First Class
Diplomatic
for the People
Oh, diplomacy! Does the very word
conjure workweek meetings made
longer by a lot of “That’s a great idea,
Kevin … though maybe not applicable
here” and “Let’s put every last idea
on the whiteboard”? If so, we’d like
to remind you of the more dashing,
international roots of diplomacy (and
its twin sister, espionage), while providing you with the must-haves for
diplomacy in any setting, whether it’s
the office or the embassy.
Wear
The last thing you want to do, International
Man of Mystery, is show up for that board
meeting or clandestine cash drop looking
rumpled. So check out the threads in the
new Travelog catalog, which cites the U.S.
State Department’s recommendation that
Americans abroad ditch the designer duds
in favor of what Travelog calls an “
understated, universal look.” Travelog offers clothes and travel accessories
that fit, travel well and don’t look out of place in the office. Oh, and
you can get water-purification tablets and a Swiss Spice salt and pepper shaker, too, so your condiments don’t end up shaken or stirred.
View the gear and peruse the catalog at Duluth Trading.com/travel.
Seen here: Microfiber “Incognito” jacket, $89.
Woo
You’ll get nowhere with Kevin—or with
foreign leaders—if you can’t effectively
listen, negotiate and sell people on your
ideas. Here’s your handbook: The Art of
Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell
Your Ideas, by G. Richard Shell and Mario
Moussa ($24.95; Penguin). Penned by
a pair of Wharton business school experts in negotiation and
strategy, the book includes the tools and techniques you need
to get that elusive yes. As in, yes, you can have a raise. Or yes,
I’ll sign that treaty.
Watch
A diplomat has to know when it’s time to
change his tune—literally. With the Nike
Amp + watch and iPod remote, he can
do just that. This smooth, bracelet-style
watch looks like something diplomats of
the future will wear, with its edgy color
combinations (like “Deep Nomax Green
and Solar Orange”) and minimalist display (the iPod navigation icons
show up only when you’re navigating with that all-too-familiar click
wheel; otherwise it’s just the time of day). The watch (available at
Nike.com) is $79, but you’ll also need the Nike + iPod Sport Kit ($29;
available at apple.com).
RECOMMENDED LISTENING: Check out the International Spy
Museum’s monthly SpyCasts, hosted by ex-CIA ops man Peter
Earnest and featuring interviews with “ex-spies, intelligence
experts and espionage scholars.” You can subscribe to the regular
podcasts at spymuseum.org or at Apple’s i Tunes.
