey, Stephen Junior actually presents the Habit 4(Think Win/Win), Habit 5(Seek First To Understand), Habit 6(Synergize), Character Ethics, Abundance Mentality, Emotional Bank Account, and First Things First Together in a new light, from a trust-building angle. This is a clever way to launch and promote his new company, CoveyLink. Also glad to know that the next or new Covey's generations can carry on to spread the 7 Habits doctrine in an ongoing fashion, using different means or commercial vehicles.

But there is one thing that the sons or daughters of Stephen R. Covey must be cautious! Think outside your Dad's 7 Habits Box. Do not rest in the 7 Habits' Comfort Zone or Brand Franchise. This can kill creativity by living on Daddy's Golden Eggs (7 Habits' frozen intellectual framework). Besides, there are more than just 7( or the 8th!) natural laws or principles in human growth and relations in the real world. Don't treat 7 or 8 as the easy or lucky number, for marketing convenience!

Stephen M. R. Covey, thanks and congratulate you (and Rebecca Merrill!) for leaving a legacy by bringing us such an interesting, insightful, yet practical book!! Longing to read your next masterpiece (but don't rush it out, less is more! Great is better than the good...or mediocre!).

Quick Fix Book on Finance

A Very Practical and Lively Book on Personal Finance

This book is easy to read, understand, and apply. I don't mind this book is simply a line extension version of "Automatic Millionaire". This is an ACTION book. "Rich Dad Poor Dad" is great, but a bit conceptual.

This book is practical. It provides all essential elements one has to know about personal finance, especially for layman.

The Latte Factor is a sound concept and metaphor. Just save up the "big bucks" you spend on Starbucks each day, then you take the "Baby Steps" to better your personal finance.

This is a simple idea that sticks!!

Tipping Point Sticks!

The "Stickiness Factor" is an useful idea introduced in Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Another book, Make To Stick is a clever spinoff and further elaboration of the Stickiness Factor!

The writing and presentation style of "Make To Stick" are more or less modelled after "Tipping Point". The "Stickiness" idea is inspired and borrowed from Tipping Point! Not totally originated by the Authors. Basically, Malcolm Gladwell still owns the core idea! Ha Ha! He should protect his "intellectual property"...

That book has a "simple" idea--expand the important notion of making an idea understandable, memorable, and actionable (that's STICKINESS). Malcolm Gladwell has not covered this notion in-depth enough in his book! That creates a knowledge gap (marketing opportunity!) for the authors to fill.

All in all, the Tipping Book is a "Process" book, by which deals with the 3 Rules of "Idea/Message/Word of Mouth Epidemics":

1. The Law of the Few--How Connectors, Mavens, Salesmen spread messages

2. The Stickiness Factor--How to plan and make the message stick (how Chip
   and Dan Health's new book fits in to fill the knowledge gap!)

3. The Power of Context--How the context or marketplace affects how well
   the message will be received or processed

The Make to Stick book deals with No.2 mainly.It is about planning or communicating your idea or message.

Enjoyed Tipping Point more because it is more thought-provoking and original, although Make It Stick is also a good read. On the whole, Tipping Point is more "macro" than Make It Stick, which is too "micro", focusing only on message design. Tipping Point is more holistic--it covers the entire process of getting an idea, message, or social epidemic across in a more macro way.

The Tipping Point idea can be applied to Marketing Communications, Politics, Education, Social Marketing, and many walks of life.

So, it deserves Five Stars. Blink is also a very thought-provoking recent book by Malcolm Gladwell, which deals with "Thin Slicing"--making quick and accurate decisions in 2 seconds, like blinking one's eyes! A good follow-up to Tipping Point. The Connectors, Mavens, and Salemen can apply the "Thin Slicing" concept in real life at work. Actually, I prefer "Thin Slicing" as a book name better than Blink. My personal bias and preference, of course!

Suze Orman--Good Personal Finance Book Marketer!

Suze Orman definitely is a great personal marketer. She knows how to sell herself and brand her books as well.

I am so glad to come across with Suze's The Laws of Money. I wish I could have read this book at least 15 to 20 years' ago. It is paradigm-shifting in a sense that it helps us to remove the myths and emotional blocks about money, and suggest us to pick up the positive money habits, such as being brutually honest about our financial situations; self-worth precedes net worth; people, money, things as personal priorities.

What sets Suze Orman's work apart from books like Automatic Millionaire, Rich Dad Poor Dad series, the Millionaire Next Door, and so forth (those are also good books!) is that, Suze wrote about finance with her heart, not just her head. A person should strike a balance among the 5 vital forces in human life--Relationship with God, Money Management, Time Management, Health Management, and People Management. Personal finance is intertwined with many facets of human life, especially when it comes to "make money, make meaning".

I recommend this book to all proactive people who want to live a debt-free life, especially those who want to have a correct mindset of abundance, if not the life-ruining, negative mindset of poverty. To me, this is just like a" 7 Habits" book in personal finance which deals with the proven, natural laws about money.

Philip Kotler and Buzz Marketing

I finished this book in one seating. It took me about 5 to 6 hours. The book is filled with practical insights and wisdom on topics like viral marketing, the importance of creating buzz in marketing, and the growing importance of PR. Professor Kotler also shared some of the favorite books and authors that he enjoys most in the areas like Branding, Marketing, and Management. He also cited some of his favorite marketing-driven companies like Ikea, Sony, Amazon, and so forth. Quite suprised though that he did not choose Apple as his favorite marketing-driven company by which I think he should have, since iPod is an ultra-successful marketing case of all times. Besides, Apple has unconventional marketing and branding approaches. Professor Kotler still talked about Walkman these days, when ipod is over-taking the No. 1 position of Walkman as the leading MP3 brand in the world. He can be a bit "out-dated" in this aspect.

On the whole, the book is great because it covers all important yet essential areas of recent marketing concerns, skills, and tactics. His marketing theories,in some sense, can be quite old. However, he did a good update and integration on both the new and old perspectives, and going holistically into areas like CRM (its strengths and weaknesses), Integrated Marketing Communications, Internet's impact on marketing, Marketing ROI, and many other important areas.

I love this book very much because it gives a great overview and update on marketing skills and trends. It is not wordy and theoretical. It is very to the point and practical for marketing practitioners. There are no show off and unnecessary marketing buzzwords.

On the whole, great work by Kotler. More meat than his other recent re-hashed, re-packaged marketing books! You may say this book does not go deep enough in many aspects of marketing. Come on, you cannot have the best of all worlds. You cannot have everything all in one book. If you want practical simplicity, there must be sacrifices and trade-offs. Besides, in the Age of Knowledge Explosion, who needs marketing books filled with 300 to 500 pages of conceptual ideas or empty promises that cannot be executed at the workplace?

How To Be "Cheap Chic"?

An Insightful Book Which Really Tells How Customers Spend In General These Days

David Bosshart is highly perceptive about present and future trends in terms of how customers spend their hard-earned money. Customers buy from both on-line and off-line, and have many choices and real time shopping information at their finger tips.

Cheap chic or cheap products do not necessarily imply bad quality strikes a point. Zara as a cheap chic fashion brand is a good example. The global impact of Walmart, China (India as well!), and Internet on cheaper pricing than ever does make a point, thus "the Age of Cheap" as proclaimed by the author.

To be fair, the book is originally German, and is a translation version. I would not be too picky about the translation word by word. There is no perfect translation! To do justice and be fair with the author, I think the book has drawn out both useful blueprint and roadmap on how companies will price products and do marketing.

This book is useful, and deserves some credits, not just one-sided criticism.