WESTFIELD — It’s a bank holiday in Britain. And I am trying to entertain my horde of children. At one point yesterday there were 9 kids in my house. I have no idea where they all came from.

Yesterday was my 10-year-old’s birthday. We went out early to play tennis. On the way back we dropped the football to kick across the pitch in the park. A big ugly dog came flying out and grabbed it. The dogs owner took 10 minutes to catch their own dog, by which time my daughter’s football was flat. The unpleasant woman handed it back to me and, unconvincingly said “sorry”. I explained that I thought it was a pretty disappointing situation, and the ball was useless now. She said “I don’t have any money,” and walked off with her dog.

My daughter cried.

Today we have tried again.

Father Christmas brought her a green iPod. On Saturday she woke up and found that the headphone cable was broken a few inches from the jack. It had cut clean through while under he pillow.

I have no idea how it happened. But we came today to a big shopping mall in London and went into the Apple store. We quietly explained the situation and said: “we don’t know how it happened, it could have been us… But do you have any existing design flaws that might explain it?”

“Just a minute the attendant said.” In less than a minute he was back with a new set. He pushed them into my daughters’ hand, and with a smile said: “Don’t tell anyone!”

There are all sorts of reasons he might have done this. I can think of lots. But there are even more reasons not to.

It was undoubtedly a business decision. And one that he was allowed to make.

For me it helped restore faith in humanity, at a time when I could do with that. For my daughter it helped balance out man’s indifference with some basic good, common sense. And a business… a capitalist enterprise… did that.

That’s why I am in the business I am in.

I believe that companies can and should be good.

Some days I am happy… very happy… to discover that I am not insane.

/df

Last Thursday's LIVE book launch

OUR OFFICES — It’s Wednesday night. It’s been a busy week. But tomorrow (Thursday 04 December 2008) I will be holding two virtual book launches.

1) Launch for parts east: 8am to 9am GMT

2) Launch for parts west: 5pm to 6pm GMT

I will be working a few Internet sites at once. I hope. The idea being that you can visit and learn stuff at each, or drop in on one. The pay-off will be a copy of the first 15 pages of the book… the Introduction.

At the same time there will be videos of a ‘book reading’ that you can look at. An audio interview you can listen to. Some places where you can chat live. Many places you can leave comments. And a few ways to request copies.

I hope we’ll see you there. You never know, it may be interesting. At least you can tell you’re mum you did something different this week.

Here’s where it’s happening:

FACEBOOK: At the group “A duty of care”. Go into groups and search for it. We’ll have some pictures here and a chance to chat. We’ll be watching and answering.

YOUTUBE: At my page there. Type in Ferrabee or go to /user/ferrabee We will upload video ‘book readings’ and also and interview I did today with EJ. They’re a bit rough, but have a listen.

TWITTER: Search for “Adutyofcare”, or go to /adutyofcare This will run live. I’ll update you on what’s going on in the hour as it happens.

SECOND LIFE: It’s crashing on me tonight. Hopefully tomorrow it will be better. I am the only short, over-weight, bald man in Second Life. You should be able to find me if you go to IBM 6. Search for that in the search box. We can chat live there. (NB I don’t have voice chat, just typing.)

Also you can check in here. Put a comment below. Or send us your email address at info@ableandhow.com and we’ll send you the book excerpt. If we receive your email in the times listed above!

You can buy the book by clicking here. That would be ideal too!

Thanks for your support.

/df

N.B. Please note. Parts of this will definitely go horribly wrong. Be warned.

You can order it now. See link below.

LONDON — Later in the month we will be launching A duty of care, my new book on leadership, management and organisational communications. It’s a slimmer volume than the last. Only about 150 pages. And considerably cheaper at on £6.99. But you’ll like it. You can order it here.

The premise is that we can all be better leaders, but few businesses offer us any training at all for the job. There’s lots of content with a heavy academic background. The latest thinking and detailed psychological studies… But you might not notice.

It’s intentionally written to be easy to read, interesting, and… even funny.

I get nervous about saying things are funny. Particularly when they are written by me. I remember a client telling me years ago: “At ABC Co. we don’t do funny.” And I am loathe to argue with that.

But I do suspect that individuals at ABC Co quite like funny and occasionally even laugh. So they can maybe read my book under the covers at night with a flashlight (aka a torch).

There’s a serious message behind the book though. And you won’t have to struggle to find it.

Our organisations are under-performing because they are not taking full advantage of their people. Not knowing how to manage people undermines their ability and your results. Not knowing how to communicate with them — even how to give people basic business information — is a threat to your success.

The good news is that leadership is not the hardest job in the world. It’s just the most frequently screwed up.

But I would say that. I have a book I want you to read.

We are launching the book in London on 27 November and ‘virtually’ on 4th of December. We’ll need your name on the launch party list… and you’ll need the details… so if you would like to come, please get in touch.

Bonne lecture.

/df

P.S. If anyone has any really string views about what a ‘virtual book launch’ is, please get in touch. Thanks!

NORTHERN LINE — Today at the close of business, I launched my second book: A duty of care. It’s subtitled ‘Leaders aren’t born, they’re made’ and it’s available now for only 699 pence. I’m not sure what that is in dollars or Euro. You can also download it for £4.50. Which is a good deal. I think.

Here’s the link: http://www.lulu.com/content/3878657

This book is about leaders in business. It’s about what anyone needs to know to take up a leadership role in business. I think there’s a lot in it. But it’s also pretty easy to read. Some of my extended family and colleagues have read it in one sitting.

(Although they clearly sit better than I do.)

Let me know what you think.

I will be holding a book launch event in a few weeks. If you’d like to come, please let me know.

Here’ the table of contents:

Introduction – A nine iron thank you, Jesus
1) What is leadership and how can I learn it?
2) What makes a company great?
3) Leaders who tell the company story
4) How can I get along with that other guy?
5) What am I meant to be doing anyway?
6) A duty of care

My friend EJ says it’s like a Eats Shoots and Leaves for managers in business. Which is lovely, if only I got a fraction of that readership.

I hope you enjoy it.

/df This is Borra