Driving to a meeting with potential client I was going in my mind through the information I gathered for this meeting and thought back to a time back in school.

Sitting in class I was called out as the first student to give a short verbal description about the content   of the book we were given to read several days ago. With a deer in the headline look I stared at the teacher and finally remembered that we were asked to read this book and I just totally forgot.

The embarrassment I felt that day was earthshattering for me and at that moment I wished the earth would have opened up and swallowed me whole and later having to explain to my parents why I had to stay longer in school in detention because I did not do my homework was even harder.

Arriving at the potential client’s office I stepped into her office and we had a great meeting discussing her wants, needs and wishes. Thanks to being prepared for this meeting we were able to come up with a great solution for her and it was a solution she had not thought of.

It always shows to be prepared and my embarrassing moment in school taught me that lesson early in life or how Confucius put it; “Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.”

In this time of social media, web and video conferencing some of us never needed to leave the trusty office  or our desk to make a sale or reach a client in person. Some of the personal interaction has been lost in many areas and dressing for success has been pushed into a corner and is collecting dust.

Sometimes when you would like to move up your personal career ladder or would like to attract potential new clients to work with, dress the part every time all the time.

Ok..Immediate disclaimer. When you work construction or any other job that requires you to dress for safety or job specific do so and when you are in meeting dress professional.

Dress for success still holds true today.

No matter what someone has accomplished in the past, when you don’t dress the part when you attend a meeting, conference or networking event you might not get a second look, even so there might be a potential clients or employer in the room that has exactly what you are looking for.

Some of us might need a little help with picking up the more favorable outfits to wear for the desired client or position we are striving for and there is nothing wrong with asking for help. Many of the larger department stores have personal shoppers who can help you pick out something to wear. You also could consult a personal image consultant, or style coach who could help you find your personal style while shopping with you.

I have written one post about what a leader is and here is part II about what a manager is.

A manager performs an organizational function and it does not mean managing of people, it can also mean managing materials. The manager is here to make sure they do what they suppose to do.

The efficient manager makes effective use of material and resources given to them.

Here are some trades a good manager will have

Planning

• Plan the day, week, month
• Put the right people in the right place to be more efficient
• Look at all the probable scenarios
• Figure out the worst possible scenario
• Looking at available resources
• Compare strengths and weaknesses of individuals

Organized

• Prepared the group and make them part of the plan
• Is everybody trained?
• Are the other departments ready
• Is the work force motivated?
• Is the right material ordered?
• Is the equipment ready?
• Are spare parts available for the equipment?
• Does everybody understand their roll?

Direct the teams

Monitor the output

• Watch and make certain everything goes to plan
• Direct and organize people when something is out of sync
• Be aware of outside forces that might will influence the plan’s outcome

What is the difference between a Leader and a Manager?

A leader can be a manager, but not every manager is a good leader (don’t ask me where I read this)

A manager monitors the output and the productivity of the team there are responsible for. Most of the time a manager was given their position by promotion a leader’s position was given through trust.

Something  happen last week that made me think off the difference between a manager and a Leader again. I will write about this in two blogs (otherwise it is to long).

First I thought I grab the thought on (at least for me)………………………….

What is a Leader?

• Guides others toward a common goal,
• Showing the way by example,
• Creates an environment in which team members feel actively involved in the entire process.
• Is not the boss of the team
• Is the person that is committed to carrying out the mission.

Qualities of a good leader

Listens:

• Open minded to new ideas
• Open minded to new ways of doing things
• Everyone in the group will be heard.
• Listen to ideas
• Accept constructive criticisms.

 Focused:

• Remind yourself and the group of the goals and mission.
• You need to on track and keep others on track,
• Keep the team will motivated and it be more productive.
• Schedule time to meet with your Team
• Establish and check-in about the goals you hope to achieve.

 Organized:

• A leader set’s the tone for the team.
• A leader who is organized helps motivate team members to be organized as well.

 Available:

• Holds frequent group and personal meetings
• Questions or concern can be addressed right away and can be handled sooner

 Include others:

• As a leader, you should not do all the work.
• Poor use of time is when you do everything yourself and prevents your Venture from growing.
• Leader should work with his/her teammates
• Learn how to delegate responsibility
• Being mindful of everyone’s interests, goals and strengths.

 Decisive:

• You are not always going to be able to reach a compromise.
• Don’t be afraid to make the final decision, even if some team members disagree with you.

 Confident:

• Confidence is one of the most important characteristic of a leader.
• If you don’t believe in yourself and the success of your Venture, no one else will.
• Show that you are dedicated, intelligent, and proud of what you are doing.

Please give me a day and I will have part II…what is a manager.

When you are given a possible contact name and number of a person that is interested in what you have to offer do you truly follow up with this person?

Be honest ………..

Every time …most of the time ….or occasionally?

Experience has taught me that about:

95% of the receptions are very eager to talk to the person.

55% take time to make the first initial contact over the phone or email with in 24 hours

30% will talk to the person during a one on one meeting only once

6% will close the deal

1% will keep of following up with the referral, prospect

The rest will just fall through the crack and never will be followed up on even after the first initial contact.

By now the 80/20 rule no longer exists…it is more like 10/90 or 5/95 at best.

As soon as you open the email, or turn on the TV you hear the bad news. Job loss here, cut back there …..and you name it. The overall news is getting better but we all know…bad news sells and will pay the news agencies bills.

Nationwide we currently have a 7.6% unemployment rate (July 2013) and still people are not happy…..

…….92.4% of the total work force is still employed.

Things I hear on the street every day are sayings like

…..I am not getting my raise.

…. I no longer get any overtime.

…. I was told I have to take an extra day off

Think of it as:

….my Company is being proactive so that I still can work in the near future.

I call it as the stinking thinking that gets us in a bad mood and we need to change how we think about the things what we are being spoon feed over the news and airwaves every day.

It does not matter what your circumstances are at the present moment. Think positively, expect only favorable results and situations, and circumstances will change accordingly. It may take some time for the changes to take place, but eventually they do.

Sure you cannot turn the stinking thinking around on a dime and no one expect s you to do this. You need to practice and maybe find a positive thinking partner to help you with this.

Read about the subject; and when you cannot buy the book there is always the old fashion library to go to.

Start visualizing you success, smile more even when you have to face it and use positive words when communication with yourself and others.

Last but not least…..as soon as you have one of those stinking thinking thoughts try to replace it with a positive thought. It is not easy at the beginning. We are creatures of habit and habits are sometimes hard to break, but you will get there.

It is always interesting how much more you can discover and learn in books you have read or listed too even after you have read them more than once.  A very short line in a book I am listed too right now while I am traveling from and two meeting caught my attention.

It was talking about asking for an equity payment before a bank deposit was made.

You never would go to a bank and ask them for an equity or interest payment on a deposit you never made into the bank. So why would you do so while you are networking?

Have you heard of the 5 rules of success?

The value of success is your true worth based on the how much more you give in value than you ask for in payment back. The more and the better you serve others the higher your payment will be.

When you put other individual’s interest before yours and the more authentic you are, the more your influence will increase.

Last but not the least! You should not turn down help when someone is willing to give it freely.

Sound so simple and it truly is that simple.

If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want. – Zig Ziglar –

You started your business and now you are faced with the need of raising capital to fund your business. There are many ways to fund a start-up or existing business but when you are looking for funding beyond your friends or family you need to have your ducks in a row before you even venture into the world of investors to ask them about money.

Truth to behold is that many business owners to not spend enough time to get their ducks in a row to secure their financing and later just fall back on the old, cost cutting method. Richard Brandon with his post about building a strong reputation had some great input.

You need to be able to build a trusting relationship with the investor and you need to have a favorable reputation. When you have an “I don’t give a dang” reputation it will translate right back into your business. Your personal conduct needs to reflect your business conduct.

You need to find out what the investor is looking for before you run your investment ideas across their table. Brad Sugars in his blog about how to position your startup as a good investment said is best; “Investors are looking for three things: the people behind an idea, the idea itself and an answer to the question: How will I get my money back?” A company either has a great goal and a great team but not a clue how to return the ROI. Or they have a great Idea and a solid understanding on how to return the ROI but don’t have the team support.

Be prepared that the investor will ask you some questions and you better be able to answer them truthfully. Caroline Cummings has put together a great list of possible questions you should be ready to answer in her blog called”10 great questions I never thought investors would ask a startup”.

Come prepared and you might be surprised what could happen.