Benjamin Franklin said: "It’s hard for an empty bag to stand upright." And though Ben was referring to the issue of poverty and feeding the body, his comments also ring true for an undernourished mind.
To fuel your brain and get those grey cells firing, this newsletter is focused on the Power of Knowledge. We’ll share some tips on how to expand your mind and give you the names of some great books that made a difference to our Advisory Board members. Perhaps some of them will inspire you. No more empty bags here!
 Sue Paish, WLC Chair and CEO of Pharmasave Drugs, is actually a big supporter of fiction. She’s not advocating that we "bury ourselves in trashy novels." She just thinks that in "today's world we are constantly bombarded by facts and by ‘reality.’ I see today's society becoming bereft of creativity, of not appreciating the power of the imagination, of being afraid to ‘break the box’ and let one's imagination run wild. Instead we are constantly analyzing facts, producing charts and studying data. As a result I fear that there is a large portion of our collective brains atrophying while we analyze ‘the facts’."
"Fiction helps us experience the power of the imagination, allows our brains to wander, to dream, to be ‘wowed’, terrified, entertained and, perhaps to be awakened in a way flowcharts just can't."
Her book choice? The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. "It is one of the most moving novels I’ve read in a long time. It left me realizing just how lucky we are to live in Canada and how we have a social and perhaps moral responsibility to find a way to help those so much less fortunate than are we."
 Here are some books that our other Advisory Board members recommend:
Elise Rees, Ernst & Young:
Brag!: The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn without Blowing It by Peggy Klaus.
"I found it useful in learning how to communicate the positive messages on what is happening without sounding like a braggart." A good read for those who remain quiet about their accomplishments or worse, downplay them. Take the BRAG! Questionnaire to see how you fare when it comes to bragging rights.
Tamara Vrooman, Vancity:
The Thin Book of Naming Elephants: How to Surface Undiscussables for Greater Organizational Success by Sue Annis Hammond and Andrea B. Mayfield.
There's an elephant lurking in the room of every organization. This book shows how great companies create an environment that listens to input from all levels of the organization. "It highlights how small actions have big effects and that small changes to the quality of our conversations can have significant organizational impacts," Tamara says. "Perhaps equally important is the message that profound cultural changes don’t have to cost a lot of money… just a little time and courage."
Evi Mustel, Mustel Group Ltd.:
Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More than IQ by Daniel Goleman
"This book influenced how I hired people and helped me understand challenging clients."
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
Evi’s other recommendation has "great management advice for forming and motivating a team." Both of these books are available at www.boardstore.com.
Praveen Varshney, Varshney Capital Corp.:
Wildly Sophisticated: A Bold New Attitude for Career Success and Earn What You’re Worth: A Wildly Sophisticated Approach to Investing in Your Career, both by Nicole Williams.
Nicole is originally from Vancouver and is now living in New York. Publisher’s Weekly says Williams "offers realistic tips for finding passion, owning up to fears and self-doubt, and gaining respect from colleagues and bosses."
Life Manual: A Proven Formula to Create the Life You Desire by Peter Thomas
This is a manual to living life to its fullest, with integrity, focus and self-determination. Praveen helped write Chapter 11 which is about the value of integrity and personal branding. See www.lifepilot.org for more information.
 Peter Legge, speaker, author and governor of The Vancouver Board of Trade, recommends reading a book a week. A number of years ago, Peter had a stroke and when the doctors did a brain scan they were amazed. Except for the dark area around the stroke, Peter’s brain looked like the brain of someone twenty years younger. The doctor said, "That’s the brain of someone who reads."
 If you are too busy to read a book a week, there are a couple of solutions. Download the books you want to read on your iPod or burn them on a CD. Listen on your commute, when working out or before going to bed. Seriously, even a good book will put you to sleep after a chapter or two. It’s the new ‘white noise.’ Go to www.audible.com or www.amazon.ca to select the books you want to read now.
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
 One of the amazing benefits of participating in WLC events is that after the event, you are invited to join the Exclusive Speaker Roundtables. This is your opportunity to talk directly with the speaker, ask questions and get to know her. It’s a great way to make a connection with these amazing women leaders. Chief marketing officer of Nortel, Lauren Flaherty, has a very big job: rebranding Nortel. During this Speaker’s Roundtable, WLC members discussed with Lauren the challenges that all women face — managing everything in their lives. Lauren has a term for what she does to keep it all in perspective. She calls it ‘filtering.’ It’s getting away to her house in Vermont—that’s her filter. She’s right; what’s your filter?
YOUR FEEDBACK
We would love to hear from you. Send your comments, ideas for this newsletter, for speakers, for content to: info@wlcircle.com
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May 9, 2008
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