"Life With Woody" 10 inspirational quotes than can improve yourself

It might take a little coffee or probably a few rounds of beer or any other booze you could get your hands on when it comes to relaxing after a hard day's work.

But what's really interesting is that how do people go through the usual part of life when faced with vein-popping stress? I mean, the new age thing like Zen or yoga is one of the good things and it actually works. Is there room for the intellectual side of people who can actually smell the roses-in-a-can while on the move? It kind of had me thinking that there really must be something in this 'mind-over-matter' thing.

Humor is indeed the best medicine there is whenever you are. I mean anyone can pay good money to listen to a comedian just to make you wet your pants after laughing so hard. Despite of what's been happening, and to those who has gone though the ordeal, it's better to just laugh while facing the troubles with a clear mind than anger with a clouded vision. One of my favorite celebrities of all time may have to be Woody Allen. Now this is one guy who gives you the in-your-face bluntness that he pulls out with gusto, even without even trying. You can talk just about anything with a man, and he's bound to mock the subject and you'll end up laughing rather than being upset about it.

Woody Allen has this to say:

1. "Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." It sounds good to me, I mean the practicality of all things does involve money but it doesn't have to take an arm and a leg to get it.

2. "I believe there is something out there watching us. Unfortunately, it's the government." 'Nuff said.

3. "There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with an insurance salesman?" This happens to be one of the classic ones. I mean the issue about life's little problems isn't all that bad, until 'he' shows up.

Sure, relationships can get complicated, or does have its complications that probably any author about relationships is bound to discover it soon. We follow what our heart desires, unless you're talking about the heart as in the heart that pump blood throughout your body.

4. "Love is the answer, but while you're waiting for the answer, sex raises some pretty interesting questions." And if you want more, just keep on asking!

5. "A fast word about oral contraception. I asked a girl to go to bed with me, she said 'no'." It sounds, 'practical', I think.

And when it comes to everyday life, he really knows how to make the best out of every possible scenario, and it doesn't involve a lawsuit if he strikes a nerve.

6. "Basically my wife was immature. I'd be at home in the bath and she'd come in and sink my boats." I never had a boat in my bathtub before. Just staring at it while soaking in hot water makes me seasick already.

7. "I am not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens." If it rains, it pours.

8. "I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose." It could get worse when you're guzzling on beer… or mouthwash, and it happened to me once!

9. "If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans." At least he doesn't smite us with lightning, and I'm thankful for that.

And despite of what may happen to all of us in the next ten, twenty, or even thirty years, I guess we all have to see things in a different kind of light and not just perspective. I can't seem to imagine life without any piece of wisdom that could guide us. Whether we're religious or not, it takes more courage to accept your fears and learn how to deal with them is all that matters when it comes to even just getting along.

And to sum things up, here is the last nugget of wisdom to go by… however, whenever, and wherever we may be.

10. "The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don't have."

Cheers,
Mark

It's not Them, It's Me.

A husband thought that his wife was becoming deaf each day. So he decided to test her listening skills as she was preparing dinner that day.

As he came in from the front door, he shouted towards his wife, whose back was against him in the kitchen, “Honey, what’s for dinner?”
No answer.

He moved towards the sofa and shouted, “Honey, what’s for dinner?”
Still no answer.

He then moved towards the kitchen and shouted with all his might, “Honey! What’s for dinner?”

This time, his wife turned around, glared at him and shouted back, “For the third time, I said chicken!”


Moral of the Story:
As leaders, we might feel that we are being misunderstood and that others don’t listen to us and we are always in the right. However, if we take time to listen and appreciate others, we’ll find that we are the ones who need to change. By removing the plank of self righteousness in our eyes, and ear wax in our ears, we will be able to understand the world better.

Here are 4 tips.

1. Hear the ground more.
2. Be more sensitive to feedback
3. Listen with your ears.
4. Check yourself. If you try to convey something and nothing goes through, you could be decoding the message wrongly.

cheers,
Mark

Books on Leadership

I was searching on the internet for inspirational leadership quotes for my upcoming book when I stumbled upon this site on Leadership.

The author Patty Inglish has revealed the top 5 books on leadership which she felt would could influence the mass effectively.

Top 5 Books on Leadership

So I felt that these books could be shared to you all as well.

Indeed, many people like to find out how they manage themselves better as leaders before they can go about to lead others. For it is said, change yourself first, and the world will change.

It should be a never-ending search to make yourself a better leader, and you can start by reading up on successful leaders!

cheers,
Mark

Product Review: Secure Drive Erase

Are you SURE that your deleted files have REALLY been DELETED?

Do you want to protect yourself from corporate data thieves, blackmail and identity theft?

Hence if you're selling your computer, throwing away a hard drive, or ditching that company server, here are a few urban myths you really MUST know:

* Deleting a file DOES NOT get rid of it!
* Emptying the Recycle Bin DOES NOT erase files!
* Formatting a drive DOES NOT erase your data!
* Repartitioning a drive DOES NOT erase your data!

Now, over the past year, I've been using one tool to help ensure that ALL of my deleted files are gone - FOR GOOD. It's not about being naughty and trying to cover any tracks, but it's just that sometimes I've too many files in my computer, and it seems to slow the whole system down. So I went to search for soft wares that can erase these files permanently.




I've only tried one other similar software before and that is East-Tech Eraser, and I felt that it was quite expensive so I stopped using it.

I then found Secure Drive Erase, and it's a nifty little software tool that helped me DELETE files from my hard disk, as well as removing all of the "undelete" information in my PC.

It's methods are approved by the US Department of Defense (DOD) *and* the National Security Agency,as well, so you can be sure you're in safe hands.

So here's my review about the product!

What's so good about Secure Drive Erase?
1) Secure Drive Erase is a powerful deletion tool, which can erase your files, folders and “undelete” data on your hard disk – in just minutes.

2) It can wipe your hard disk using routines five times stronger than those recommended by the National Security Agency.

3) Whether you’re selling your computer, getting rid of an old hard drive, or ditching your server, you need to be sure that your personal and confidential records are kept secure – or you could face fines, identity theft, blackmail and total corporate failure.

With Secure Drive Erase, this never even becomes a problem. Just a couple of clicks and ALL of your deleted files are erased – for GOOD.

4) The best part is that you can download this software for a free trial
Download your copy - at ZERO COST - today, from:

http://www.short10.com/?c=eraseforever

5) It's usually priced at around $27. Still cheaper than other data deletion softwares though...

For my readers on this post, you can however click here to purchase it at the fantastic price of $20!
http://www.myhelphub.com/start/purchase.aspx?p=securedriveerase&v=offer&m=m&afl=60862


What's not good about Secure Drive Erase?
1)You may need to work around the interface to understand the full usage. Perhaps this is also because I was used to East Tech Eraser, so when I saw that the interface was quite basic, I felt lost.

2) I thought that the programme might be quite slow to start up, so do manage your expectations.

3)It's quite a dangerous tool to be in the hands of beginners. SO read the instructions properly before attempting to delete your data. I nearly deleted my C drive!

4) This is not designed to wipe browser history, hence there are no direct clearing functions.


What's can be improved about Secure Drive Erase?
1)If only it's S$20 instead of US$! but then again, the price is fairly low for such a robust product.

2)Perhaps it could be upgraded and integrated with browser cleaning software so as to support direct browser history cleaning functions. There are definitely other softwares that can help, but to have a all-in-one software would be good.

Recommendation:
This software is good in deleting files permanently and wiping slack. If you want to get a software that can wipe internet browsing tracks, you may have to source for others.
Nonetheless, it is still a good buy at this price, and I'm not sure how long the discount would last for, so i recommend that you head over to this link now...
Buy at $20 from this link below
http://www.myhelphub.com/start/purchase.aspx?p=securedriveerase&v=offer&m=m&afl=60862


OK, that's all for now, and I'll be reviewing more products over the next few months, so watch out for more great products!

Cheers,

Chew Mark

Leading Effective Teams - Communicate with Them

Leaders have very clear visions and they constantly communicate and cascade these visions to their people. In his book Leadership, the first principle Rudolph Giuliani shared was his insistence on his routine morning meeting. "I consider it the cornerstone to efficient functioning within any system...We accomplish a great deal during that first hour, in large part because the lines of communication were so clear."

These are three ways for communication, so that you would be able to lead effective teams.

1. Rapport. Rapport is a unique chance in building relationships. There might be cases whereby you instantly disliked someone at first glance. However if the dislike was due to some bias which could be ironed out, you would have created rapport between the two of you. Rapport can be built. It can be build by taking time out to be attuned with your team members. Rapport can be built by the occasional treats, the constant personal conversations, and even your regular presence during team trainings and workshops. All these little actions create an environment where people speak up.

The day that your team members stop coming to talk about their problems to you, is the day that you have stopped leading them. They have either lost their confidence in you, or realised that you don't care enough for them. Colin Powell emphasized this scenario as a case of "Leadership Failure"

Hence can you find time to join your team members during their training sessions? Are you able to just have time-out with your team members?

2. Listen Carefully. You have two ears and one mouth. That should be a clear indication that we should all listen twice as much before talking. You see, all great leaders are exceptional listeners. Former US President Bush listens to his top advisors. President Barack Obama gets unfiltered information. So, if presidents have time to listen to all these information, shouldn't you too? Pay attention more to the words from the grapevine as well, because it is another source of vital information. You could do so from the smoking room, the reception area, or even over toilet breaks. These are all vital information straight from the horses' mouth.

So, do you spend time listening to your team members before speaking up?

3. Establish Effective Feedback. Mutual accountability is very important in this area to establish effective feedback. Once team members promise to hold themselves accountable for their actions and strategies, feedback will flow progressively. No one would be too shy to cover up for his own mistakes and instead seek to constantly find feedback from you. Therefore you would need to establish a good feedback platform for this to be successful.

Readiness reports in certain projects give a robust feedback platform as any delays or successful milestones can be seen by all. Routine team meetings whether conducted weekly or fortnightly, keep everyone informed about the latest happenings and information. An effective After Action Review (AAR) would also help everyone in their teachings and learning. Incidentally, I would talk about conducting effective AAR in a separate article. So stay tuned.

Are you open-minded enough for two-way communication? Can your team members see any action after you have been given their feedback?

In summary, these three ways are some ways for you to learn in the never-ending quest of leadership management. Use them appropriately and you would first see changes in yourself, and then in others.

Discover. Passion. Freedom

I had a really great talk with Hong Koon, my publisher, yesterday on passion.

We also touched on many things, from writing with great responsibility, to having a great marriage, and to even living a life that touches people through our words and written text.

The biggest take away was when he encouraged me to write works that have the greatest quality. Works of art that can touch generations after generations. Works like Shakespearean magic; Works that are God-Breathed like the Bible; Works like what many authors are passionate about.

Yes, there may be Best-Selling Authors and there may be Best-Writing Authors, but at the heart of it all, there must be the Author who wants to reach out to people because he yearns to share his knowledge and passion.

In short, passion is what keeps us sane in the mist of madness.

Passion is what keep us, authors, alive.

cheers,
Mark

Leading Effective Teams-Maintain Your Character

If your team doesn't trust you, you can be rest assured that you would not have a team for long. One of the most important reasons for why teams stick together with their leaders would be because they feel that their leaders exhibit a high moral behaviour.
These are four ways to maintain your character so that you would be able to lead effective teams.
1. Know Your Ground. Knowing your ground is to know your principles. Knowing your principles means that you know where you stand morally. If you have some form of principles in which you set your lifestyle by, your character would be reflected.
For example, if I had to choose a project leader from two persons, and one was a tri-athlete, and the other was just a normal man in the street, I would immediately pick the sportsman because in order to reach his level of fitness, he would have exhibited discipline. And discipline is a principle.
Do you have some ground rules for yourself so that you know where to draw the line? If you know where the out-of-bound markers are for yourself, you are clearer in setting rules for your team members.
2. Be Trustworthy. Being trustworthy means that people can trust how you behave in the open is how you would behave in the dark.
Jack Neo, a famous Singaporean actor, television host and director was the first filmmaker in Singapore to be honoured with the Public Service Award in 2004. He was also a Cultural Medallion recipient. He managed to assemble a great team of comedians, actors and actresses to touch the lives of many Singaporeans and perhaps even many Asians. However in 2010, his illicit affair with a young girl opened a can of worms and it sent his world crashing down.
His artiste management company of around ten years is now is danger of collapsing because his senior partners want nothing to do with him.
As a leader, if you aren't trustworthy, you really have nothing worthwhile for your team members to follow. If your own family members can't trust you, why should they?
3. Be Reliable. If reliable means that if you agree to do a task, you would do so and not give any reasons not to do it. To lead an effective team, you need to be reliable to delegate the jobs to your team members, and to expect yourself to do more in a shorter time.
I used to have a superior who would always report sick just before a major presentation. We would work together all the way until the day itself, and lo and behold, he would not be present. And there I was, one of the most junior officers trying to get a grip of myself explaining concepts to the general. I must thank that superior though because if not for his absence, I would not have gained the experience in writing this article!
Are you reliable enough for your team members? If they ask you for help, would you agree immediately? What would be the consequence if you were not there for them?
4. Be Transparent. Being transparent really means that you have nothing to hide. Of course there would be certain information that is not privy to your team members. For such circumstances, just tell them that it's a need to know basis. Once your team members know that there is certain information that you are not in a right position to divulge, they will learn appropriately. People are smart. They learn and adapt fast, so don't worry too much.
If you are a transparent leader, you would not hesitate to share your success and failures as you would understand them to be lessons. Similarly, you would enforce the same for your team so that all would learn from each other.
Are you able to treat all failures as feedback and share these with your team members?
In summary, these four ways are just the tip of the ice berg in the never-ending quest of leadership learning. Use them appropriately and you would first see changes in yourself, and then in others.