On the LONG flights (total over 20 hours in the air) to Southeast Asia earlier this week, I had the opportunity to reflect on the previous few weeks. I remembered that my actual flight arrangements for 3-April had not been booked until very late in March. . .and that I had been waiting for a prospective client in Kuala Lumpur (KL) to decide when/if they wanted to schedule the two-day workshop that had been in discussions for months.

Just after they had opted to postpone the engagement until my next visit--due to internal project challenges--another prospect woke up and emailed to ask if it was too late to get onto my crowded schedule. After not booking until the last minute, I still ended up changing my flight arrangements three times to accommodate the new client.

As my professional speaker colleagues will confirm, our clients have been booking us to speak with less and less notice. My engagements for 2-April and 23-April in the US were both booked within six weeks of the date of delivery.

I think it is valuable to look at what's happening, why, and what it means to organizations moving forward. First, as we have said so many times before: the world is changing at an ever-increasing rate. The future is here today; that future we thought would take years to arrive.

When Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia traveled to Brazil in the 1990s to talk about the future of Brazil, they characterized the country as "a sleeping giant---just about to awaken".

The well-respected investment firm of Goldman Sachs has given the designation of "BRIC" to the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC). In fact, the investment leader even offers an index fund of BRIC investments. The fund was created to tap these countries' "tremendous growth potential".

Recently, a futurist colleague Stephen Aguilar-Millan, Director of Research for the renowned European Futures Observatory in the United Kingdom, highlighted the significant lack of western press attention to Brazil, compared to attention given to Russia, India, and China. He conducted his own informal research and discovered that since 1997, "The Economist" Magazine has featured 2,282 articles on Brazil, compared to 3,762 on India, 4,640 on Russia, and 6,845 on China.

The pouring rain pelted the taxi with globs of water. Through the rain-splattered windows, the only visible scenery was the vegetation bordering the road and the almost white sky. My taxi driver, Mr. Chang, does not speak English, but most taxi drivers here in Kuala Lumpur share this "shortcoming". By the way, it is only a shortcoming for their English-speaking fares.

My first trip to KL, it lead to my having been taken to the wrong hotel at 1am. . . several kilometers away from my correct lodging with no local currency in hand. (Some lessons are more difficult to learn than others.)

The radio is blaring Top-40 tunes―from the US―back in the 60s. I am sitting silently in the backseat, consciously commanding my eyelids to stay open. Finally, as I succumb and close my eyes, even the plastic ballpoint pen feels heavy in my hand. Over 20 hours in the air is taking its toll.

My dollars are worth about one-half what they were worth a short year ago. I will have to buy my gifts wisely.

As management consultants, we encourage candidates to evaluate prospective employers based on the total package of compensation, now called, "total rewards", including fringe benefits and perquisites. Recently, the compensation research firm Equilar conducted a study, detailing trends in "total rewards" for top executives of the 95 largest public companies by revenue in the United States.

Equilar tracks nine major areas of perks, including corporate housing benefits, personal and home security, and country club memberships. This year's study found the median values of seven of the nine major CEO perquisites it tracks had decreased.

New Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules require companies to disclose perks that cost more than $10,000; previously, the threshold for reporting was $50,000. Not surprisingly, this new level of disclosure has led to a decline in upscale extras. While these top public companies are spending more in two of the study's included areas of CEO perks, in general, executives are receiving the same or fewer "goodies" than last year.

From 2006 to 2007, the median value of CEO perquisites related to financial planning benefits (including other professional services such as tax preparation) declined by 9.2 percent, while expenditures for the personal use of corporate aircraft declined by 9.8 percent.

The Law of Supply and Demand is alive and well in higher education. Responding to market needs of increased competition, a college in North Carolina has begun to offer leading edge services to its students. Under the brilliant leadership of Dr. Nido Qubein, a serial entrepreneur and renowned professional speaker, High Point University (HPU) provides students with levels of service and perks never before seen in higher education.

Walking through campus is an experience in itself. The main greenway, the Kester International Promenade, features loudspeakers in the trees, playing classical music. HPU recently added six fountains to the campus and six more are planned. Other assorted extras include live music in the cafeteria, a sand volleyball court, and a 16-person hot tub.

HPU students are never hungry. During the warm months of the year, there is an ice cream truck touring campus, offering literally hundreds of varieties of complimentary ice cream and ices. Plus the campus has two snack kiosks providing complimentary refreshments, including pretzels, juice, bottled water, fruit, and hot chocolate throughout the day.