6 Key Lessons to Learn From 300-Year-Old French Mustard Brand Moutarde de Maille

October 14, 2015, 3:00 pm

≫ Next: 12 Special Interests Waging Shady Campaigns Against Solar

≪ Previous: Gutting Through the VW Crisis

Could you find business inspiration by studying the marketing of a 300-year-old French mustard brand?

When it comes to both celebrating a brand's heritage and brilliantly contemporizing it, Unilever has done a masterful job with Moutarde Maille French mustard that dates back to 1747. It is a best practice example of taking a wonderful, rich brand heritage, infusing it with life to keep it relevant, and at the same time maintaining the core brand character that has been beloved for nearly 300 years.

Here are six areas Unilever has nailed with tactics that are strategically growing their business:

1. Always tell your brand's story.

Moutarde Maille dates back to 1747 in Dijon, France when Antoine Maille, master mustard & vinegar maker, created the artisanal brand. To celebrate the founder, the shops display his portrait on the wall, along with his story. Maille was appointed by Louis XV as the royal supplier, and was later similarly appointed by other countries' royalty.

2. Include memorable elements on packaging.

Aside from its classic glass bottle shape and elegant, old-world French font, Maille's mustards are also sold in beautiful sandstone jars, which are refillable when you have eaten it all ... beautiful and sustainable at the same time! Attractive, themed gift packaging has been developed, such as a "bistro" collection assortment in a red-and-white checked box, that comes with summer recipes. The fun and beautiful package encourages gift giving to potential new users and also trade-up, as there are three bottles in each box.

3. Encourage sampling, inspire the gourmets!

Maille has developed 41 different varieties that encourage customers to keep trying and experimenting with the different flavors displayed at their two stores in Paris as well as the one London Piccadilly and the one in New York City. More stores are in the works. At their stores, the products are beautifully displayed to communicate the wide array of options, making the range a inspiring to explore. Products can be sampled in the stores, including seasonal flavors like truffle and Sauternes.

4. Embrace creative uses of technology.

Maille created a very unique, high-tech spoon for their retail shops that visitors will soon be given to sample their flavors in-store. It miraculously detects which flavors customers have tried and emails them the descriptions, in case they decide to purchase at a later date.

5. Pay attention to details.

Aside from the portrait of Antoine Maille in the shops and the story written on the wall with the distinguished history of the product line, sophisticated gold lettering on black is woven throughout many touchpoints. The lettering is featured on an old-fashioned pump that dispenses four different mustards into refillable, sandstone crocks, on the delightful, retro aprons employees wear, and the black gift cards with gold ink purchasers can write out in the stores, as well as in signage throughout the shop. The black-and-gold motif continues on Maille's website as well.

And when you go out of the boutique with your choice of mustards, you carry a luxury shopping bag, absolutely in line with the luxury fashion boutiques all around Madeleine or Carrousel.

6. Create "Instagramable" experiences.

Who could have imagined shopping in a condiment store could be so much fun and so inspiring? From the samples, to the story and portrait, to the helpful and elegantly dressed employees, to recipe ideas, to the activity of watching your crock filled to order, the experience is high quality, retro and tasteful all the way. It's "instagramable", buzz-worthy, and delicious.

The Bottom Line

Whether your company is a startup or has been around for years, there are some valuable lessons to be learned by studying the wonderful Moutarde de Maille heritage brand.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

12 Special Interests Waging Shady Campaigns Against Solar

October 14, 2015, 3:03 pm

≫ Next: Stop Playing the Victim With Your Time Management and Empower Yourself

≪ Previous: 6 Key Lessons to Learn From 300-Year-Old French Mustard Brand Moutarde de Maille

Photo: Becca Humann

Pretty much everyone loves solar power. So if you're running an ad campaign to convince politicians or the public to weaken policies that have helped spur America's solar boom, you may have to resort to hyperbole, deception, or outright lies.

An ad in Arizona, for example, claimed low fees for rooftop solar amounted to "California-style corporate welfare" for "out-of-state solar companies," even though the state is home to nearly 400 solar businesses employing more than 9,000 people.

A Kansas ad said the state's renewable electricity standard was "another government mandate we can't afford," even though the state's own utility commission found that clean energy supplied 15 percent of electricity when demand was highest, but made up only 2 percent of utilities' costs.

In Florida, an ad criticizing a pro-solar ballot initiative claimed that ratepayers will end up subsidizing solar panels owners who connect to the electric grid, even though nearly every study on the topic shows the opposite is true.

These ads don't just share in common their shady approach to the facts. Backing each of these attacks on solar energy were fossil-fuel magnates Charles and David Koch or their front group, Americans for Prosperity.

The Koch brothers have a massive stake in fossil fuels through their company Koch Industries and its many subsidiaries, with refineries in three states and 4,000 miles of pipeline under their charge. Americans for Prosperity allows the Kochs to mask their financial interest and fight pro-solar policies under the ruse of citizen opposition.

The Kochs, however, are not alone. Environment America's recent report, Blocking the Sun, written along with the Frontier Group, shows they're among 12 fossil fuel interests and utilities running some of the nation's most aggressive campaigns to undermine policies that promote solar power.

The playbook: a national network of utility interest groups and fossil fuel industry-funded think tanks provides funding, model legislation and political cover for anti-solar campaigns.

The Edison Electric Institute, the trade group that represents U.S. investor-owned electric utilities, launched the current wave of anti-solar advocacy with a 2012 conference warning utilities of the challenges solar energy posed to their traditional profit centers.

The American Legislative Exchange Council provides utility and fossil fuel interests with access to state legislatures. Following the 2012 EEI conference, ALEC drafted and distributed model legislation to weaken net metering laws and repeal state renewable electricity standards.

The Heartland Institute, a think tank with backing from Exxon, the Kochs, and others in the fossil fuel industry, helped ALEC draft its anti-solar bills, and has spread misleading information about the impacts of solar energy.

The Consumer Energy Alliance presents itself as a voice for consumers, but is in fact a Houston-based front group for the fossil fuel industry, representing fossil fuel companies like ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell Oil.

Next, in state after state, electric utilities use the support provided by these national anti-solar interests, supplemented by their own ample resources, to attack key solar energy policies.

Arizona Public Service funneled money through front groups for anti-net metering advertisements and has been accused of improperly cultivating influence with the state commission that regulates utilities.

Duke Energy, the largest utility in the U.S., has positioned itself through investments in utility-scale solar plants to be seen as a champion of solar energy - all while spending millions on campaign contributions to keep anti-solar politicians in office in Florida and lobbying against third party solar agreements in North Carolina.

American Electric Power has backed anti-solar campaigns in states including Ohio and West Virginia, and succeeded in efforts to limit rooftop solar in West Virginia.

Subsidiaries of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Energy are running active campaigns to halt the growth of solar power in Utah and Nevada, also taking aim at rooftop solar.

The Salt River Project, another utility in Arizona, passed perhaps the most damaging anti-solar provision in the country: a demand charge for solar customers that will increase utility bills by an average of $50 per month.

In Ohio, FirstEnergy led the fight to make Ohio the first state in the country to freeze its renewable energy standard - resulting in annual private investment in Ohio solar energy dropping by more than $100 million..

We Energies, Wisconsin's largest utility, has submitted a nearly continuous stream of proposals to the Wisconsin Public Services Commission to halt the growth of solar, including proposals to limit net metering and to impose surcharges on solar owners.

Probably because solar power is so popular, most of these attacks happened away from public view, in dense regulatory filings or before obscure utility boards. And when the assaults were out in the open, moneyed special interests operated under the guise of a group claiming to represent seniors or energy consumers.

Our report attempts to pull back the veil on these vested interests fighting solar power in America. By shining a light on the companies and entities attacking solar energy - and the tactics they use - we hope to help citizens and decision-makers respond when the nationwide assault on solar energy arrives at their doorsteps.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

Stop Playing the Victim With Your Time Management and Empower Yourself

October 14, 2015, 3:13 pm

≫ Next: Maldives Backslides Into Repression as the World Calls for President Nasheed's Release

≪ Previous: 12 Special Interests Waging Shady Campaigns Against Solar

When it comes to managing your time, many people feel like they have a crushing number of requests coming at them that make them a victim to their circumstances. "There's always too much to do. Everyone just keeps piling more work on me." Sound familiar? If so, you're not alone, but you should stop playing the victim and own the situation.

They see forces outside themselves as the reason that they don't have time to exercise, can't leave work at a reasonable time, or just generally struggle to get everything done. Although there are occasionally situations that are outside of your control--that recent bout with the flu, for example--most aren't. And even though it can feel gratifying in the short term to blame others for your situation, this attitude toward your time investment will leave you truly powerless in the long run.

When you play the victim with your time, everything around you suffers. You're constantly on edge in your interactions with others because you fear that they'll pile yet one more thing on your already heavy load. Since you don't believe you can ever say, "no," your "yes" comes out of a place of obligation and resentment, not wholehearted commitment. Since your situation seems so difficult, you don't attempt to plan or work more efficiently because you believe that you will have to work all the time no matter what and are convinced that it's impossible to get everything done. You eventually stop trying because you believe no matter how hard you try--you'll fail.

In my work as a time coach, I've seen that individuals often have a much greater ability to influence their situation than they realize. But the breakthrough only happens when they start exerting their personal power instead of waiting for something around them to change. It's similar to when people who find themselves in debt blame the credit card companies, instead of accepting that they had a choice in spending more money than they had. Only by accepting that they can--and need--to change and then taking steps to do so can that balance go down.

The way to break out of this victim mind-set is to stop blaming others, and instead, take ownership of your time and take responsibility for changing yourself. Here are three practical steps to take back control of your time.

Be Mindful of How You React

Become aware of how you respond when your time investment becomes misaligned with your priorities. Do you always look for someone to blame? My boss always gives me too much to do. Do you pity yourself? Poor me, yet another stressful day. I'll get some ice cream to make myself feel better. Do you reject advice or suggestions? How dare my wife suggest I could work differently to get home earlier. That's just not possible. Do you ever say no to a new project? Do you ever set boundaries? Do you ever ask for support?

You need to take a moment to reflect upon how you react and consider that your reaction and expectations can frame the situation.

Recognize Your Role and Responsibilities

Understand that you are the decision maker when it comes to investing your time. There are certain situations where you simply need to do what it takes to get things done for a short time. That could be when you're approaching a major deadline, preparing for a new product launch, or drafting annual reports. But overload doesn't need to be the norm. It's not everyone else's fault if you have too much to do and you don't communicate that to anyone else. It's yours.

Even in top consulting firms known for their rigorous work schedules, there's room for open communication about time. For example, Boston Consulting Group established a formal global program called PTO (Predictability, Teaming, and Open Communication), which helps establish priorities and time-off goals for each team member. One component of this program is for team members to work together so that each one of them can have a period of time each week when they're completely off the project. To help make this happen, the teams have weekly check-ins that include talking about how they're feeling and the value they're delivering to clients. Each person recognizes their role to openly and honestly communicate about their needs, instead of expecting others to automatically know when they're overloaded. You must take on the same responsibility in your own organization with regards to your own time, even if you don't have a formal program encouraging you to do so.

Make a Commitment to Change and Take Ownership

Regardless of how you've behaved in the past in certain situations or with specific people, you have the opportunity to make the future different. Make a commitment to change; choose to respond your environment instead of simply accepting whatever comes your way.

Instead of becoming a victim, take ownership of the situation and your time. This could look like speaking up when you feel that someone makes an unreasonable request so that you don't end up overloaded. Have your project list on hand when you go to meetings so that if a new project is proposed, you can evaluate its importance in relation to your other commitments. If it doesn't seem like there's sufficient time for the new work, propose a discussion about priorities during the meeting or bring it up later with the appropriate parties.

Also, set clear rules and boundaries to prevent taking on too much from others. For example, if you manage staff members who tend to turn in work at the last minute with many errors, require that they turn in items earlier. That allows you to send it back to them to make corrections instead of doing them yourself because you're on a tight deadline.

Finally, if you're in a situation where setting better boundaries isn't possible (such as a job where you're on call 24/7) and you're finding your time investment troubles unmanageable, you may need to consider whether you're in the right job. There are some positions that will not create a sustainable lifestyle for you no matter what you try to do. It's okay to decide to get out.

By taking responsibility for your time investment choices, you stop wasting energy blaming others and start directing it toward a productive response toward the people and situations around you. With that focus, you can have enough time for what's most important to you.

About Real Life E®
Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E® a time coaching and training company that empowers individuals who feel guilty, overwhelmed and frustrated to feel peaceful, confident and accomplished. She is an expert on achieving more success with less stress. Real Life E® also increases employee productivity, satisfaction and work/life balance through training programs.

McGraw Hill published her first book The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment: How to Achieve More Success with Less Stress. Harvard Business Review recently published her second book How to Invest Your Time Like Money. Elizabeth contributes to blogs like Lifehacker, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and the 99U blog on productivity for creative professionals and has appeared on CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

Maldives Backslides Into Repression as the World Calls for President Nasheed's Release

October 14, 2015, 4:23 pm

≫ Next: Thursday Fakery - Rupert's Pet Hilsenrath Saves His Portfolio

≪ Previous: Stop Playing the Victim With Your Time Management and Empower Yourself

Two weeks ago, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention -- the U.N.'s expert panel on the rights of detainees -- released its opinion in the case of former President Nasheed. The U.N. decided that "[t]he deprivation of liberty of Mr. Nasheed, being in contravention of ... [international human rights treaties] is arbitrary." And, it concluded that the government of the Maldives should "release Mr. Nasheed immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation."

President Nasheed's arbitrary imprisonment is not an isolated case. It is emblematic of a broader state of repression in the Maldives today, where every opposition leader is either imprisoned or facing charges or intimidation by the government. The Maldives is now a place where 1,700 people face charges for peaceful political protest or speech, and where journalists have been assaulted, arrested or disappeared.

The government's actions since the U.N. opinion was released confirm the country's brutal decline. Its strategy is double-pronged: enact increasingly repressive measures to stifle any dissent and double down on paid lobbyists and other expensive hired hands.

On Sept. 8, the government entered into a $50,000 per month contract with the Washington lobby group Podesta. Although the government initially denied the contract, they were later forced to admit that it existed as a public record. The government also continues to instruct the legal and public relations firm Omnia Strategy at an undisclosed rate. Omnia has been engaged "to advise the Government [on] strengthening the legislative framework ... as part of the government's broader strategy for democracy consolidation in the country" as well as on the "on-going case of former President Nasheed."

But in the four months since Omnia has been providing advice, the spiral of repression has only intensified.

Amid mass protests against the government following the release of the U.N. opinion, the government stated that it "does not accept the decision of the WGAD," and a prominent MP from the ruling party labeled the Geneva-based expert panel "the janitorial staff" of the U.N. system. Following criticisms from the Commonwealth, the government also threatened to withdraw from the regional organization it has been a member of for 33 years.

The government wants the world to believe that the Maldives is a nascent democracy and a tourist paradise. But despite its expensive PR strategies, the world is not fooled.

The government's isolationism has been accompanied by chilling legal regression. The day after a press conference was held on the U.N. decision, the government announced that it would introduce a new criminal offense allowing Maldivian prosecutors to imprison anyone who calls for sanctions to be imposed on human rights violators in the government. The new law, entitled "Act on Prohibition of Calls to Boycott Tourism and Impose Sanctions Against the Maldives," covers any speech that constitutes "encouragement, participation and calls in and outside Maldives for sanctions" or even "spe[ech] about anything that would create fear among tourists or [those] visiting [Maldives] and spread any such information." The penalty is up to 10 years in prison, with a fine of up to $325,000.

In the preliminary debate on the bill in Parliament, an MP from the government's party, Riyaz Rasheed, stated that the bill was intended to silence dissent at home and abroad. Another ruling party MP, Ahmed Amir, added that the use of social media could be banned and that the constitutional guarantee of free speech should be "suspended." Rasheed was even transparent about targeting the opposition: "All these people here, who belong to [the opposition] MDP [party] should be arrested. This is what we're trying to do. God willing, that will happen now." He also urged members of Parliament to add a provision to prohibit foreigners who have called for sanctions or a tourism boycott from visiting the Maldives. This followed calls by the government's parliamentary group leader Ahmed Nihan for Nasheed's international counsel Amal Clooney and Jared Genser to be considered "enemies of the state" because they argued that travel bans and asset freezes should be imposed on serious human rights abusers in the Maldives. The bill enjoyed widespread support from the ruling party, and will now be considered for passage at the committee stage.

The introduction of this outrageous law -- draconian even by autocracies' standards -- is in flagrant violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the "bill of rights" at the international level which mandates that government should guarantee free expression. The proposal comes two weeks after the Ministry of Home Affairs published a new regulation requiring all NGOs to seek the government's permission for their projects and providing for their suspension if they engage in any activity "that could cause loss of harmony, or a national security threat." Earlier, on July 19, the attorney-general had submitted a bill under which any "expressions contrary to national interest" would constitute criminal offenses. Meanwhile the Supreme Court has dissolved the Bar Association, filed a treason case against the human rights institution that reported on the government's performance to the U.N. and ordered all independent institutions to report to the government.

All the while President Yameen has steadfastly refused to grant clemency to Nasheed, despite calls from Ban Ki-moon, other U.N. officials and independent observers around the world to free him, and despite Yameen's power under domestic law to do so.

The government wants the world to believe that the Maldives is a nascent democracy and a tourist paradise. But despite its expensive PR strategies, the world is not fooled. The government is backsliding into repression and isolationism, instead of embracing human rights and justice. It is in the interests of all Maldivians for this trend to be reversed.

Amal Clooney
Ben Emmerson QC
Jared Genser
Counsel for former President Mohamed Nasheed

Earlier on WorldPost:

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

Thursday Fakery - Rupert's Pet Hilsenrath Saves His Portfolio

October 15, 2015, 6:07 am

≫ Next: It Takes a Plan (To End 'Too Big to Jail')

≪ Previous: Maldives Backslides Into Repression as the World Calls for President Nasheed's Release

That $5Bn Rupert Murdoch Spent for the Wall Street Journal is really paying off!

It's a significant portion of Uncle Rupert's $12.5Bn personal fortune but, like all the Billionaires who control everything you watch and read and listen to (while cutting your children's school budgets so they can't think for themselves) - it allows them to manipulate the markets and thus, their personal fortunes when the need arises.

In Murdoch's case, he has built up Jon Hilsenrath's reputation as "The Fed Whisperer," arguably making him the most powerful economic journalist on the planet as Hilsenrath supposedly has an inside track to whatever the Fed is doing. Forget the fact that Hilsenrath is wrong all the time - it's the reputation that counts and yesterday he used it masterfully to turn around the global markets (which Mr. Murdoch is heavily invested in) with a well-timed article ahead of Asia's open that sent the Futures soaring back to yesterday's phony highs - it was really a thing of beauty, in an evil, manipulative sort of way.

Of course, at PSW, I teach our Members that we don't really care IF the market is manipulated, as long as we can understand HOW it is manipulated and take advantage of it. In yesterday's morning post, for example, I mentioned that we went long on the Russell Futures in Tuesday's Live Trading Webinar at 1,140 and yesterday the Russell (/TF) topped out at 1,150, which was up $1,000 per contract and there we flipped short for the ride back to 1,130, which was up $2,000 per contract and now we're happy to short it again, though it's S&P 2,000 that has caught our eye this morning.

SPY 5 MINUTE When you are playing the Futures, the key is to not lose a lot when you're wrong and we teach our Members to do this by picking entries that have strong back-stops - failure points that give them a good indication to get out of a trade before it goes too far the wrong way. S&P 2,000 is, obviously, a huge line to cross and that means it's not likely we get burned by a sudden move over (or under) the line - so it makes a great entry for our shorts, with a tight stop if we're over.

As you can see from Dave Fry's SPY chart, we had a big move up in the morning as 2,000 held (200 on SPY) but then it broke and gave us a great short entry in our Live Member Chat Room, which I called at 10:12, saying:

By the way – all those long lines make great shorting lines on the Futures: 17,000, 2,000, 4,350 and 1,150.

We had called a long at 9:46 but only got small gains and flipped short as soon as our lines began to fail (as we expected they would, but why not make money both ways?). Today we'll be using the same lines to confirm the move - up or down. Today's move is all about stimulus, or rumors of stimulus, after getting all sorts of TERRIBLE economic news, including the Fed's Beige Book, which you can see my summary of at Twitter.

As I noted early this morning (also on Twitter), it wasn't just Hilsenrath that rescued the markets last night. After he got the ball rolling, the Chinese Government pledged to put $23Bn into broadband infrastructure (great for our CHL longs) and the "official" Chinese papers cranked up the rumors of even more stimulus at the upcoming 5-year "Plenary Session," which will run from Oct 26th through about Nov 10th, in which China will decide exactly HOW they are going to manipulate the markets for the next 5 years.

Of course, the Top 1% is in no mood to take chances so more topspin was added at Europe's open as poor Ewald Nowotny, the ECB Governor who said QE was the wrong policy just 3 weeks ago, was forced to make a fool of himself and call for more easing - essentially flipping his bearish "vote" and creating a huge win for the FREE MONEY crowd.

That got the EU markets off to a huge 1.5% move into lunch (coming off China's nice move, which came off the move in the US futures which came off the comments of just one journalist who, in reality, hasn't got a friggin' clue what the Fed is going to do). This is despite TONS of bad economic news that the Corporate Media is completely ignoring or glossing over like:

Corporate America’s Epic Debt Binge Leaves $119 Billion Hangover

The Incredibly Shrinking Market Liquidity, Or The Upcoming Black Swan Of Black Swans

Treasury Bills Sold at Zero Percent Interest Top $1 Trillion

Fed rate hike could have greater global repercussions than in the past: ECB

China Syndrome: China Slowdown Continues To Drag Down Global Economy

6 reasons you shouldn’t buy the Spanish government’s ‘rose-tinted’ version of reality

Ashmore Suffers Outflows as Clients Spooked by Emerging Markets

Glencore Collapse Could Be Even Worse Than Feared

Singapore September Home Sales Drop to Lowest Level This Year

Iran Sends Fighters to Syria, Escalating Its Involvement

Ethiopian Drought Threatens Growth as Cattle Die

TSMC Cuts Spending Again as Profit Drops First Time in 3 Years

U.K. Banks May Need 3.3 Billion Pounds Capital Under Ringfencing

VW Faces Mandatory Recall in Germany Over Diesel Cheating

Burberry Slumps on Profit Outlook After Asian Sales Drop

A crisis in student loans? | The Big Picture

Have you heard about ANY of these things? That's just from today's headlines! What's the positive news that's moving the markets? Stimulus, QE, more stimulus, more QE. That is NOT the way to build a healthy recovery, my friends. The only thing these actions have accomplished is creating the World's largest-ever wealth transfer from the Bottom 90% to the Top 0.1% and, as noted in the rising levels of Corporate Debt and over $1Tn in Student Loan Debt and $1Tn in Auto Loan Debt - the bill will once again be handed to the bottom 90% while the Top 1% get more bailouts.

Enough said!

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

It Takes a Plan (To End 'Too Big to Jail')

October 15, 2015, 6:30 am

≫ Next: Who Will Be the First Female CEO of a Big Pharma Company

≪ Previous: Thursday Fakery - Rupert's Pet Hilsenrath Saves His Portfolio

"If you only look at the big banks, you will be missing the forest for the trees," said Hillary Clinton in the debate Tuesday night, responding to calls to break up the major banks. Corporate crime is a broader problem touching every industry and not just Wall Street. Clinton has proposed for the first time a top-to-bottom plan for policing and preventing corporate crime and financial misconduct. We have not seen the likes of it in this campaign or elsewhere. The plan addresses systemic risk in financial institutions, or "too big to fail," but my interest is in "too big to jail": the way the plan carefully addresses concerns that companies and banks commit massive crimes but receive mere slaps on the wrist.

We are experiencing a corporate crime wave. Billion-dollar fines are now common in industries ranging from Big Pharma to the largest banks to energy companies. Yet we just saw GM receive an out-of-court deal for concealing defects that cost over a hundred people their lives -- and no charges for any employees. We have seen banks like AIG, Barclays, Credit Suisse, HSBC, JPMorgan, Lloyds, UBS and others prosecuted over and over again -- typically with no charges for any employees. After the financial crisis, we saw compromised deals with banks, failures to prosecute individuals and legislation that did not generate serious accountability.

While there have been critics of those developments on both sides of the aisle, some good proposals for legislation, concerns raised by judges, and saber-rattling statements from the Department of Justice, what we have not seen is a plan for action that fundamentally rethinks how financial offenses are handled. The Clinton plan would do, among its recommendations, four key things to tackle too big to jail.

1. Corporate deals should not be out of court. The plan clamps down on the non-prosecution and deferred prosecution agreements that have become all-too-common even for the most serious corporate misdeeds. The plan calls out the "overuse" of these agreements but also calls for clear guidelines stating that those agreements should "be used in only limited circumstances." Banks and corporations should know that they cannot count on kid-glove settlements out of court for the most serious crimes. They should be typically convicted for serious crimes.

2. Corporate deals shouldn't be kept secret. We should know what fines companies are really paying and what is tax-deductible or taken off through "credits." The plan endorses legislation proposed by Senators Elizabeth Warren and James Lankford to address transparency in corporate settlements. Entire agreements with corporations have been hidden (University of Virginia law students have filed FOIA cases to obtain them) and this plan says that all such corporate agreements must be publicly disclosed.

3. Individuals should be held accountable too. I have found that far more often than not, when corporations and banks are prosecuted and receive non-prosecution and deferred prosecution agreements, no individuals are prosecuted. When they are, they are typically low-level employees, not higher-ups, and they do not receive jail time. The proposal to extend statutes of limitations for major financial fraud may help to make these complex prosecutions practical.

4. Prosecutors need far more enforcement resources. Most fundamentally, enforcers and prosecutors need the resources to tackle cases involving hundreds or thousands of employees at major companies. This is the first serious plan to bolster enforcement. When German multinational corporation Siemens was investigated for foreign bribery, it cooperated, and spent over a billion dollars hiring attorneys and investigators to represent it. Can you imagine what prosecutors and regulators could do if they could spend hundreds of millions of dollars themselves investigating corporate crime, and not just depending on what the company offers to them?

Merely calling for the scalps of Wall Street executives is not constructive and it isn't serious. We have needed a real plan for action. This plan would bolster enforcement resources, systematize civil disbarment, raise civil fines, better reward whistleblowers and reinvigorate prosecution priorities for the most serious offenders. Executives who break the law should know that their bonuses are at risk, their jobs are at risk, and that corporations cannot shield them from accountability for crimes. Corporate fraud enforcement needs more powerful teeth. I hope we see this comprehensive plan carried out in all of its details.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

Who Will Be the First Female CEO of a Big Pharma Company

October 15, 2015, 6:37 am

≫ Next: Patience is a Virtue

≪ Previous: It Takes a Plan (To End 'Too Big to Jail')

"There has never been a female CEO of a big pharma company."

Wait, what did the journalist just say?

How can this be possible? Women make 80 percent of the healthcare decisions for their families, according to the US Department of Labor report. They use more healthcare than men. More caregivers are women. Harvard reports that women now drive the world economy, controlling "about $20 trillion in annual consumer spending."

And we still have not had a female CEO of a big pharma company?

After the interview was over, my colleagues and I discussed this statement over dinner, and one of them, Najoh Tita-Reid, another incredible woman in leadership, said something that stuck. She said, 'From great results, great opportunities are given, more women are getting a chance to show what they can do."

She's right. Looking around at female leaders like IBM's Ginni Rometty, Linda Boff, the CMO at GE, and our own Erica Mann, who leads the second largest consumer health company in the world, we are showing what we can do. And we can do everything.

So now the only question is, who will be the first female CEO of a big Pharma company? I cannot wait to find out. And I will be waiting in line to give her my support to help deliver great results, and open more doors for more women in our industry, and in all industries. And hopefully, by the time my little niece is finishing school, there won't be any doors left to open.

You can read the full interview with myself, Najoh and Ute here.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

Patience is a Virtue

October 15, 2015, 7:12 am

≫ Next: 3 Keys to Hiring the Right Kind of Lazy Employees

≪ Previous: Who Will Be the First Female CEO of a Big Pharma Company

I completely understand that the last few months have been scary with the swift drops in the market. Clients call everyday expressing their concerns, and asking me where do I think we go next.

Look, it's completely normal to have some worry and concern over a correcting market. If you are going to be an investor, then patience will have to become your virtue.

Investor behavior somehow reasons that now stocks are a greater risk since they have corrected is false. I would argue that the stock market has more risk when prices are higher.

Your behavior during these market corrections and crashes, will dictate how successful you are with your portfolio and financial goals.

My favorite discussion with a client (I'm actually being a little sarcastic here), is when the client looks me straight in the eye and proclaims these prolific words:

"First, I want steady gains when the markets are correcting, at least 5-6%. I don't want to lose.

"And I want superior returns in up markets. I want to do better than the Dow or S&P 500."

Really? Me too.

Investors just don't understand why that is not possible. I would say it's because of a lack of patience. That lack of patience is what causes so much underperformance and disappointment. The lack of patience in waiting for the market to do it's job, often translates into investors making precarious switches to their portfolios or even firing their financial advisor prematurely.

As investors we are not patient during a correction because of fear of losing. We are also not patient in a bull market because we feel we might be missing out on potential gains elsewhere.

The Diligent Advisor Point

Have the patience to give your poor portfolio the time it needs to meet your expectations. Now that might take a few years. Not days, weeks or months. Don't go switching to the latest hot investment when you hear it on CNBC or read it in some newsletter. Believe me, you're not going to miss out on potential gains elsewhere. You're more likely to miss the gains in your own portfolio because of your lack of patience.

Now go to this link, and subscribe to The Diligent Advisor. I probably can't make you more patient, but you'll be better informed.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

3 Keys to Hiring the Right Kind of Lazy Employees

October 15, 2015, 7:14 am

≫ Next: Equal Pay Is a Reproductive Health Care Issue for Latinas

≪ Previous: Patience is a Virtue

Shawn Freeman is an entrepreneur, a personable geek, and the founder of IT services company TWT Group Inc. in Calgary, Canada. He founded the company to make IT simple instead of infuriating, and believes it should be the easiest part of anyone's day. TWT has seen significant growth since its inception and is now serving more than 100 clients.

Being a workaholic is overrated. It's stressful, time-consuming and completely unnecessary.

I'll be the first to admit it: I'm lazy, and my company thrives on laziness.

I'm not talking about lying-in-bed-all-day-while-playing-Candy-Crush laziness; I'm talking about efficiency. I'm talking about proactively avoiding issues and speedily addressing the ones that do pop up. I'm talking about providing such great service that our clients never feel the need to contact us.

This is the right kind of lazy -- the one that finds the quickest, simplest way to accomplish complicated tasks. And if you're reading this, I'm sure you already know how often complications arise when launching a business. Bill Gates may not be lazy himself, but he certainly understands the true value of laziness. He said, "I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it." Imagine an entire staff full of perfectly lazy employees.

The Perks of a Lazy Staff

While overachievers tear their hair out in search of perfection, lazy employees do just enough to present a viable, functional option. In business, the ability to swiftly create something usable can be a game changer. If you waste time ruminating over tiny details, you may find that the ship you were hoping to board sailed away long ago.

When your entire staff is the right kind of lazy, things progress faster than you could ever imagine. No problem is ever too complicated to resolve, and pesky issues don't linger any longer than they need to.

Lazy people understand the anatomy of a challenge: big problems are typically made up of small problems that have compiled and snowballed. With that in mind, they never feel overwhelmed by any challenge, no matter how daunting it may seem. Just as a number of small problems combine to create a big problem, they know that a number of quick fixes can combine to cure any issue.

My company works with clients all the time who think they're presenting us with difficult (or even impossible) tasks. But time and time again, my lazy staff members impress them with their ability to identify the solution, divide the duties, and get the job done in the blink of an eye.

Hiring the Right Kind of Lazy

Obviously, not all types of lazy are good. Some lazy people are serial procrastinators who put things off until the last second and then present subpar work. Hiring a team full of this version of lazy will waste both your time and money, and it's a surefire way to sink your business.

Instead, you should seek practical, creative, and intelligent people who don't overthink things. These are the employees who will propel your business forward. When searching for the right lazy employees, make sure candidates possess each of the following three P's:

Perspective: The right kind of lazy employee will have outside hobbies and passions. Though these lazy people take their jobs seriously, it's not the only source of stimulation in their lives. My lazy employees aren't looking to bring work home with them, and that's fine with me. They strive to speedily complete tasks as efficiently as possible so they can get back to doing the things they love in the evenings.

Persistence: The wrong kind of lazy employee will persistently look for reasons to avoid work, but the right ones will persistently search for ways to improve speed and ease without sacrificing quality. These folks devote their lives to finding helpful shortcuts and workarounds. Every time I speak with one of my lazy employees, I learn something that makes my life easier. Who wouldn't want a staff full of facilitators?

Proactivity: Lazy people who are self-starters are the best employees you could ever have. They work in bursts of productivity and tackle things as they arise. I never have to worry about deadlines with my lazy staff members; they love to take the initiative and find their own way to get the job done. If they find themselves tinkering with something for too long, they're not afraid to rip it to shreds and start over in search of a quicker route.

Today's business world requires speed and efficiency, and lazy employees are all about both of those things. Filling your staff with those who possess the three P's will ensure your company never falls behind.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

Equal Pay Is a Reproductive Health Care Issue for Latinas

October 15, 2015, 12:25 pm

≫ Next: Pre-Holiday Cybersecurity Checklist for SMBs

≪ Previous: 3 Keys to Hiring the Right Kind of Lazy Employees

Equal pay is an issue for all women in this country, but unlike the 79 cents to every dollar statistic that most of us are familiar with, Latinas only make 55 cents for every $1 dollar paid to white men. 55 cents.

That means that Latinas have to work 22 months to make as much as white, non Hispanic men did last year alone. This amounts to a loss of $25,177 a year.

How do you pay for rent, electricity, child care, food and health care, all things individuals and families need as basic security, at the same quality and level of those who make double what you do? In most cases, the answer is, you don't. If you've ever had to do the dangerous dance of paying the bills you can't afford, the hope to not get sick is probably a real and constant one.

Despite how lawmakers approach policy, the fact is, equal pay and health care access are directly linked.

Cost is already a barrier to accessing reproductive health care. If you then tack on the costs to take off from work and pay for transportation, public or otherwise, or childcare, it makes health care that much more expensive, for many to the point that health care, even basic preventive services, is considered a luxury, no matter the pain or illness.

When women have access to reproductive health care, they are able to better plan their families; they are more likely to continue and complete higher levels of education; and they are more likely to be economically stable and successful, benefiting themselves, their homes and families, and their communities.

That's why Planned Parenthood is committed to providing affordable high-quality access to health care for all women -- including the 575,000 Latinas we serve each year, regardless of immigration or health insurance status.

No one should have to decide between paying their bills or accessing health care. The wage gap is much wider for most women of color, but it's widest for Latinas.

Too many Latinas are struggling to make ends meet. Congress needs to combat the wage gap and prioritize fair pay. Hispanic Heritage Month may end today but there's still time to speak up.

Check out the #LatinaEqualPay Twitter Storm to have your voice heard and keep this conversation going today.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

Pre-Holiday Cybersecurity Checklist for SMBs

October 15, 2015, 12:27 pm

≫ Next: 3 Powerful Questions to Generate Profitable Business Ideas

≪ Previous: Equal Pay Is a Reproductive Health Care Issue for Latinas

The holiday shopping season is just around the corner, but businesses aren't the only ones that will be profiting from the uptick in consumer spending - cybercriminals will be making plenty of money too.

For cybercriminals, the busy end of the year shopping season is a prime opportunity to steal consumer data, hijack small business bank accounts and extort companies using cyber attacks. Why? Because many businesses are stretched thin during the hectic November to January period, which means they have less time to check and maintain their IT security, look for incidents of fraud and other malicious activity, and they're also more willing to pay off a cybercriminal who threatens their business operations during a crucial profit-making period.

Small businesses are particularly at risk during the holidays because they often have less resources available for IT security, as well as less experience dealing with threats. According to the national insurance company Travelers, 62% of all data breach victims are small to mid-size businesses.

For this reason, SMBs need to take extra precautions ahead of time to avoid these risks.

Here's a simple checklist that every small business owner should complete before the holiday rush:

Update Everything - Make sure every computing product you have, whether it's a desktop, laptop, server, mobile device, point-of-sale terminal, WiFi router, etc., is fully updated with the latest software and security patches. This will lower the risk of hackers exploiting known security flaws. In particular, businesses should transition to the new EMV, or "smart chip," point-of-sale devices as soon as possible since the older swipe-based terminals no longer have fraud coverage by the major credit card companies. Also, if you're still using other end-of-life software or devices, like Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, try to replace them as soon as possible as they are high-risk targets.

Do a Password Audit - Now's the time to start asking questions like, do any of your employees have too much access to sensitive networks or data, when was the last time the company reset its passwords, how strong are employees' individual passwords and what would happen if any single password was compromised by a hacker. Segment the company so that no single employee has too much access to key accounts - that way, if they're hacked they won't sink the ship. Make sure every employee has a "password manager" tool (ex: LastPass, Dashlane) loaded on her desktop, laptop, mobile device and point-of-sale terminal. Require passwords to be long and complex (12+ characters, using upper and lower case letters, numbers and special symbols), and changed frequently.

Scan the Website - Most small business websites today are riddled with basic security flaws. These flaws could allow a hacker to steal information stored on back-end servers, or infect customers who visit the web page. Sign up for a web scanning service (ex: McAfee SECURE, Symantec Safe Site) that will check the site every day for vulnerabilities and malware. Go one step further by signing up for a security information and event management, or SIEM, tool (ex: AlienVault, HP Arcsight) - this will monitor the site for active attacks.

Isolate Your Online Banking - A special type of malware known as the "banking Trojan" is widespread on the Internet and it's easy to get infected just by surfing the web and opening emails. Criminals use this malware to takeover small business bank accounts and steal tens of thousands to millions of dollars. Banks don't always catch the fraudulent activity and they may refuse to reimburse the small business for its losses. The best way to avoid this risk is by having a dedicated computer (desktop or laptop) that is literally used for nothing else except logging into the online bank account. This will greatly reduce your chance of a malware infection. Also, sign up for extra security features offered by your bank, such as two-factor authentication, email alerts and fraud monitoring.

Anticipate Extortion Attacks - Cyber extortion incidents are growing rapidly across the US, and SMBs are a prime target. Two of the most common attacks, especially during the holiday season, are distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) and ransomware. In a DDoS attack, hackers will knock the company's website offline by flooding it with bogus web traffic. They will then demand a fee (usually $5,000+) to stop the attack. The best way to prevent this is by signing up with a DDoS mitigation service (ex: CloudFlare, Incapsula). In the case of ransomware, the company will be infected with a type of malware that locks up all available files (e.g., Word docs, spreadsheets, etc.) using high-grade encryption, thereby rendering them unusable. The hackers will then demand a ransom to unlock the data. The best way to mitigate this attack is a simple one - back-up data regularly. If back-ups are done every day, or at least once per week, the company can simply wipe the hard drive of the infected machine and restore the data - with only a minimal disruption of business operations.

Lockbox Your Data - Every company will eventually be hacked. Therefore, safeguard your most important data - like customer accounts - by encrypting it, that way, even if a hacker breaks in and steals these files, they won't be able to use them. There are a wide range of commercially available encryption products that are user-friendly and inexpensive. They include full-disk and file encryption tools, as well as email and cloud encryption.

By following these six simple, inexpensive tips, any business can significantly reduce the damage potential of a hack. Remember, no business can prevent every cyber attack, so focus instead on common sense measures that will protect data and operations even if the worst comes to pass.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

3 Powerful Questions to Generate Profitable Business Ideas

October 15, 2015, 12:30 pm

≫ Next: What Fundraising as a Woman Founder Has Taught Me

≪ Previous: Pre-Holiday Cybersecurity Checklist for SMBs

When I decided to quit my corporate job to become my own boss, I thought I was clear on my business idea.

I had been a certified coach for many years, had been mentoring people in my spare time ever since, and my friends and family were always coming to me for advice. It was a no-brainer: I should just become a full-time professional life coach!

So for my first year in business, I advised people from all walks of life on all sorts of matters -- finances, dating, marital issues, time management, the challenges of returning to work after maternity leave, and even on how to reconnect with our femininity as women.

While it was fun and rewarding to work with such a wide variety of people and help them improve so many different areas of their lives, I must confess that I was struggling to replace my corporate salary as a life coach.

You see, when you try to please everyone, your focus and energy are scattered, and you end-up confusing your audience.

We all like to put labels on things. It's just a human thing. It helps us make sense of the complexity of life.

As a general life coach -- although a very good one -- I was failing to get known as a credible expert on one specific topic. And so my marketing wasn't working.

I learned my lesson the hard way, and I want to help you avoid making the same mistake.

So if you dream of leaping from the ladder and starting your own venture, make sure you're super clear on your business idea first -- and make it a profitable one!

How?

Here are 3 questions to get you brainstorming viable business ideas that can bring you the fulfilment and financial prosperity you desire.

1. What are your passions?

Starting and growing your own business can be extremely gratifying, but it's no walk in the park.

So when embarking on such an adventure, make sure you choose a niche that really speaks to your heart.

After all, this is your business -- your playing field! It's within your power to create a classy career for yourself that you truly adore.

The first step is to take inventory of all your fields of knowledge and experience. Think back at all the jobs you've done in your life, all the hobbies you've had, all the things that you just love doing -- and wouldn't mind doing all day long.

Take at least 5 minutes to note down everything you can think of. Then review your list and pick your top 3 favorite topics that you already know a lot about.

Important: These must be things you really enjoy doing. For instance, as a former financial analyst, I know a ton about investing and accounting. But I would be bored to tears to do that all day long.

2. Who do you love working with?

You can tackle this question in several ways.

For example, think about your current tribe. How would you define yourself and the people you hang-out with the most? Are you all moms? Are you smart and ambitious corporate women? Are you entrepreneurs?

Who do you just love being around? Think about 5 people you really enjoy interacting with. What are their common traits and demographics?

Finally, who have you worked with in the past that really triggered you and upset you? What was it specifically that you disliked about them and their behavior? Now turn those insights around, and you've just pinpointed some of the characteristics your ideal customer should have.

Summarise all these clues into 1-3 groups of people that you would love to serve and help through your business.

3. What's the sweet spot?

Now that you have identified at least 3 topics that you're passionate about and 1-3 types of target audience, it's time to find the sweet spot between the two.

For each topic, ask yourself how you could add value to each of your preferred target audiences.

I'll explain further...

Imagine your top 3 topics of interest were yoga, business and travel, and your preferred target audiences were working moms, teenage girls and fashion models.

You could ask yourself: "How can I add value to working moms through yoga?" In this case, positioning yourself as a yoga teacher for busy working moms who have little time to exercise might be a good niche for you.

Then you could move on to the next target audience on your list and ask yourself: "How can I add value to teenage girls through yoga?" Now, you could position yourself as a yoga teacher for teenage girls who feel insecure about their body image and want to get fit while building self-confidence.

And so forth for all the topics and target audiences you listed.

Once you're done cross-checking all your business ideas and target markets, choose a combination that truly inspires you and that you believe already has a hungry audience looking for the solution you want to provide and who can afford it.

Voila! Here's a chic way to come-up with inspiring and viable business ideas to kick-start your entrepreneurial journey.

Now I want to hear from you. What business idea did you come-up with by doing this exercise?

Post a comment below if you'd like my feedback on it. I read every response.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

What Fundraising as a Woman Founder Has Taught Me

October 15, 2015, 12:32 pm

≫ Next: How SEO Helps Improve Your Web Prominence

≪ Previous: 3 Powerful Questions to Generate Profitable Business Ideas

In the fundraising game, every entrepreneur expects difficulties. This is the Age of Startups, after all, with an ever-rising number of entrepreneurs competing for investor dollars. When I began fundraising for my PR software startup, I encountered a range of responses to, well, me. In talking to other women founders, I learned that I may have actually had it easy.

Given that fundraising is typically a long slog of uphill climbing and a good dose of rejection, I was prepared to take a beating. There were, however, some moments that made a grueling process much more unpleasant. What these moments taught me is that there is still a bias that exists, and I'd like to do my part in figuring out how to level the playing field.

Let's review a few facts on women raising money. According to the Kauffman Foundation, male entrepreneurs raise 60 percent of their startup funding from outside sources, such as bank loans or angel investors, while 48 percent of women entrepreneurs do. One study found that even when test pitches used identical slides and scripts, male founders were 40 percent more likely to receive funding from venture capitalists than female founders. These are interesting statistics considering well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firm, First Round Capital, reviewed 300 of its portfolio companies and almost 600 founders, and found that the teams with at least one female founder did 63% better than the all-male founder teams.

One theory holds that men tend to fund ideas they can relate to, as well as people they feel comfortable socializing with. And most venture capitalists are men; only 6 percent of VC firms have women partners.

The numbers show that women entrepreneurs are already facing bias when they begin their fundraising journey. When investors carry old assumptions about women, it shows up during the investment process. This can make it that much harder for women to stay confident in a world where they're already facing an uphill battle.

To underscore my point, I'll share some of the gems I heard when I was raising capital.

• Are you single? I think you'd be great for my grandson.

• Does this mean you're back to work full time? He was referring to the fact that I'd had a baby more than a year earlier.

• You'll be the prettiest founder in my portfolio.

• Are you raising money to open a strip club? (My favorite)

I've heard other women echo that their looks will often come into conversation during investor meetings. One woman told me that an investor turned her down because he felt she was too good looking to be aggressive.

Can I offer two guidelines? 1) If you wouldn't say or to a man, don't say it to a woman. And 2) Assume that we're not using our bodies or faces to run our businesses.

So yes -- dinosaurs still roam the earth, and some of them bankroll startups. Any of the above comments could have been clichéd dialogue, laughed off as a joke. It's time to realize that these jokes aren't just uncalled for, they're harmful.

Flip the Conversation, or Flip Them the Bird

In my experience, people don't know they're being offensive in these situations. A lot of these men (and yes, women) genuinely believe they're being hilarious or charming, without any idea that their comments can undervalue and undermine the entrepreneur. So what's a girl to do? Here's my advice for women founders seeking funding:

• Nail your story. You're job right now is to be a convincing storyteller. If you can't get investors to buy into your vision, you won't get employees and customers to either.

• Believe that you can raise more than you think (and you're going to need it).

• Spend less time on a lengthy business plan and more time on the top metrics for your industry.

• Seek out women investors.

• If you hear someone make an off-color comment, even subtly, even in the form of a "joke," speak up. Tell them it's not cool.

• If you find yourself faced with someone who's out and out sexist, move on. Trust me, you don't need their money that badly.

P.S. Nothing about this advice changes if you're a man seeking funding.

Take a Lesson From The Orchestra

In early '80s it became clear that there was a severe unbalance of men and women musicians in most orchestras -- only 5 percent of the members were women. In an effort to eliminate the obvious prejudice, the community implemented the blind audition, making applicants play behind a screen to ensure selection was based on talent alone. This practice is still widely adopted today.

How are you going to ensure your startup community doesn't fall into the bias trap? It's hard. Just look at all of the women only events and awards that are based on skill and gender. How does that really look? Having balance on paper doesn't necessarily mean you are creating a balanced workplace. As leaders in your communities, you have the power to enact real change.

For the most part I got really lucky. My amazing investors haven't exhibited a shred of sexism, and for the most part, the entire fundraising experience was enjoyable for me. But that's not the case in all regions. If we want a startup landscape that's equitable for both men and women, the fundraising journey needs to be neutral and welcoming -- a place where every entrepreneur is judged on their business merit alone.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

How SEO Helps Improve Your Web Prominence

October 15, 2015, 12:35 pm

≫ Next: What Women Can Learn About Pitching From The Voice

≪ Previous: What Fundraising as a Woman Founder Has Taught Me

Lately, I have been talking about why your business needs to be online and creating a website that effectively sells. Now I want to talk about using SEO techniques in order to get your website higher rankings on Google, so that more natural traffic can be generated for your website.

I am a blogger and content writer but I admit that SEO is a tricky process to understand because you don't control the formula which designates the ranking assigned to your website. For your part, you just study online advice and guidelines and hope that the strategy you are using produces the results you desire. And one key thing to understand; SEO is not an overnight process that brings results instantly. You will have to work hard and put together an effective strategy in order to develop a system of actions that help boost your website's ranking.

So how do you implement a successful SEO strategy that produces great results? Let me give you 3 foundation tips that should help:

1. Keyword Optimization
Keyword optimization is one of the most important criteria in your SEO strategy. When people do a Google search, they are typing in keywords in hopes of bringing up specific results. Therefore, you want your website to have the right keywords that bring you the right visitors. When you target the wrong keywords you end up with the wrong visitors. This negatively affects your website metrics because people leave quickly after not finding what they are searching for. In turn, this gives Google negative data signals which effects your websites overall presence.

This is something I admit I need to work on myself. When I first started my blog, I just put in various keywords related to a particular blog post, instead of having a focused set of keywords. Therefore, each blog post has a range of different keywords that do not organically fit with the next post in order to strengthen my rankings with Google. And because of this Google has no way to attach certain keywords to my blog. Therefore, my ability to be identified for a specific keyword category is negated.

2. Create Relevant Content
When you hear people say that content is king, it is a very true statement. Great content is content that gets people talking; wanting to leave comments or share your information with others. This is a signal to Google that the content on your website has quality value.

But don't be fooled. Great content has to have an effective strategy behind it in order for it to properly work. Great content does not promote itself. You have to do the work to actually make your content relevant. Have an active social media account, where people interact with you and share what you share. Look at what's trending and partner with other blogs and websites so you all can share each other's content to your respective audiences. Don't just expect for people to find you. Make them aware of your content so that they can become interested in what you are saying and want to stay connected to your content.

3. Have Quality Links
Link building is a product of great content. When you produce quality content, you are able to attract sites which want to link to your content. But you have to be sure that those sites linking to your website are good sites with quality content. Because a bad link to your website can negatively affect your site's ranking, this can be looked at as penalization by association.

One way I build up my quality links is by guest blogging on authoritative sites. Having my own blog, being a blog contributor on Huffington Post and guest writing for other sites help to build my own online authority. I have a link to my blog on these various sites which helps with my SEO linking strategy. But it is not the magic button that leads to a rush of traffic. This still takes some time, a lot of writing and a lot of guest appearances in order to build up the links that help enhance the other SEO techniques being performed.

SEO is a tricky equation to solve. These 3 tips will help you starting off but read up on some detailed information about SEO link building. You must stay informed about what actually works towards enhancing your website's SEO rankings so that it can gain the attention of Google's algorithm. This is something I wish I took more serious when I first started my blog.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

What Women Can Learn About Pitching From The Voice

October 15, 2015, 1:16 pm

≫ Next: The Number One Reason Every Person Is a Leader

≪ Previous: How SEO Helps Improve Your Web Prominence

2015-10-14-1444855397-1339204-Screenshot2015101409.24.01.png

Credit: Gwen Stefani/TV Guide

Season nine of The Voice kicked off looking a lot like seasons one to eight. Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani spun their chairs around in anticipation of finding the next rising star. But as I watched, I couldn't help making some parallels between the way the world of The Voice works and what happens when women go to pitch VC's.

Pitching in a Man's World

The ratio of male-to-female decision makers on The Voice are 3:1. This is generous for the VC world, where there the ratio of women are significantly less (only three percent of VCs are women). Even when women do come from a place of highly proven success like Gwen, Shakira and Christina Aguilera -- it doesn't take them nearly as far. I've sat in pitch sessions where men are funded on concepts and charisma alone while their female counterparts, demonstrating a proven track record, sales and enviable client list go unnoticed. It's no secret that 93 percent of venture capital dollars go to men.

How to Overcome This:

Like any speaker getting ready to deliver a keynote, you've got to know your audience -- and your audience will be mostly men -- period. But men are simply investors with a different gender and at the end of the day, they are motivated by the same things you are: getting good business done.

1. Speak the same language and get down to business. You have more in common with the room than you may think and knowing the room will most likely be filled with men helps you be prepared.
2. Make the audience friendly in advance. Conducting 1:1 meetings with those you'll be pitching to is a great way to create influence and support before you even step foot in the door to pitch to a broader group.
3. Invite one of your investor friends to serve as your host (for example, be the one that introduces you to the rest of the group).

Wins Beget Wins But Women Don't Always Get the Chance

None of the female coaches have ever had a winning contestant on The Voice. Once the track record is set, it's that much harder to stand out. Blake and Adam continue to proclaim, "I've won and I'll win again." If winning leads to more wins -- how do you get that first win?

How to Overcome This:

Whether you're the new intern at your first job or the CMO who just started at a new company, it's about putting points on the board early in the game. Demonstrating confidence encourages others to listen and follow. To get those points, you've got to be willing to take a lot of shots.

1. Don't let one room dictate your success. Pitch and pitch often. To get that first point or that first "Yes," you've got to be ready to take more chances and accept "No" more frequently. If you're not picked, learn and move on until you find the right team for you.
2. Bring in your pitch pros. It's ultimately about the win and sometimes that means leaning on others to create credibility or presenting for you. If you know established entrepreneurs that are vested in you or your idea, ask them to attend your VC pitch with you or ask them to spread the good word about you to investors to "soften" the room. Gwen leaned on Pharrell her first season for support and you too should feel comfortable with asking a mentor or coach to be by your side.
3. Let your passion fly. People want to be with people with potential and passion. Yes, it's easy to bet on the New York Yankees, but it's just as easy for people to root, pull for and support the underdog with heart.

Finding Your Voice

How you pitch may be a disadvantage. When you have booming personalities like Adam or Blake - it's harder for someone like Gwen who is trying to emotionally connect to be heard. Women don't interrupt as much. If a woman gets too feisty or energetic, she can be seen as aggressive or b*&^chy. So, what's a girl to do?

How to Overcome This:

I saw the country's first F14 female fighter pilot, Carey Lohrenz command an audience with the sweetest, most humble and ultimately badass delivery possible. She was herself, but she knew how to tell a story, how to project, how to
remain succinct and how to take command of her information.

1. Get pitch perfect (yes, you need to know your content inside and out) but you also need to know how to carry yourself -- make eye contact, speak louder than you think you need to, use pauses to your advantage, avoid being flat, carry yourself well (posture) and be true to yourself.
2. Do not let the room get away from you. When you're in a room of investors, male investors, be prepared for potential heated discussions or loaded questions. It's your job to bring people back to the task at hand.
3. You're in charge. Taking control of the room lets the audience know you do not get rattled, can handle things and know your content even under pressure.

Getting Four Chair Turns
Almost all four chair turns go to the male coaches or VCs because men often relate to what men are selling. If you're selling Spanx to a room of men they probably won't instantly relate but if you're selling a fantasy football app, bingo!

How to Overcome This:

Everyone wants to bet on a winner so be a winner.

1. Help them relate. If your idea is not something the male audience can instantly relate to, then approach it like an artist and paint a picture. Demonstrate the pain point you are resolving, bring photos, tell a compelling story or make a video.
2. Let them know why the customers matter. Market size is always important, but even more so when your audience isn't aware of the power or need of your product or idea. Have your statistics at the ready (i.e. women are involved in 88 percent of the buying decisions for X or women spend $X on X).
3. Testimonials and quotes used in a creative way can also be a great way to open up a new world to these investors.

Venture Capitalists are business people first and men second. No one wants to get left out of the next great opportunity. In the end, it's the power of the voice delivering the pitch that will get all heads to turn towards you.

About the Author: Jen Mojo is the Founder of Paper Dolls, a co-working community based in Los Angeles dedicated to supporting the growth of female entrepreneurship globally. You can Follow her on Twitter @jennymojo or learn more about Paper Dolls at www.paperdolls.com

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

The Number One Reason Every Person Is a Leader

October 15, 2015, 1:29 pm

≫ Next: Six Realities of Trading for a Living

≪ Previous: What Women Can Learn About Pitching From The Voice

2015-10-15-1444921362-754858-Sunburstthroughtreesforsoul.jpg

The penny drops only when it is good and ready. The moment of insight that makes you wonder how you could ever have missed something so obvious comes in its sweet, mischievous time.

Last week I supported people raising funds for two organizations by helping them post about the event on social media and cheering them on from my laptop.

I'd only met the organizer the day before at a networking event, and something about her made me want to give her a hand.

Maybe it was her unwavering and gleeful rallying call for all of us to be the change.

Maybe it was the unpretentious and genuine way she had of repeating that phrase and her singular enthusiasm for her cause.

Maybe it was the recognition of a kindred spirit whose past propelled her to advocate for those who'd suffered unspeakable vulnerabilities of childhood.

Inadvertently, what I learned from this spellbinding combination of the messenger and the message was that being the change is being a leader.

Up until that moment, I did not have a bone-deep clarity about the meaning of leadership and leading.

Maybe you are in an organization where being a leader means being a part of management, of the hierarchy, of the formal system. Informal leaders were in a different category.

Over many years as a corporate leader working with senior executives, that's how I came to think about leadership. Leading and leadership meant being part of the organizing body. The more substantial the title, the bigger the leader.

The field of leadership development often focused on the core competencies of operating businesses. Though academics also touted learning, people skills and emotional intelligence as best practice, reality differed.

In the private sector, the top people focused on the bottom line and earnings per share; in the public sector executives were busy keeping their government ministries happy and scandals away from the media.

If you associate being a leader with power, status and prestige, you are in the same predicament that I was in, clearly missing the obvious.

2015-10-15-1444923885-8394489-InnocencePhotocreditkudumomoFoterCCBYPhotocreditkudumomoFoterCCBY.jpg

Courage To Care For Something Bigger Than Ourselves

When I was 21, my mother-in-law was so distraught that her 8-year-old grandson was continuously being left alone at night while his parents played cards after work that my then-husband and I decided to take action. If we got into trouble, at least grandma wouldn't.

Leaving a child of that age alone was illegal, so as a first and minor warning step for his parents, we called the police to check on the boy.

Unfortunately, when that didn't stop them from leaving our nephew alone again, we took the next step and called social services. My husband and I, his brother and wife all came together to discuss the situation knee to knee in a social worker's microscopic cubbyhole.

Of course, they shot the messenger. It was a frightening scene, the father raging, calling me names. I was ill with confusion. Was I a horrible person? Had I done the wrong thing?

Those parents blamed me and never spoke to me again. Though I didn't lose my guilt and shame easily, that boy was no longer left alone.

I stood up for him because it had to be done. It was impossible to do otherwise. I've been a stand for many things in my life. But I hadn't recognized it as leading.

To be the change is to be a leader. I waited 40 years to reclaim that nuance.

Be the change.

That was Jo Dibblee's call to action this past weekend as she strove to get people buying her book so she could donate 100 percent of the proceeds to Because I Am A Girl and Little Warriors.

The Many Faces Of Leadership

We are leaders in so many ways.

When we have courage under fire, when we stop tolerating what is no longer tenable, when we advocate for those more vulnerable, when we leave abusive circumstances, when we bathe our aging parents, when we say No to harassment, to discrimination, when we chose to create, when we say Yes to life.

When we show up.

We lead in the front of rooms as facilitators, mediators, conductors, guardians.

We lead when we support people as fierce champions for their dreams.

We lead as co-creators, co-parents, co-leaders.

We lead when we read the emotional and energetic field, the global space, sense that something new is needed for the whole system and make it happen.

We lead from inner source when we are true to the compass of our souls, aligned with our hearts and values.

You also lead in your many ways. You too are a leader. Every courageous, selfless act makes you so.

Let's celebrate all of the many ways that we are leaders in our lives. How are you one in yours? Big. Small. Every act counts.

I invite you to write in the comment section. Yes, you.

Be the change. You already are.

Miriam is a leadership coach who helps professional women find deep confidence, gentle power and wise courage as leaders in their work and lives. Grab her free Magical Leader's List of Secret Superpowers here. For her 12-week one-to-one leadership program visit www.MiriamLinderman.com. And for her latest article, click here.

Photo credit: kudumomo / Foter / CC BY Photo credit: kudumomo / Foter / CC BY

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

Six Realities of Trading for a Living

October 15, 2015, 1:50 pm

≫ Next: 30 Best Halloween 2015 Deals, Coupons, and Sales on Costumes and Candy

≪ Previous: The Number One Reason Every Person Is a Leader

For many individuals today seeking financial freedom and flexibility with their schedule, the idea of trading for a living seems only like a dream. The good news is, trading for a living is a possibility if you are willing to study the market, put in the work and handle some of the realities of trading for a living. It is important to be aware of some of these realities before you attempt to enter into a life as a full-time trader. Traders are a unique group of individuals, and while trading for a living can provide the financial freedom that many people strive for, it can also have its challenges, here are some of the realities to expect when trading for a living.

1. You Must Know Where You Stand Every Single Day

If you want to start trading full time, then you need to be willing to commit to a real full time schedule. This means knowing where you are with your trades every day and where the US market is every day. Market conditions are always changing so you need to be constantly paying attention to what is going on. This is tedious work but it is a good use of your time, you never want to just expect that a certain stock is going to continue to perform in the way it has been in the past.

2. You Will Fail

If you meet a trader who says they have never made a mistake, failed or lost money, chances are they are lying to you. You will fail. You will make a mistake. You will lose money, no matter how hard you work and it will come as a big blow to your ego, particularly if you are using trading as your main source of income. You need to be prepared to handle this reality, take it in stride, learn from your mistakes and move on.

3. You Have to Do the Work and the Math

Before you make a trade, you need to really understand the probabilities of every move you make. This means doing the math and taking the time to work out the probabilities on your own. It is time consuming, and it is not the fast-paced, spur of the moment, adrenaline rushed decision that many people envision, but it is a smart way to make smart choices.

4. You Have to Become Disciplined

Trading requires discipline. This means the discipline to sit down every day and do the work, to put in the time and research and to walk away from tempting emotionally-driven decisions. It also means having the discipline to know when to walk away and cut your losses.

5. You Won't Make Money Right Away

You are not going to make enough money to live on full time in your first day of trading, so you must be willing to accept the reality that this process is a slow one. It will take time for you to build up the type of money you need to really do this full time, so be realistic about when you can transition your trading to a career.

6. You Will Not Have the Free Time You Imagined

There are many people today who state the main reason that they want to start trading full time, is because they will have more free time. While you may be able to be more flexible with your schedule, you will likely not have all of the free time you imagined. Trading full time takes hours and hours of work every day and chances are you will be busier and have less free time than you did at your 9-5, particularly at first.

While trading for a living has its challenges and may not be the most traditional approach to earning a living, it is a great way for the right individuals to find the financial success they have always wanted to have.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

30 Best Halloween 2015 Deals, Coupons, and Sales on Costumes and Candy

October 15, 2015, 1:55 pm

≫ Next: Build a Team of Workplace Teachers

≪ Previous: Six Realities of Trading for a Living

By Paul Sisolak, Contributor

Whether you're dressing up to ward off evil spirits or just for a chance to channel your inner ghoul, goblin or ghost, Halloween is a fun time of the year. But on this spooky holiday, nothing is ghastlier than spending a huge chunk of your income just for one night of trick-or-treating and mischief.

Visit GOBankingRates for the latest Halloween deals and freebies >>>

More than 157 million Americans will celebrate Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Federation. Total spending will top $6.9 billion, or $74 per person for costumes, candy and more. Before giving your finances a fright, save some money and have fun with these Halloween deals, coupons and special promos, gathered with the help of Offers.com, CouponSherpa and RetailMeNot.

Related: 10 Stores With the Cheapest Halloween Costumes

Happy Halloween Sales, Deals, Coupons and Promos

Whether you're dressing up to ward off evil spirits or just for a chance to channel your inner ghoul, goblin or ghost, Halloween is a fun time of the year. But on this spooky holiday, nothing is ghastlier than spending a huge chunk of your income just for one night of trick-or-treating and mischief.

More than 157 million Americans will celebrate Halloween this year, according to the National Retail Federation. Total spending will top $6.9 billion, or $74 per person for costumes, candy and more. Before giving your finances a fright, save some money and have fun with these Halloween deals, coupons and special promos, gathered with the help of Offers.com, CouponSherpa and RetailMeNot.

Related: 10 Stores With the Cheapest Halloween Costumes

Happy Halloween Sales, Deals, Coupons and Promos

AnytimeCostumes.com: Costume purchases of $25 or more get 15 percent off, plus free shipping. Use promo code SHOP15 at checkout.

Book Outlet: Enjoy 50 percent off Halloween, horror and other spooky books through Oct. 31. No code required for this promotion.

BuyCostumes.com: Hosting a group costume party? Get Minions, the Avengers and Star Wars costumes and more for 20 percent off with this deal from Offers.com.

Candy Crate: Get 10 percent off Halloween candy purchases with coupon code spookycandy.

CostumeDiscounters.com: Save 20 percent on your order by using promo code D20 at checkout.

Costume Express: Get 20 percent off couples costumes.

Costume Kingdom: Use online code CK10 to save 10 percent on your entire order.

Costume SuperCenter: Save 15 percent off any order with code NDSUEDU.

DinoDirect: Get an additional 15 percent off all costumes and decorations with code HALLOWEEN15.

Disney Store: Select costumes and accessories are up to 40 percent off for a limited time. No Halloween coupons needed for this deal.

eBay: Save up to 50 percent off costumes and apparel for kids and adults.

Frederick's of Hollywood: Get free shipping on Halloween costumes with coupon code FREESHIP.

GourmetGiftBaskets.com: Through Nov. 1, take 15 percent off select Halloween gifts with coupon code Halloween15.

Halloween Express: All group and couples costumes are up to 25 percent off with this offer. Offer expires Oct. 31.

Hartstrings: Save 50 percent on Hartstrings' new Halloween collection for boys.

IHOP: Order Scary Face Pancakes through Oct. 30. Kids under 12 can get free Halloween freebies at participating locations between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

Life is Good: Use code TREATS to get a free trick-or-treat tote with any Halloween Collection purchase.

LivingSocial: Get up to 50 percent off Halloween costumes, decor and more.

OldTimeCandy.com: Get 10 percent off your order through Oct. 31 with code TJ9350.

PersonalCreations.com: Save 15 percent off personalized Halloween treat bags and decor by visiting CouponSherpa, now though Nov. 1.

Personalization Universe: Use code SPOOKY15 to receive 15 percent off all Halloween costumes.

Petco: Get up to 75 percent off select Halloween costumes for pets.

Pottery Barn Kids: After your Jack-o'-lantern is carved, pick up some Halloween treat bags for 20 percent off. Offer expires Oct. 31.

Sears: All costumes and decor are up to 30 percent off. Plus, get an extra 10 percent off and free shipping on all orders over $49.

Shindigz: Receive 40 percent off all Halloween costumes with code MEGASALE.

Spirit Halloween: This Halloween store has a killer deal. Buy any one item and receive 20 percent off your purchase now through Nov. 1.

TeeShirtPalace: Get 15 percent off all Halloween costumes with code HALLOW15 now through Oct. 31, and save 25 percent off any purchase of two or more Halloween costumes with code TWO25OFF.

Teleflora: Receive $15 off any order of the bouquet of the month, the Halloween Magic Bouquet. Use code AFLSBQOCT.

Walmart: Prepare for Halloween discounts galore at Walmart. The retailer has rollbacks on costumes, candy, decorations and more holiday-themed items.

This article, 30 Best Halloween 2015 Deals, Coupons, and Sales on Costumes and Candy, originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com.

More from GOBankingRates:

7 Holiday Savings Tips You've Never Heard Before

10 Stores With The Cheapest Halloween Costumes

10 Cheapest Places to Visit in October, From Las Vegas to Costa Rica

11 Easy (and Cheap) DIY Kids Halloween Costumes

Who Won the Democratic Debate 2015: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders on Social Security, Minimum Wage and More

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

Build a Team of Workplace Teachers

October 15, 2015, 2:01 pm

≫ Next: Made in... Ethiopia? Yes, Ethiopia

≪ Previous: 30 Best Halloween 2015 Deals, Coupons, and Sales on Costumes and Candy

"[Y]ou must know what you want to achieve, be certain of your aims, and have these goals constantly in mind... You must educate your (people) ... And since the world never stops for a moment... you must constantly reassess chosen policies towards the achievement of your aims." ~ David Ben-Gurion, first prime minister of Israel

Much has been written about how 21st century leaders differ from their 20th century counterparts. Today's leaders must guide complex organizations that are more virtual and multinational in nature than ever before. They must nimbly navigate through a fast-paced marketplace that is in continuous flux and determine the proper course forward from a myriad of options. They also need to recruit and retain a millennial workforce that has different interests, needs, and working habits than their elders.

In such a demanding business environment, leaders would be wise to develop a strong learning environment at the workplace. The celebrated CEO of General Electric Jack Welch famously said that "an organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage." Continuous learning and successful implementation of that learning is crucial to the success of today's organizations.

But learning alone is not enough. Leaders that want to stay ahead must make sure that their companies also place a premium on teaching.

To be a learner is to engage in a one-way (receiving) process of understanding followed by action. The learning originates from an outside source: consultant, seminar presentation, book, etc. Even if the organization chooses to integrate the learning, it never really owns it.

In contrast, teaching organizations go one meaningful step further. They emphasize teaching over learning, placing the learning onus on internal personnel who are expected to learn and master ideas that they will then pass along to others in the workplace.

Research clearly shows that we remember more when we teach than when we listen. This is because the need to teach material forces us to master content to the point where we can deliver it clearly to others. As my ninth-grade teacher used to say, "If you can't say (or teach) it, then you don't know it."

It may sound all nice and good to add teaching responsibilities to the mix, but we know that most workplaces are not filled with experienced teachers and presenters. How can leaders expect to implement a teaching culture if they don't have a stable of instructors on hand to advance learning?

As a former principal who has observed countless teachers, I can attest that the best teachers are the ones who can make learning clear, interesting and relevant. This ability stems mainly from a deep quest for personal learning as well as the ability to ask tough questions and present answers in a way that others can to process and understand.

When preparing their talks or meetings, have your "teachers" think in terms of these "five p's":

Paint a picture. Create a vision of what others will do as the result of this learning process. Give them something vivid and exciting to wrap their heads around.

Personal. Let others know what's in it for them by learning this. How will it change and enhance their jobs? How will it help the company grow and become stronger?

Positive praise. Encourage them with lots of praise and recognition of their achievements as well as their willingness to take risks.

Perseverance. This can be the hardest part for both teacher and pupil. Challenges will invariably arise, particularly after the opening enthusiasm has waned. Be ready to work even harder mid-process so as to not lose steam.

Perform. It's not enough to share ideas and preach compliance. Good teachers know that they achieve so much through modeling. Show them what you want and then "walk the walk." That will do so much for your credibility while also reinforcing desired behaviors and thought processes.

In summary, I present to you the words of Noel Tichy, author of "The Leadership Engine and Cycle of Leadership":

"We have looked at winning companies--those that consistently outperform competitors and reward shareholders--and found that they've moved beyond being learning organizations to become teaching organizations. ... That's because teaching organizations are more agile, come up with better strategies, and are able to implement them more effectively. ... Teaching organizations do share with learning organizations the goal that everyone continually acquire new knowledge and skills. But to do that, they add the more critical goal that everyone pass their learning on to others. ... In a teaching organization, leaders benefit just by preparing to teach others. Because the teachers are people with hands-on experience within the organization--rather than outside consultants--the people being taught learn relevant, immediately useful concepts and skills. Teaching organizations are better able to achieve success and maintain it because their constant focus is on developing people to become leaders."

Naphtali Hoff (@impactfulcoach) is a former school administrator who now serves as an executive coach and consultant. Read his blog at impactfulcoaching.com/blog. Get his free leadership e-book by clicking here.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧

Made in... Ethiopia? Yes, Ethiopia

October 15, 2015, 2:08 pm

≫ Next: What Does the Evidence Tell Us About Sexual Harassment in the Workplace?

≪ Previous: Build a Team of Workplace Teachers

ADDIS ABABA -- So we got used to "Made in Japan," "Made in China," "Made in Hong Kong" and most recently "Made in Vietnam." There's going to be a new kid in town, but he's not Asian. Prepare yourselves for "Made in Ethiopia."

Much has been written about the "BRIC" countries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China - saying these giants would lead the new world economy. And certainly to some extent, they are. However, the next wave may well be the "EMIC" countries - Ethiopia, Myanmar, Iran and Colombia. I wrote about the prospect of EMIC coming on strong last summer.

With this in mind, I ventured to Ethiopia to investigate further the economic and sustainability potential of this large and populous nation. Ethiopia is best known for its deceased long-term ruler, Haile Selassie, who was credited with embracing multilateralism and Collective Security which led to Ethiopia becoming a charter member of the U.N. While he passed in 1975, he is still a national hero and is widely hailed as the face of the first free nation in Africa. In the early 70s, with the cold war and socialist/Marxist views spreading across the globe, the disenfranchised sector of the Ethiopian population namely the farmer, with the support of the young university students started revolting. Soon, a handful of army leaders joined in the anti-monarchy movement which quickly led to the demise of the Haile Selassie regime, replaced by the Derg Regime, which some call, one of the most violent regimes in Ethiopian history. The Derg ruled the country from 1973 to 1992 until it was ousted by the EPRDF (Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front) which still leads the country following ethnic federalism ideology and a market led economy. The country of 90 million is now truly independent, and while still technically an LDC, or less developed country, the EPRDF is on a mission to bring long term, sustainable economic growth and expansion. I found that while it is not open season for "carpetbaggers," anyone with a great business idea that can help elevate Ethiopia's economy will have a legitimate shot at admission.

View of Addis Ababa skyline

I started my due diligence on how things have changed with a member of the Ethiopian diaspora, San Diego-based entrepreneur, Feben Yohannes. Upon reentering Addis Ababa after 15 years of absence, she commented, "My people have much to be proud of, the development that has occurred over the past 15 years is by Ethiopians, for Ethiopians. And knowing that Rome wasn't built in a day, the city will continue to improve." She was visibly awestruck by the airport expansion, extensive roads, bridges and freeways constructed or currently under way.

2015-10-13-1444771841-8999891-FebenwithmotherDestahagos.JPG

Feben Yohannes, San Diego-based entrepreneur, with her mother Desta Hagos, an artist living is Addis Ababa
She also noted, "kids on the street looked clean, well-fed and well-dressed compared to 15 years ago. The heart of the city is beating with an air of opportunity. Addis used to be the playground for the few, now it is a thriving cosmopolitan city for the masses, this makes me very happy."

Next I looked for boots on the ground, folks ingrained in the community. "Ethiopia is serious about forming a green economy," says Omar Bagersh, scion of a family that has conducted business in Ethiopia for three generations. "The government wants to do manufacturing the right way, with an eye toward sustainable processes and truly green materials with little byproduct or waste. We want to safeguard our trees and foliage, and new development will only be allowed after careful environmental scrutiny. At the same time, we are attempting to create a self-sufficient economy and feeding our people is of primary importance. Thus while we are very conscious of GMOs, we have to feed many people and the need is urgent so while organic farming is preferred, other options may be considered." Thus there exists a natural tension between sweeping development vs. sustainable development that will be good for the environment as well as the population in the long term.

Bagersh was educated in the U.S. He and his family are primarily engaged in running coffee plantations, among other businesses. I visited him in his spacious Addis Ababa home, decorated with gorgeous African artwork and looked after by a generous fulltime staff. "We are entering the next phase of our Growth and Transformation Plan (aka GTP2)," Bagersh explains. "This reflects the government's desire to build and strengthen the private sector leading to more jobs. Foreign investment is encouraged, and this will be supported by additional public sector spending. Addis Ababa suffers from pollution; the government is aware of this and wants to eradicate this problem." I did get the feeling that the regime will not allow environmental abuses such as strip mining, and that it will definitely not be open season for anyone with a checkbook. Indeed, the government's vetting process for new businesses from abroad is time consuming, detailed and slow-moving, which can be frustrating to many investors. Thus patience is a virtue in this regard.

Bishangari Lodge, an eco lodge owned by Omar Bagersh

That said, the Chinese have a huge head start on the West in terms of investment and this is visibly apparent. China is building roads, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure in a highly noticeable way throughout the Addis Ababa metro area. One can assume that in return, they have negotiated a mutually beneficial relationship in industry, agriculture, as well as real estate projects. "We are open to Western investment but many deals are just now in the feasibility stage. Meanwhile, Chinese investments are making sizable investments that are directly impacting the lives of our citizens," Bagersh said.

2015-10-13-1444770201-2093291-2015100214438230475227108Ethiopiabillboardthumb.jpg

A Chinese industrial zone on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian flag neighboring the Chinese flag is emblematic of the growing synergy between the business communities in both nations.

A few moguls of Ethiopian business do exist, among them is Mulugeta (aka known as Mole by close friends), who has interests in real estate development, night clubs, mining, logistics and stone quarries. Although diminutive in stature, Mulugeta cuts a striking figure nonetheless with his lengthy white beard and Gucci wardrobe. His office is sleek and filled with large format oil paintings by many of Africa's most noted artists; his collection of African art is said to be among the best on the continent. He was educated in the U.S. and has been in Ethiopia for 18 years. Among his varied interests is a local winery, with his partner, rock musician and entrepreneur Bob Geldof. He employs over 2,000 people combined, and is married with five children. "We have very little crime here," Mulugeta states definitively. "Electricity is very cheap. Our government is stable. Our people want to work...we want to feed ourselves. Our education system is beginning to produce results. The government is providing healthcare and trying to teach the principles of birth control. If not for this, our population would be over 120 million already. So we are making progress. We need infrastructure and we want foreign investment."

2015-10-13-1444770271-2556517-2015100214438231301451229Ethiopia22Mole22Mullerthumb.jpg

Mulugeta, business tycoon, in his element at his office surrounded by African emerging art

I also wanted to speak with an expatriate living in Ethiopia. Who better than a fair skinned, blonde German named Frank Michel. 50ish Frank runs a mid-sized IT business in Addis. He is married to an Ethiopian woman and has lived between Addis Ababa and Munich for 23 years. "Ethiopia has averaged 9 percent GNP growth over the last decade, which is among the highest in the world. This should hopefully lead to what we need most here, which is the emergence of a legitimate middle class. The government here would love to elevate a significant percentage of its population to this level," Michel said.

Frank Michel with his Ethiopian wife, Messie

Of the 90 million Ethiopians, about six million reside in the Addis metro area. Average income here is about $50 per month, and while the cost of living is proportional to this, over 29% are still living below any type of measurable poverty level (World Bank, 2010). There is a broad and growing network of schools and universities, and while the Ethiopians are proud of this, the literacy and depth of knowledge of their graduates still pales in comparison to Western education, thus many high performers seemingly seek out schools abroad. This is a key factor for foreign investors, as in, is there a capable, educated, trainable base of employees that can be hired to run and staff your Ethiopian branch?

So what is Ethiopia really like? Meaning, could someone from a large American city make a go of it here? The answer is, only if you are adventurous, flexible, have a stomach for exotic spices and very different foods, and can appreciate the growing pains of an economy in transformation. Power outages are frequent, rainy season is sometimes relentless, neither motorized transportation nor the roads are anywhere near what we are accustomed to, and "luxury" accommodations are not readily available. (I stayed at a Hilton which was a decently appointed business and expat hostelry...as is the Addis Ababa Sheraton which was costlier and a bit nicer but sorry no Aman or Four Seasons...yet). The food is different, strongly spiced, and one has to be careful with the fresh fruits and vegetables as some are not grown and washed to our cleanliness standards - I noticed that even the locals will eat them only at certain restaurants that boast organic veggies. Meats are a central part of the diet, along with injera, an Ethiopian bread made from teff flour that serves as a tasty crepe-like shell for "tibs" (Ethiopian filet) and/or "shiro" (Ethiopian lentils). A good strong 4x4 vehicle is recommended as roads are often unpaved, filled with potholes, and generally very rough. Public transportation is also sporadic at best.

The people of Ethiopia seem happy and proud of their country. They are open and friendly to Americans. They express a willingness to work with foreign business interests if new jobs can be created. They are artistic, with many interesting takes on indigenous painting, sculpture and crafts...the best of which command Western pricing. They do speak English although Ethiopia has a staggering 88 languages and 200 dialects. Amharic is known as the official language of the country and is a bit similar to Arabic. A variety of different dialects are spoken throughout the many villages that dot the hinterlands.

Perhaps most importantly, I really did get the feeling that the Ethiopian government cares about its citizens and wants to feed them, wants to get them jobs, wants to educate them, wants to teach them family planning, and more. Which is a lot different from other developing countries that exist primarily to line the pockets of their dictator-leaders and their cronies, at the expense of the actual citizens whom the aid was intended for. While there is rumor of a large "secret police" force, and in a recent election the EPRDF received 100 percent of the vote, I have no evidence other than my impressions but it seems to me that the government has support of its citizens not by fear of the sword but by its desire to provide better lives for the citizens of Ethiopia. What a concept!

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

↧