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.

We all know, because of the global connectivity, our smaller local sandbox we normally play in has grown to a much bigger global sandbox.

Even so we are all from different Countries, Cities, State and possible speak different languages what we all have in common is the global network we all in some form or fashion belong to. Now reaching and speaking with someone at the other side of the globe has become as easy as using our global connectivity.

No matter how large the sandbox is we play in we will encounter the same type of players locally or globally.

The shy not very outspoken kids who are happy to play in their little corner or the butterfly who jumps from flower to flower and you have a hard time catching unless you sit still hand let the butterfly come your way.  You will find the teacher/educator in the group but there also will be the bullies.

The size of the sandbox has changed we network in but the sandbox rules for networking have not. No matter what type of player you are within the box.

Great networking guidelines to use are outlined in the books Bob Burg has written. Go-Giver is still my personal bible. We all need to realize that is truly not about ourselves, it is about the other individual and The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success from The Go-Giver are a great guide to keep us on the path of success.

When the other individual (maybe you) puts rules and stipulations on giving or receiving it quickly becomes a one way street and you might find quickly that you are globally connected but you don’t accomplish anything.

“We must be silent before we can listen. We must listen before we can learn. We must learn before we can prepare. We must prepare before we can serve. We must serve before we can lead.”

–William Arthur Ward

My new favorite thing to do right now is to listed to audio books and the current one I have devoured is the one by Barbara Concran called “Use What You’ve Got” .

No matter how many memorized sales presentations a business professional resides when meeting with potential clients, and sounds like a robot when residing the presentation will never attract clients. No one likes to work with a dull robot especially when buying or selling a home.

Sure a business professional should be prepared when meeting with current or potential clients but never lose your personal you when residing back the memorized information. No best prepared sales presentation will close a deal when you don’t build a personal and honest relationship with that client and you are not honestly conveying your honest interest to them.

The more you can connect with a client on a personal level the easier it will be to find the right home for them or the more willing that client will be to refer someone to you. I always keep in mind: “You never know who they know I need or should to know” and “Never judge a book by its cover”.

With any presentation you give or any meeting you attend, just be yourself. Don’t try to imitate or copy the person next to you. They might try to copy you!