Writing...Just because!

I am working through the pain of typing this update sort of as a punishment for not blogging more regularly.   The pain is from an inflammation in my wrist that has developed as I switched from my Toshiba (PC) laptop to my new MacBook Pro (which my converted friends insist I will love once I get used to it).   The learning curve is very steep simply because I’m being obstinate.   Since I write for a living I wanted (needed) to adapt very quickly to my new technology so took a few shortcuts… one of which included loading my Palm Software onto my Apple laptop so I could quickly access my contacts… rather than actually learning the new address book software from Mac and doing a proper conversion.   Now my Palm contacts won’t convert (the Palm software keeps quitting ‘unexpectedly’ after only converting four of my 1,800 contacts) and in the process of ‘clicking around’ to find the solution I inadvertently duplicated them so now there are over 3,000! ...

O.K…I promised I would keep you posted on the progress of publishing my first book.  I’m happy to say that we’re in the final edits of @Home in Dubai…Getting Connected Online and on the Ground (I hope).  Thing is… even though I’ve been writing all my life, this is a whole new realm for me and getting used to a particular publisher’s ‘style guide’ takes a little time and effort.  It’s significantly different than writing Associated Press (or Canadian Press) style for journalists or PR releases, or if you’re a business writer, whatever style you follow.  More than just British versus US Spellings I grew up in Canada and then lived in the US for 14 years and now, working as a freelancer for an international clientele, I’m used to switching back and forth from British to US English (depending on client preference and target audience).  But, it goes much deeper than that.  See the ellipsis I used above?  I was always used to no space after ...

I’m excited to do this particular book review because it highlights the hard work and passion of a good friend of mine, Debbie Nicol, also known as ‘The Enablist’.   I’ve watched over the last several months (and put my two cents worth in every now and then) as she poured over this labour of love. As business books go, this one’s in its own category, since it’s the product of a new way of thinking about leadership.   Debbie’s teachings bring her clients (and now readers) through a process where leaders: Reflect, Connect, Collaborate, Innovate and Become. Corporate Embers is the ‘reflection’ part of the book duo and Become in the Corporate World is the ‘connection’ part, which is actually a workbook that guides you through the steps to finding your own leadership style.   If it does its job, and you are honestly interested in digging deep into your leadership soul, it can be very thought provoking and quite practical too. Debbie created the ‘embers o...