Rapid Realignment Teaches Leaders How To Adapt And Stay Focused

Spend some quality time with the new book, Rapid Realignment, and you'll learn how to ensure that your strategy, customers, processes and people work seamlessly together in the service of customers and that those four elements continually realign in the face of constant change.

The authors, Dr. George H. Labovitz and Victor Rosansky, share throughout the book a series of case studies from Federal Express, Quest Diagnostics, Navy Hospital at Camp Pendleton, Farmington Savings Bank and a host of other organizations who have stepped up to the challenge of rapid realignment.

Key takeaways from the book include:

• Vertical alignment describes a condition in which every employee can articulate the enterprise's strategy and explain how his or her daily work activities support that strategy.
• Each organization must have a Main Thing.  That Main Thing as a whole must be a common and unifying concept to which every unit can contribute.  Each department and team must be able to see a direct relationship between what it does and this overarching goal.  And, the Main Thing must be clear, easy to understand, consistent with the strategy of the organization, and actionable.
• Growth and profits are surely the ultimate aim of every business organization, but they are outcomes of succeeding with the Main Thing.
• Good bosses understand the value of giving subordinates a long leash.  In addition, best bosses listen, back up their employees, trust and respect their employees and provide feedback to employees.
• Leaders foster engagement when they listen to their employees, create a common purpose, and give people greater ownership of their work.
• Corporate culture is the product of four dynamically related components:  attitudes, beliefs, values, and behavior.
• The fastest and most  effective way to change attitudes and beliefs is to change people's behavior and show them the beneficial results of the new behavior.
• Organizational culture is revealed in artifacts and symbols, the stories people  tell, relationships, and the rituals and rules that guide behavior.

You'll appreciate the Key Points summaries and the Things To Do suggestions from the authors at the end of each of the nine chapters in the book.

And, particularly timely are the book sections where the authors teach readers how to:

• bring the customer voice inside your company through social media
• use social media and digital technology to quickly identify points of misalignment 

Labovitz is the founder and CEO of IDI, an international management training and consulting company, and professor of management and organizational behavior at the Boston University Graduate School of Management.

Rosansky is co-founder and president of LHR International, Inc.  He has more than 25 years of experience as a consultant, helping Fortune 500 clients to drive rapid strategy deployment and alignment.

Thanks to the book publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

Banks open up to Vietnam real estate market

Many banks have started to provide low-interest loans for people real housing demand, which has fostered hopes of jumpstarting the stagnant real estate market.

Director of a trading floor on Khuat Duy Tien Street, in Hanoi, said, “We’ve seen an increased number of customers in June who want to borrow to buy homes.”

Bui Nhat Tan, a worker in Hanoi bought a house in the Xa La urban area for 1.2 billion dong (US$57,000). The price was considerably lower than the 1.8 billion dong (US$86,000) asking price earlier in the year.

“We’ve saved for years to buy a house, but the prices were just too high. We only had about three quarters of what the house cost, so we decided to take out a loan. But since the interest rate is so low, we are not worried about borrowing,” Tan said.

During the first months of the year the average annual interest rate for home loans was at 20.5 percent. Since then it has dropped to 17.5 percent. Tan, however, got a rate of 16.5 percent as a result of the banks preferential home loan policies towards workers, and the companies they work for.

Tan said that the lowered interest rate and the dip in housing prices have enabled her to buy a house, even on a labourer’s salary.

Other banks have followed suit with such preferential loan policies due to the SBV lowering its deposit interest rate and loosening monetary policy.

ACB, for example, has implemented a programme that offers special low rates for individuals who are employed by businesses that are members of partnerships willing to sponsor the loans. Individual members of these partnerships are also eligible for preferential loans.

“We hope this programme will provide funds for people in need and help small business owners.” ACB leader said. - Source: Dtinews

HDBank arranging capital for $550 mln Ha Long property complex

Ho Chi Minh City-based HDBank has become the bookrunning mandated lead arranger for the US$550 million Ha Long Star property complex by Ha Long Bay in the northern province of Quang Ninh.



The Vietnamese lender signed the capital arrangement deal on July 5 with project developer Limitless Vietnam, a member of Dubai-based Limitless, a global integrated real estate master developer.

HDBank will arrange credit for the whole project and make disbursements by phase. It will immediately make the first disbursement of US$10 million for Limitless Vietnam.

Located 200m above Ha Long Bay, Ha Long Star will accommodate up to 4,000 residents and guests in three hotels, serviced villas, townhouses, apartments, complemented by leisure and retail facilities, all with extensive views of the world renowned bay.

As agreed, Limitless Vietnam will use HDBank's capital services related to the development of the project such as domestic and international payments from customers, capital for contractors, funding for secondary investors and clients of the project .

Limitless Dubai CEO Faisal Al Raisi said," We strongly believe that the project will meet the timeline and soon bring more benefits to home and abroad travelers coming to Quang Ninh, as to be deserved its name Ha Long Star."

Reported by Truong Nguyen | Tuoi Tre News

Second Edition of Leigh Branham's Best Seller To Debut In August

Next month, Overland Park, KS-based author and consultant Leigh Branham will publish an updated version (Second Edition) of his best-seller, The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave.

In the meantime, Branham explains that the most effective things a workplace leader can do to keep employee turnover low don't cost money; they just cost time and effort.

Branham says a leader should:
1.   Make the commitment to create a great place to work.
2.   Inspire employee confidence in decisions and clear business direction.
3.   Work to build trust based on honesty and integrity.
4.   Practice open, two-way communication, especially in times of uncertainty.
5.   Look out for the organization before you look out for yourself.
6.   Believe employees should be developed and retained; not burned out and discarded.

These six leadership skills topped the list of what leaders routinely do in companies that have won "Best-Place-to-Work" competitions in 45 U.S. cities, according to research that Branham completed in 2010.

"Overall, our research confirmed that the culture that senior leaders build is even more important than how immediate managers manage because it so profoundly influences how those managers manage," added Branham.

And when it comes to employee retention, Branham explains that there is something an employee can do, too, to help make his/her job more rewarding and fulfilling, even if their leader lacks the best of leadership skills.

• "I recommend that the employee focus on finding unmet needs in the organization where they can use the talents they most enjoy using to do something that is meaningful and significant to both that employee and the organization," said Branham.

7 Ways To Build An Effective Corporate Culture

Fortunately, most of my career I’ve worked in effective corporate cultures. If I put together the best of each, here is what made those environments effective:

• Leaders led by example on a consistent basis and were willing to roll up their sleeves, particularly during tight deadlines or challenging times.

• Employees clearly understood how what they did made a difference and how their contributions made the organization either more profitable or more effective.

• The workforce included a blend of long-term employees with a rich company, product/service and customer history, employees who had been at the company for five to seven years, and then new hires with a fresh perspective and keen sense of new technologies and techniques. That blend worked best when the mix included virtually all A-players.

• Top managers had a clear, realistic and strategic vision for how the company would grow and compete in the marketplace.

• Employees were challenged and rewarded through growth opportunities, education and training and pay increases.

• Leaders provided opportunities for the company and its employees to give back to the community. Sometimes it was through company organized volunteer projects. Other times it was by encouraging (and rewarding) employees to volunteer on their own.

• A group of employees served on an activities committee with as little top management influence as possible, to plan at least monthly team-building, networking, education and charitable activities. This grass-roots approach helped ensure that the culture was shaped and influenced by employees and not only by top management. In this way, employees owned the culture as much as the management did.

Visit to Buddhist Monastery Manali a Must for Every Healer

Buddhist Monastery in Manali

Buddhist temple at Manali is a very peaceful and beautiful place, full of colorful flowers grown in the surroundings and fully painted with auspicious symbols the Buddhist temple and monastery is a must visit place for any healer from the world.

Auspicious Scriptures on stone

The wish fulfilment temple

Temple in Manali Buddhist

God has a plan and each one has to follow this. The sheer beauty of the hill station Manali at the great heights and the Rohtang pass clad with snow a beautiful place to visit and especially a must visit place for all the healers from the world. The journey itself is a new page in my life and one that has been dreamed of since years. The symbols that I have been painting have come live in front of me a scriptures, and symbolic Tibetan flags flow with the wind, the Buddhism culture is very prominently observed in every place in hill station Manali.

The Golden Rotating Wheel with carvings of auspicious symbols

Healing Artist Rizwana Mundewadi at the Buddhist temple

The Entrance of the Buddhist Temple

Buddhist Temple and Monastery in Manali

Colorful Symbols and Scriptures on the Temple

The Mantras in Buddhist language

The mantras embedded as carvings on the metal  hollow drums have to be moved in one direction, while people chant the mantras, OM Mani Padme Hum, along with rotating  the drums and move along there is an immense peace and satisfaction felt which is out of this world.

The Monks at Buddhist temple

The whole environment is that of healing and the aura of the place is filled with positive energy.

Colourful Entrance to Buddhist Temple

The Senior People at Manali

Colourful Flowers at Buddhist temple and Monastery in Manali

There are beautiful colourful flowers of red, pink, blue, peach and yellow and shaded variety, just what I had read in the book ' Monk who sold his Ferrari' by Robin Sharma the acclaimed leadership guru and a healer and guide to many. The book has unfolded many mysteries and created an image of the monks from mountains of the Himalayas to live in a hut surrounded by colourful fragrant roses. The painting "Red Pilgrim' by Rizwana mundewadi is only a simple representation of the monks living away from this world and leading a spiritually fulfilling life.As I had painted this painting years back , looking at these very sights has brought feelings of enlightenment and connection with  the whole universe. a feeling of completion, a whole, the missing part of the puzzle is complete.

Beautiful Original Healing Gem Stones at Manali

Buddhist temple Manali

From all feng shui cures, to crystals, and healing stones Manali is a place where you can get all types of stones. From the Rose Quartz, the Amethyst to the Sapphire and Emerald all are available here. Moonstone , sandstone and so many colorful healing stones. There is a special connection to every stone and each individual can feel this attraction when they visit the certified gems stores here.
It is very important when you buy stones that you feel an attraction and likeness for any stone that you select for buying. Many people also follow their birth stone chart and purchase such stones for healing and good luck. Emeralds for June born, Amethyst for February born and Garnet for January born , there are each specific stones for every month which will benefit the wearer.
I am more interested in the raw stones and am back with originally charged stones from the huge Rohtang pass, the snow clad mountain has immense dragon energy and as people  construct roads in the  huge mountains, from above we see as if the mouth of the dragon takes lakhs of  cars moving to the top.

Yaks and Horses Grazing on the Mountains

Rohtang Pass Snow Clad Mountains

The Way to the Top of Rohtang Pass Border of Tibet

Feng shui we are against breaking any forms of natural elements as this creates imbalance and my heart aches for the mountain which has been cut off, parts which are broken and blasts that may have wounded the white mighty dragon. but unless there were roads we would not have been able to reach the palce and enjoy the beauty of this majestic and graceful Rohtang.. The construction of roads is also harmful as the cut off parts of the mountain, white dragon, maybe its stomach will lead to financial problems, its mouth ,the feet of the mountains, will create problems for people living here. But with progress this all is essential and people have used feng shui cures for balancing  the energy.
With the balance of all five elements this place is sure charged with loads of positive energy.
God has a plan, his plans are way better than what we plan, when the student is ready the teacher appears!

The Evil Eye Feng Shui Cure

Evil Eye and Negativity Protection Feng Shui Cure

One of the most effective and simple feng shui cures and a very attractive one is the evil eye protection cure available in all feng shui stores and especially Tibet and Manali where Buddhism is prevalent. The colourful show piece available for hanging at the entrance , the living room or in fact any place in your home , office or garden is very effective in protecting the place and individuals from catching negative energy. People very often mention 'buri nazar' or evil eye cast by the viewer which makes the person affected sick, weak, and also leads to loss in business or wealth. I have also mentioned other feng shui cures like plants, feng shui cure paintigns and symbolic objects  for protection from evil eye in other posts.
The colours in this feng shui cure are french ultramarine blue, cobalt or cerulean blue, white and it has a black dot at the center.
The symbolic representation of the eye this feng shui cure attracts the viewers attention immediately upon entering the premises and neutralizes any negative energy they may have come with. this feng shui evil eye protection cure soothes the nerves and balances the emotions of the viewer and creates harmony and peace. Thus neutralizing any negative energy and converting it into positive chi which uplifts the environment and energy of your home.
These symbols of Tibetan origin are seen displayed in many homes all over the world and have universal appeal due to its attractive appearance. The colour of the Third Eye or Anjana Chakra is adapted to be used as protection from evil forces.
This evil eye protection feng shui cure can be displayed in any place in your home. Especially at the entrance it will protect from negative energy from outside winds and neighbors and convert it into positive energy while entering your home. It can also be hung in your bedroom to neutralize the energy here or the children's bedroom to create a harmonious environment. People also hang this cure in the garden or car for protection. There are also some who wear it as neck piece or necklace every time for protection. This feng shui cure is also available in form of show pieces, bracelets, ear rings, finger rings or other jewellery forms.  In countries and places where Buddhism is followed these cures are seen in every home and also with the eight auspicious symbols for protection, wealth, health and prosperity along with good luck. As wall hangings they are displayed in every home following the principles of feng shui five elements and Buddhism.