As a result commissioner Lin was dismissed from office and sent into exile. Lin Zexu's "Letter of Advice to Queen Victoria" was written before the outbreak of the Opium Wars. It was a remarkably frank ...

Find new ideas and classic advice on strategy, innovation and leadership, for global leaders from the world's best business and management experts.

Let's look at all this in action. You can apply this advice to any cover letter, whether you're applying to be a barber, barista or brain surgeon. Say you were applying to an iconic chocolate factory.

Here are common sections a sample letter may include ... "It's hard to give a client the financial advice they need without getting access to all of their financial information," Burke says.