MLA,EE; Management,

Today the Renaissance PARK III (Our #APT)Adhoc committee team of which I am member met the Malleswaram(Bangalore Nortwest) Member of state Legislative Assembly(Congressmen in US term) to thank him for helping us to get the Landline Telephone (It took 7 months as there was no last mile connectivity) as well as to request for some better amenities in the area. Dr Aswath Narayan is a medical doctor. This is my first close interaction with elected rep as I usually stay away and great believer that we progress in spite of the Government. The 20 min we spent, I found him to be accessible to people, very practical, down to earth as well as reeling of statistics on welfare measures. Yes, there was a bit of language barrier as I am yet to be well versed in Kannada the local language to fully understand the nuance of the conversation.

I came across an interesting article on Employee engagement, a kind of buzz word some time back but fizzled out in recession times, but still a good concept to work around.The acronym"RAPS" works well. Retention, Advocacy,Satisfaction, Pride. Good basic concept to work and take forward.
On the management side, MT /CT has come out a 2part gem on Admitting mistakes; Admit early and don't beat around bush. The MT podcast on Developing Subordinates (!! most may blink!!) is an eye opener for those not thought of it as necessary.(Org will take care Hmmmm)... On CMM, Wayne has come out 2 podcast (CMM/ Working week). CMM one with Timothy Clark on leadership with volunteering touching the strategic aspects of why/ what you want to be as leader is very thought provoking. On Working week with Dr John Kennedy, the Heart care is a must listen. On the satire/ time pass as we call in India, Listen to Lucy on the awards / Management guff is a must listen.

Here are the list of 15 Most hated companies in USA. No major surprises. Walmart, United,YES DELL.(MY son calls Hell), Yes they do well, the numbers are good but an aversion.

I was fascinated by GOOGLE Squared. Never knew it existed until I stumbled on the site. A good way to tabulate results and compare.

On the books side, Marshall Goldsmith's MOJO is out for release in Feb, cant wait to get a copy when it hit book stores here. Also on the lookout is Sidin Vadukut's DORK. I read the excepts in live mint.

As an avid Non Indian cricket follower, Test Match special BBC was a great site to follow cricket on Audio web for me. Pleasure listening to CMJ, Peter Baxter; Now Testmatch sofa looks equally good.

Pongal came and gone; so Summer (Uttrayan) is not far behind looking forward to move from cold,(20C!) and fog to Sunshine.

Ok, Till next week; take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.