Why Followers Aren't LEADERS?

For groups to flourish, and succeed, there needs to be, both, followers, as well as LEADERS! The reality is, there is no such thing, as a born - leader, and few people, possess the combination of self - discipline, positive, can - do, attitude, and willingness to undertake, professionally designed, effective leadership planning! However, one aspect, often overlooked, is, the need to be able to positively, inspire and motivate others, to get more involved, and committed, and to be ready, and willing to mentor those, who might become the future leaders, of the organization! With that in mind, this article will attempt to, briefly, consider, examine, review, and discuss, using the mnemonic approach, why leaders must lead, and not be afraid to escape the self - imposed, restrictions of their comfort zone.

1. Listen; learn; leading; lessons: One must effectively listen, and learn, from every conversation and experience, in order to learn, and better understand, the perceptions, priorities, needs, and motivations, of those, they serve and represent! Leading is about learning, in order to articulate these lessons, to others, in an inspiring, motivating way!

2. Empathy; emphasis: Effective listening, and learning, must bring about, genuine empathy, and knowing, where one's emphasis, is needed, and will do the most good!

3. Attitude; aptitude; attention; actions; articulate: Great leaders proceed with a positive, can - do, attitude, combined with a well - developed, aptitude, and skill - set! When one pays keen attention, and perceives and conceives of, the finest, action plan, he is capable of taking the finest, appropriate actions! He must be ready, willing, and able, to articulate an inspiring message!

4. Delve deeply; deliver: Go beyond the surface, and your assumptions! One must delve deeply, discover what's needed, and deliver on his promises, instead of merely articulating empty rhetoric!

5. Endurance; excellence; energy/ energize; efforts: Great leaders need the endurance, to strive to pursue the utmost degree of personal excellence! One's personal energy, must be capable of energizing others, and bringing forth, the finest efforts, towards a better future!

6. Relevant; reliable; responsive/ responsible: It's not leading, if it's not relevant! A great leader is reliable, and responsive, to current and future needs, and necessities! One must be willing to assume personal responsibility, to make things better, more relevant and sustainable!

7. Service; solutions; sustainable; stronger: The essence of effective, quality leadership, is superb service! He must seek the most viable solutions, which make the group stronger, and more relevant, and sustainable!

In order to achieve, you must expand the limitations of your comfort zone, and become the leaders, your followers, deserve! Are you up to the task?

Richard has owned businesses, been a COO, CEO, Director of Development, consultant, professionally run events, consulted to thousands of leaders, and conducted personal development seminars, for 4 decades. Rich has written three books and thousands of articles. His company, PLAN2LEAD, LLC has an informative website http://plan2lead.net and Plan2lead can also be followed on Facebook http://facebook.com/Plan2lead

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It's All Good - But, What Does That Even Mean?

Not long ago, I was on a 10-mile trail run. It wasn't an easy run, as I had run about 2,000 feet of elevation gain in the last five miles and had run about 7-miles total with about 3 to go. I met a hiker near the top of a small rolling hill and as I ran by I simply smiled and said; "It's all good." I guess he wasn't in a good mood, and he replied; "What does that even mean?"

Without even thinking about it, I said; "It means no matter what hardships you have in life, when you are out here in nature, on the trail - it's all good!"

Now mind you, I was cresting the hill and beginning to accelerate past him and then start down the hill. So, I didn't quite hear what he said over my 25% volume iPod 80s rock music, but, I think it was something like; "Whatever?"

"No time to worry about that now," I thought as I was moving fast towards some rocky areas on the trail ahead and being a downhill I had increased my speed. I concentrated on each step, no need to face plant over someone with a bad attitude.

I did wonder later, as I finished my run, what on Earth was bothering that guy. I wondered if what I'd said helped him with a little positive philosophy.

I hoped I hadn't made whatever he was going through seem trivial or made him feel stupid for his negativity.

Maybe he'd recently gone through some rough times, maybe someone in his family had passed away, maybe his whole life had been shattered - maybe he was out walking/hiking/thinking trying to put some space between himself and his problems.

All I know is that when I am out there running on the trails, no matter how many miles, how hard the run is, or what challenges I am dealing with in my life at the time; It's All Good!

Know what I mean?

Lance Winslow is an Online Author, his latest Small Business eBooks are about Motivational Self Help Topics.. Lance Winslow is semi-retired and Founder of the Online Think Tank http://www.WorldThinkTank.net - You may contact Lance Winslow by email for dialogue, discourse, discussion, or debate on interesting topics.

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A Proper Attitude Can Bring Success!

A Proper Mindset Can Bring Success!

Success begins with attitude. Various attitudes provide different end results. A weak state of mind results in adverse outcomes. A favorable state of mind causes success. While your experience, education, learning, and abilities can matter a great deal, your frame of mind can make all the distinction.

Thankfully, any individual can establish an attitude for success. It's absolutely less complicated and doesn't take as long as grasping a complicated technique!

Produce a way of thinking that develops success! Consider these parts in your attitude:

1. Thankfulness, aka gratitude. Be happy with what you have. Enjoy the success of others. If you cannot rejoice for others when they succeed, your very own success will undoubtedly be restricted.
2. Assessment of danger is an incentive. Competent individuals are masters at reviewing risk as well as benefit. Not so successful individuals either refuse to assess any kind of hazards or handle ways to mitigate the threat for the prospective incentive. Neither is an effective method to move towards a positive, successful life.
3. Concentrate on psychological, [and also] physical health and wellness. Compromising your health and wellness for success isn't a real success. What do you truly obtain if you accomplish your objectives yet compromise your physical or psychological health and wellness at the same time? Know the risks before going after success.
4. Wealth. How much you are worth is not a viable goal in a 'success' mindset. Just look around at people with plenty of money and lots of things, and you'll find most of them worry about losing it, acquiring it, how to hoard it and get more. Wealth is about nurturing contentment in relationships while doing the greater good. It's not taking, it's giving!
5. Embrace your failings! Actually, that's the momentum test of life. Failing is ensured to take place; count on it. Gain and be nurtured in your errors, mistakes, and blunders. Treat them as opportunities for yourself and others around you. Whatever you do, don't play the blame game. If you do that, you've just lost the momentum test in this situation. In weakness, you become stronger.
6. Development. A successful mindset is a healthy appreciation for self-learning; being teachable is a great way to pick up new skills. You cannot attain new ideas without expanding on an old thought in a unique situation. It could come from your abilities, perspective, self-control, or guts that sees that opportunity to develop. If you are presently stuck in a rut, relish it and feel confident; you are feeling the teachable growing pains zone.
7. Determine to be uneasy. Being in a comfort zone is definitely not your friend. Development isn't pleasurable. There will undoubtedly be some pain as you create your own paths, fall short, as well as making errors. Also, success can be unpleasant. Exactly how uneasy are you going to be to come to be effective? The fear of being uneasy is the restricting success aspect for the majority of people.
8. A favorable perspective. I call this a positive mental attitude, but before you can acquire that, you need to be relaxed and smart. So, how you approach the tasks of your day and the mundane things determines your success. If you're grumpy, bored, and aggravated, well, your day is going to be miserable. The other choice is to look at your day as a grand adventure. Each task and its function becomes a nugget of opportunity to be polished and nourished, providing an unimaginable wealth of greater good.
9. Preparation. Success for every individual is a specific objective. You're not likely to strike it on the first go-around or for that matter, several go-arounds. Without a particular plan in mind, preparation, and continually tweaking as you're arriving, you are counting way too much on good luck to sensibly anticipate success.
10. Be your own coach. The prevailing thought is to hire an advisor that has actually accomplished the success you want. There lies the rub. You have a unique idea; it can't be fitted into someone else's application. I cannot imagine the tech founders of the computer era having a coach; I think the computer would have been delayed by decades. Frankly, virtue is in the eye of the beholder. Embrace the challenge, be skillful, decisive, and don't stop nurturing forward.

Consider your existing attitude contrasted to the present outcomes you're experiencing in your life. Can you see an endless loop, or do you see a seamless link?

If you really feel that you have the abilities to be effective, yet still lose, it could be time to have a look at your state of mind. Each individual has a choice in their way of thinking. There are no conditions for having a pleasant state of consciousness; you can simply choose. Put your faith in yourself by choosing to be successful!

Do you want to curiously and bravely face the unknown? We invite you to take the first step by taking a challenge "Can You be Kind to Yourself on a Rough Day?" Just click the link: Having a Rough Day?, and be on your way to being kinder to yourself!

To find out about CONFIDENCE, SELF-ESTEEM & LOLLIPOPS, visit our website at LATHAM MEDIA SERVICES. Or, email me Tim Latham: tlatham@lathammediaservices.com.

God bless you and your family.

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Counter Self-Criticism, Increase Your Energy, and Live With Joy

Finding time to live each moment to its fullest is right at the core of heart-based time management. How wonderfully full of possibilities life looks, feels, and actually is when we are present and open, and have full access to our energy, heart, intelligence, and creativity!

Consider how different a moment feels when self-critical thoughts are nibbling away at your confidence. You know what I am talking about. It's terribly distracting and debilitating, sapping your drive and your focus. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, because you simply can't perform at your best when you're basically acting as your own worst enemy!

This is a point that I want to emphasize, because it's not merely a subjective experience of your time that I'm talking about. Yes, life looks and feels different when you are present and open... and it really is different. That's because the energy that you bring to each moment truly affects what you encounter, what you choose... and what happens next.

That negative, critical voice that we all carry around drains the color and life out of the moment, and distorts reality as surely as a wavy mirror at a carnival will. Silencing the critical voice, and connecting with your heart is like suddenly coming to see clearly again. The world looks different, you are able to greet it from your powerful core, and that changes everything!

So how can you recognize and counter these critical voices? The first and most important step is to accept that they are there - we all have them. Quite often they originate in messages you received in your early years and then adapted as you grew. By now they are probably so familiar and ingrained that you hardly even notice them. Most likely you are giving yourself these messages almost constantly.

It's a very energy-intensive process. Not only do you whisper self-criticism as you go about your day, but you also react to it. Maybe you fend it off rebelliously, feeling defensive and chronically angry. Or maybe you feel discouraged and victimized. I would bet that, just below the surface, you are experiencing a wide range of emotions in response to the messages of your droning inner critic.

A vicious cycle, indeed - and the good news is that at any point you can step in and make a change that will affect the whole process! When you recognize a self-critical message and counter it with reality, you are breaking the cycle. If you realize that you are discouraged because you are reacting to your own inner critic, give yourself a validation instead, and experience how your energy shifts!

Realizing that your inner critic's messages aren't reality based and that you can intercept and change them is a very, very powerful tool in the heart-based time management toolbox.

Ask yourself these questions to reclaim your energy and joy, and live your moments ans fully as you can:

• What kinds of critical messages have taken root in you?
• How do they chatter in the background of your life?
• How do they drain you and muddle your time choices?
• What happens when you counter them with reason and compassion?

You'll find expert guidance quickly with our free Finding Time Success Kit, so check out our video at https://thetimefinder.com/ and then sign up for your Kit!

You'll receive our Finding Time Boundary Template, our popular Weekly Tips, and our monthly, award-winning E-zine -- all free and all right to your in-box!

For even more time tips, tools and techniques, visit our blog at https://thetimefinder.com/blog/

Offered by Paula Eder, Ph.D. The Time Finder Expert

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Top Ten Ways to Take the Fear Out of Public Speaking

Many college students fear public speaking more than falling into a pit of snakes, being attacked by an alligator or swimming with sharks. I had a frustrated student stop by my office one morning. He was majoring in engineering and had been pursuing his degree for over 6 years. He shared a story of attempting to take the public speaking course several times and becoming overwhelmed with the fear of giving a speech in front of a student audience. He decided that the course I was teaching was his last chance. After experiencing several failures, he made the decision to give up his engineering career if he did not pass my speech class. I told him that success in my course was possible. I also informed him that you can't eliminate some anxiety that goes with giving a speech. I further explained that there are several ways to manage public speaking anxiety.

There are many ways to manage the fear of presenting a speech. Here's my Top 10 list of suggestions:

1. Try power posing. Prior to your presentation, find a private location and stand with a powerful posture. For example, think of the pose used by Wonder Woman or Superman. The power posing researchers indicate that standing for a few minutes with a powerful posture will leave you more confident when it comes time to speak.

2. Take a few minutes to locate the room where you are speaking, check out the lighting and the technology. Fear of the unknown increases anxiety. I remember attending a convention in a large Detroit hotel. In the evening I visited the room where I was presenting the next day. I also saw other presenters checking out their presentation rooms. I was more comfortable the next day because I was familiar with the room environment and technology.

3. Get some exercise. Medical research demonstrates the value of daily exercise in reducing anxiety. On the day of your presentation, take a brisk walk or do some exercises to help you relax. But don't overdo it. You don't want to appear to your audience like you just finished a marathon.

4. Avoid caffeine. Energy drinks, coffee and too much dark chocolate for some speakers will increase their anxiety. Nervous gestures, voice and problems with your outline can be the result of too much caffeine in you diet.

5. Take a few deep breaths. Taking deep breaths will lower your pulse rate. Taking a few deep breaks before presenting will help you to relax.

6. Keep breathing. Emergency specialist say that many victims of a trauma stop their regular breathing habits. They often instruct the victim to focus on their breathing and move back to a regular breathing pattern. If your speech is a traumatic experience for you, then its important to think about your breathing patterns.

7. Pause for a minute. Professional speakers use this technique. It's okay to pause for a minute or two before beginning your speech. It's a great way to get your mind focused on the speech outline and away from your anxious feelings.

8. Use positive affirmations. Our minds work like a stage. You can't hold positive and negative thoughts on the stage of your mind at the same time. The negative thoughts will push the positive ones off the stage. Think positive thoughts. Imagine your audience giving you a standing ovation at the end of your presentation.

9. View nurturing pictures. Recent research indicates that viewing nurturing, caring, positive pictures will increase your confidence and reduce anxiety. Locate a picture of a family member or friend, or your pet dog or cat. Focus a couple of minutes on the pictures and watch your speech anxiety melt away.

10. Practice, Practice, Practice and then practice some more. Practicing is the best way to manage your anxiety. Professional speakers rehearse their speeches 10-12 times.

Public speaking anxiety is a way of life for many presenters. Learn to channel the anxiety into energy in your presentation. The next time you are feeling speech anxiety, think about the many ways that you can use to manage that anxiety and present a great speech.

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Maximize Your Time: 10 Tips for Extreme Productivity

1) Know your work style and use the tools and systems that match. If you work well with technology, use your computer, phone, and apps for your scheduling and organization. If you are a visual person, consider using a paper calendar and a written to-do list. If you are a people person, develop a team around you to complement your strengths. If you work alone, find time to focus and remain distraction-free. If you are a morning person, attack the most important tasks early in the day.
2) Use ONE calendar. Sometimes people will have several calendars: one for family, one for work, one for personal appointments. Keep ONE calendar for everything. Use different colors or type styles to differentiate categories. Personally, I am very visual and remember things better when I write them down, therefore I have a paper calendar for my appointments, but due to the need for dynamic communication I have a Google calendar to support my scheduling, which might appear like two calendars, however, this calendar is a mirror of the paper one and has everything on it. While it is extra work to have both, it is one calendar (paper or digital) with all the information.
3) Make a to-do list at the end of each day. Your mind naturally begins to work on the list as you sleep. When you awake, you are ready to work, are very productive and organized. Estimate how much time each task will take you and only put on your next day to-do list what is reasonable to get done.
4) "Eat your frog first." A Brian Tracy concept*: Do the hardest thing you have to do all day first before you do anything else. Doing this will provide you with the feeling of success in having a "burden" off your back and the momentum to accomplish the remaining tasks.
5) Have a clear goal; write it down and read it daily. When you have a goal you know what to focus on and work toward. If you do not have this at the front of your mind, it is easy to get caught up with the urgent things of the day or trapped in reacting to e-mail, phone calls, interruptions, and other people's emergencies.
6) Have a "power hour." Designate one hour each day to close the door, shut down e-mail, turn off the ringer on the phone and guard yourself from interruptions. Have a pre-picked project that you will work on during this time only. Make sure to go to the bathroom, get a drink, and do whatever else you need to in order to ensure you do not leave once this hour starts. Give yourself 30 minutes after this hour to return calls, e-mails, and care for people with whom you need to follow up that you missed during the POWER HOUR.
7) Touch it once. This means e-mail, mail, papers, etc. Touch it and make a decision. File it, toss it, or put it in a place for action. Sorting bins are helpful for this. Sorting bins often have labels like: read, file, do this week, urgent, bills, etc. Also, if your subject lines in e-mails are accurate, it is easy for both you and the recipient to find the e-mail. Paper, soft copy (computer), and e-mail folders should have matching labels.
8) Have daily habits. After you develop a routine of things that are simple but important, your body will naturally do them. This is important because we can get distracted by our regular routines and use them as vices to interrupt, procrastinate, and prolong important things that really need to get done. If you start your day right, you will be ready to do those urgent and important tasks, increasing your everyday productivity.
9) Pre-prep. Have you ever been amazed on cooking shows how they make a complicated dish in 10 minutes? OK, part is edited TV time, but they also have everything pre-prepped for quick assembly. Why not do the same? Prepare your information packets and new client folders, turn common documents into a template, set up e-mail group/ distribution lists for teams, etc.
10) Maximize car systems. Listen to a book on audio to maximize your windshield time and learn. Have a bin to put important things in, rather than having them all over the car. Have a trash bag to catch the liter. Always have a bottle of water in the car with you; dehydration causes fatigue, memory loss, and low concentration. Make sure your contacts are portable (e.g, phone, planner, business card file book) so you can keep people and numbers at your fingertips (so that you can call if you're running late, caught in traffic, etc.). Enjoy relaxing, breathing, and taking in the day while driving (rather than cleaning, talking on the phone, etc.)
When you implement a few simple productivity strategies and develop them as time-saving habits, you will quickly enjoy the benefit of more time and energy and overall increased productivity.
*Tracy, Brian. Eat that Frog! 21 Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2001

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You Are More Than Your Circumstances

If someone has had a certain challenge for a long time, they can believe that there is nothing that they can do. Therefore, due to how long something has been in their life, it can be seen as something that is permanent.

As a result of this, they are just going to have to tolerate what is taking place. It is then not going to be a surprise if they feel totally helpless and this ends up having an impact on other areas of their life.

No Better Off

What could make matters worse is that there could be people in their life that are also struggling with the same challenge. This could be seen as more evidence that what they are going through is not something that can be overcome.

It might not stop there, though, as they could live in a society that is full of people that have the same challenge. In fact, it could seem as though everyone has the same challenge as they do.

Breaking Free

If they do end up engaging in black and white thinking, it will be essential for them to snap out of this. Ultimately, there are likely to be people out there that have overcome what they are going through, as well as those that have never had this challenge.

Changing their outlook will be an important part of what will allow them to break out of the prison that their mind has created. Part of this will be for them to think about the fact that they are more than the challenge that they have.

Planting a Seed

This will probably be something that their mind dismisses; nonetheless, it is something that they can meditate on. No matter how convincing their thoughts are or how powerful their 'negative' feelings are, one is more powerful than their circumstances.

So by continually bringing their attention back to this view, they will start to undermine the power that their minds programmed responses have over them. What needs to be remembered here is that if one has seen themselves as being powerless for a very long time, it can take a while for them to change how they see themselves.

The Next Step

Along with what they are doing to change their inner world, it will be a good idea for them to reach out for external support. There are going to be people out there that can help them to overcome what they are going through.

One might not find someone like this straight away but if they keep going, they will surely find someone. If the help that they need doesn't come from a person directly, it could come from a video or a book, for instance.

Final Thoughts

Another part of this will be for one to trust that they will find the answer/s that they need to move forward. One will then be playing their part and they will trust that existence will play its part.

It might seem as though they are separate from everything and that they have to do everything by themselves, yet this is also an illusion. Having trust in existence and the understanding that they are not separate from anything, can allow them to let go of some of the attachment that they have to moving forward and ironically, this can allow them to move forward a lot faster.

Teacher, prolific writer, author, and consultant, Oliver JR Cooper, hails from England. His insightful commentary and analysis covers all aspects of human transformation, including love, partnership, self-love, and inner awareness. With over two thousand, three hundred in-depth articles highlighting human psychology and behaviour, Oliver offers hope along with his sound advice.

To find out more go to - http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk/

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Personal Development Who Needs It?

Personal Development and Why You Need It.

Why?

Why do you need personal development you ask; well the answer is rather simple. If you do not develop continually you are going backwards by going nowhere at all. Life will continue to evolve shift, expand and contract and if you stop being able to develop new skills and talents; then you will get left in the dust. You have so many undiscovered talents and skills in you it is almost funny but the sad truth is many people take their gifts and talents to the grave with them. Many people never afford the world the opportunity to experience the uniqueness of their character that only they can offer. So do not cheat the world of your presence and ideas make personal development a weekly task and find out what you are truly capable of.

Personal Development

Personal development is the key to becoming the best you that you can be. No one on earth is at a point in life where all of the skills and talents they have are all firing on the same cylinder. We all have room to grow and mature no one is beyond personal development. The human species is one of the most complex and marvelous creatures aside from our seemingly insatiable appetite for war and violence of course, we are pretty creative as well as resilient. However, we all need to continually train our minds and bodies to be better. When you stop seeking some form of development you will plateau out and will eventually succumb to complacency and procrastination. Arriving at a level of extreme complacency will lead to being unfulfilled and eventually psychologically and possibly social digression. You must keep moving or else your passion for life will die and take you with it. A passionate pursuit for personal development is the only way to avoid this tragedy.

Remember that personal development consists of not only being conscience of your physical health but your mental health as well. Pursuing mental and physical wholeness requires that one word that the lazy shun like the plague and the dedicated hold dear "commitment". While serving in the Marine Corps the word commitment was engraved into our mines religiously. This brutal yet effective method of indoctrination caused me to develop good internal habits that I still carry with me to this day. While pursuing various aspects of personal development; you must accept that training yourself to be a student of personal development comes at a price.

Skill Development

Everyone has a certain set of skills they have acquired over many years of working however, like anything you have learned how to do; those skills can continually be fine-tuned. I was reading a book a while back called the millionaire mind and it discussed how successful people do not simply rely on innate talent but they lean heavily on their ability to sharpen those talents and skills to remain successful. Being a good business owner is one thing but being a great one requires effort and discipline. Furthermore, developing your skill sets will not only make you a better asset to your occupational field but it will also add a since of fulfillment knowing that you are making a deliberate attempt to become the best you possible.

Personal Development and Success

You will be hard pressed to find one individual that is classified as successful that has not made learning and development a vital part of their lives. Let me add that being able to go to a great learning institution and attain a degree is a very fundamental aspect of personal development. Personal improvement requires you to dive into your psychological patterns, your habits, relational issues, spending practices and a plethora of other things looking for the perfect balance in each. If you have time, check out a book called "THE COMPLETE 101 COLLECTION "by John C. Maxwell it's a great tool. It expounds on the multiple aspects of personal development and how it directly correlates with a leader's effectiveness. I use it daily and will actually be putting together a life overhaul program based on some of his key discoveries and viewpoints on leadership and development.

Being the best you can be requires you to train yourself to push beyond excuses and setbacks and find the fortitude to become the excellent version of yourself you may have been longing to become. So stop running from personal development you may be.. no let me rephrase that you are indeed running from your destiny to be great.

If this article helped or encouraged you in any way shape or form come over and visit me on [http://www.davidhsolomon.com] and take advantage of many other " FREE" motivational and inspiring materials I have to offer.

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