The Hindu Business Line : Listening is not a passive activity

KAY Lindahl provides `a guide to enrich your relationships' in Practicing the Sacred Art of Listening, from Corpus Collosum (www.corpuscollosum.com). "Most of us spend about 45 per cent of our waking hours listening, yet we are distracted, preoccupied, or forgetful about 75 per cent of that time," informs the book. Listening is a matter of choice, and it is not a passive activity, writes Lindahl.

"Listening involves our whole being. The Chinese incorporates several aspects of listening in the symbol that is used to depict this act," explains the author. "Beginning on the left-hand side are squares that represent two ears; in the upper right the squares represent two eyes; underneath them is a line for undivided attention; and in the lower right-hand side is the heart."

Are you listening?

How to see emerging events

SEEING things fresh starts with first stopping our habitual ways of thinking and perceiving, write Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski and Betty Sue Flowers in Presence, from Nicholas Brealey (www.nbrealey-books.com). "As we become aware of our thoughts, they begin to have less influence on what we see," is another tip. But you may be saying, "This introspection thing doesn't work. I look, and nothing happens."

The book explains, "The whole point is that after suspension you have to tolerate that nothing is happening. Staying with it is the key, because suspension then allows for redirection. Suspension leads to seeing emerging events, contents, patterns, whatever. Then, you can actually redirect your attention to them." Another useful thought from this readable philosophy book is that when people in leadership positions begin to serve a vision infused with a larger purpose, "their work shifts naturally from producing results to encouraging the growth of people who produce results."

Malicious, as usual!

THIS is how Zora sized up the minister, as Khushwant Singh would explain in Paradise and Other Stories, from Penguin (www.penguinbooksindia.com): "He was an ugly, dark man with thick lips and podgy fingers, on four of which he wore gold rings studded with precious stones prescribed by his astrologer." Zora knew that what the minister wanted every woman had — "whether she was a gazetted officer, a typist or a sweeperess", and so he assured the minister, "Sir, I give you my word there will be no complaints against my department."

On the minister's birthday, Zora meets him alone, pulls out a platinum and blue star-sapphire ring from a little red velvet box. "Zora, this must have cost you a fortune," said the minister as he admired the new ring... And Zora doesn't forget his lines, "... I know you will keep a benign eye on me after I retire in a few months' time."

Cushy, Khush-y read!

Add some sauce

A MANAGER strapped to his seat tells a colleague, "I use a safety belt while taking any risky decision." Change is very important and, therefore, I change my mind every now and then, says a boss to his alarmed staff. An angry young man gets this defensive response from an employer, "It's the courier's fault. They delivered your sack letter before you got the appointment letter." These are only a few samples from Prriya Raj's Corporate Cartoons, of Vision Books (www.visionbooksindia.com).

"I have a lot of respect for cartoonists," writes Edward de Bono in his foreword to the book. "With a cartoon, humour acts as the sauce for the digestion of important points," he'd add.

There are many in this good collection to savour, be it an unusual prayer, "God, grant me a bubble that doesn't burst!", or a seasonal client who turns up at the psychiatrist "after the annual CEO salary survey". In one, the boss tells his secretary, "Keep all e-cards ready. I want to add my personal touch by finally clicking the `send' command!"

Tickling stuff.

United States of South Asia

SYED Ali Mujtaba's Soundings on South Asia, from New Dawn Press (www.newdawnpress.com), attempts to provide a compendium of the region's development, by highlighting the issues in debate. South Asia is a huge landmass, home to about a quarter of the world's population, points out the preface, about a region that encompasses seven nations "in a geographical continuum" with the exception of Sri Lanka and Maldives. It is possible to forge a regional identity, despite differences, argues the author, and proposes USSA or the United States of South Asia as a possible goal! A logical first step he suggests is to establish a culture of peace and stability before any meaningful dialogue. Engaging discussion.

No whiners, please

WHO can make it to the guest list of a pity party? "Invitees would have to possess the ability to grumble, gripe, groan, fuss, snarl, scream, fret, rant, and complain — preferably all at the same time," writes Shari Caudron in What Really Happened, from Pearson Education (www.pearsoned.co.in). She gets luminaries such as "freelance worst-market-in-15-years writers, graphic clients-just-aren't-spending-money designers, and software we're-wondering-how-to-make-it-through-December executives."

Projecting a positive image of oneself even during down times may be criticised as being fake, but the author is of the view that it works to meet every enquiry about business with, "It's terrific! Never been better!" Success, confidence, and happiness are often a matter of where you place your attention, reminds Caudron, to save you from pessimism. "The glass is not half-empty. If you continue to believe in yourself, others will too." Positive message!

Tailpiece

"He was my friend till... "

"Till he became your boss?"

"Worse, he became my father-in-law!"

ReadingRoom@TheHindu.co.in

D. Murali

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