Wednesday 10 March 2010

Oh dear

After an early morning meeting with a customer from India, I offered to drive him to his next meeting as he was already running late. He was grateful of course, especially since he isn't too familiar with Singapore.

I've been there before, so I dropped him off outside the office building and waved goodbye. After I left, it suddenly dawned on me that I had been presumptuous. I should have asked him for the address just in case the office is no longer there.

True enough, I checked later and found that they had recently moved to another building down the street. Oh dear, I had sent the poor guy to the wrong place! He must be cursing under his breath while rushing around in the sweltering heat.

I promptly texted him to apologise. He replied much later with a one-liner, "No issue."

I'm sure what he meant to say was "Need tissue! (to wipe the sweat pouring down my face)."

Oh well. I was just trying to be kind....

Maybe I need to read more to sharpen my wit and social skills.

I found this list of best-selling authors recommended by Elim Chew, a leading entrepreneur in Singapore. Some of you may find the list useful too.

Collins -- Good to Great; Built to Last; How the Mighty Fall
Lencioni -- Five Dysfunctions of Team
Godin -- Purple Cow; All Marketers are Liars; etc.
Smart -- Topgrading; Who
Buckingham -- First Break All the Rules; Now Discover Your Strengths
Arbinger -- Leadership and Self-Deception; Anatomy of Peace
Hall -- Jump Start Your Marketing Brain
Moore -- Crossing the Chasm; Inside the Tornado; Dealing with Darwin
Cialdini -- Influence; Yes!
Reichheld -- The Ultimate Question; The Loyalty Effect
Orfalea -- Copy This
Johnson -- Emergence; Everything Bad is Good for You
Krippendorf -- Art of the Advantage
Peters -- In Search of Excellence; Liberation Management; etc.
McKee -- Primal Leadership; Resonate Leadership
Wyly -- 1000 Dollars and An Idea
Travis -- Doing Business Anywhere
Perkowski -- Managing the Dragon; How I'm Building a Billion Dollar Business in China
Daniels -- Bringing Out the Best in People; Oops
Simon -- Hidden Champions of the 21st Century; Beat the Crisis
Allen -- Getting Things Done; Ready for Anything
Twist -- Soul of Money
Dijulius -- Secret Service; What's the Secret
Ries -- The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR; The Origin of Brands
Schwantz -- The Wedge; How to Get Your Competition Fired
Kurlan -- Baseline Selling; Mindless Selling
Rackham -- SPIN Selling; Rethinking the Sales Force; Getting Partnering Right
Bloom -- The Inside Advantage
Gilmore -- The Experience Economy; Authenticity
Daly -- Coaching Companies to Greater Sales & Profit
Lautenslager -- Guerilla Marketing in 30 Days
Holmes -- The Ultimate Sales Machine
Scott -- The New Rules of Marketing & PR; World Wide Rave
Ferrazzi -- Never Eat Alone; Who's Got Your Back
Alexander -- Making the Numbers; Topgrading for Sales
Burton -- Pricing with Confidence
Cecil -- Nurturing Customer Relationships
Flanagan -- Now, Go Sell Somebody Something
Cheng -- The Recession-Proof Business

Almost 40 books to read! I'm heading to the library now.

7 comments:

XiangLong said...

i've got 1 to recommend!


the element: how finding your passion changes everything

by Ken Robinison

Blur Ting said...

Hey Xiang Long, thanks!

Other readers, you can also add to the list too!

auntielucia said...

Hi Blur, while I've a lot of time for Elim Chew, I think these business "experience" books, like self-help books, are well, WOT!

Better invest yr time in doing yr own thing: better still, write yr own book instead of reading others' regugitated motherhood statements.

I'm really terrible :(

Blur Ting said...

Auntie Lucia - LOL! The good news is, all the books could not be found at the library except for the one Xiang Long recommended. So I will only read one. What I need is just some form of inspiration and that should do it.

JY69 said...

THAT was a funny story. I am sure he was cursing you out... LOL... oh well.

WaterLearner said...

You had good intentions. That's most important.

Amel said...

WOW...what a long list! Yeah, better go to the library then he he...I should start reading a new Finnish novel now. :-D

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