Four Characteristics of an Admired Leader

Research has shown that there are four main characteristics that admired leaders show on a consistent basis. For our purposes, an admired leader is one that is willingly followed by others. By focusing on these four characteristics, you will increase your ability to lead others. This is true for top executives as well as entry level positions. The first characteristic is Honesty. This is the cornerstone of all behaviors shown by an effective leader. Without unprecedented honesty, the kind that makes you stand up and take notice, there cannot be effective leadership. This is not an easy task to master. You must choose your words carefully as well as the situation in which you bring up difficult issues. Next is Competency. A leader that is highly honest but also incompetent will go nowhere. They have to know what they are doing to instill confidence in those that are choosing to follow. One of the best ways to work on this characteristic is to find a mentor that you highly rega rd and develop a relationship with them to better your skills. Forward-focused is the next characteristic that must be displayed. The leaders need the ability to look into the future and plan for what is yet to be known. This is a challenging premise, but one that can be honed over time. Ask yourself, "where do we need to be in six months, eighteen months and 3 years"? Work backwards from where you want to be in order to develop a plan for the future. Finally, we have Inspiring. An effective leader must possess the ability to inspire others to act. Action equals results and that is what business depends on for success. One does not have to be the perfect public speaker to be inspiring. You can use several approaches such as video clips, excerpts from books or articles or simply have a consistent positive attitude. By focusing your development plan on these four areas, you will find your enhance leadership skills in a relatively short period of time.

Want Change? Start With Patience!

"Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better." - Richard Hooker

I couldn''t have said it better myself! As you know, I''m all for making changes to better our lives and businesses, but I have to admit that in the past 2 weeks my tolerance levels have been sorely tested. I''ve had to relearn patience skills and there were times that I''m sure my perseverance quotient on a scale of 1 to 10 was at -20.

I''ve been restructuring my business to better reflect the needs and desires of my valued clients. Consequently I''ve spent the last few weeks going over new designs, changing my website content, and doing a complete overhaul of my collateral. After jumping more hurdles than a sprinter at the Olympic Games, last week I finally hit the ''wall.'' Nothing seemed to be working properly on my site and I found myself getting totally frustrated from juggling too many balls and putting out fires. At one point I even wondered why I was going through all this agony. I was not so lovingly reminded that change is great, but it definitely takes perseverance and patience to implement something new into your life.

I''m going to share with you two techniques that I adopted to get through this transition phase and still stay sane.

1. Just breathe. Phew! I''d forgotten about this one until I caught myself almost hyperventilating at the latest snafu. When overwhelm knocks you down, find a nice quiet place and comfy chair and let your body relax by taking 5 nice long, even breaths. Make sure you close your eyes and cancel out the chatter in your brain. After my little exercise, I felt rejuvenated and once again able to tackle the next breakdown ''du jour'' and think clearly about what my intention was before things got a little crazy.

2. Re-adjust your timeline, not your head. Remember that TV commercial where they tried to fit 20 or so people into a tiny compact car? That''s what happens when you try and do 50 things at once. Your brain is getting so many signals of what is a priority that it can''t figure out which one of the 25 tasks you''re trying to do is supposed to take the #1 spot. Setting deadlines is great to keep up motivated to reach the finish line, but there are times when we have to take a step back and determine if we need to re-adjust our timelines. When you find yourself unable to complete just one task due to your endless ''To Do'' loop that''s playing in your head, then you know you have to adjust your schedule. As far as I know they haven''t discovered a 25th hour in the day, so be realistic in what you can and can''t achieve in your working hours. Plus when making that infamous ''To Do'' list, make sure you prioritize it according to how much time is needed to complete each task.

Running around like a chicken with its head cut off and tearing your hair out isn''t going to make your changes happen faster. All you''re going to achieve is a rag ing migraine and the need to visit your hairdresser to purchase a wig!

Be patient with yourself, (and others), and know that everything will come together in its own time. That''s called perseverance - the knowing that all will be right with your world... just sometimes not on your timeline.

How to Think Positive in Network Marketing

Mindset is an extremely important key element to becoming a successful network marketing entrepreneur. You must train your brain to think like an entrepreneur rather than an employee. You are now your own boss and only you can make yourself successful.

I found it difficult in the beginning to think like I was already successful, even before having results. But then it became second nature. Visualize yourself as the person you know that you will become. Everyone around you can sense it too. "What''s up with Bob? He seems really different these days. Like he''s always happy!" People will want to be like you and follow you.

Here are some simple tips that you should apply everyday. We''ll spell out the word Watermelon.

W. Write your goal down on paper. This will make it a reality. A. Attitude. Always think and be positive about all situations. Welcome challenges. T. Together. We are powerful in groups. Abundance is glorious. E. Enthusiasm. Be excited about what you are doing. This will also give you more energy. R. Respect. You must have respect for yourself and others. M. Make commitments not excuses. Tell yourself that will do something and stick to it no matter what. Have an appointment? Show up on time. E. Everyday can be fun! Laugh out loud, it''s the best medicine around. L. Love is the answer to everything. Love yourself, others and what you do. O. One day at time. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is all we have. N. Never, Never, Ever Give Up! Success is just one step away!

I hope this helps to get your mind in gear to think the entrepreneur way!

To Your Success!

Improving Business Performance by Creating High Performance Teams

As a manager, executive or business owner your top priority today is exceeding company goals. You can''t do it yourself, so the best way to exceed your goals is to have what we call "High Performance Teams" working for you.

Your goals may include growing your business, increasing revenue, improving business efficiency, doing more with less, creating competitive advantage, improving customer satisfaction, reducing costs or leveraging intellectual assets.

Your team, which may include (sales, marketing, finance, strategy, HR, IT, operations, shop floor, etc.) represents a very powerful mechanism for getting significant results in organizations today.

High performance teams are a special class of team that has the ability to easily adapt in a rapidly changing environment and is an essential element for highly successful organizations.

The first step in building a high performance team is understanding the essential team ingredients that create a recipe for success.< p> Building high performance teams is a top priority for many executives. The benefits and value produced by these teams are very clear and being viewed as essential tools in their business strategy.

High performance teams produce many benefits.

1. Increased sales revenue

2. Increased productivity

3. Improved customer service

4. Ability to do more with less

5. Increased innovation

6. Ability to quickly adapt to change

7. Ability to solve difficult, critical problems

Sales Team Essentials - The Ingredients

So where do you begin? Like a great chef making the perfect souffl

Leadership skills training for your internet home based business

In today''s environment many people are struggling with worry, resentment, feeling unappreciated, and experiencing feelings of futility. These people have experienced the loss of jobs, homes, financial solvency, and seen an outlook that doesn''t seem to be moving in a positive direction for years to come. As a leader I want to help change this situation for those that are willing to fight for a better way. By providing solutions, education, skills, training, and support through my complete internet home based business I want to demonstrate that people can conquer their challenges and prosper going forward.

To change something you first must identify it, understand it, and then take action to correct it. In my situation I experienced the loss of a traditional business, a job, and my retirement by using methods that no longer produce the results they once had in a different time and economic environment. At that moment it occurred to me that I needed to change my method of o peration, expand my comfort zone and learn a new way to make the living I wanted. The future I saw leveraged the internet with a complete online home based business. Today I am building that business with a team and community of leaders that are dedicated to helping one another enrich their lives while growing their financial aptitude and strength.

From struggle comes strength and in our current times the opportunity for growth is amazing. People just need to ask themselves better questions, positive questions...What can be great about this situation I''m in? What skill do I have to learn to overcome the obstacle? It really comes done to just one thing, YOU. It''s your mindset, attitude, and emotions that make up your overall psychological strength. Get this in order with the right skill set and you will push past the pressing obstacles in your path.

My mission is to show others they can have the freedom they desire by changing their mindset and methods of operation t hrough leverage of the internet business model....Taking leverage to main-street. So commit to developing leadership skills training for your internet home based business...this is the right time and place do so. Visit my blog for more information about me and the training to move you forward.

Shark Cueto races to victory

Sale Sharks and England winger Mark Cueto showed winning form this week at Donington Park as he beat off stiff competition to win the UKFast Grand Prix 2009.

The race day, which pits business owners from across the country against professional sportsmen, gave Cueto his first trophy of the new season and signalled his intent to bring home more silverware this year.

Cueto was cheered along in the final by team mates Dean Schofield and Charlie Hodgson and Shark''s Director of Rugby Kingsley Jones. He also had support from the UKFast Track girls who presented the trophy at the end of the day. (See picture)

Managing director Lawrence Jones says the UKFast Grand Prix is designed to bring together two competitive worlds. "Business needs to be fun and there is no better way to achieve this than creating a healthy sporting mentality within your team. Pitting business people alongside sportsmen, whose success relies on passion and commitment, makes for a truly valuable and en joyable experience - not to mention a fast and thrilling one! It is incredible to see the similarity between successful sports people and business people."

Whilst Cueto has made his name in Rugby Union at club and international level (with 31 Caps for England), his talents could have led him in a number of sporting directions. As a teenager, he had trials for a number of top football teams before choosing Sale Sharks as his home.

UKFast is the main sponsor of Sale Sharks Premiership Rugby Club and the UK''s fastest growing internet hosting provider. Customers include UKTV, Printing.com and BP.