We know that regular followers of our blog enjoy reading … especially when it comes to a good book that may enhance their efforts in the business world. To date, we’ve written 213 book reviews which are available to you at the touch of this link. Those reviews have been grouped into the following categories:

• Change Books
• Communication Books
  • Technology Books
• Creativity Books
• Customer Service Books
• Decision-Making Books
• Leadership Books
• Motivational and Self-Help Books
• Networking Books
• Project Management Books
• Quality Books
• Retention Books
• Teamwork Books
• Time Management Books
• Women-in-Business Books

While I would love to write a book review a day to keep you up to date on the many titles which are available, my travel and appearance schedule doesn’t allow that. Therefore, I’ll probably never catch up. Recently, I ran across a list of “100 Books You Should Read Instead of Going to Business School.” It broke the titles into several categories which included:

• Inspirational
• Amusing Reads
• About Social Media
• About Leadership
• How-to Books
• Learn Little-Known Facts
• Business Startups for Women
• Connecting with Other People

Again, the suggested list contains 100 interesting titles that any business reader should find beneficial. They can be found as part of MastersDegree.com. This is a family-owned and operated website. Apparently, it is dedicated to being the world’s number one resource for Master’s Degree schools and information. Its goal is to facilitate potential students’ search for a Master’s Degree that best suits his/her degree objectives.

Created in December 2009, it offers an extensive and elaborate listing of Master’s Degree programs, currently listing 80 types of Master’s Degrees. Check them out as they appear to be a terrific resource for future reference.

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

We’ve added still another category, books, to our growing list of “Words of Wisdom” subjects, bringing our current total to 39 categories.

I can remember when reading was a pleasant pastime which could, in an instant, transport me to another part of the world or, better yet, to other worlds altogether. I remember reading that Abe Lincoln grew up with his nose buried in his favorite books by the light of his fireplace in his Illinois log cabin.

Today, reading is quickly becoming a lost art. The world is so busy that no one has the leisure time to settle into a comfortable chair and enjoy a good book. This sad decline has been going on for quite some time. Television, radio, and movie theaters contributed the early distractions … followed rather rapidly by Cliff Notes, books on cassettes and CDs and now digital book readers such as the Kindle.

It’s sad to think that our next generation will never know what it was like to curl up with a good book. They may never know what a book is.

Check out our latest addition to Words of Wisdom to gather more insight into the subject of reading.

Feel free to check out our in-depth offering of quotes on many additional subjects should you be in need of a refreshing thought, idea, slogan or profound nugget for an upcoming meeting, presentation, or lunch room bulletin board.

We offer interesting quotes on the subjects of aging, attitude, change, chaos, Christmas, creativity, customer service, dreams, employee engagement, employees, empowerment, enthusiasm, execution, fear, gender, goals, graduation, leadership, mentoring, motivation, moving on, networking, passion, patience, persistence, politics, potential, random acts of kindness, reading, repetition, sales, sense of urgency, smiling, teachers, teamwork, time management, vision, women, and now books!

Click on “Words of Wisdom” in order to review our entire offering.

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

We’ve added still another category, aging, to our growing list of “Words of Wisdom” subjects, bringing our current total to 38 categories.

Let’s face it, AGING is one of those few things, along with taxes, you simply can’t escape. It affects everyone at every age and always will. The G.I. Generation, the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, The MTV Generation, Generation Y, Generation Z, Empty Nesters, AARP, Retirement, Medicare … the references go on and on.

Due to the fact that it will always be with us providing new and challenging opportunities, we may as well learn as much about it as possible. Check out our latest addition to Words of Wisdom to gather more insight on aging.

Feel free to check out our in-depth offering of quotes on many additional subjects should you be in need of a refreshing thought, idea, slogan or profound nugget for an upcoming meeting, presentation, or lunch room bulletin board.

We offer interesting quotes on the subjects of attitude, change, chaos, Christmas, creativity, customer service, dreams, employee engagement, employees, empowerment, enthusiasm, execution, fear, gender, goals, graduation, leadership, mentoring, motivation, moving on, networking, passion, patience, persistence, politics, potential, random acts of kindness, reading, repetition, sales, sense of urgency, smiling, teachers, teamwork, time management, vision, women, and now aging!

Click on “Words of Wisdom” in order to review our entire offering.

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

We’ve added still another category, Christmas, to our growing list of “Words of Wisdom” subjects, bringing our current total to 37 categories.

Santa versus the birth of the Baby Jesus … Black Friday … commercialism versus family traditions … For many of us, sadly, the spirit of Christmas is “hurry.” And yet, eventually, the hour comes when the rushing ends and the race against the calendar mercifully comes to a close.

It is only now perhaps that we truly recognize the spirit of Christmas. It is not a matter of days or weeks, but of centuries—nearly twenty of them now since that holy night in Bethlehem. Regarded in this manner, the pre-Christmas rush may do us greater service than we realize. With all its temporal confusion, it may just help us to see that by contrast, Christmas itself is eternal.

Why not pause for a moment and enjoy some of the holiday observations we’ve gathered on our website on the subject of Christmas.

Feel free to check out our in-depth offering of quotes on many additional subjects should you be in need of a refreshing thought, idea, slogan or profound nugget for an upcoming meeting, presentation, or lunch room bulletin board.

We offer interesting quotes on the subjects of attitude, change, chaos, creativity, customer service, dreams, employee engagement, employees, empowerment, enthusiasm, execution, fear, gender, goals, graduation, leadership, mentoring, motivation, moving on, networking, passion, patience, persistence, politics, potential, random acts of kindness, reading, repetition, sales, sense of urgency, smiling, teachers, teamwork, time management, vision, women,  and now Christmas!

Click on “Words of Wisdom” in order to review our entire offering.

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

We’ve added still another category, Moving On, to our growing list of “Words of Wisdom” subjects, bringing our current total to 36 categories.

Also take a look at some of the compelling quotes on the subject of Moving On on our website.

Due to today’s economical, political, and constantly changing environment, “Moving On” has become a necessity for far too many people in our nation. Consider the many scenarios we witness on a regular basis. We must “move on” after the loss of:

• A  job as a result of necessary downsizing to meet economical demands.
• A home as a result of delinquent mortgage or rental payments.
• An automobile due to delinquent payments.
• Savings, investments, etc. due to financial crisis.
• A significant other or spouse due to death, divorce, etc.
• Friends, family, work associates, neighbors due to a mandatory move.

I’m certain you can probably add to this list based on personal experience. The common denominator lies in the necessary challenge of facing the reality that there is no feasible alternative other than having to “move on.” For some, this will be their initial exposure to such a challenging experience. Sadly, for others, this will be a continuing hardship resulting from a decade of unfortunate circumstances.

Regrettably, the decision to “move on” may very well be faced by more and more of us as there is no foreseeable resolution to the many recessionary challenges we currently face. Coping strategies may very well become commonplace in high school, college, and community ed. curriculums.

While the thought of “moving on” is distasteful to most, it is certainly advisable that we prepare ourselves for the possibility of such a challenge as more Americans are feeling serious financial distress. A good portion of that preparation deals with the importance of maintaining the proper attitude. Quotes on this subject are now available in our growing selection of Words of Wisdom.

Feel free to check out our in-depth offering of quotes on many additional subjects should you be in need of a refreshing thought, idea, slogan or profound nugget for an upcoming meeting, presentation, or lunch room bulletin board.

We offer interesting quotes on the subjects of attitude, change, chaos, creativity, customer service, dreams, employee engagement, employees, empowerment, enthusiasm, execution, fear, gender, goals, graduation, leadership, mentoring, motivation, networking, passion, patience, persistence, politics, potential, random acts of kindness, reading, repetition, sales, sense of urgency, smiling, teachers, teamwork, time management, vision, women, and now moving on!

Click on “Words of Wisdom” in order to review our entire offering.

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Everyone is aware of the fact that today’s economy is challenging in ways many have never experienced. From this chaos emerge two approaches in dealing with these growing challenges:

1. Lie down and die. Blame circumstances. Make excuses. Wait for things to change. Hope for the best. See what happens.
2. Decide to make a difference. Research. Network. Try new strategies. Try again. Make some changes. Try again.

If the best approach isn’t obvious to you at this point … stop reading.

However, if you’re interested in a new strategy that can enhance your results, try this one. It requires very little, if any, investment other than your time and creativity. Make it a team project to garner even more creative ideas!

Take a look below at the weekly and monthly celebrations that October offers for various promotions. Consider customer incentives, discounts, promotions, employee competition, signage, brochures, ads, etc. Get creative! What do you have to lose? In fact, you might be surprised at what you may have to gain!

Look over the list and make something happen this month!

Week #1

• No Salt Week
• World Space Week
• Fire Prevention Week
• Customer Service Week
• Universal Children’s Week
• National Work from Home Week

Week #2

• Teen Read Week
• Great Books Week
• Kids’ Goal Setting Week
• Emergency Nurses Week
• National School Lunch Week

Week #3

• National Food Bank Week
• Freedom of Speech Week
• Freedom from Bullies Week
• International Credit Union Week
• National Character Counts Week

Week #4

• Halloween
• National Magic Week
• International Magic Week
• National Businesswomen’s Week
• Peace, Friendship & Goodwill Week

Monthly Considerations

• Fire Safety Month
• National Chili Month
• National Book Month
• Family History Month
• National Apple Month
• National Pasta Month
• National Clock Month
• Class Reunion Month
• Church Library Month
• Self-Promotion Month
• National Carmel Month
• Positive Attitude Month
• National Dessert Month
• National Seafood Month
• Halloween Safety Month
• American History Month
• Computer Learning Month
• Children’s Magazine Month
• National Chiropractic Month
• Head Start Awareness Month
• National Pizza Festival Month
• National Roller Skating Month
• National Dental Hygiene Month
• Eat Better, Eat Together Month
• Adopt -a-Shelter-Animal Month
• Women’s Small Business Month
• National Down Syndrome Month
• National Stamp Collecting Month
• National Popcorn Popping Month
• National Crime Prevention Month
• National Hispanic Heritage Month
• National Bake and Decorate Month
• Domestic Violence Awareness Month
• Organize Your Medical Information Month

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

We’ve added still another category, vision, to our growing list of “Words of Wisdom” subjects, bringing our current total to 35 categories.

Can you put a price on an offer that promises to change your life as you know it today? Most would struggle to do so.

I can make you that offer and will gladly do so at absolutely no charge. However, there IS a price! It’s simply discipline, application and execution!

It’s been proven that having a compelling vision of your future that is in line with your values, interests and desires gives you an edge in bringing it into reality. Leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.

However, a recent study revealed the shocking fact that LESS than 5% of the population, 1 out of 20, has a personal “vision.” In fact, the majority of people today would struggle to even define “vision.”

Simply put, a “vision” is the structure that gives your life its meaning and purpose. It’s gives us a reason to stretch ourselves, expand our current comfort zones, capitalize on our strengths, strengthen our weaknesses, learn new skills, expand our networks, and establish hope for a better future.

A strong “vision” acts as a compass to keep you on track to reach your chosen destination. A “vision” can be the proverbial “fire in the belly” that keeps you going, sustains tenacity, and assures you of a better tomorrow. It forces you to look into the future and identify possibilities as you maintain a focus on what needs to be done today to achieve your future success.

Creating and pursuing a vision may sound as though it requires an effort on your part. It certainly does! However, isn’t that effort well worth the positive consequences you’ll certainly enjoy in the end? And consider this … what’s the alternative? For most, it’s continuing to wander aimlessly through today’s chaotic environment in hopes that the future will be kind to you. Consider the odds.

The offer I mentioned earlier? Do some research, create a vision of the future you desire, develop a strategy, and begin this crucial journey today! Follow this simple formula and you become one of those one out of twenty people who are in a much better position to overcome the odds in your pursuit of happiness and content.

Also take a look at some of the compelling quotes on the subject of vision on our website.

Feel free to check out our in-depth offering of quotes on many additional subjects should you be in need of a refreshing thought, idea, slogan or profound nugget for an upcoming meeting, presentation, or lunch room bulletin board.

We offer interesting quotes on the subjects of attitude, change, chaos, creativity, customer service, dreams, employee engagement, employees, empowerment, enthusiasm, execution, fear, gender, goals, graduation, leadership, mentoring, motivation, networking, passion, patience, persistence, politics, potential, random acts of kindness, reading, repetition, sales, sense of urgency, smiling, teachers, teamwork, time management, women, and now vision!

Click on “Words of Wisdom” in order to review our entire offering.

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Due to our increasing number of book reviews, we have moved our content to a new section dedicated exclusively to our book reviews. We have divided this new book reviews area into 15 various categories to house the 205 reviews we’ve completed thus far.

We recently added two new selections you might be interested in checking out. The first selection can be found in the leadership book reviews category.

How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In

Here’s another best seller by noted author Jim Collins who gave us two previous winners: Good to Great and Built to Last. As the title indicates, this book examines a variety of industry leaders who have fallen from their leadership role as well as others who have succeeded in spite of today’s chaotic business world.

Our second selection can be found in the decision-making category.

10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea

This book is a transformative new approach to decision-making in the realms of career, business, leadership, romance, health, friendship, marriage, and family. It’s written by Suzy Welch, wife of former GE CEO Jack Welch.  She is also a noted journalist, author and speaker. This powerful philosophy is a practical guide that will certainly enhance your life management skills

To view all 205 book reviews in 15 categories, simply go to http://www.AchieveMax.com/bookreviews/

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

We’ve added still another category, graduation, to our growing list of “Words of Wisdom” subjects, bringing our current total to 34 categories.

It’s that time of year again … GRADUATION … both high school and college! Expect to see caps and gowns, tassles, diplomas, open houses and parents and students alike sleeping during the commencement address! I know very few people who can remember a single reference shared by their special speaker. In fact, few can remember who the speaker was from their graduation.

It’s interesting that each year we can find thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns listening to a speaker who tells them that “individuality” is the key to success!

This annual event is also tough for adults. They go to the ceremony as parents. They come home as contemporaries and, after 22 years of child-raising, they are unemployed!

I just read an article that said we’ll see 2.8 million high school graduates this year and 90,000 college graduates. We certainly wish them well as they enter a very chaotic world that is counting on them for leadership and success in the future!

Feel free to check out our in-depth offering of quotes on many additional subjects should you be in need of a refreshing thought, idea, slogan or profound nugget for an upcoming meeting, presentation, or lunch room bulletin board.

We offer interesting quotes on the subjects of attitude, change, chaos, creativity, customer service, dreams, employee engagement, employees, empowerment, enthusiasm, execution, fear, gender, goals, leadership, mentoring, motivation, networking, passion, patience, persistence, politics, potential, random acts of kindness, reading, repetition, sales, sense of urgency, smiling, teachers, teamwork, time management, women, and now graduation!

Click on “Words of Wisdom” in order to review our entire offering.

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

If you’ve been using e-mail for more than a month, for business or pleasure, you’re probably well aware of the fact that it’s very easy to be misunderstood while communicating. It’s happens every day … much more than most of us realize.

How many times have you written something with the full intention of being humorous only to discover that the person you were writing to was actually offended? Or how about a casual comment from you that was taken as being sent with anger, aggravation, contempt, or sarcasm?

Usually when we discover that the other person misunderstood, we’re dumbfounded at the thought. How could they possibly have misinterpreted our simple message. Well, the answer is actually very simple … we just don’t think about it.

The majority of us write an e-mail exactly as though we were talking to the other person face-to-face. It’s human nature! Why would we do anything other than that? What we don’t seem to comprehend is that those we speak to face to face don’t interpret our message by words alone!

In fact, words contribute only 7% to our message clarification. The remaining 93% of message interpretation consists of facial expression (including eye contact), body language and tone of voice and social context … all of which are key to proper understanding!

Research tells us that both sender and receiver tend to automatically fill in the “tone” of an e-mail, 93% of the actual message, based on how they feel or what they fear, not what’s actually being said. It can, and does, happen to anyone, no matter how knowledgeable.

Studies have shown that some 54% of e-mails are incorrectly interpreted in some way by the receiver of the message. While this may cause havoc in the workplace or within friendships, there’s even more bad news long term. Most of these e-mails go unchallenged. You could very well anger someone, bruise someone’s ego or burn bridges and never even be aware of it.

Here are some basic tips for making sure you don’t accidentally annoy, anger or intimidate the people you communicate with via e-mail.

• If you’re joking or being sarcastic, use surrogate facial cues like smiley faces — : ) — or type “[grin]” or use some other indicator of your intent. They seem trivial but are very important.
• Use plentiful qualifiers such as “don’t take this the wrong way,” “I’m joking,” or “I’m not angry at all.”
• Beware of brief e-mails, as they can be interpreted as abrupt. A very short e-mail can be interpreted as cold, angry or demeaning.
• Start the e-mail with something obviously humorous, which conveys that you’re not angry.
• Think about who you’re talking to. It’s very easy for a co-worker or subordinate at work to read anger, disappointment or other negative emotions into your notes. If you’re a manager, you need to go out of your way to send friendly e-mails or you’ll end up with a morale problem. In-laws and relatives might be easily offended as well.
• End your e-mail in a friendly way, such as “Thank you!” or “I really appreciate this.”
• Always re-read your e-mails before sending—and be on the lookout for areas of misinterpretation based on your knowledge of the 93% – 7% ratio.
• Don’t get angry from e-mail, then reply based on your anger. First find out the intent of the sender by calling or asking for clarification. Remember: nearly half of all e-mails are misinterpreted.
• Don’t use e-mail for emotional or sensitive topics. Pick up the phone or visit in person.

While all of the above information is very basic in nature, it is abused or ignored every hour of every day by most everyone. Think no? How do you explain 54% of all e-mail messages being misinterpreted! Don’t forget, you’re sending your e-mail to someone in order to communicate. Master the simple art of e-mailing and you will avoid disaster, soon be known and respected as a great communicator, and enjoy some peace of mind.

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.