Nevada is booming as new lithium companies rush in to stake out targets and massive business development gets underway, from Tesla to Amazon and Apple. As the state's southwest corner fills up with new lithium players, Tesla gears up for its battery gigafactory and the world's largest data center sets up shop, Nevada is poised for one of the greatest economic revival stories of the century.

In an exclusive interview with Oilprice.com, Brian Findlay, President and CEO of Dajin Resources Corp., discusses:

• How Tesla's gigafactory is sparking a massive resurgence in Nevada
• Why other giant businesses are setting up shop here
• Why Nevada is ground zero for the lithium boom
• Why Reno will be the New Las Vegas
• What it all means for economic development and job creation
• The rush to stake out lithium targets, and the big names that are interested
• The few options left to get in on this game
• Who got there first, and where it's all going

Interview by James Stafford of Oilprice.com

James Stafford: The first thing that used to come to everyone's mind with any mention of Nevada was Las Vegas and gambling. Today, however, we think of a lithium boom, of Tesla, and of economic recovery. Why is Nevada suddenly on everyone's radar?

Brian Findlay: Particularly in the energy sector--but not exclusively--Nevada is one of the best places to be right now. The economic recovery that is going on here in Reno, but also statewide, is one of the best success stories of the decade. Not only is Tesla's battery gigafactory creating an amazing resurgence, but other major factories are moving to the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, which will house Switch, the world's largest data center, along with some other huge names in the industry, including Amazon and Apple. The real estate market is on the upswing as a result of all of this activity, and this is only the beginning of the revival.

James Stafford: Can we get more specific about the impact from Tesla's gigafactory?

Brian Findlay: First of all, this will be a fantastic market for job-seekers. This $5 billion factory will create some 9,000 jobs--and that's based on figures from Nevada's Office of Economic Development. Of those, the gigafactory will employ around 6,500 people directly when it's up and running. Indirectly, we're looking at the creation of over 16,000 new jobs. And because of the additional economic development the whole idea of the gigafactory has brought to Nevada, authorities in western Nevada estimate that Wahoe County, encompassing Reno and Sparks, will see 34,000 new jobs by 2019.

James Stafford: So on a larger scale, what kind of add-on economic development are we looking at?

Brian Findlay: On a much larger scale, it turns Reno into a significant attraction for other big businesses with expansion ambitions. In terms of economic development, it doesn't get much bigger than this. Bloomberg estimates Tesla has already $800 million in battery reservations in the very first week of pre-order program, and this summer it tripled its land hold for the factory, adding another 2,000 acres to the 1,000 acres it originally scooped up. In fact, Bloomberg suggests that Tesla's gigafactory is the biggest thing to happen to Nevada since the silver rush of the 1850s and the gaming boom centered on Las Vegas.

James Stafford: Year-on-year, what can we expect from this economic development? Where will this be in two decades?

Brian Findlay: There are all kinds of indicators out there--all of them impressive. One that really sticks out is the prognosis that Tesla's gigafactory is expected to generate $97 billion economic activity in the Reno area alone over the next 20 years. But there are other immediate indicators that are also impressive, including the fact that Reno/Sparks housing prices are up 19 percent. The trickle-down effect has already been extensive, leading new business to flood into Reno, as I mentioned earlier. The Switch data center covers a massive 6.5 million square feet. When it's completed, the 400 new permanent jobs it creates along with the 5,000 additional jobs for companies that use the data center's services will add to the already burgeoning consumer purchasing power. This snowball-effect business development changes the game for Nevada entirely.

James Stafford: Ok, so why Nevada specifically? Why is this ground zero for Tesla's gigafactory and the resulting economic development?

Brian Findlay: For Tesla, it's all about Nevada because of the state's lithium resources. It is no coincidence that Nevada is rich in lithium and that Tesla had stated that it wanted to source raw materials locally--not to mention that Nevada is the site of the only producing lithium mine in North America. But even more than this, Nevada is a mining-friendly state. The state's authorities understand what is at stake here and the economic development prospects, which is why Tesla got a tax break.

James Stafford: How much lithium is Nevada sitting on?

Brian Findlay: Nevada's lithium resources are second only to those in Chile, according to the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development. Beyond this, Nevada has a rich mining history. Not only is it ranked 1st in mining the U.S., but it's 3rd in the world. It also accounts for 80 percent of total U.S. silver output. This unique lithium position has turned Nevada into a lithium hub, and companies are now racing to stake out potential targets. In fact, the south western Nevada lithium space has even recently attracted the attention of well-known investor and philanthropist Frank Giustra, who is not only a financier, but also the founder of LionsGate films and friends with Bill Clinton.

James Stafford: So we all know that lithium is what you would call an everyday mineral, but we tend to take it for granted. Why lithium? Why is it so important in this context?

Brian Findlay: Lithium is the key ingredient in batteries. It's the preferred mineral for batteries because it has the highest electric output per unit weight. Supplies are thinning and demand--already attractive--is poised for a major spike. This new demand will be driven by grid storage, the 'powerwall' and electric/hybrid vehicles. Just one of the planned battery gigafactories could need upwards of 15,000 tons of lithium carbonate right from the start--just to put the emerging demand picture into perspective. Beyond this, the demand for electric vehicles is growing based on environmental awareness, price and newfound convenience. Prices are now starting to reflect lithium's rise, with one of the world's largest producers, FMC, recently raising the price of lithium hydroxide across the board to $10,750 per ton. While other minerals are floundering in this market, lithium demand and prices remain strong.

James Stafford: While not directly related to lithium, do you have any comments on the 'dieselgate' scandal involving VW's alleged cheating on emissions standards, and how this might affect the electric/hybrid vehicle market?

Brian Findlay: Certainly this is another feather in lithium's cap and it could indeed further the forward movement towards electric vehicles. Volkswagen will have to undergo a very costly reinvention and all companies are going to have to deal with emissions issues as consumers and lawmakers become more focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing climate change. This is good news for both lithium and the electric car industry.

James Stafford: Ok, let's swing back to Nevada. What shifts have we already seen in the lithium sphere that further indicates where this is all going?

Brian Findlay: There has been a significant spill over effect so far. That the lithium race is on is most poignantly indicated by Albemarle's acquisition for $6.2 billion of the Rockwood Lithium mine in western Nevada. Rockwood Lithium is North America's only producing lithium mine, and it's been in production since 1967. Another recent supply off-take agreement between a relatively small junior mining company and Tesla is also a strong indicator of where this is all going.

James Stafford: What does all this movement mean for junior lithium miners in general?

Brian Findlay: Listen, Western Nevada is now a hot bed of activity in the lithium sector, and the lithium-staking rush is moving ahead at full speed. Not only is this having a major impact on the local economy, but it's making it much easier for smaller companies to raise exploration money. This, in turn, is helping junior companies to flourish into more significant companies, further creating new jobs and further boosting the economy. Joint ventures are happening, and they're happening quickly.

James Stafford: How does Dajin Resources play into this lithium rush?

Brian Findlay: Dajin is a resource exploration company focused on the exploration and development of energy metal projects with strategically located brine-based lithium targets in Argentina and Nevada. Dajin has two 100 percent-owned projects in Nevada just a short distance from Albemarle's Rockwood Lithium Mine.

James Stafford: Now that the target-staking is on in Nevada, how hard is it to break into lithium?

Brian Findlay: The bigger picture here is that in such a weak commodities market, there are only a few ways to get involved in the lithium space, and Dajin is ahead of many of the new exploration companies because it was one of the first to make inroads into Nevada. Dajin has been quietly acquiring strategic lithium properties and is well underway with its exploration program. At the end of the day, fueled by vision and foresight, Dajin has continued to advance while commodities have tumbled.

By James Stafford of Oilprice.com

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Getting a grasp on the true reality of your business without any filters is a huge benefit to any leader, particularly a CEO.

My family and I are huge fans of the international phenomenon we know today as Cirque du Soleil. We are amazed and dazzled with each show and wonder how they can continue to innovate and surprise their audiences time and again. Guy Laliberté is the man behind Cirque du Soleil, the most famous circus ever, an international phenomenon that constantly reinvents itself. But he first performed on the streets in Europe and in Quebec. He started as a folk musician, learning the harmonica and accordion, and on his overseas travels busking across Europe, he picked up the art of fire-breathing and expanded his street routine. Later, when he tried his hand at a "real job"--working in a hydro plant in Quebec--he lost it after a labour strike. This was when he joined a troupe of acrobats who specialized in stilt walking.

In school, Laliberté had garnered experience at putting on events, which helped him organize a large summer fair involving his troupe. One show led to another. After a couple of years Laliberté got a big break in 1984, winning the right to put on a huge celebratory event in honour of Jacques Cartier's discovery of Canada. This gave rise to the Cirque du Soleil--which was originally conceived as a one-time thing until the provincial government provided a grant to turn it into a touring event.

Over the course of 25 years, Laliberté turned his circus into a multibillion-dollar company, developed the biggest theatre production group in history, and created work for thousands of circus artists and artisans across the globe. What genius!

I appreciate stories like these because they demonstrate how difficult it is to have success in any field. Laliberté went through the ranks even before there were ranks. He proved that genius walks next to relentlessness. He knew how to do every single job in the circus because he had done each one himself. Success does not just fall in your lap, it is usually well earned, deserved and fought for.

A leader has to know first-hand how the various aspects of the business work, or at least the fundamentals. There is no better way to learn than by being involved in the day-to-day of those areas. You can set proper expectations, set realistic goals and troubleshoot from experience gained, instead of having to delegate everything.

You need to prepare your career path by working in every department possible, raising your hand for all the opportunities that come near you, working honestly and giving everything to it. That's what I did. Raise your hand and fill your bucket with as many experiences as you can! Be greedy for experiences.

A friend of mine told me a similar story--but with different results. When he was still a teenager he worked at a famous Ottawa institution, Ritchie's Sports shop. It was the place to buy sports jerseys, caps and sneakers. During one shift when the store was quiet, my friend found the store manager washing the toilet. There was the boss, on his hands and knees, scrubbing away. So my friend asked him: "Why don't you let me do that job? You're the boss." To which the boss answered: "You'll get your chance to clean the toilet, but it's important that I know how it feels and what it takes. No job is too big or small for anyone." In addition to giving the manager an understanding of all work-related operations, working all jobs in the company earned respect from a teenaged staff member.

So just clean the toilet and it's another win-win.

-----

An excerpt from Weology: How Everybody Wins When We Comes Before Me - a Globe and Mail bestseller. For more information, visit www.tangerine.ca/weology.

Peter Aceto's proceeds from the sale of Weology and related speaking engagements will be donated to charitable organizations supported through Tangerine's #BrightWayForward program.

Ask Peter a question on Twitter at www.twitter.com/peteraceto.

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People are social beings. So why is it that most corporate social postings are both irrelevant and anonymous? Tweet this Putting a personal, social component into your social marketing is imperative to engaging 2-way communication.

Here are some thoughts to consider from a consumer perspective:

According to Forrester, "Social ads aren't social; they're just ads....." If you can't get a message to your audience, you can't very well market to them.... just 15% of consumers trust social posts by companies or brands.

Over half (57%) of consumers are actively taking steps to avoid brands that bombard them with poorly targeted communications, according to research from the Aimia Institute... To combat this, 69% have unfollowed brands on social channels.

According to Cognizant, inbound user engagement with brands on social networks is growing nine times faster than social networks themselves.

Here is the all too often reality for consumers when interacting with companies on social media:

33% of consumers who contact brands on social media with a customer service question never get a response, according to The Northridge Group.

From the Cognizant study, just three percent of consumers cited social media as the fastest channel for issue resolution.

From my recent article, Your Brand, Your Employees and the Voice of Your Customer I noted:

One of the keys to developing a strong brand is to develop a culture of brand trust....Realize that improved Customer Experience strengthens trust. And, trust is the foundation that builds brand, communication and good experiences.

Developing a strong brand is a continual circle of interaction with your brand, what it stands for, how it is conveyed by employees and the experience it delivers.

Nokia Turns Employees into Social Brand Ambassadors

Nokia empowers employees to engage in social conversations for feedback, promotion of new products/services, and to just be available throughout social networks as real brand ambassadors. Nokia's talent stories are credible because they're from Nokia employees. Additionally, all the videos and photography on the Nokia sites and social media platforms feature Nokia employees.

Here are some tips from Becky Gloyne, Social Media Manager and Global Marketing Talent Acquisition Manager at Nokia:

"Use social media in a very effective way, create your own content (photography, video etc.), and be as creative and original as possible. This brings the "human element" into the picture and it puts a face to the brand, which is what people want to see."

"Have a focus, a target, use social media effectively, and understand your audience."

"We regularly communicate with our employees to make sure they all understand what is going on within our brand."

Adobe's Social Shift

Realizing that social has shifted, Adobe has implemented what it calls, its "Social Shift" program to better connect with consumers. The program helps to educate the company's employees on the company's social media guidelines, shares best practices for social sharing and ultimately helps them to become brand ambassadors.

Here are some tips from the Adobe "Social Shift" program:

The Adobe blog, "Adobe Life" posts, pictures, videos, and perspective. The content is also syndicated to other parts of the business for further social optimization.

According to Natalie Kessler, Head of Employment Branding at Adobe, they make social posting fun for employees with contests, visual #AdobeLife reminders throughout offices, and acknowledgement for posting activities.

Develop a brand ambassador program in your organization.

In closing, here a few takeaways from Brian Fanzo, Chief Digital Strategist at Broadsuite from an IBM Center for Applied Insights' Talking Insights Podcast:

"... Companies are afraid of employee advocacy .... I think the true sign of a great culture is not what's on a website or not what a CEO says in the presentation, but it's on the faces of their employees and that can be a scary element for a lot of leaders..."

Employees are a company's greatest social tool. Therefore, brands must embrace employee advocacy to have a truly authentic social presence.

"A lot of business is done on social... it bridges that gap when we can create that same relationship that we would on the golf course, we would at a happy hour, via these social tools."

Improved Customer Experience via interpersonal social interaction strengthens brand trust. Via a personal interaction with employee brand ambassadors a continual circle of interaction can become a key differentiator for both BroB and BtoC consumers.

***
Ernan Roman
President, ERDM
Author, Voice of the Customer Marketing
ernan@erdm.com
www.erdm.com
@ernanroman

Inducted into the DMA Marketing Hall of Fame based on the results companies achieve with ERDM's VoC research based CX strategies.

ERDM conducts specialized VoC research to identify CX strategies that generate significant increases in revenue.

Clients include IBM, MassMutual, Gilt, HP, Microsoft and Norton AntiVirus.

His influential blog "Ernan's Insights on Marketing Best Practices" appears in Forbes, Huffington Post, CustomerThink and CMO.com.

Named by the Online Marketing Institute as one of the 2014 Top 40 Digital Luminaries and by Crain's B to B Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in Business Marketing.

His latest book is titled, Voice of the Customer Marketing.

His other books include Opt-in Marketing and Integrated Direct Marketing.

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Patrick de Zeeuw (right) at Startupbootcamp Amsterdam

In April, I before I met with Deputy Mayor Kajsa Ollongren during The Next Web conference in the Netherlands, I was introduced to Patrick de Zeeuw, CEO of Startupbootcamp Amsterdam and Co Founder of Startupbootcamp Global. At the time this article was being written, de Zeeuw has worked with 281 startups boasting a 73% funding rate, raising an average of 600,839 euros each.

Founded in 2010 in Copenhagen, Startupbootcamp has ten programs in eight cities, as well as an alumni and mentor network from 30+ countries across the globe. Programs are currently active in Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Eindhoven, Sittard, Singapore and Istanbul, with other cities and vertical programs to be announced soon. In 2014, Startupbootcamp was awarded the 'Best Accelerator' title by popular industry vote at Europe's premier startup event, The Europas.

Patrick de Zeeuw with co-founder Ruud Hendriks published the Dutch book: "I'm Hungry, startup, accelerate and innovate". www.imhungry100.com

After our meeting in Europe, I conducted a email interview with de Zeeuw to understand his approach in helping startups succeed.

What do you look for when you invest in a company?

First of all, I look at the team. Does it have a strong leader/talented entrepreneur; do the co-founders have complementary skills, backgrounds; have they worked together before and overcome difficulties? All of our founders undergo a Facet5 psychological test that we analyze with a professional psychologist, which we then discuss with the founders. Next, we conduct pre-mediation sessions aimed to discuss and solve issues before they become serious problems. I've had pre-mediation with all of my co-founders and it works. Tensions can rise during every stage a startup goes through: start, growth and exit. Often the founders need guidance during these stages to avoid major founders issues or team explosions. Don't forget: About 50% of startups fail because of team issues. If you can avoid those issues the success rates increase.

Second, I look at the concept/product. Is the timing right; is the market saturated already? Timing is one of the most crucial things launching a startup. I've experienced this myself many times -- Companies I've launched too soon or too late eventually failed. Companies that I launched at the right moment, just when the wave started, became successful. If timing is right you can grow on a rising wave. You just need to stay up and stay on top.

What do you look for when you invest in a company?

Then I look at the team again. Can they build a great product and a great company that can scale fast and furious? Can they attract the right talent that fits to the company culture? Is the leader inspiring; can he/she sell the vision to investors, clients, employees, etc.?

Eventually it's about two main things:

1. team/co founders
2. timing/momentum

At Startupbootcamp, we have invested in almost 300 startups since we launched in 2010. With about 100 of them, I've intensively worked with and still work with. The companies that are doing very well have great teams with very strong leaders that guide the startup through the storms they all encounter. They find solutions for each challenge and solve problems. These companies also managed to launch at the right moment.

To give a few examples of startups that fit this profile, I mention:

• Sendcloud.nl - logistics
• Undagrid- IoT
• Relayr.io - IoT
• Quiver.net - security
• Multisense.nl - security
• Aliveshoes.com - ecommerce
• Stucomm.com - edu tech
• Localsensor.com - ecommerce

What are the top three pieces of advice you give to companies in Startupbootcamp?

1. Validate your assumptions and make fact-based decisions.
2. Appoint a professional pre-mediator from the birth of your startup.
3. Raising funding is not a goal by itself, neither is it a form or recipe for success. Investors want influence in exchange for the capital they invest. Make sure you date a lot before taking an investor onboard; it's sort of a marriage which can be fun but also painful. Investors can make or break a company. Make sure you pick an investor that stands by you when times get rough and tough.

Which three mistakes do you commonly see, and how should they be resolved?

1. Too little focus on making revenue.
2. Poor/no communication -- Between founders, founders and investors, founders and clients/users.
3. No caretaker onboard; someone who looks after operations, culture, oiling the machine.

Issue 1 is plain and simple: Cash is king at a startup and revenues bring cash. If you have revenue and make profit, all other things get less complicated: fundraising for growth, hiring talent, expanding internationally etc. I talk about this a lot with our alumni. Once they start making revenue, they experience what I've told them. They have to experience it themselves to really get it.

Issue 2 and 3 can be resolved by bringing onboard a talented woman that is either a co-founder or joins the founding team. I truly believe women are better caretakers, organizers and are more sensitive to things that really matter in building a startup into a growing company. I've experienced this my whole life and still see it happening every day.

How does a company in a saturated market succeed?

Team. Look at Google -- They came into the market when there was quite a lot of competition in search engines (Yahoo, Alta Vista, etc.) and email (Yahoo). The Google team created superior products and the users switched.

Look at what Elon Musk is doing with Tesla. Cars have been around since the T Ford was launched. Automobiles is a saturated market, but Musk brought innovation to the industry and built the best car to date. People love it and buy it.

What do you look for in advisory board members?

1. Network
2. Experience
3. Dedication to help; mostly when times are tough
4. Inspiration

How important are mentors?

They can be very important if they bring the four things that I mentioned above. But there has to be dedication and a good match of personalities with the founders. I think each founder should have a mentor. The CEO should have a fellow CEO (can be of a startup as well) as a mentor, which s/he can relate to. Same for CTO, CFO, CMO.

What makes your program so successful?

Its run by entrepreneurs who've all gone though the phases of starting up several companies themselves, grown them, raised funding, IPO'd, and encountered bankruptcies or company close downs. These experiences are the basis of our programs. It's hard to advise startups or more mature companies and be credible as a founder of an accelerator if you have not gone through all these experiences yourself.

How do you define innovation?

Make the impossible happen and go against the (main) stream

Can innovation be taught?

I think innovation comes from entrepreneurs or from people with entrepreneurial drives. Can this be taught? Not sure. When I was a kid, I was always inspired by entrepreneurs and pro sport players -- They both are a bit crazy since they mostly set very high goals for themselves. I started as an entrepreneur when I was 15, learned a lot and then had the opportunity to work with the three most inspiring and entrepreneurial people in the media industry for six years. Did I learn from them; for sure -- One of the things was to think really big. Did I already have entrepreneurial drive? Yes.

So I think you need drive, energy, guts and inspiration more than skills to become be an entrepreneur. Skills can be learned, the others not.

Have you ever seen an overnight success?

Not really, depends on definition of success. To be honest, almost all startups go through ups and downs, pivots, etc. before having serious success and traction. You need to be very persistent and have tremendous drive to create success and most importantly sustain it -- Which is more difficult than creating success.

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Nanxi Liu is the Co-Founder and CEO of Enplug, the easiest to use software to manage and distribute content on displays in offices, stores, restaurants, hotels, and stadiums. Uniquely, Enplug enables displays to show interactive Twitter feeds, Instagram collages, news feeds, dashboards, and many more third-party developed apps. The software is used in over a dozen languages and countries. Enplug was named Inc. Magazine's 30 Under 30 and Fortune Magazine's Top 10 Most Promising Women Entrepreneurs.

What inspires you?
Brilliant people. Both companies I started, Enplug and Nanoly Bioscience, were a direct result of meeting my co-founders. Within 24 hours of meeting my co-founders, we began brainstorming on building a product together. One of my co-founders at Enplug, Zach Spitulski, built two of the Top 10 Most Downloaded Education Apps in the Mac App Store, during his free time as a college sophomore! How could I not be completely inspired to work with someone who has that kind of go-getter attitude? Our idea of building the premier software to make any TV interactive and customizable materialized after meeting my co-founders.

Who has had the most impact in your life?
My parents, piano teachers, and ex-boyfriends. During the dot-com bust, my dad got laid off from the tech company he worked at. My dad, who has a PhD in engineering, subsequently took a job as a car salesman to pay the bills. If a guy at John Elway car dealership taught Toyota's engine cylinder combustion process to you, the guy might've been my dad. He showed me to do what you can with what you have. Around this same time, we couldn't afford to pay my piano teacher, Martha. She then offered to teach me for free. I was in middle school and experienced a slice of reality: the pressure of knowing that there are people who believe in me and I need to make sure I don't disappoint them. And finally, as oddly as it may sound, my ex-boyfriends have made an impact on my life. They're also some of my closest friends. A guy I dated in college was a brainiac (he did 4 majors in 4 years and graduated with honors) and terrific athlete. We would have "hacking dates" where instead of dinner and a movie, we would eat and code together. He pushed me to bring intensity in work, fun, and health.

What is the hardest lesson you've had to learn?
To build the most valuable software for our customers and stay at the top, our team must stay uncomfortable. There's never a day when we can say, "ok, things are great and our work is complete." There's always more to do. One of our customers suggested for us to build an app in Enplug's App Market that enables the TVs in their office to show live dashboards of their sales and website traffic. Our team went into high gear and built the app in two weeks. When we're uncomfortable is when we make the biggest changes and get things done.

What cause(s) or nonprofit(s) do you support?
Our team actively supports the Women In Tech movement. We mentor at and sponsor events that encourage girls and women to get involved in STEM. I'm on the advisory board of UN Women and chair of Tiger Scholarship Foundation. UN Women is the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women. Tiger Scholarship Foundation gives merit-based college scholarships to students with financial need.

To read the rest of the TuesdayNights interview with Nanxi Liu visit Get Inspired.

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As baby boomers exit the workforce en masse, the race to attract the best and brightest millennials has employers across the country scratching their heads, re-thinking the tried and true recruitment and retention strategies they have relied on for decades.

That's because millennials are a generation unlike any other.

Because their priorities and expectations are vastly different, they're prompting seismic shifts in how companies approach them. Consider: in Deloitte's Human Capital Trends 2015, a survey of more than 3,300 business and HR leaders from 106 countries, "Culture and Engagement" -- which barely charted last year -- rose to become the most important issue companies around the world say they are facing, with nearly nine-in-10 calling it their top challenge. As a result, two-thirds (66 percent) of HR respondents reported they are updating their engagement and retention strategies.

Understanding their motivations is one key to attracting talented millennials. Chief among those motivations are purpose and mission. Perhaps because many grew up doing service work in high school and college -- a trend that took hold in the 1990s and early 2000s -- a recent PriceWaterhouseCoopers survey found nearly nine-in-10 millennials gravitate toward companies with pronounced corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs and 86 percent would consider leaving if their employer's CSR no longer met their expectations.

While incorporating purpose into one's professional life, outside the walls of the company itself, isn't necessarily new, the idea of emphasizing and integrating with a more formalized approach demands a bit of a re-set -- in a good way.

It's led us to establish the Covestro Employee Engagement Institute (CEEI) at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Pa. CEEI is one of our first major CSR projects since becoming Covestro earlier this fall. Part of our new companywide CSR initiative, i³ (ignite, imagine, innovate), CEEI is helping us re-imagine employee engagement and volunteerism for the 21st century.

CEEI's training and education programs aim to increase capacity of nonprofits by building and strengthening bonds between them and for-profit businesses. And it does this by engaging employees from both sectors in new and novel ways.

Skills-based volunteerism (SBV) is one such way. It involves teams of employees making substantive contributions by applying their expertise and competencies to solve specific challenges facing nonprofits, whether in IT, management, finance or marketing. It's a different approach and, with it, Covestro is redefining corporate philanthropy to include both monetary and human capital giving.

SBV is a fairly new concept that has not yet reached critical mass, but certainly will if Covestro has anything to do with it. That's because CEEI is open to virtually any company who wishes to have their employees participate and get involved.

Before becoming Covestro in September, we had an opportunity to pilot SBV consulting projects as Bayer MaterialScience in Pittsburgh and Baytown, Texas, where two of our key U.S. sites are based. These pilots have engaged roughly 70 Covestro employees with 16 local nonprofits, including the Pittsburgh Botanic Gardens, ASSET STEM Education, Bay Area Homeless Services and United Ways in both areas.

Our employees have helped Goodwill of Southwest Pennsylvania maximize its internal IT systems; analyzed and proposed cost-saving measures for the social services organization ACHIEVA; prepared strategic marketing plans for the Bay Area Rehabilitation Center; and, for the Heinz History Center, developed a baseline carbon footprint as a first step to the museum's creating a strategic sustainability and energy management plan.

Pretty heady stuff.

There is a real power to skills-based volunteerism. It's a two-way street. The nonprofits benefit from expertise in a particular area they may not be able to afford. From a business point of view, it reaches beyond a social strategy and into talent development and retention. Our employee-volunteer consultants are given a fresh challenge full of purpose and the chance to burnish their skills through a different kind of professional experience -- and sometimes discover they've developed new skills in the process.

Lisa Marie Nespoli who worked on the Heinz History Center project explained how it helped her hone her leadership skills, appreciate the skills of others and develop some new ones, including learning how to deal with ambiguity.

"Life doesn't come with a set of directions. It's about figuring things out. When teams enter a consulting project, the path is not always clear. You have to carve it yourself."

SBV has so many benefits. It builds connectivity between the workforce and the community. It deepens employees' roots in their region and keeps them there. That's something we and our regional colleagues at the Greater Houston Partnership and Allegheny Conference have made a top priority -- talent recruitment and retention in their respective areas.

And it has clear appeal for millennials. According the Deloitte report, more than twice as many employees today are motivated by work passion rather than career ambitions. SBV taps directly into those passions and connects them to the organizations and causes they care most about.

But SBV isn't only for millennials, nor is it the only program CEEI offers. In fact, the programs provide a range of engagement training and opportunities for employees at virtually every stage of their career, from new hires and mid-career professionals to senior-level managers and retirees.

There's something for everybody.

At Covestro, we know nonprofit organizations play as essential a role in healthy, vibrant communities as for-profit organizations do.

Our hope now is that other companies recognize this, see that with skills-based volunteerism the future is now and get on board with this incredibly transformational approach.

-- 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.

Lenny Abrahamson, Michael Bederman, Elizabeth Karlsen, Michael London, Tom McCarthy, Noah Sacco, Michael Stuhlbarg, Christine Vachon and Bruce Cohen attend the PGA Produced By: New York Conference

The best and the brightest of the entertainment industry gathered for the 2nd annual Produced By: New York (PBNY) conference on Saturday, October 24 hosted by Time Warner and HBO at the Time Warner Center.

Tim Squyres, Jehane Noujamin, Darren Star and Peter Saraf attend the PGA Produced By: New York Conference

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) event roster of lead players in show business shared valuable insights, career advice, expertise and inspiration in all facets of film, television and new media production. "Thanks to our unrivaled locations, state-of-the-art production facilities, and innovative film tax credit programs, New York's film production industry has stolen the spotlight, and we're pleased to welcome Produced By back to the state in celebration of the industry's success," added Gigi Semone, Executive Director of the Governor's Office for Motion Picture and Television Development.

Donna Gigoloti, Meryl Poster, Michael Travers and Paula Weinstein attend the PGA Produced By: New York Conference

The Art of Producing panel moderated by Gary Lucchesi (President, Lakeshore Entertainment; President, Producers Guild of America) lead a lively discussion on feature film production with panelist Donna Gigliotti (Silver Linings Playbook, Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving), Meryl Poster (President and Founder, Superb Entertainment; Project Runway , Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce), Michael J. Travers(Blue Sky Studios; The Peanuts Movie, Epic) and Paula Weinstein(President, Spring Creek Productions; Grace and Frankie, In the Heart of the Sea).

President of Global Grind Civil Rights Organizer Michael Skolnik, Founder, Duly Noted, Inc.; Project Greenlight, Dear White People Effie T. Brown, Founder & CEO of MACRO Charles King, President of Gamechanger Films Mynette Louie, Television writer Pete Nowalk, Founder & President of LTW Lindsey Taylor Wood attend the PGA Produced By: New York Conference

The Art (and Business) of Showrunning covered everything in cable and primetime episodic television production from script delivery, pilot season, pitching, the writing room to craft services. The informative discussion moderated by (PGA president and producer Madame Secretary) Lori Creary included panel guests Barbara Hall(Madam Secretary, Homeland), Robert and Michelle King(The Good Wife, BrainDead, In Justice), Clyde Phillips (Broke, Nurse Jackie, Dexter), Darren Star (Younger, Sex and the City) and Joe Weisberg(The Americans, Falling Skies). Global Grind's Michael Skolnik moderated a panel on Changemakers: Tactics for Equality and Diversity in Film and Television. Panel guests Charles King (Macro Ventures), producers Effie Brown (Duly Noted, Inc.) Mynette Louie( Gamechanger Films), Peter Nowalk (How to Get Away with Murder) and Lindsey Wood(LTW) rose to the occasion and addressed diversity and related topics Project Greenlight, meritocracy, Black Twitter and the Rooney Rule. Producers' Masterclass: An Adventurous Partnership With Alejandro G. Iñárritu featured the Oscar and Producers Guild Award-winning filmmaker of "Birdman" with his producing team -- Mary Parent, Steve Golin, and Brad Weston and discussion of their latest film, "The Revenant". Conversation with Michael Moore ( Fahrenheit 9/11, Capitalism : A Love Story, Bowling for Columbine) featured the Oscar winning documentary director and producer in a Q&A.

Producer Annette Insdorf (R) speaks with Michael Moore during the PGA Produced By: New York Conference

Lydia Dean Pilcher (The Lunch Box, Cutie and the Boxer, The Darjeeling Limited; Vice President, Motion Pictures Producers Guild of America) lead a lunchtime talk on Tactics for Equality and Diversity in Film. She introduced the Ms. Toolkit the PGA report on women driven film statistics. Lydia sharess, "One of the things that has stood out to me since the release is the importance of a section in the toolkit, "what is female storytelling?" In this section we address and exemplify the power of the storytellers behind the camera. In fact, this theme runs throughout the toolkit as we talk about all platforms for viewing content. Making visual content is a collaborative process, and --beyond directors, writers and producers-- everyone working on a film contributes to the story in often uncredited but defining ways. The Toolkit exposes this very real blind spot in Hollywood in terms of advancing female perspectives."

Lori McCreary, Brad Weston, Steve Golin, Mary Parent and Vance Van Petten attend the PGA Produced By: New York Conference

Startups for Producers: Building Your Media Empire from VC Funding to Achieving Your Vision panelist VC Steven Masur said, "I answer a lot of questions in my law practice about venture capital financing deals, and entertainment deals, but there was something special going on in this room. The energy was electric and the questions people had made clear that these producers are really hustling and make their productions happen. It was beautiful to see". Other sessions included The Power of Successful Creative Collaboration, The Truth Sells: New Opportunities in Documentary Features, Tomorrow's Tinsel: The Future of Film Financing, The Rise of Digital Content: Media, Channels, Brands Fix it in.... Prep? and The Value of Post-production Artists Early in the Process.

President of Stick Figure Studios Jamie Schutz speaks with Chair of the firm's Entertainment, Sports and Media Practice Joe Calabrese, EVP Digital Enterprises at NBC Universal Evan Shapiro, Senior Producer of Digital Strategy at UNICEF Priyanka Pruthi, Group Product Manager of Digital Video and Audio at Adobe Systems, Inc. Steve Forde and GM and SVP of Video at The Huffington Post Nathan Brown speaks during the PGA Produced By: New York Conference

Over 600 people attended the conference sponsored by Discovery Communications which featured 21 sessions, panel discussions, mentoring roundtables, and workshops designed to assist producers in navigating the ever-changing world of producing and provide them with key insights into important industry topics. Breakfast, lunch and a cocktail reception at the Park Café provided attendees, speakers and sponsors for serious networking opportunities.

Luis Castro, Susan Sprung, Lori McCreary, Gary Lucchesi and Vance Van Petten attend the PGA Produced By: New York Conference

"At the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, we're committed to helping the hundreds of productions that film in New York City and building on the thriving creative industry so we're thrilled to welcome Produced By once again," asserts Cynthia López, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment in New York City and sponsor of the event. "The conversations and connections that take place during this conference are sure to inspire its participants and lead to new understandings and innovative collaborations in order to produce the highest quality content."

-- 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.

Since the advent of e-mail, and the Letter Wizard feature on Microsoft Word, it often seems like drafting your own letters is a quaint tradition, but nothing you really need to think about. Au contraire! A well-written letter is the hallmark of a consummate professional, and having confidence in a number of different writing styles is a handy addition to any working woman's arsenal. After all, they don't call it the power of the pen for nothing. Here, we've taken five popular letter styles and provided tips on how to make them sing--no newfangled technology required.

The Thank-You Note
According to the Emily Post Institute (the bastion of modern manners), all gifts deserve to be recognized with a thank-you note. Remember, gifts can be services as well as items, so if someone agreed to collect your mail while you were away, a thank-you note would be appropriate. Notes are informal and may be brief, but should communicate that you were pleased to receive the gift. A brief line that incorporates the gift into your life (for example: "I look forward to a summer picnic with my gorgeous new basket") is a thoughtful addition. If you communicate with the gift giver frequently via e-mail, then sending your note electronically is fine.

The Cover Letter
Whether you are submitting an application via e-mail or snail mail, a sparkling cover letter is the best way to catch someone's attention. Customize your cover letter to the job. Each and every time you apply for a new position, use your cover letter to market yourself specifically to the opportunity. Make sure you address your letter to the correct person, discuss why you would be a valuable addition to the company, and go ahead and ask for what you want--whether it be a phone call, an appointment to discuss opportunities, or a formal interview. Signing off with a no-nonsense "Sincerely" will also cement your professional image.

The Pitch Letter
A pitch letter is one of a public relations professional's biggest and best tools. Pitch letters are sent to members of the media with the sole intention of grabbing their attention and making them ask for more details. Pitch letters may be sent alone or with an accompanying press packet, but they mean nothing if they don't get into the right hands. Pitch letters should be addressed to the most relevant person, be kept to a single page, and include only the most pertinent facts: who you are, what you're writing about, when and where something is happening, and why the person should be interested. Including all of your contact information is also imperative.

The Letter of Complaint
Ellen Phillips, the author of Shocked, Appalled, and Dismayed! advises that a letter of complaint should never be sent to a customer-service department. Instead, it should be addressed to a real, live person with real, live powers to help correct mistakes. Phillips believes that letters of complaint should include strong sentiments and aggressive vocabulary (along the lines of "shocked," "appalled," and "dismayed"), but should be polite throughout. Need a sneaky trick? Print your letter of complaint on bright colored paper to avoid getting lost in the masses of white paper that the company no doubt receives daily.

The Letter of Recommendation
You might have wished that letters of recommendation ended at about the same time you got into college, but they do still persist well into adult life--only now you're more like to be writing one than begging for one. A letter of recommendation is not an opportunity to indulge in a flight of fancy. Stick to the facts: how you know the candidate, your honest assessment of them, and why you think he or she would be a good selection. Generally this means only writing about people that you know fairly well, though asking for copies of their résumé won't hurt either. Also, ask the person if you are an employment reference or character reference, as the answer will determine what you should focus on in your writing. Finally, if you truly feel that you cannot give a good letter of recommendation, then say so. Politely declining to write such a letter gives the candidate another opportunity to find a more suitable reference and saves you the time and energy you would have spent on such an impossible task.

-- 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 alchemy of remote work is that location becomes irrelevant; you can quite literally build a team, culture, and company without borders.

At Help Scout, I'm proud of the remote culture we've created. I'll be the first to tell you we've made plenty of mistakes along the way, but we've sought to learn from each one.

Three years of freelance work and three years here at Help Scout have given me some firm opinions on the topic. If I've learned anything, it's this:

1) Writing affects everything you do.

There's a reason why "hire the better writer" is such prevalent advice: clear writing means clear thinking. The cost of confusing a teammate or a customer is high, but pales in comparison to the cost of confusing yourself. Since remote communication is built almost exclusively around writing, you need to be able to firmly grasp complex ideas and explain them in plain language.

2) You control how you end the workday.

When working from home, it can be hard to "turn off" at the end of the day. How much work is enough when you're mostly managing your own time? To quote Jo Bennett from The Office, "If you can put your name on this day, and be proud of the amount of work you've done, then by all means, you should tootle on home."

If that means a slightly shorter, more restful Wednesday in favor of a long Thursday, so be it. Great work isn't about hours spent but meaningful tasks accomplished. You're done when you can proudly sign your name.

3) Leadership must buy in, or you're sure to fail.

You can't succeed as a remote worker if your company isn't built around remote work. Even if you have an office headquarters, the team has to choose between a remote culture or an office culture, because there is no in-between. An office culture that makes exceptions for remote people results in second-class citizenship.

4) You gain personal productivity at the expense of collaboration.

A universal trade off in remote work. The focus and output to be had when you manage your own time is staggering, but you have to pay the piper; collaboration will require more effort. The trick is to balance the improved personal productivity with team productivity, or the rate at which the team completes to-dos where two or more members are working together. Time is of the essence, and success depends on moving fast, being responsive, and actually adhering to the organized practices within the company.

5) Work to control your environment.

For many people, a strict association of external stimuli helps create headspace. Here is where I work, here is where I live. When work and home collide, you need to set your own boundaries. I keep my home office door closed at all times, as if to separate it from the rest of my house; it's sacred ground where nothing but work can be done. Without a similar practice, you'll find "home" becomes an amorphous location where you're unable to divide working and winding down.

6) Chat apps = shoulder taps.

While the in-person distractions of an office are gone, company-wide messaging apps are the replacement. They're useful for keeping emails to a minimum, but many people will have pings and alerts enabled, so messaging is still an interruption. That's okay. Interruptions are necessary from time to time, but choose wisely. A messaging hierarchy that the whole team follows is helpful. Start with defining which messages are appropriate for which channels of communication.

7) Get comfortable with asking for quiet time.

People-pleasers beware: because nobody can see what you're doing, nobody knows the best time to interrupt you. Asynchronous communication is assumed for everything except urgent tasks and meetings, but out of the goodness of your heart you'll probably try to respond to emails and IMs right away. Don't. When you need to shut things down to get difficult work done, be firm (but friendly) about your unavailability.

8) Always assume miscommunication over malice.

The remote worker's version of Hanlon's razor. Some interactions will feel cold due to the human tendency to misinterpret emotionless text. Jokes and sarcasm don't translate perfectly, there's no body language to interpret, and conversations via chat can be interrupted at any time, making it laughably easy to assume a severe tone where one wasn't intended. Stick to assuming positive intent; when working with great people, you'll rarely be wrong.

9) Water-cooler moments matter more than you think.

Silence isn't always golden, because small talk creates connections most of us don't appreciate until they're gone. Even aimless chats can influence creative input, give you early feedback, and inform you of goings-on in the company. As a substitute, opt for a mix of scheduled and impromptu one-on-ones, such as a weekly session with your team lead and casual conversations like "Fika" with someone outside of your department.

10) You are responsible for giving context.

We went a few months this year without a single internal update on how the blog was doing, and that was on me. I thought everyone outside marketing wasn't interested, but of course that was false -- the best teams want to know a little about how everything works. This small sampling brings peace of mind and even helps improve your own work. I look forward to every support update, for example, because I get to learn that much more about our customers.

11) Trust begets trust.

No one wants a manager breathing down their neck. In remote work, a good manager does the opposite -- you will have to be trusted to get things done. In turn, you need to trust your team lead. If you're the manager, the moment you move from organized check-ins to obnoxious pestering is the moment you become that former boss you used to hate; if you want people to trust you, trust them first.

12) The first few days are incredibly awkward.

I had it easy since I joined early on and had previous remote experience. For many, working remotely is a seismic shift, so onboarding new people becomes especially important. One of my favorite practices that we've put into place is the "new work best friend." Someone from the team always steps up to be your pal right when you're hired -- perfect for getting answers to "dumb" questions, learning about unwritten rules, and feeling at ease when adjusting to a new company, new practices, and new faces, all while being hundreds/thousands of miles away.

13) I'd recommend not working in your pajamas.

The grand reveal: I don't actually work in my pajamas. It's a prevailing stereotype I'll happily poke fun at, because most of us put on clothes that we aren't ashamed to be seen wearing outside. "Look the part, be the part" is true: when you look put together you feel put together, and that affects your mood, your confidence, and your work as a whole.

Perhaps the best part about remote work is the opportunity it allows. The people you work with impact more than your career; as if those countless hours spent with them won't rub off on you. You'd better choose wisely.

If you see a group of folks heading where you want to go, remote work gives you a chance to tag along, no matter where you are. I'm thankful for that.

***

Gregory Ciotti is the lead content strategist for Help Scout, the simple alternative to Uservoice. Check out his writing over on the Help Scout 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.

When I left my full-time job in April, I think the majority of people (who didn't know me super well, or who didn't actively read my site, L Bee and the Money Tree) thought I left my job to become a full time blogger. I get the sense this is the misconception because of the handful of times I've been introduced as "This is Lauren, she blogs for a living" or some variant thereof these last six months.

I love blogging. I identify myself as a blogger and influencer, but I do not make a full-time living off the blog. That's not to say I'm not proud of what I've accomplished, but I don't make a full-time person's salary off it. At least not yet.

But I do get asked a lot "How is it you make money from blogging?" which is a great question and one I wanted to answer, and I thought I would share with you today just how much I've made in the last three years as a blogger.

First Let Me Detail the Ways I Make Money As a Blogger

Native Advertising: Better known as sponsored posts, brands will pay me for posts that mention their business, review a product, or contain relevant, valuable content related to what they offer. They do this because they want to gain exposure or drive traffic to a certain site or piece of content. I love doing these and it's nice to see in the last year and a half or so how much brands have embraced working with bloggers!

Blog Coaching: I offer one-on-one sessions to beginner bloggers who want to learn a lot in a short amount of time and expand their brands and websites to become online income generators. This is something I just started offering this year and it has been exciting to see it take off!

Branded Campaigns: Similar to sponsored posts but the brands will pay for multiple posts and social messages over a set period of time.

Ad Networks: I participate in a handful of ad networks (like BlogHer and Google Adsense) who run ads on my site and pay me for it.

Video Sponsorships: I've only recently gotten into this revenue stream, but I like it a lot. With video I have to pay my brother's production company to help me produce the videos but it's a double win of exposure for me, exposure for the brand, video for their site + revenue for my pocket.

Appearances and Speaking: I've also done appearances at conferences and local events for travel expenses and a fee. Sometimes I prepare a presentation and speak, other times I sit on a panel and talk on a given topic (like the awesome one I did with Prudential this summer.)

Freelance Finance Writing - Because I blog about money, I've received many offers through the years for paid finance writing gigs on other websites. I used to do a lot more of this in the early days, although now I almost exclusively write finance content for LBMT.

What Isn't Included (or things other bloggers do that I don't... yet)

Affiliate Advertising: A lot of bloggers do affiliate advertising. Some do it very, very well. Affiliate advertising works like this: brands (via affiliate networks) will give bloggers links to products or services. Bloggers embed those links into their posts and then they get a "fee" or "commission" of whatever business they bring to that brand. I'm simplifying it, but you get the idea. I've struggled with doing affiliates in the past because a) I never want to rep something I don't use and b) I have weird feels about writing about credit cards to use because of my own history with credit. Now that I've learned more about it and more and more brands are working with affiliates, it is something I am looking to expand into this year.

Product and Book Sales: I attempted to sell my Grow Your Money Tree tool kit for a hot second before I decided to give it away for free as a thank you for joining the newsletter list (Get your free copy here!). Eventually I hope to have more digital downloads and an e-book on homeownership to sell on the site... you know, if I could ever find the time to sit down and finish it. ;)

Product Reviews: In the three years I've been blogging I've received well over $1,000 of free product and books.

My Blogging Income (Year over Year)

With all these ways to make money, blogging can be (and is for me) incredibly lucrative. But I love it. I blogged before I got paid and I'd continue to blog even if no one gave me a dime. With that said getting paid for something I'm passionate about (whether you call it a career or a "hobby") is awesome.

It is also important to note here that I did not include any of the income from my content marketing business, Beehive Content, in these totals. While I have gotten LEADS from my blog, my client work isn't about personal finance and blog articles, so I chose not to include it.

If I included work I got from people who saw my site and said "hey come do that for my company!" the number below would be GIANT, which I didn't feel was an accurate reflection of the type of money you can make simply by being a blogger (which is what this article is all about!)

The numbers below also don't reflect the intangibles: like how this blog helped me completely shift careers without going back to school, enabled me to bone up on expertise so I now have a solid background in B2B marketing and copywriting, and lead me on adventures I'd never thought I'd have and meet some of the coolest people on the planet. There are certain aspects of the blogger lifestyle you can't put a price on.

Now What You've Been Waiting For! The Numbers!

YTD Blog Income Total (2012) - $1,395 (I blogged 7 months of 2012)
YTD Blog Income Total (2013) - $8,255
YTD Blog Income Total (2014) - $11,345
YTD Blog Income Total (2015) - $16, 604.59 (thru September 2015)
Total Lifetime Blog Earnings = $37, 599.49 (in 3.5 years)

$37k over three years (or roughly, $11,000 a year) may not seem like a lot to some, especially compared to mega bloggers who make that much in a month. To others, it may feel like a ton of money. For me, I am happy but focused on growth.

My current take-home income is about 35-40% what I make from the blog. In September 2015 I took home $5,050 in blog income alone, which makes September the first month I matched my former corporate salary just by blogging alone and it happened when I least expected it!

And don't forget--->Having a professional, money-making blog is an excellent portfolio piece and is living proof I know how to write and market myself and my "brand" online. It always comes up in interviews and people always want to know more.

What do you think? Is this what you thought bloggers made? What aspects of it surprised you?

This post originally appeared on L Bee and the Money Tree.

-- 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.

Mr. President I applaud your efforts to fight for individual rights and liberties. During your tenure, you've addressed socio-economic, educational, marital, and racial inequalities. These actions are very important as the undercurrents of these historical issues are driven by misunderstandings, unnecessary judgments, elitism, and often racism. Notwithstanding your work and progress to remove some social injustices, there are still opportunities to better protect workplaces from abuses that impact productivity, upward mobility, earnings, and health (e.g., emotional, mental, physical, spiritual).

Too often, the initial reaction(s) to someone who discloses a workplace bullying incident is that an individual should become tougher --- as if a target of workplace bullying can easily minimize reactions to ongoing abusive behavior by ignoring it. It's this type of shortsighted thinking that creates environments that workplace bullying is allowed to flourish. As a result, the cumulative effects of workplace bullying extend well beyond hurt feelings and extend into employees' lives outside of work. The implications of these actions can negatively effect an organization's culture, ethical decision making, successful project delivery, and employee/company performance, along with impacting an individual's health, quality of life, peace of mind, and happiness.

Individuals might not report workplace bullying incidents due to fear, perceptions of weakness, retaliation, and one of the biggest issues is financial loss due to delayed promotions, blocked pay raises, or being forced to leave a job (voluntarily or involuntarily) due to retaliation. Also, the risk of a potential income loss is a powerful motivator that causes too many workplace bullying targets to remain silent and witnesses to become complicit, especially with worries about an inability to take care of themselves or loved one(s). Additionally, the perceived or real threat of a job loss and an inability to take care of themselves or their family can lead to submission/surrender by anyone who wants to address a workplace bullying incident for themselves or others.

Organizations have a responsibility to implement and enforce policies that protect all resources (e.g., direct, contract, vendors) from unnecessary attacks that affect anyone's self-esteem, emotional well-being, or physical health. However, without laws to discourage and that also have actionable remedies, workplace bullying targets are at the mercy of organizations, challenged to take on an often unwinnable fight, or forced to rely on supportive individuals to render assistance.

It's interesting that workplace bullying is often discussed as abusive or hostile behavior, but it doesn't seem to drive changes on the state and federal levels to implement legal remedies to prevent it. If similar behavior occurred in social or familial settings, these actions would raise concerns as being emotional or psychological abuse.

Another issue is that it's not always understood that discrimination is generally legal in the U.S., as long as the actions aren't related to a protected class. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, discrimination is illegal if it's based on someone's age, disability, equal pay/compensation, genetic information, harassment, national origin, pregnancy, race/color, religion, retaliation, sex, and sexual harassment. Therefore, this gap in legal protections provides opportunities for individuals to engage in activities --- such as workplace bullying --- that aren't legally prohibited in most U.S. jurisdictions. Consequently, workplace bullying can be and is used as a new form of discrimination.

Nowadays, individuals who want to engage in discriminatory actions don't always use symbolic or overt discriminatory gestures nor is it as customary to use racial epithets; instead, other behaviors are used to camouflage their actions or intent in more subtle, less detectable, and legal ways. For example, by using isolation, demeaning behavior, the use of authority to overly control someone's performance, or trying to convince a target that the attacks are their fault.

Another significant concern is at-will employment laws that provide employers with virtual impunity against claims, because workplace bullying targets understand that the power in an employment relationship mostly resides with company representatives. Moreover, employment protections don't prevent workplace bullying targets from being constructively discharged while trying to protect their rights that outside of the workplace would be considered abuse. Furthermore, companies can continue to impact targets after their employment by providing questionable or bad references.

Generally, individuals who face harassment or defamatory comments socially have legal remedies to redress an issue; however, this is usually not the case for workplace bullying/harassment that isn't covered by a protected class. Therefore, it's beyond time that employment laws protect all resources equally from unnecessary and sometimes orchestrated abuses that impact anyone's rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Additional information on workplace bullying can be obtained in Mr. Young's solution-oriented books "Bullies... They're In Your Office, Too: Could you be one?" or his mini-book "Management Spotlight: Workplace Bullying".

This post originally appeared on S. L. Young's blog on his website at: www.slyoung.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.

Is it just me or does modern life make it harder to manage work and family life? By the time I've finished my meetings, answered my emails, studied my to-do boards, checked my LinkedIn, laughed about the new meme on Instagram, written "happy birthday" on my long lost cousin's Facebook wall, scrolled through the daily news, taken a last-minute meeting, emailed back my friend from college, gotten the text that it's time to come home... you get the picture. Life is busy and it's filled with distractions for all of us. These distractions mostly come through incredible, extraordinary technology that allows us to be productive, distracted, and up-to-date in the race of day-to-day life.

With all of this available technology, it's easy to lose our center. That's why during National Work and Family Month, we are taking a look at being effective both in work and personal life and why employers should support this balance.

To-Do Overload

Studies show that with the advent of tech, since the 1960s, we've picked up an additional eight hours of productivity each day. But do you feel like you've gained eight hours a day? I sure don't. Technology, like smartphones makes us more efficient and gives us the freedom to choose when and where we work. This should make us more effective -- but does it?

It's become so easy to fill our time with extra tasks to get done and it's hard to keep up. We're not doing the simple things that replenish us and make us more effective, like resting, exercising, and spending time with loved ones anymore. We're losing the ability to prioritize and focus on what truly matters both at work and at home. The fact that I'm a CEO won't mean much unless I have meaningful relationships with my team and my loved ones, and take care of my physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

Identify Priorities, Set Boundaries

As a husband and father of five, I've experienced firsthand this seesaw between my work and personal life. I realized early on in my career that work can always take more than you have to give. That's why I've decided what's most important to me, and set boundaries protecting those things. In my work life, I've set the habit of defining and declaring my core mission or one thing to do that day. In my personal life, I've set Sunday aside as spiritual and family time. In both of these conscious choices, I make the decision to focus on being present.

Ultimately, identifying priorities and setting boundaries both come back to one thing--quality. If you're not feeling good about yourself or your relationships, or if you're distracted all the time, it's hard to deliver your best work.

It's critical for companies to create healthy cultures and support employees across all aspects of their lives. By showing employees your company cares about all aspects of their well-being and lives, you can not only improve well-being but also boost engagement, productivity, satisfaction, retention, and much more - all while creating a stronger culture and great place to work. The result? A workforce full of people who help your business thrive.

-- 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.

Last Saturday, a doe-eyed workshop volunteer stopped me at the entrance to the crowded meditation room.

"Has anyone talked to you about our dress code?" she asked. "You see, we require you to wear white clothing from head to toe. Our teacher said that if you don't have anything light to wear, you will have to sit out the next session and go home to change clothes. Another option is that you can buy some of our clothing in our upstairs room."

Truthfully, I had no idea about the dress code.

I walked away to confer directly with the instructor. Little did I know my alleged wardrobe infraction would cause a stir among the 160 white-clad crowd. Over the ensuring 90 minutes, several devoted yoginis asked me about my turquoise clothing and espoused the vibrational and psychic benefits of white clothing.

Within that short time, I no longer felt like I belonged here. My turquoise scarf and pullover might as well been painted with scarlet letters.

This meditation center and program were quite a learning experience--just not the kind I intended. I finished one more guided meditation, and sampled some vegan grub. Then I quietly left the cool white sea of yoginis behind.

Have you ever experienced a similar "infraction" and felt as unwelcome as I did?

How effective is your organization at creating a safe, trusting environments for internal or external audiences? What do you do to ensure you succeed?

I have hosted over a dozen exclusive CMO events in the past four years. Whenever I ask participants what they liked the most about these sessions, they unanimously say "It was a safe haven to share my challenges and connect at a deeper level with my peers." If I am able to achieve this with little or no training as a meditation teacher or events planner, so can you.

This avoidable workshop experience created unnecessary angst for me and my fellow participants. Here are four behaviors that caused it:

Initially offering customers the most costly and inconvenient remedy. The teacher's volunteer had plenty of time to find another volunteer who could lend me an extra white sweater, tunic, or scarf. As a paying customer, I was insulted that she expected me to purchase clothing to atone for my wardrobe sin.

Assuming everyone knows the rules. I do not remember receiving any pre-event documentation containing the dress code dictum. If the volunteer had started the conversation asking me whether I ever saw the email would have led to a more pleasant exchange.

Applying the rules inconsistently. As I said to one onlooker: if you are going to be annoying, be consistently annoying. When I scanned the room and spotted three women in brightly colored sweaters, I realized the "all white" rule did not apply to everyone. To make matters worse, nobody asked them to change clothing. When I suggested that the volunteer offer white clothing to them as well, she denied ever noticing them. Her reply left me baffled.

Choosing corrective action over preventive action. The yoga center volunteers waited for nearly three hours to tell me that I didn't comply. The Welcome Table team could have discussed the white only rule with me when I arrived. Sending all attendees an additional email confirmation 1-2 days prior to the event confirming the rules would have been another preventive measure.

The next time your organization hosts a private or exclusive event for customers or prospects, educate every one of your team members on how they will consistently handle surprise situations. No matter how organized you are, and how seasoned your events team is, these issues WILL arise. Don't let these missteps happen and lose an earnest customer.

If you ignore the power of preventive actions, your profits and repute are in peril. Customers just might bow to comedy guru Groucho Marx, who once said, "I don't care to belong to any club that will have me as a member."

Copyright 2015, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

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"Should we adopt agile?"

"Are we doing agile well?"

Two of the most common questions I hear when working with customers, and that couldn't be more frustrating. Simply put, they are the wrong damn questions.

I don't care whether or not your process is "real" agile, and you shouldn't either.

We also don't need to debate whether agile or waterfall is better, if Scrum or Kanban is the best way to go, or how many story points can dance on the head of a pin.

Methodology wars are a waste of time and put our focus exactly where it shouldn't be -- on ourselves. Instead, we need to focus on our customers.

This means we have to do three things, and three things only:

Ship product to actual customers,

Pay attention to how they use it, and

Do better next time we ship.

We need to continually get better at providing value. That's it.

By the way, if you're still debating the above three steps, and thinking they may not be correct, I have very little hope for your business. I'd rather put my money under my mattress than buy your product or invest in your company.

Some very smart people over at a (former?) Silicon Valley darling called Theranos are learning this now. It turns out a decade of operating in "stealth mode" can threaten billions in market cap.

What is Agile?

If you're not clear on what agile is, here's everything you need to know in a three-minute read:

In February of 2001, seventeen smart people got together in Snowbird, Utah. I suspect part of the reason for the timing was so they could write off a ski vacation; however, I have no evidence to back this up.

They managed to co-author a document together: the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. It is some smart stuff, you should read it.

But let's be clear: it says nothing about standup meetings or scrum masters.

What it does say is:

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over Processes and tools

Working software over Comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over Contract negotiation

Responding to change over Following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

The authors augmented the above with 12 principles that provide tips on how to put the values into action. They are super smart as well, and you should read them too.

But don't get worked up over whether your agile is "real."

Instead, get worked up over whether individuals are having interactions that enable them to regularly deliver working software. And whether your team is in the habit of changing plans as a result of interactions with actual customers.

If your organization's structures and processes support this, you're golden. If not, you're in trouble.

You'll need to document enough to create a consistent flow of quality software and keep your contracts lightweight enough that they don't get in the way of actually doing stuff.

Two rules of thumb for documentation practices are:

YAGNI (You Ain't Gonna Need It): Don't think too much about requirements you're not working on now, or in the next few weeks. Elaborate as you go because things are sure to change.

TAGRI (They Ain't Gonna Read It): Don't count on writing to communicate all the details. Instead, talk to each other and schedule regular check-ins.

After the Agile Manifesto became deservedly popular, a lot of people developed processes and tools (you remember what the manifesto says about those, right?) and put them under the capital-A-Agile umbrella. Some also retroactively added existing processes and tools "Agile" whether they deserved the moniker or not.

This activity gave birth to for-profit businesses and nonprofit governing bodies. Many of these so-called "agile" organizations became profoundly dysfunctional themselves, as the war for what was "real" agile raged on.

Following one or more of these "agile" brands -- Extreme Programming, Kanban, Scrum, Pair Programming, Test Driven Development, Scaled Agile Framework, and many, many others -- may help you create better products, or they may not.

That's up to you to figure out. Instead of getting religious about an agile brand, you should experiment, pause regularly to ask where you're falling short, and make some changes, hopefully for the better.

Try new things, get engaged, and most importantly, never lose sight of your customer.

There is some really smart work in these processes and tools, but what's most important is that you experiment and create your own way of doing things and that the people you work with feel ownership of the process and empowered to change what's not working.

Don't "adopt agile" instead build your own way of doing things that allows you to ship early and often, learn from your success or failure, and do better the next time.

A myopic focus on any one brand of agile will steer your thinking away from your customer and on to yourself.

That is the beginning of the agile end.

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2015-10-28-1446052797-7906711-thewhisper1blogpostgossip.jpg

Whether in the office, among friends or even strangers, gossip is something that we are exposed to every day.

The Oxford dictionary definition of gossip is: Casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details which are not confirmed as true: chiefly derogatory; a person who likes talking about other people's private lives.

Gossip can be extremely negative, as it is rarely founded on the truth, it's intentions are seldom honorable and it has the potential to cause a great deal of harm. Superficially, it can induce irritation, upset and hurt while at the deep end it can lead to complete character assassination, conflict and even death. People in the midst of gossip may say, "Oh, it's just harmless chit-chat." Gossip is rarely harmless as it is often based on a target: the "prey" of the gossip. One may ask, "Well how are we supposed to know what is going on without gossip?" This is where news comes in. News is based on facts and pertinent information. A professional and honourable news reporter will not write an article simply based on what someone told them, they will check out the facts and will ask questions before publishing a story for all to read.

Below are some key word reminders to help you differentiate between gossip and news:

Relevance: If, for example, it's a case of "I heard that John's wife left him for another man. She'd been having an affair for years," while you are discussing your next client presentation; what is the relevance of this statement to the conversation? Is John part of the team? If not, then this statement has no relevance or use. If yes, then of course if his performance has dropped there may be some relevance, however there is a way to handle personal situations professionally and there is no need for everyone to know all the details.

Facts: is the information being shared based on fact or on hearsay? Compare "There's a chance we're going to be made redundant next week. My boss just told me that the board meeting she attended on Monday ended with the decision that major cuts are going to be made the across middle office", with "I heard we're all going to get fired next week". What is the origin of the information? Is it a case of chinese-whispers or is it coming from a reliable witness?

Credibility: Is the person sharing this information a close friend or colleague who you believe has your best interest at heart? Is this someone who likes to discuss everyone's business and jumps to share the latest intrigue? What is their track record of honesty? How much do you trust them? How do you feel about their integrity? How do they treat other people?

Intention: Intention is, in my opinion, a key factor that helps decide whether information falls in the category of news or gossip. What do you believe the intention behind the disclosure of the information you are receiving is? Is this a sharing of pertinent news that is important or useful? If someone is discussing another person who is not present, what is the purpose of them being brought into the conversation? The body language of the informant can give you some tips. When sharing information about others is it open, do they have a positive tone of voice, or is their tone conspiratory and their body language furtive? Notice the words they are using when discussing others. Are they positive, factual, detrimental?

Feelings: Do you feel positive about hearing more on this topic, or anxious that if you hear more you will be prying or be part of something that is private and not for your ears. Do you feel that the sharer of information has the absent person's best interests at heart? There is a big difference between "I heard that Jean lost her job, I hope she's doing OK and wonder what we could do to help?" and "Did you hear that Elise and Gary got it on in the photocopying room last night". Do you feel these people have been brought into conversation in order for positive action to be taken or do you feel that there is another motivation? If the latter, read on.

Motivation: Sometimes people can feel insecure and try to make themselves seem knowledgeable and powerful by gossiping. Perhaps they are trying to impress you. They could be trying to gain favour with you by sharing private information about others that they think you might like to know. They may love to collect stories about others and by sharing with you, hope that you will release some private information to them that they can pass on. They may be driven by drama and intrigue or uninspired in their own lives and thus focused on the lives of others. Remember, no matter how nice they are, there is a strong likelihood that if they gossip about others to you, it will be hard for them to keep any private information you give them to themselves.

Ideas on how to extricate yourself from or neutralize gossip.

Be curious: Gently ask the person "What's the purpose of you sharing this with me?". If there is a call to action required you will find out very soon. If it's a case of pure juicy gossip, they will probably be left high and dry.

Change the topic: If someone says to you "I heard that Peter didn't make that promotion and that he had a big fight about it with his boss", you could reply with "Is that so?" and quickly point something out such as, "The sunrise was amazing this morning, did you see it?", or "Wow it was busy coming in to work today. What do you think about the new transport system?".

If the gossip persists: Excuse yourself and politely walk away and get on with something else more productive. This is more easily done when in a group. In a one-on-one situation, e.g. over lunch with a colleague, you could say something along the lines of "I'd much rather use our time together to hear about you and what's going on in your world".

If none of the gentle approaches work: Don't worry, I'm not about to suggest you rugby tackle the gossiper to the ground and sellotape their mouth closed! A kind but firm. "How do you know that to actually be true? Were you there at the time?" or "I'm not interested in hearing any more on this topic", should stop any gossiper in their tracks.

Few if any of us are immune to gossip and it can at times be tempting to join in, particularly in those grey areas between gossip and news. If ever in doubt of how to proceed I invite you to consider the words of the sufi master Rumi. Before speaking, ask yourself: Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?

Some questions to ponder:
How do you deal with gossip?
How do you differentiate between gossip and news?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions. Feel free to comment below. If you wish to contact me directly you can reach me at nesrin@nesrineverett.com or via my website

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The calendar has turned to that brief window where sports universes collide. Sports acronyms simultaneously compete for eyeballs as the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and NCAA offer full slates of games. More than ever, fans attending games will be interrupted by extended "TV timeouts" while those at home are blasted with ads for remedies to diseases they didn't know existed. Chris Rock's "Robitussin" is a thing of the past. New advertisers and new money have flooded sports television as audience consistency makes it irresistible for advertisers. Costs are staggering -- top 30-second slots are going for over $650,000. With risks escalating, the question remains why so many marketers get it wrong. Here are the most common mistakes and why marketers should care.

Mistake No. 1: Repetitive Creative. Sports is uniquely able to retain a longitudinal audience with the same consumers watching for define periods of time. Yet, advertisers treat each exposure as unique. The result exposes the same creative to the same people repeatedly. How many times do we need to see the same Chevy ad before it is or isn't effective? Or, how many times is too many for a non-differentiated fantasy sports spot? Beyond a lack of investment in creative, a culture of overbuying has emerged. Advertisers in growth sectors like fantasy sports and new pharmaceuticals are "investing" in brand building with less regard to clear effectiveness. At best, this is just a waste of money. At worst, it bores consumers and increases negatives perspectives.

Why it matters: Failure to deploy fresh creative skews reach and frequency metrics wasting media dollars. More troubling, as programmatic television advertising becomes reality, marketers will be expected to manage consumer messaging on a micro-level. If marketers can't fill a few slots on a Sunday night, how will they take advantage of more specific exposures? To be effective moving forward brands will need a stable of creative to both build interest and avoid ad wear out.

Mistake No. 2: Contextual Misalignment. Marketers are increasingly focused on delivering the right message to the right consumer at the right time. Sports marketers seem immune to this trend. Setting aside the "county fair" creative, Cialis ads linked to inspired passion fall flat when the real anticipation is whether kicker hits the field goal. To be fair, the pizza marketers have it figured out. They know the biggest decision of the game is which toppings to order not when to take off a top.

Why it matters: As costs for sports continues to increase, the cost-benefit equation will become distorted. Advertising needs to produce results. Sports marketers advertising in vacuums divorced from the purchase decision will flop. In the end, an audience of non-buyers isn't valuable. The sports bubble will burst if there isn't a way to activate preference.

Mistake No. 3: Falling for Stereotypes. Sports broadcasts appeal to marketers with their ability to reach male consumers. Advertisers trip over themselves to show manly images of trucks, macho fantasy sports and male enhancement. Yet, women remain a sizeable part of the sports audience, accounting for 40-45 percent of the audience and representing the greatest growth opportunity. Further, sports broadcasts are perhaps the biggest opportunities to reach both male and female heads of households in the same experience. Rather than create balanced and inclusive creative, advertisers take the easy path and appeal to only half the audience.

Why it matters: Sports increasingly market themselves as family experiences. Parents everywhere are tired of explaining erectile dysfunction to their kids as they try to make sports a family event. Adam Wainwright hit the note right with his call for restraint. In the rush to break through the clutter, advertisers risk going beyond ignoring the audience to alienating it.

Underlying these mistakes is an aggressive shift of marketing dollars to "above the line" investments. In simple terms, advertisers buying more media and investing fewer resources in less glamorous execution capabilities. As the dollars continue to climb and financial questions become more pointed, advertisers will need to account for their decisions. The question is whether solutions come from within the marketing team or if pressure will come from outside.

This post originally appeared on LinkedIn.

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Millennials started reaching adulthood around the year 2000 and organizations have been racking their marketing brains trying to figure out how to get and keep this demographic. And it is an important demographic to recruit as Baby Boomers, which make up the majority of most membership groups in the United States, are retiring at a rate of 10,000 per day and this rapid exodus will continue for 14 more years (Newsmax.com, 2010).

Research is coming out left and right trying to dissect this generation. The best research often comes from just asking Millennials what it is they want and need from an organization.

Millennials are born between 1982 - 2004.

The biggest question that Millennials have when considering joining an organization like a YMCA or a professional career-oriented organization is, "Do I Belong?" So how does a non-profit go about showing this group that they do belong? It starts with change. You can't keep doing things the old way because that's how it has always been done and think they should adapt. They're not buying that. The reality is change or die slowly on the vine.

What Not To Do
1) This generation is not about paying their dues long term, so don't give them a boring menial task and expect them to hang around. This is a group that wants to feel important, because their time here on earth is valuable and they want to make every minute count by making real connections. That doesn't mean taking minutes at a meeting.

2) Don't try to sell to them directly. They are suspicious of solicitations and often view direct sales tactics as untrustworthy. Instead make your brand ever present on social media and display your value, don't tell them. Show them. Invite them to connect with you and they will find you.

3) Don't call and don't leave messages. Utilize texting as a method of informing. Text messages are more favorable than phone calls with this group. When in doubt, ask!

Use hashtags at events and let the Millennials advertise your organization for you on social media. Then retweet or repost their posts.

What To Do
1) Millennials want to be part of something meaningful, where they can make a difference in the world. Invite them to take part in a community or charity event. BONUS POINTS: Have someone they admire invite them personally.

2) Provide experiences. This is the selfie and usie generation. They will market your organization for you. Provide relative hastags in obvious places and selfie-walls. Everyone wants an interesting Instagram feed and Snapchat.

3) Offer subscription donations where they can automatically give a little each month to your worthy cause, make sure they can do it via your website, it's easy to find on there and simple to use. Take this a step further and challenge your corporate membership to match the giving of younger individual members.

Millennials will join your organization for you to solve their problem and they will renew their membership with your organization when you have solved their problem. These are just a few ideas and suggestions from Janice Celeste's seminar, Millennial Magnetism. Celeste speaks to organizations nationally regarding Millennial recruitment and retention. Interested in hearing more? Contact Celeste via WeSpeakWorldwide.com.

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If you're an entrepreneur, at some point or another, you may consider hiring a business coach to help you build or grow your business. You've probably heard a lot of great stories of how business coaches have helped their clients through numerous blocks to reach great levels of success. But you've probably also heard some horror stories of unsuspecting entrepreneurs who pay their last five grand to a coach who ends up being incompetent and ineffective. So how do you navigate the world of business coaches out there to pick one that can actually help you?

Let's start by clarifying what coaching actually is. Coaching is a process to help a client achieve certain results using certain strategies, which means that the buyer is part of the product. Unlike buying something off-the-shelf, a service that involves the clients' buy-in for the transformation to occur is relying on what the client brings to the table. Think of it as similar to the profession of teaching. Teachers work with all different types of students from those who are gifted in particular areas to students who struggle with certain subjects. The same is true with a coach. From the outside, it's hard to tell how much of the end result is a due to a coach's abilities and expertise and how much of it has to do with the client's efforts and synthesis and assimilation from the coaching process. In addition, some clients come in at much higher levels of business experience and expertise than others.

The question most people want answered when they are looking to hire a coach is whether a particular coach can help them get from point A to point B. Since coaching does depend on the client as well, the only way that question can be answered is by getting on a discovery call and for both the coach and client to determine whether their working together will help the client go from point A to B. Now even if it appears that way at the beginning, circumstances can change and one or both parties may not be able to make that happen. To top it off, there are numerous circumstances outside of both peoples' control that could also influence outcomes.

The most important thing then is to determine whether there are tested processes and strategies that can be applied in any number of scenarios to yield better outcomes than what the client has achieved on their own. It is true that there are coaches as well as clients who are not a good fit for the process. There are coaches who over-promise and under-deliver or are just not great at what they do. There are also clients who project their ability to do things at a much greater level than they are willing or able to do.

The combination of an ineffective coach with an unmotivated client is going to lead to undesired results. Conversely, the most effective coach paired with a highly motivated client can yield incredible results. An effective coach working with an unmotivated client may be able to help the client make some progress from where they are. An ineffective coach with a motivated client probably can't do much harm and the end result may be mostly to the credit of the client.

When you are evaluating coaches, be honest about your own ability to take action and synthesize information. Remember the old adage, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink." Equally importantly though, if you are a motivated client who has high expectations, remember the saying "If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur."

What does this mean? If you're a client looking for a business coach, don't be afraid to ask questions. If you don't know what questions to ask, here are a few. What areas of business do you help with: marketing, branding, strategy, social media, public speaking, accounting, legal, etc.? Do you help with mindset, money blocks, and non-traditional business areas (topics not covered in a typical MBA program)? What else do you offer? What are your credentials? What business experience do you have? What is your experience with coaching? What makes you different from other business coaches?

Aside from just listening to the answers, pay attention to how you feel when you're speaking with a potential coach. Be honest with the coach you are speaking with about whether you are checking out programs offered by other coaches as well. Be courteous and let the coaches you've talked to know if you won't be purchasing their program. Coaches work with many people and may save a spot for you in their schedule if they think you are interested in working with them. If you don't think they are the right fit or if you don't want to pursue coaching at this time, let them know. If you feel comfortable and confident while you are on the discovery call and you know that working together can help you achieve those otherwise elusive goals, you are on your way to making an investment that could help you take your business to levels you wouldn't have been able to do on your own.

Coaches know that discovery calls are the best way for a coach and client to determine whether they can create results together. Don't let bad discovery call experiences (with coaches who've tried to strong-arm you into buying something you don't want or are not ready for) keep you from working with coaches that are genuine and do great work. There are effective and ineffective people in every profession. If you had a bad experience with one dentist, it doesn't mean that you should never go to a dentist again. The same is true with a coach.

Don't deny yourself the chance at getting the help and accountability you need out of fear of working with the wrong coach. Do your homework. Good coaches allow you to ask questions and make the decision that feels right for you because they need you to take responsibility throughout the entire process. If you need to read lots of content, see testimonials, or check out a coach's website multiple times to learn about their programs even before you schedule a discovery call, that's fine. You need to do what works for you. You'll know when something feels right and when it doesn't. Learn to trust your gut. Business coaching is a tool. If used properly, it can help you build a very successful business.

Prema Srinivasan helps service-based entrepreneurs find their profitable niche by assisting them to identify the intersection of their passions, skills, and market demand. With an MBA and over 15 years of experience in marketing and business strategy, Prema helps her clients create powerful strategies for success. www.richnichebizcoaching.com

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An innovative methodology to measure the positive environmental benefits, including a net reduction in carbon dioxide, for an investment strategy provides a meaningful new tool for investors.

Impact Investing Options
Investors choose funds for many different reasons. Some seek growth, others income. Some investors opt for low cost index tracking funds while many are looking for diversification strategies that demonstrate low correlation with other investments in their portfolios.

In recent years we have seen another significant driver emerge as many individuals, endowments and pension funds increasingly seek to align their investments with their values and mission. With concerns about climate change and related investment risks becoming better understood and more widespread among investors, managers and advisors are frequently asked about the environmental impact of investment strategies.

Many asset classes (such as infrastructure, venture capital and debt) now commonly use positive impact metrics. However, listed equity products have been slow to adopt a more sophisticated positive approach and typically look at only negative risks; often with overly simplistic or qualitative techniques including carbon foot-printing. So we set out to change this and to measure not just the negatives but to bring the language and quantitative evidence of positive impact metrics to a listed equity fund.

Maximizing Returns and Positive Impact
The primary objective of Impax's [small/mid cap] "Specialists" strategy is to maximize financial returns within a universe of pure play - or specialist - companies active in the resource optimization and environmental markets. These markets include energy efficiency, renewable energy, water, resource recovery, food, agriculture and forestry. While we own shares in these companies for their long term growth potential, we always assumed their commercial activities had a positive environmental impact.

However, reasonable assumptions need to be tested. Accordingly, we established a process, underpinned by a rigorous methodology that has been independently verified by EY, to assess the net environmental impact of each holding at the company level, and then attributed a portion to the portfolio based on our percentage equity ownership.

By way of example, let's consider the environmental impact of Kingspan, a global leader in high performance insulation and building fabrics delivering energy efficiency solutions across a broad range of sectors. The following data refers to the company's activities in 2013:

Kingspan's high efficiency building materials reduce energy consumption significantly. However, the manufacturing process produces emissions of 0.1m metric tonnes of CO2 per year. This carbon footprint would eliminate Kingspan from many 'Low Carbon' strategies. But the lifespan of the installed material is many years, and the energy saved over this period more than offsets the carbon emissions of the manufacturing process, resulting in 1.6m metric tonnes net avoided CO2 emissions.

At the end of 2013, Impax's strategy owned 1.4% of Kingspan's shares. In our portfolio calculation we attribute a corresponding amount of CO2 reductions to the strategy. (In this case 22,500 net metric tonnes; 1.4% of the 1.6 million net tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided through the use of Kingspan's products).

Applying that methodology to the entire portfolio reveals that over the last year its holdings have avoided 1,101,000 metric tonnes of CO2 - which is equivalent to taking 494,000 cars off the road¹.

In addition, we have been able to estimate that every $1 million invested in the strategy over the period has delivered²:
- 900 metric tonnes net negative carbon emissions, equivalent to taking ~400 cars off the road1
- 700 MWh of renewable electricity generated, enough for over 100 average households
- 79 million gallons of water treated, enough for over 1000 households
- 650 metric tonnes of waste recycled and treated, approximately that of over 400 households.

Many strategies today have had a strong positive intention regarding environmental impacts built into their investment process. By adding quantitative metrics to the investment reporting process we can offer investors a much clearer understanding of the positive environmental outcomes of their allocation; a process that the larger industry would benefit from adopting.

Investment advisors and discretionary managers can use these additional reporting metrics to help clients seeking to decarbonise their portfolios, offset high emissions in alternative strategies, or simply to improve their understanding of the extent of the positive outcomes of their investment decision. We would encourage other managers to offer similar metrics so that investors are better able to evaluate the true impact of their equity investments.

¹ Environmental impact was translated into everyday equivalents using the UK Green Investment Bank's calculator.
² Based on most recently reported annual impact data for holdings in the portfolio as of 12/31/2014.

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Everybody has that friend. That guy or gal who never keeps a commitment. You ask them to do something, maybe they offer to help you with something, come out for a drink or send you an email with some information. They NEVER do it.

We humans are pretty smart. We quickly learn that this person cannot be relied on. It doesn't take long until you completely quit relying on this person for anything. You may even chuckle to yourself when they make a commitment because you know they are never going to do what they said they are going to do. You quickly lose all trust. You no longer have any expectations.

The same thing can happen with yourself. When you constantly procrastinate, or put off doing the little things (and the big things) you know you must do to become successful, you lose trust in yourself.

When it comes time to do something, you say to yourself, "Meh, I'll do that first thing tomorrow."

Tomorrow comes and you say, "Maybe I'll get to that next week."

Next week you don't do it. You quit even recognizing that you're failing yourself. You become a habitual procrastinator. Just like with that friend, you lose all trust in yourself. You no longer believe that you will get anything done. You no longer trust yourself. You lose hope that you are going to achieve your dreams.

That sucks.

When it's somebody else, you can't control their actions. But you have complete control of yourself. Here are three simple steps to stop procrastinating so you can trust yourself again and become the person you want to be and achieve everything that is important to you.

1. Make a list

This is pretty simple, but critical. If you don't have a clear list of the things you need to do, you won't even know what you're procrastinating. Use any of the billions of apps (it doesn't matter which one, they all get the job done), a sheet of paper or an ink pen on your arm (or your leg if you have a really long list). Use a simple method to get that list down.

Don't think too much about the logistics, just do it. Don't spend hours researching the "best productivity app." Spending hours researching apps is another form of procrastination. Then you'd be procrastinating stopping procrastinating and that's really bad. Pick a method as quickly as you can and put down everything you need to do.

You're tracking system only needs three elements:

A brief description of the task

The date by which it needs to be done

A way to "check it off" when it's complete

2. Do the things on the list

This seems pretty obvious -- and it is. Just get the things done. Don't worry about this or that. Don't try to make everything perfect. Just get the things done. There's no big secret to be revealed here. You just have to get the things done.

Life is going to get in the way. It always does. If something comes up that needs your attention, maybe a kid emergency, a work emergency or some leaky plumbing, you'll have to move away from your to-do list and address it. That's OK. It's perfectly fine to address the real issues that we all face in life that need to be placed ahead of the items on your list.

Don't ignore the list and don't get frustrated. Take a look at the list and move the date to the next day, the next week or whenever you can fit it in. Be totally OK with the fact that something happened and you addressed the issue according to your priorities in life. Then just reschedule your tasks. It's not a bad thing, it's part of living life as a human being on planet earth. Things come up, you address them, and then you get back to your list.

3. Recognize your accomplishments

At the end of the day, look at all the items you crossed off your list. Look at your list and celebrate how much you got done. Look at the list and know that you were a productive person; not a procrastinator.

If you had "life stuff" come up, recognize that too. Be glad that you addressed the circumstances of life according to your values. If you had a sick kid, you took care of her and that was the right priority.

The most important thing is to go to bed feeling like a person who gets stuff done. Go to bed every day knowing that you had a good, productive day and you will very quickly stop feeling like a procrastinator and you'll be more confident. You'll regain trust in yourself, which is critical for success in business and life.

You can stop procrastinating. Just decide today that you are no longer a procrastinator and follow these three simple steps to become a productive person who gets stuff done every day.

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