Quantcast
Channel: Business Blog on The Huffington Post
Viewing all 3381 articles
Browse latest View live

The Irony Behind the Starbucks Red Cup 'Controversy'

$
0
0
When Starbucks changed their festive coffee cups from Christmas-themed to plain red this past weekend, some of America's socially conservative Christians went up-in-arms full of coffee mugs about the corporate caffeinated beverage purveyor's lack of respect for the birth of America's Lord and Savior.

Starbucks quickly realized PC culture has become so PC, that being PC is now offensive to people.

Their decision to forego secular images of snowflakes is a blatant disregard of the birth of Jesus, even though he was born in a desert.

In fact, scientific and historical research shows that Jesus was born on June 17; the Christmas star was possibly a conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, which were so close together they would have shone unusually brightly as a single 'beacon of light'; and December 25 was likely chosen as the date to celebrate Christ's birth, because the church determined it aligned closely with a major pagan festival, which allowed the church to claim a new celebration for Christianity.

The new red cups, combined with the green and white Starbucks logo, actually comprise Christmas colors. This is arguably more Christmas-themed than previous cups that contained more seasonal-inspired depictions of snow, ornaments and nature that's more reminiscent of winter than Christmas itself.

Regardless, Americans clearly strive to live the ideals of Christmas, through holiday-inspired commercialization and Black Friday sales that force the most dedicated gift-givers to pummel each other in an intense competition for material goods for the sake of cheerful generosity.

By removing snowflakes from their cups, how are people supposed to know it's holiday season and embody its spirit by being decent people to each other? Customers reliant on deriving their festive jolly from their seasonal peppermint mochas are clearly distraught about this monumental change in coffee containment.

On a positive note, this is the first time social conservatives have shown legitimate concern for the disappearance of snow.

Maybe this is the first step toward the Republicans accepting climate change as a fact and not a conspiracy made up by the liberal media and scientists who professionally study weather patterns in an effort to make U.S. corporations less competitive than China.

This "War on Christmas" needs to end, as Americans should be more sensitive to socially conservative Christians' God-given right to use their religion to disregard other people's beliefs and culture.

Donald Trump acknowledged their frustration at a campaign rally in Springfield, Ill.

He's calling for a boycott on Starbucks, even though the Trump Tower in New York hosts the single most successful Starbucks franchise in the history of coffee shops.

He also promised as president, we will be saying, "Merry Christmas." Americans can trust that a vote for Trump is a vote for absolutely no change in our holiday salutations.

Christianity is blatantly under siege in America:



This isn't the first time America's "Moral Majority" has voiced their concern about the liberal PC culture slowly eroding their way of life.

Target received considerable backlash in August when whey decided to merge the boy and girl sections in an effort to forego gender delineations. They argued this newly established gender-neutral section will confuse shoppers who are dependent on "boys" and "girls" signs to separate a G.I. Joe action figure from a Barbie doll.

They were also offended when Oreo released a digital ad portraying a cookie with rainbow-colored stuffing, or when Cheerios aired a commercial depicting a multiracial family.

When Jesus laid out the Golden Rule, he called for every human to treat each other like they want to be treated. He also stated through numerous parables that we are all unique creations of God and no one should judge each other.

He clearly meant that Americans should use these teachings as a way to discriminate against people of different backgrounds. We should treat our spiteful Christian brothers and sisters with respect so they can reciprocate the favor by imposing their morality to erode our country's burgeoning diversity.

The real irony behind this is that these Evangelical conservatives broadcast a nationally boisterous disdain for political correctness, claiming that America is becoming sissified, but they're the ones who become the most offended over issues, such as LGBT rights or respecting other religions, that have absolutely little to no impact on their personal lives.

Projection, much?

This is just another clear example of the Christian persecution, victim complex in America.

Free market capitalism is supposed to be a staple of American life, and the Starbucks Red Cup campaign is a prime example of a business responding to consumer demand and a changing market landscape.

Unfortunately, for those who are bitter about the growing rejection of the antiquated Great Awakening moral purity in America, this country is becoming more diverse and inclusive and these promotions are reflective of this cultural shift.

For people who claim to love America, social conservatives sure hate a lot of things about it... infidels.

-- 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.












A "Like" for Mark Zuckerberg

$
0
0
A version of this article appeared on my regular column in The Indian Express.

"India is personally very important to the history of our company." Who would have thought that the path of spiritual discovery through India would be so well-trodden by so many among the global mighty? Allen Ginsburg, George Harrison, Steve Jobs; and, with that admission, Mark Zuckerberg follows in their footsteps. India can legitimately take credit for playing its part in shaping The Beats to The Beatles, Apple Records to Apple Computer; and, now, the 1.5 billion strong nation of Facebookistan.

Indeed, Zuck's love affair with India is far from over. He lost the hoodie, rendered himself unrecognizable in a suit and hugged Modi during the Prime Minister's recent tour of Silicon Valley. A few weeks later he popped up in India, clad, in the more familiar banian, strutting and fretting upon the stage at IIT-Delhi. The business case for Zuck's hugging of India should come as no surprise. With 134.5 million users in July of 2015 anticipated to balloon to 269.5 million by 2019, according to eMarketer, this will be Facebook's largest market. Indians already offer Facebook the largest user base for its subsidiary, Whatsapp, so popular among both the auntie class and my high school class of middle-aged men for trading naughty jokes. India is very important not just to the history, but also for the future of his company.

Zuckerberg's mission is, however, bigger than that of the chief executive paying a courtesy call to his largest customer base. India is also home to a large chunk of the 4.5 billion people on the planet who cannot be his customers because they have no Internet access. He was here to also sell Facebook's year-old project, Internet.org, now re-branded as Free Basics, that promises the digitally excluded Internet access that is both free and basic. The service has already reached a billion people in 19 countries.

Far from being nominated for sainthood, the poor fellow is being pilloried for his efforts. He has run afoul of those clamoring for net neutrality, or equal treatment for all traffic on the Internet. After all, Free Basics is designed to offer free access to a select set of websites like a "lite version" of Facebook, Wikipedia, and others, along with a limited number of content services on mobile phones. No doubt, as more people get this access, Facebook itself will be one of the biggest beneficiaries. A Mobile Africa 2015 study finds that Facebook is the most popular phone activity for those who get access to the Internet. In India, 58 percent of those surveyed by Geopoll and Jana even believe that Facebook IS the Internet. All this is causing more yikes than "likes" in response to Zuckerberg's initiatives.

There appear to be four principal quarrels with Zuckerberg: First, the initiative will create a digital caste system: those with access to the entire Internet (yes, including even those 857 briefly banned porn sites) while the rest with access only to a walled-in ghetto. Second, when Facebook offers free Internet, it has a private motive, not charity in mind and will corner the Internet depriving the next billion of its many wonders. Third, Facebook has no skin in the game; it is free-riding off the telcos. Fourth, there are already public policy plans to provide full Internet access to those who do not have them.

Here is where I believe Zuck is right and his critics are wrong. Consider each of the four principal concerns.



The real digital caste system is where 80 percent is totally excluded from what the 20 percent enjoys: Is it better for a society to provide access of some kind to more people, or should a guarantee of absolute principles of net neutrality come first - regardless of whether it deters private initiative to provide free access? Only 19.2 percent of the Indian population has Internet access. This means accepting a tradeoff: even a limited form of access through initiatives like Free Basics is a better alternative to no access, especially given the size of the excluded population and how much is foregone by those on the wrong side of the digital divide. As long as Internet access is stuck at 20 percent, concerns of net neutrality that affect only this tiny minority seem horrendously elitist.

It is better to have the private sector invest in inclusion for core business reasons than for charity or CSR: Despite its size, India is not even among the top 10 e-commerce markets in the world; China's e-commerce market is 80 times as large. The country has tremendous headroom for growth. Given this context, it comes as little surprise that digital businesses -- Facebook, among others -- have the motivation to improve Internet awareness and access. In the Harvard Business Review, my co-author, Ravi Chaturvedi and I argue that India has one of the highest potentials for growth if the critical bottleneck of Internet access improves. Of 50 countries in our "Digital Planet" study, India is among the countries with the lowest Internet penetration rates; it has one of the highest mobile Internet gaps (difference between mobile phone owners and those with Internet access); and finally, it is one of the faster-moving countries in terms of the pace of its digital evolution overall. To an investor, this combination of factors would make India one of the most attractive markets - not just for Facebook, but for venture capital and private equity investors as well. In fact, we find that India has been among the top destinations for private equity investments in the digital space since 2011. Commercial interest - in Facebook's case, more users and, perhaps, future purchasers of products - is more reliable as a motivator than charity or CSR. Unless it is fulfills a government mandate, charity is not a reliably sustainable source of funding and is among the first part of the budget to be cut when belts need to be tightened.

Will Facebook corner the Internet? It can certainly be a gigantic absorber of the new user's time and attention. But, eventually, the value of what else is out there - even in a limited setting -- will draw out the curious. Some will even purchase full access as disposable incomes rise because of the mere awareness of the wider Internet. Past experience with giving people even limited awareness of the Internet and access to knowledge and productive tools that are contextually relevant ought to give us confidence that it is better to make a modest start than wait indefinitely for perfect solutions.

Zuck is taking on risk investing in India:
While India's user base is large its current economic contribution is tiny. Facebook will generate $16.3 billion in worldwide advertising revenue in 2015, with India accounting for no more than a mere $122 million. Roughly half of the Indians with Internet access get online only via basic 2G phones, according to research group Convergency Catalyst. Whether Free Basics experiences meaningful adoption or whether it becomes an on-ramp to purchasing full-blown Internet access is still unclear; it will take quite some time for the company to see tangible financial returns from the initiative. I would expect that Facebook's approach to India is that it is investing for the longer-term. Meanwhile, back in Silicon Valley, it has also launched "2G Tuesdays," to give employees the experience of slow Internet connections, to help them understand the frustrations of 2G users and, perhaps, spark innovations in making the apps work faster. Personally, I am happy to see patient money being invested in an age where hot money rules.

In the meantime, public policy led initiatives are slow-moving and muddled:
The government's Digital India is an ambitious grand plan with nine pillars and will be a painfully slow-moving process. The aim to provide publicly-run facilities for Common Service Centers for Internet access, at least one in every village, was first approved in 2006 and is still on a slow march. The mobile infrastructure is already inadequate. Before more people get on the Internet on their phones, more spectrum is needed.

In the meantime, the government has made some reactionary moves in terms of Internet freedoms. Proposals that would have empowered security agencies to monitor private chats on social media and mobile messaging services have mercifully been shelved. The policy was viewed as an infringement on the privacy of ordinary citizens and business confidentiality by mandating that online communication for social media and messaging apps like WhatsApp be stored in plain text for 90 days. The public alternative to private sector initiatives do not give us an enormous amount of confidence that the digital gap will be closed in the foreseeable future.

So if India is getting Zucked, I think it is a good thing. "It's incredible what people can build -- and what love can motivate us to build," Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page recently. He was writing, of course, about his visit to the Taj Mahal. Within 40 minutes of posting the obligatory picture of himself looking at the ultimate monument to love, the post received close to 150,000 likes and 5,000 comments. Hopefully, if not love, I do hope that Zuck gets a few likes for his other labors. I, personally, cannot do so; I am not on Facebook.



Bhaskar Chakravorti is Senior Associate Dean of International Business & Finance at Tufts University's Fletcher School. He's also the founding Executive Director of the Institute for Business in the Global Context and author of The Slow Pace of Fast Change.

-- 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.











Wednesday Reversal: G20 Hopes Trump Bad Data

$
0
0


More bad news from Japan and China. 




Industrial Production in China was once again revised lower - to 5.6% Growth from 5.7% in September while Fixed Asset Investments were only up 10.2%, slowing from 10.3% and, while these seem like good numbers, they are the slowest annual pace in over 20 years!  The Chinese Government's official PMI figure came in at 49.8 in October - still contracting while the private Markit Survey measured worse, at 48.2.




China's Shanshui Cement will be the next major corporation to default on their bonds, heading into default on $314M next Thursday.  Shao Jiamin, who heads HFT Investment Management (China's top bond fund) predicts "a substantial correction in riskier debt as the restart of initial public offerings drives money back into shares."  Any collapse could damp Chinese investors’ enthusiasm for fixed-income, just as President Xi Jinping seeks to create a stable fundraising platform for small businesses and maintain access to financing for state-led infrastructure projects.   




Just to the east of China, Japanese Business Confidence is down for the 3rd consecutive month to a 2.5-year low at 3, down more than 50% from 7 in September reflecting fears that a China-led slowdown in overseas demand may have pushed the economy into recession.  The poor poll results will be followed by government data out on Monday, which is expected to show the economy slipped back into recession through September due to a drop in capital spending in the face of weak foreign and domestic demand.




 Meanwhile, Japan’s three biggest lenders will probably report a drop in second-quarter profit after Asia’s economic slowdown weakened overseas loan growth and global financial-market volatility crimped fee businesses.  Combined net income at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. and Mizuho Financial Group Inc. fell 24 percent from a year earlier to 597 billion yen ($4.8 billion) in the three months ended Sept. 30, according to calculations based on the average of five analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.




Portugal's center-right Government has toppled just two weeks after it was formed and an anti-austerity coalition has formed to challenge the EU over terms of their $85Bn bail-out.  




This forces the EU to battle anti-austerity forces on two fronts just as Greece's loans are back up for rollovers (we only kicked the can 6 months down the road last time we "fixed" Greece and now it's time to kick it again).  




Nonetheless, Western investors are BUYBUYBUYing stocks this morning as the G20 promises "inclusive and robust growth" and, by promises, I mean they are putting up billboards in an effort to keep the people feeling good about Christmas shopping - despite their current economic struggles.  Yes, things are always going to get better - we even tell that to people who are dying, don't we?  








The worse the data is, the more investors believe we will have more QE and more stimulus and, in fact, that is the theme of the G20 as the call is for the 20 Nations to do MORE to stimulate their economies, so the bad data couldn't have come at a better time - if you are a corporate citizen seeking more government welfare, that is.  




As it stands, with about 2/3 of the companies having reported for Q3, both earnings and revenues have been simply sad, with 5 sectors up and 7 sectors down and enough so that the overall earnings of the S&P 500 are down 3.5% from last quarter, when the S&P plunged from 2,100 to 1,850 after earnings in late-August.  Fortunately, it's only Nov 11th - so why worry?  








One big lesson our members have learned this year at PSW is that it's a lot easier to get good prices for your position if you cash them out BEFORE the market begins to collapse.  Days like today (as we re-test the highs) can be ideal for cashing in those long positions and adding a few shorts.  After all, if the Banksters are going to fake a rally - we may as well take advantage of it! 




As noted by Dave Fry, there are just eight (8) stocks in the S&P that have accounted for more than all of its gains this year - without them, the entire index would be negative.  Now THAT is a thin rally!  




11-10-2015 5-32-27 PM




The volume on yesterday's move up was a joke and this morning we're being pushed even higher in the Futures, back to 1,190 on the Russell (/TF) and 19.800 on the Nikkei (/NKD) along with 2,085 on the S&P (/ES), 17,800 on the Dow (/YM) and 4,660 on the Nasdaq (/NQ).  I listed the Russell and Nikkei first as they are going to be our key shorts - providing the others stay below their lines.




With just 17 days to go before Black Friday, it's going to be a very interesting holiday season and I'm very, very glad we're mainly in cash.




Anything below 10,500 in the NYSE is BAD and watch out for the Dow failing to hold 17,586 or the S&P failing at 2,063 but neither likely today as we got a nice boost while no one was trading:








 

-- 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.











Honoring Veterans

$
0
0
In the past, companies thanked military veterans with meals or discounts on Veterans Day and now, in part because of Social Media, we are all aware of free oil changes, meals, and even car rebates - some of which are good year round and not just on Veterans Day. Yet, not many people know that there are significant tax return benefits for troops as well. For some reason, these tax deductions, credits, and special benefits specifically available to our military don't seem to get the same hype as a free cheeseburger. This blog is dedicated to all the brave people that are serving or defend our constitution and our country from enemies both foreign and domestic - we honor you and thank you for your service.

To obtain the biggest refund you are due, it's important to become familiar with the deductions, credits, and benefits you are entitled to so you know how to maximize your tax situation. One of the most important IRS publications related to military service is the IRS Publication 3 - Armed Forces' Tax Guide. This guide is a great place to start as it contains a summary and overview of all of the tax considerations related to military service and what would be applicable to each service member. It outlines many individual tax considerations consisting of income inclusion or exclusion, implications of serving in a combat zone, special deductions available only to service members, tax credits and other deductions and other tax situations that are unique to military personnel.

The IRS web site has many resources, topics, and other publications regarding military service as well. Go to IRS.gov and search for "military," or go directly to http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Military. There you will find greater help on topics and categories such as Special Earned Income Tax Credit or EITC rules, information for active military members, retired veterans' considerations, employers with employees in a combat zone, tax return extensions, and much more.

Obviously, there are so many different tax considerations and potential tax return benefits available to our military service taxpayers that one blog cannot cover them all. So many so that even a good tax preparer can miss an appropriate deduction or deserved credit, if they don't have all the information from the taxpayer. If you prepare your own taxes or use packaged software then awareness of the tax benefits that may apply to you is even more important. One of the best ways to avoid missing a deduction or credit is to gain a general understanding of the tax benefits that may apply to you. Having this information will help you gather the right paperwork, organize your records appropriately, and even help you ask the right questions of your tax preparer.

Participation in the service - defending the freedoms and safety of this country - is a very noble contribution and tax benefits are just a small token of thanks for your service.

-- 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 Three Reasons Why 2016 Will Be a Breakthrough Year for Virtual Reality-Based Marketing

$
0
0
Sometime in 2016, marketers are going to add a new phrase to their lexicon: viral Virtual Reality (VR) experience. And the competition to be first in viral VR will be intense.

Someone's brand is always the first to go viral. In 2005, when YouTube was still a curiosity, Nike released a video featuring soccer star Ronaldinho's crossbar challenge that became arguably the first branded viral video. While other brands' videos have since videos garnered more views, Nike gets to claim a "first" in marketing history.

When it comes to making VR marketing history, in order to earn such a designation, a brand will have to create an experience on a VR device that's so compelling that others will have to try it out.

Savvy publishers are already seeing the potential. In early November, The New York Times shipped Google Cardboard devices to its 1.1 million print-and-digital subscribers. Many got their first taste of VR via "The Displaced," a multimedia experience that detailed the plight of child refugees, and an ad for sponsor GE.

Why will 2016 be a breakthrough year in VR-based marketing? There are three key reasons:

1. Four VR headsets will be on the market. Oculus, now a unit of Facebook, may be the most famous company that doesn't actually have a product on the market. However, sometime in the first quarter of next year (the company hasn't floated a specific date), the Oculus Rift will retail for more than $350. That's not the only VR device, though. In 2016, consumers will also be able to buy the Merge VR headset for $130, the HTC Vive (rumored to be around $300) and the Sony Morpheus (no price yet.) Between the four, analysts project sales of 12.2 million units in the first year, and that's not even including Google Cardboard, which could act like a gateway to these more elaborate (and expensive) VR experiences. Media companies will quickly fill the void with content. As we've seen, The New York Times is eager to be the first out of the gate.

2. Brands are already all over VR.
Considering how few people can actually access VR, it's surprising how many brands have already released VR experiences. The list includes brands such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Marriott, Volvo, and Virgin Holidays. Most CMOs these days are hyper-aware of new media platforms, though. The costs to develop a VR experience are as low as $50,000 and the costs of missing out on the next big platform is too high.

3. It's an ideal storytelling platform. VR provides an immersive experience that will make movies look two-dimensional. When you get sucked into a movie, you are still aware of your immediate surroundings and the gap between you and the screen. With VR, that disappears and you, the viewer, are actually taking part in the action. This is an ideal platform on which brands can tell stories that have emotional impact. The natural inclination after such an experience will be to evangelize and tell friends that they need to try it as well. Facebook's backing of Oculus will provide an ideal mechanism for such sharing.

Making VR Marketing History


All of these reasons make it likely that someone's brand is going to create the first viral VR experience in 2016. Up until now, there haven't been enough devices on the market to make that possible. The market has been too small. Now, savvy brands are thinking hard about how to create a compelling VR experience. One of those brands will make marketing history in 2016.

-- 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.











7 Behaviors Top Business Leaders Share that Turns Up the Accountability Dial Inside Their Companies

$
0
0
Great businesses are built on teams that take full ownership of individual responsibilities. Too many businesses let people slide by partially doing things, and accepting excuses for delays and mistakes that could have been avoided.

A culture of accountability is one of the most valuable institutional habits that your business can form, and for better or worse, it starts with you.

If you don't move heaven and earth to honor your word and meet all your commitments, your team will learn that they don't have to either.

Here are seven time-tested tips on your role in creating accountability in your company:

Clarify your commitments in writing at the end of every meeting.

Not only does this make sure that you've captured all your action items, but it is also a powerful way to role model how you want your team to behave.

Wherever possible, try to numerate all your commitments to make it even clearer what you have agreed you'll do.

For example this might look like, "So summing up, I've got three action items here. Item one... item two... and item three..." [Visibly writing each of them down in your notes.]

When your team sees you consistently sum up and write down action steps and who owns them (and by when) after every meeting you'll be amazed at how quickly they will raise their game and start to follow the same behavior. Plus, this will make it worlds easier for you to remember to circle back and check with your team that they have met their commitments and to close the loop by telling them of how you met the commitments you made yourself to them at the meeting. Which brings me to my next tip...

Circle back with the team members who are involved with your action steps and give them feedback on your progress and completion at regular intervals.

This is a great way to role model the behavior you want from them, and to highlight how important it is inside your company to meet deliverables.

This might sound like, "Just wanted to give you quick update. As committed to, I did [item one] and [item two] today, and will get [item three] done by close of business Friday."

Even when the task isn't complete, don't leave people guessing.

Circle back and say, "I haven't solved the problem yet, but I haven't forgotten you and I'm actively working on a solution." Again, you are modeling the behavior of taking full responsibility to your team.

Clearly state what you can't commit to so that you don't lower the accountability bar in your company through missing a "phantom deliverable".

Beware of "phantom deliverables" --the things that the other person thinks you committed to but you didn't.

As a leader you need to model great communication by making any phantom deliverables you see come out of a meeting explicit. That way if you can commit to that deliverable, you do so, and if you can't, you clarify that you are not committing to it.

Be on time, all the time.

It may not seem like it matters, but it does.

Being on time - all the time - is a simple behavior that your team will generalize to mean that you take your commitments seriously and live in integrity.

It is one behavior with a huge return on investment in terms of modeling accountability inside your company.

Too many companies implement respect in a hierarchical manner. Your time is not more important than an employee's time or a customer's time in their eyes.

Being on time shows respect, and it makes a big difference to the receiver.

A corollary of this is to start your meetings on time, versus waiting for the late arrivals to saunter in. You'd better believe they'll get the message that integrity matters when they come in to the meeting 6 minutes late and you take them aside afterwards to ask them why they were late.

Credibility is a marathon, not a sprint.

It doesn't help if you take off out of the gate gung ho in your desire to model accountability, only to let it slip a few weeks later. How you model accountability is a key ingredient in building your company culture.

If you want it to be real and lasting, you've got to maintain your behavior over time.

How you own your mistakes and failures is as important as how you model your successes.

You're human, we all are, so you will mess up. Of course you will, to think otherwise is just not realistic.

How you own your missed deliverables is incredibly important to the culture you are building. Do you make excuses? Sweep them under the rug? Melodramatically beat yourself up?

Instead I encourage you to show your team how mistakes are a part of being in business, and often can lead to profitable insights.

When you make a mistake, publically take responsibility, share what you learned and how you'll apply it, and implement a better solution going forward.

Most breakdowns in accountability come from incomplete or poor handoffs.

At the moment any deliverable is created, it needs to get assigned to someone who will be responsible to see that it happens. We call this assignment of a deliverable a "handoff".

As a leader, you need to model that every handoff clearly details who is responsible for what, by when, what success in meeting that deliverable looks like, and how he or she will be held accountable for that deliverable. (Think back to the first tip that I shared.)

"Sarah, you own this deliverable and it includes doing x and y by Friday close of business. Can you also please make sure to send a quick recap to Tom and me on Monday that shares how Client Z responded?"

The combination of these 7 time-tested tips, applied with gentle pressure - relentlessly - will have a big impact inside your company in shaping your team to help you get and sustain growth.

For more ideas on growing your business, including a free tool kit with 21 in-depth video trainings to help you scale your business and get your life back, click here.

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











Islamic Insurance: A New Partnership Between Dubai and London

$
0
0
Dubai successfully hosted the first international conference on Islamic insurance in early November organized by the Islamic Insurance Association of London (IIAL) - marking a new chapter in the ongoing collaboration between Dubai and London.

In my keynote speech at the conference, I emphasised the relevance of this event at a time when Dubai - and the wider UAE - is evolving into a global business hub that offers the most attractive ecosystem for the Islamic economy to thrive. This development reinforces our commitment to positioning Dubai as the global capital of Islamic economy, while reflecting our leadership's vision to fast track the UAE's transformation into an advanced knowledge economy.

We are focused on identifying collaborative opportunities with other jurisdictions with a strong belief in "co-opetition" to achieve better results. It is precisely for this reason that the Islamic Insurance Association of London is looking at the UAE and Dubai with renewed interest. Our country has established its credibility as a global hub for an area of economic activity that perfectly encapsulates the core values of cooperation and shared responsibilities - also known as Takaful in Arabic.

London and Dubai share an awareness of the need for a cooperative and synergistic ecosystem in the Islamic insurance sector.

To date, Takaful premiums, which represent less than 1 per cent of sharia-compliant assets worldwide, have not gained a high uptake to the same degree that Islamic equity instruments have. While forecasts estimate that the growth in the global Takaful sector could reach US$52.5 billion by 2020, there are still some crucial shortcomings that need to be addressed by industry practitioners, experts and business leaders.

Takaful's future success will require a substantial concerted effort, including input from regulators, market players and the wider community to help create a strategic blueprint that will chart the future direction of the sector.

This notion of shared and mutual responsibility - a fundamental assumption with Takaful - is what we are seeking to encourage in order to proactively shape a vibrant and stable platform that will enable operators to create increased capacities and absorb larger risks.

Other growth opportunities include micro-Takaful products for low-income individuals and investments in Islamic instruments, such as sukuk.

Islamic insurance was originally conceived as a vehicle to promote collective welfare and brotherhood. This unique view of insurance can be traced back to the second century of the Islamic era, when Muslim Arabs started to expand their trade to India, the Far East, and other countries in Asia.

The insurance industry has a rich history dating back centuries in the West. In the 16th century, British merchants who frequented a coffee house called Lloyd's in London developed an agreement to collectively share the profits or losses resulting from their sea trade. In the late 17th century, the first fire insurance company was established in Britain following the Great Fire of London.

Today, the Takaful sector is well positioned to expand beyond its traditional Muslim markets and clientele. Takaful is a financial instrument that is becoming increasingly attractive as a sustainable protection tool against the potential risks faced by us all.

Given the current trend towards sustainable and ethical investments, Takaful provides the means to safeguard assets and wealth against financial crisis and risks. It can also protect physical property assets against unpredictable occurrences and potential losses. Most importantly, Takaful can help safeguard an individual's health against illness, injury, disability, and death.

As individuals in positions of influence, it is our primary responsibility to ensure that the world is a safer place for our coming generations.

Therefore, savings and pension plans should not only address societal concerns of longevity and ageing. They should also help to build responsible members of society who are willing and capable of contributing to the prosperity of the community - and consequently assist in making the world a better place.

Given this scenario, Dubai and London are today well poised to lead the global Takaful sector and unlock its full growth potential.

Our joint efforts will surely shape a future we can all be proud of.

-- 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.











10 Reasons You're Not Rich

$
0
0
Everyone says they want more money, but it's impossible to acquire more money until you realize what's holding you back. Once you can recognize the negative thoughts, beliefs and philosiphies that you've probably had most of your life about money, only then is it possible to start earning more.

Here are 10 reasons you're not rich:

1. You have middle-class beliefs about money
In other words, you could have all the potential in the world, but if you're not seeing money for all the positive things like the freedom and opportunities it brings, and you focus on lack and limitation, you're always going to be stuck in the middle class.

2. You hang around people who have no money
Money certainly doesn't define the type of person you are. Some of the nicest people with the biggest hearts have no money at all. But if your goal is to acquire more money, you have to get around people who have money and learn from them. Consciousness is contagious. It's the same thing if you wanted to lose weight. You'd join a gym and start hanging around fit people.

3. You're too comfortable
Most millionaires will tell you that especially in the beginning of the wealth-building process, you have to learn to operate in a state of regular uncertainty. The need for comfort, or knowing that you're not taking a risk, will always hold you back. If you take the plunge you have to stay strong and keep your eye on the prize. The payoff is well worth the effort.

4. You're terrified of failure
If you want to succeed, you have to fail first. It's how we learn and grow. Check your ego at the door and stop worrying about failure. Start to see yourself as a comeback artist and learn from every missed opportunity. Failure is necessary for building massive success.

5. You believe its noble to be poor
There's nothing wrong with wanting more. Yes you should be grateful for what you have, but it's not being greedy to strive for more. Ambition is a natural trait among human beings and is the driving force behind every great innovation. Ambition is not a sin. It's a virtue. Never feel guilty about wanting more money.

6. You believe you'll have to sacrifice your family life
Despite what you may have been led to believe, it not an either/or equation. You don't have to choose between massive success and riches and a happy family life. In fact, use your family as a motivator to strive for bigger and better things in your life. Imagine being able to spend as much time with your family as you like because you don't have to worry about money.

7. You don't think you're smart enough to be rich
Being book smart has nothing to do with your potential to make money. The way to make money is to solve a problem. Formal education is always a good thing, but never ending self-education will make you rich. Some of the wealthiest people in the world have very little formal education.

8. You don't believe you deserve to be rich
The average person believes being rich is a privilege awarded only to lucky people. The truth is, in a capitalistic country, you have every right to be rich if you're willing to create massive value for others. If you want to be rich, the first step is to believe you deserve it.

9. You have a lottery mentality
The masses love the lottery because deep down they believe it's their only chance to get rich. This instills the belief that you have to be lucky to get rich. Stop relying on luck and start expecting more. Expect to make one-million dollars next year. You might not make that much money, but you'll be thinking big and in the right frame of mind to attract more money.

10. You trade time for money
Most people think the only way to make more money is to work more hours. Stop trading time for money. Start looking at making money as a non-linear process which is about finding solutions to problems. The linear way is the obvious. The non-linear way is the nonobvious. Non-linear thinking and ideas are the way to riches.

If you've ever dreamed of living a life most people only see in the movies, start challenging every belief you've ever had about money. Then, learn how rich people think, copy them and take action. It might just make you rich!

-- 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.












Writing a Business Plan: Your Business Model

$
0
0

When it comes to writing a business plan, the first step is figuring out your business model. If you’re in the early stages of planning out your business, this is the ideal place to begin.


The Importance of the Business Model


There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to launching a business. But with everything you’ve got to do before you start your business, don’t be tempted to skip the important step of establishing your business model. This is crucial for the establishment of a well-executed business endeavor and ensuring that your business will become successful. Your business model is all about how your business makes money.



2015-11-11-1447256403-853243-1114_4607536.JPG


Once you start writing your business plan, identifying your business model will be a key aspect that you explain in the plan. This is why I want you to do it first. Your business model outlines your strategy and often includes information or processes that may be considered proprietary or confidential.


A well developed business model details the viability of your business concept and goes in-depth to explore the demand of the marketplace, the competition, competitive advantages such as pricing, quality or availability and the ins and outs of getting the product or service to market. The business model makes you think about what you plan to offer your customers. It answers questions about the price, distribution (including where and how you will sell), your niche customer and when the market will be ready. Your business model is often completely confidential, and while it may be alluded to in the business plan, it is rarely completely revealed.


In general, you need to clarify your business model before your write your business plan.


If you’ve got a business model, but no business plan yet, you have a third of the work already done. The exploration necessary in developing a solid business model often will help you streamline the process of writing your business plan.


Changes Over Time


As you grow your business, you may find need to make substantial changes to your business model. Your niche or product offering could change. The needs of the market may change. If you stay on top of the trends in your industry, you will not be surprised by changes over time. These changes are unavoidable and often serve to strengthen your business concept and ultimately your business.


When I first started in business in 1999, I was a video production company. Then by 2003, we evolved into a video and web development firm.  Most of our clients wanted us to produce videos for their websites, so we started building the websites too to increase our profitability.  By 2007, social media was just starting to become popular. I realized that if we could jump on the bandwagon early, becoming super-users, that we could build a huge business with focus on social media marketing, which remains one of my firm’s, Quintessence Group, specialties today.


Your business will change over time, and it’s important for you to pay attention and tweak your business model from time to time so that you don’t get left behind.




Melinda F. Emerson, SmallBizLady is America's #1 small business expert. She is an author, speaker and small business coach whose areas of expertise include small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. She writes a weekly column for the New York Times, publishes a resource blog, www.succeedasyourownboss.com, which is syndicated through The Huffington Post. She also hosts a weekly talk show on Twitter called #SmallBizChat for small business owners. As a brand, she reaches 1.5 million entrepreneurs a week on the internet. As CEO of Quintessence Multimedia, Melinda develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. Forbes Magazine named Melinda Emerson one of the #1 Woman for Entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. Melinda has been featured on MSNBC, Fox News, NBC Nightly News and in Fortune, The Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Black Enterprise. She is the bestselling author of "Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works," and the ebook How to Become a Social Media Ninja; 101 Ways to Dominate Your Competition Online.

-- 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.











Under the Same Roof: China's View of Global Order

$
0
0
This article is adapted from remarks made by Fu Ying to the Berggruen Institute's 2nd Understanding China conference held in Beijing November 1-3, 2015.

BEIJING -- Debates are going on the two sides of the Pacific, in China and in the U.S., about the future world order.

On the part of the U.S. the core issue is how to maintain its world dominance. Out of its natural fear of the traditional model of power transition, the U.S. is deeply concerned whether it can remain strong and whether the newly rising powers will compete for world dominance with the U.S.. So some suggest that the U.S. may need a new grand strategy.

In China, this debate is more about how to improve the international order and the global governance. After more than three decades of fast growth, the country is experiencing unprecedented changes in its international surroundings. The world is again at the historical doorstep of major changes not only in conventional and non-conventional fields, but also in global and regional arenas, within and around countries, and at physical and spiritual levels. Many in China have realized that the country is one of the driving forces for global changes and is having growing influence on international affairs.


China has neither the intention nor ability to overturn the existing order.


The Chinese public has great interest to learn and develop an international vision. Recently, President Barack Obama said: if we don't make rules, the Chinese will. Amazingly enough, this remark has prompted the people in China to find out what the rules are, how they are affecting us and what we should do. Many Chinese scholars are also working on the theoretical basis for future order.

The U.S., on the one hand, is full of doubt on the intention of China as a newly rising large economy, worrying deeply that China may challenge its leadership and create a new set of rules and another order for the world. China, on the other hand, has repeatedly stated that as a member of the international order, China has adhered to its rules and benefits from it. It has neither the intention nor ability to overturn the existing order.

China and the U.S. appear to be talking past each other on this issue. So, are they talking about the same thing? Is "the world order" the U.S. claims to lead and "the international order" China identifies to the same order system?

The answer is both "yes" and "no." The general understanding is that "the U.S.-led world order" is a global hegemonic power system, which not only includes existing international trade and monetary institutions, but also is underpinned with American values and its global military alliance structure. The Western countries are its main components and beneficiaries.

fu ying
Nicolas Berggruen, Fu Ying and Nathan Gardels (left to right) in Beijing, November 2, 2015 © Berggruen Institute

From Exclusive to Inclusive

We have to give credit to this order system for its role in keeping peace and bringing prosperity in many parts of the planet after World War II, as well as in powering globalization. But this order system is not all-inclusive and is increasingly showing its limitations against a world full of new realities. At the same time, its exclusiveness is also undermining the legitimacy of the U.S. leadership.

Take China, for example. The U.S. regards China as a newly rising power and wants China to accept its leadership and act as a subordinate partner in certain areas. But, in the meantime, China is politically treated as an alien and militarily seen as a potential target. Some of its alliances show the intention to take China as the source of security threat.

One needs to note that the term China uses is "international order" or "international system." What China is referring to is the international institutions within the United Nations structure to which China is an equal member and has a sense of belonging. China is also an important initiator and contributor to this order.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, when visiting the U.S. in September this year, expressed his views at the United Nations General Assembly. He said China will remain a staunch defender of the international order; we will continue to uphold the international order and system underpinned by the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter.

Indeed, most of what China offers to the world, be it in the economic field or in the security fields, revolves around the U.N. system and is under the U.N. auspices.

Obviously, there is some truth in both order perceptions, and there is a big overlap between the so-called world order and the international order as well.

The U.S. is the original designer and main supporter of the U.N. system. Though it finds itself unable to completely control the system and sometimes bypasses it, the U.S. still takes the U.N. system as an indispensable body for international coordination.

As for China, it achieved leapfrog growth within the existing international order and China's future opportunities for development come from it. It also offers China the platform for exercising greater international role. So China has every reason to continue supporting and participating in the international order and system.

However, we have to admit that the order structures, whether the "world order" or the "international order," can no longer cope with the complicated challenges facing mankind.

syria refugee

Refugees and migrants arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos. ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images.

The Syria Case

Take Syria, for example. All kinds of elements of turbulence have emerged in this single country -- religious extremism, terrorism, humanitarian crisis, outside interference, system transplant, regime change and what not. There can be no single solution to such a difficult crisis.

The United Nations, which has just passed its 70th year, has played an irreplaceable role for maintaining peace and promoting development. However, it is unable to overcome the structural flaws which came with its birth. And nowadays, the U.N. finds itself increasingly unable to meet the global challenges the world faces. Take, for example, when the international financial crisis broke out in 2008, the U.N. and its institutions did not do much in terms of early warning, nor did it play a significant role in countering the crisis. On the issue of climate change, the U.N. has not been very effective in pushing the follow-up negotiations of the Kyoto protocol to fruition.

The international system and governance has come to a stage of reform. And the Chinese people want to join this effort at its forefront. But, reforming does not mean discarding everything or complete replacement. What is needed is to improve and update. Or, reshaping may be a better word.

Earlier in the month, the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee invited Professor Qin Yaqing, president of the Foreign Affairs University, to give a lecture on global governance. President Xi Jinping spoke after the lecture. He said: "Global governance reform is at a turning point, and reform and changes are inevitable ... Global affairs increasingly need to be addressed by countries concerned and through working together." He also reminded us, the Chinese people, that, "we should be aware of not only our own needs for the world, but also the international community's expectations of China."


'We should be aware of not only our own needs for the world, but also the international community's expectations of China.' - Xi Jinping


China is already consciously making moves to participate in the reshaping and enriching of the current international institutions.

For example, China is expecting to expand its voting power in the World Bank and IMF. China has also offered, together with other countries, such public goods as the "Belt and Road" projects, the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS New Development Bank.

The Ebola pandemic of 2014, which first broke out in West Africa, overstretched the international health regime. And China was the first to send medical teams together with financial support, which was essential to controlling the crisis.

President Xi Jinping announced assistance by the Chinese government, including committing $1 billion to a 10-year joint China-U.N. peace and development fund and pledging 8,000 troops to a United Nations peacekeeping standby force.

China will also provide $100 million in military assistance for African Union peacekeeping missions in the next five years.

In 2016 China will host the G-20 summit. This is the first time China will be chairing this important global macro-economic policy coordination forum. It will be a good opportunity for creative and constructive improvements in global governance.

The Common Roof of Global Governance

It can be expected that China will, as it maintains its own growth, undertake more international responsibilities.

So, what kind of order we do we want for the future world? Instead of debating about which order concept is better and which should prevail, we may go beyond the debate and create a new overarching concept, like "a global order." It should accommodate as much as possible global governance, world power coordination, regional cooperation, North-South dialogue, etc. Everything and anything that is needed for this multi-faceted era can be included and every country and region's concerns and interest accommodated. It should provide a common roof for all.

This common roof of global order should at least have three major institutional capabilities: to guarantee world peace; to ensure global sustainable development; and to ensure that all solutions to problems be found through cooperation.

It should be constructed around three pillars: major country coordination, full role for multilateral frameworks and habits and norms of cooperation. President Xi Jinping has mentioned many times the concepts of "community of interests" and a "community of shared future," emphasizing win-win cooperation and common development. So under this common roof, the world should be in a global community of common interest heading to a shared future.


Under this common roof, the world should be in a global community of common interest heading to a shared future.


Whatever the future shape of the global order, the U.S., which is the most powerful country in the world and also a dominant player in the existing order, will be the key party. The challenge for the U.S. is huge. For example, can the U.S. update its thinking and behavior and come out of its small club of interest? Can it avoid being hijacked by the perceived moral worth of its efforts or the interest of its allies at the cost of others?

For China, which is the biggest developing country and newly ascendant on the world stage, the challenge may be bigger. China lacks experience as a world power in the modern sense. It needs to expand its international vision, especially at the general public level. We should look after our own interest, but we should also be able to look beyond the horizon to think about wider interests. We also need to grow out of the victim syndrome, which is a cocoon of history. China needs to grow into the role as a world citizen. All this needs time.

The success of the future global order depends very much on whether China and the U.S. can have sincere dialogue and cooperation. In today's world, the two countries have extensive cooperation, and also conflicting interests and competition. The China-U.S. cooperation benefits the world, and any conflict, if not properly managed, may bring risk to wider spheres.

Conflict in the South China Sea

Now, for example, danger looms on the South China Sea. The U.S. regards China's behavior to safeguard its territorial and maritime interest as strategically expansionist activities aimed at controlling the whole region, and is trying to counter them accordingly. China regards the U.S. sending a military vessel near the Chinese features as a provocative gesture. The act and counter-act aggravates the situation and the very contradictory perceptions of each other's intentions are pouring oil to the flames in the region, which is already troubled by conflicting territorial and maritime claims.

But maybe,in another way, this is also a way of sending stronger signal to each other about the need of coordination between China and the U.S., and the need to improve understanding and trust. The fact that the two militaries are meeting and talking with each other gives us hope that the two countries may find a better way to address such differences. And a new pattern of order may grow out of such encounters.


We need to grow out of the victim syndrome, which is a cocoon of history. China needs to grow into the role as a world citizen.


It may not yet be possible to predict the future picture for the world and whether the shape of the new global order can come into view, but by countries talking to each other there is hope that the international community can gradually form a consensus about a structure that may ensure that the 21st century can truly be one of peace and prosperity.

More than 30 years ago, when China entered into unprecedented reform, Deng Xiaoping used the metaphor, "crossing the river by feeling for the stones." Now we may need a similar approach in shaping a new global order.

China needs to build up experience in participating in the international order and international governance, and it needs to learn -- and learn fast. China also needs to come up with its own narratives to allow the world to read and understand China better, which is an indispensable basis for sound international cooperation.

Earlier on WorldPost:

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











Want to Be a Better Leader? 'Expose' Yourself!

$
0
0
Remember 80's power suits? (Wow, I'm really dating myself here.)

Double-breasted, bold-colored and equipped with MASSIVE shoulder pads, these corporate fashion staples were synonymous with wealth and success.

If you're too young to appreciate the reference, power suits were designed to put women on a more equal footing with men in the business arena. Big shoulder pads created the illusion of broader, less sloping shoulders, supposedly giving females the extra confidence and presence needed to compete in the still largely male-dominated world of work.

Since then, glass ceilings have been smashed. Though not yet in numbers equal to their male counterparts, women now populate the ranks of self-made billionaires, entrepreneurs and global business leaders.

But while women have (thankfully) abandoned their power "suits of armor" in favor of more feminine corporate fashions (White House | Black Market is my go-to), they've been much more hesitant to remove their "psychological armor" in the corporate world.

Women are often afraid to be vulnerable leaders.

And I get it. As a female professional, it's risky to expose your weak spots. Vulnerability in business is typically associated with characteristics like weakness, indecisiveness and helplessness - the antithesis of what a great leader should be. And entrepreneurial endeavors are, by definition, already risky. Showing your proverbial underbelly only leaves you feeling even more exposed.

So it's no wonder that, for most female entrepreneurs, vulnerability has become a bit of a four-letter word. But in my opinion, sometimes you need to use a few expletives to get the job done.

Ditch the damn armor and expose yourself.

While it may sound counterintuitive, vulnerability actually makes you a better leader:

It's a sign of honesty. Showing vulnerability is an undeniably frightening proposition, especially for a woman in today's business world. It means that there's a chance you'll get hurt financially, psychologically or even emotionally. But the truth? Vulnerability is absolutely unavoidable. It's a universal part of the human condition, which means that nobody - no matter how brave a front they put up - is immune.

You can't avoid it, so why not use your vulnerability to your advantage as a leader?

Acknowledging and truly "owning" your weaknesses is an authentic management approach that truly resonates with employees. It makes you more accessible. Approachable. Real. And at the end of the day, it's way easier than maintaining a façade of invincibility (which your employees can see through anyway).

It's humanizing. People do business with people. No revelation there, I know, but it's important to remember that each of shows up to work as a whole person - bringing a range of ideas, emotions and insecurities which can drive or undermine the organization's overall success.

Being occasionally vulnerable breaks down barriers between you and your staff, helping you leverage the human side of business. By showing that you're also human (and, yes, fallible), you can:

• create a culture in which employees feel it's safe to share
• cultivate stronger personal connections with employees
• increase engagement, loyalty, and both individual and team performance

It sets the stage for joint problem-solving. Admitting that you don't have all the answers doesn't mean you're ignorant; it means you value your team's insights. And occasionally asking employees for help isn't a sign of weakness; it's a way to lift them up. By showing employees that you need them, you:

• implicitly acknowledge their skills
• build deeper trust and mutual respect
• foster greater innovation and creativity
• develop better solutions to problems, faster

Lead like a woman.

In the past few years, a new paradigm has emerged which has made it not just acceptable, but essential for all leaders (male and female) to be more vulnerable.

So if you're looking for ways to become a more successful entrepreneur, resist the pressure to "work like a man." Get comfortable in your own skin, expose yourself and use vulnerability to your advantage.

It's a lot more comfortable than a power suit, and trust me - it'll look great on you.

-- 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 Business Payoff of Exercise

$
0
0
By Joe Moore, President & CEO, International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA); and Kenneth Thorpe, Ph.D., Chairman, Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), Robert W. Woodruff Professor and Chair, Department of Health Policy & Management, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University

Employers are beginning to understand the positive impact that employee wellbeing has on business. And it's not just healthcare savings they're realizing. Greater worker engagement, increased productivity, fewer sick days, greater job satisfaction, increased worker concentration, easier recruitment, and reduced turnover all affect the bottom line.

As forward-thinking employers turn their attention to the total wellbeing of their employees, there are a few things that America's businesses need to know about the ROI of regular exercise and movement in the workplace. After all, when workers exercise, employers reap the rewards.

Take job performance as a prime example. When workers exercise three times a week for 30 minutes or more, it's 15 percent more likely that their job performance will be higher. And research suggests that when they exercise during regular work hours, its impact on performance may be even greater. In fact, one study found that when employees exercise during the workday, their mood and performance improves, along with their concentration, work relationships and resilience to stress.

The significant boost that exercise gives to employee engagement is especially important. All told, research shows that employee engagement helps business. In fact, employees who are most engaged (top quartile) have 37 percent lower absenteeism, 21 percent higher productivity, and 22 percent higher profitability when compared to those least engaged (bottom quartile), Gallup research has found.

Recognizing the business importance of motion in the workplace, C-suite executives across the country are signing onto the CEO Pledge for Physical Activity--a national campaign calling on every CEO in America to recognize physical activity as an important driver of employee health and business performance. They recognize that creating a culture of physical activity and wellness in the workplace requires their support.

Take for example, the commitment to wellbeing of the global cosmetics company Mary Kay Inc., a signer of the CEO Pledge. Not only does Mary Kay promote the wellbeing of women in greater society by sponsoring programs that help them overcome cancer and domestic violence, but it has shown a strong commitment to a comprehensive workplace wellbeing program as well. Along with company initiatives to improve employee health and wellbeing, Mary Kay has onsite fitness facilities, onsite health clinics, blood pressure kiosks, healthy restaurant options, and a smoking cessation program. Mary Kay also has a strong team of Global Wellness Ambassadors, which includes their CEO, to help encourage and promote a culture of wellbeing throughout Mary Kay's global locations.

Other organizations are leading the way as well. Several years ago, the owner of Northstar Ceramics brought an elliptical machine into its Dallas warehouse. After seeing him use it for one week, employees became inspired and tried it too. In response, the company built a dedicated exercise area in the middle of the warehouse and started bringing in a personal trainer to work with employees on site. Now, under new ownership and a new company name--StyleAccess--the corporate commitment to employee wellbeing continues.

From reducing the risk of worker burnout and depression, to enhancing self-efficacy and how workers feel about their ability to juggle the work-life balance, promoting regular exercise in the workplace yields rewards all around.

In an era when American businesses are struggling under the unrelenting demands that today's competitive economy puts on employee and corporate energy, incorporating regular movement and exercise into the workday really should be a business imperative.

Ultimately, a company's employees are its most valuable asset. When they thrive, so does the bottom line.

-- 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.











Design Valuation Dashboard Captures the Potential of Design Driven Startups

$
0
0
Pasadena Startup, [Applied Design Science], launches online crowdsourced design valuation platform to help entrepreneurs and investors assess business potentials of design driven startups.

With the emergence of equity crowdfunding and the recent liberalization of startups, novice investors and entrepreneurs alike are drawn to risky endeavors. The advent of its Design Valuation Dashboard allows [Applied Design Science] to provide a reliable, evidence-based tool for assessing a startup's probability of success. The online crowdsourced design valuation platform assesses a startup's market, technology and execution risk, as well as their design quality performance. Applying a multi-variable linear regression, the platform analyzes design quantification together with the wisdom of the crowd. It effectively screens early and mid-phase startups and greatly reduces their risk of loss.

2015-11-11-1447284991-8314106-designvaluationdashboard.jpg

Developed in collaboration with Stanford University, Art Center College of Design, Copenhagen Business School, Innovate Pasadena and the INDEX: Award, [Applied Design Science] has leveraged over a decade of design science research into a unique Design Valuation Dashboard. Powered by established design quantification metrics, the platform will provide investors and startups with an online community forum that assists in developing ideas into viable action plans for designing new businesses. [Applied Design Science] is founded by Stanford Alumni, Dr. Søren Ingomar Petersen, Art Center Alumni, Chuck Chugumlung and USC Alumni, Agustin Grube - inspired by the philosophy: breakthrough innovation made possible by design.

-- 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.











7 Ways to Sink Your Teeth into Great Blog Content

$
0
0
Blogs are still a very effective marketing platform. And will remain so for the foreseeable future. But, as comedian Jerry Seinfeld quips, "Most writers run out of ideas before they run out of blogs!"

As a marketer, are you having that problem? Is there not enough blog at the end of the month, so that your content seems strained, stretched and insubstantial?

2015-11-12-1447293561-2037643-Biting.jpg
Image Credit: OnSugar


Here are ten quick ways to kick start your blog content and make it effective again:

1. Stop writing about yourself
Jeremy Peters teaches creative writing at Minot State University. He advises, "While you should always write about what you know, that doesn't mean it has to be about YOU. Readers quickly lose interest in you and your thoughts unless you're Leo Tolstoy or Dave Barry. Writing about other people is a simple and very effective way to keep your readers reading."

2. Start writing about yourself
On the other hand, says Andrew Tarvin, a motivational business speaker, "Make your blog personal without being intimate; people love to think they're peering inside your head and digging out thoughts and ideas that agree with their own."

3. Create an Idea Library
At IGWildfire, an Instagram promotion service founded by Ephraim Tinoco, having a library of ideas ready to choose from saves him tremendous amounts of time. He claims, "If you set aside just ten minutes each working day to locate, index and file ideas for future blog or Instagram posts you'll have enough engaging material within a month to last you for a year. Don't count on remembering good ideas in your head -- they must be physically filed away someplace for you to access immediately when a deadline looms."

4. Heed the headline
Dr. Merlin R. Mann is a professor at the Columbia School of Journalism. He always starts out his lecture on headlines this way, "Headlines must be accurate: in fact, in implication, in spelling, in grammar. When readers see errors, they assume a similar rate of error will continue. They must decide whether it is worth their time to read a story that may start with a 20 percent error rate in the headline (e.g., one error in five words). Be alert for headlines that have unintended meanings. For example, from the Vancouver Sun: "Passing Wind Strands BC Ferry Passengers."

5. Steal your ideas
Not the actual content, of course, but as professional blogger John O'Nolan of Ghost writes in a recent post, "One of the best ways to come up with ideas for your own blog is to consistently expose yourself to blogs which you want to emulate. Use a feed reader (we like Feedly) to subscribe to your favourite blogs and check in once a day to see what's been published. Don't be afraid to steal ideas which are clearly working for other people."

6. Ask for, and consider seriously, feedback from readers
You'll always get feedback from your boss and coworkers, but can your readers easily comment on your content? You should invite them to do so. As H.L. Mencken cynically put it, "The public may not know much, but they know what they want." When a concept goes over big with your readers, take the time to analyze why and what you can do to exploit that positive energy in future blogs.

7. Don't forget to newsjack
Trending news comes and goes quickly, but if you're a quick and facile blogger you can jump on the bandwagon with a reference, a quote or an extrapolation. And get the trending subject or person's name into your blog headline if at all possible.

-- 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.











Mindfulness Is Transforming Leaders

$
0
0
Last week my wife Penny and I had the opportunity to keynote the Mindful Leadership Summit. At the summit, 750 participants gathered to discuss how mindfulness practices could change global leadership for the better. As Charles Lief, president of Naropa University, said, "The opening of all sectors to talk about mindfulness, contemplation and compassion is a very powerful thing." The enthusiasm within the summit provided ample evidence that mindful leadership has indeed come of age.

How are leaders becoming mindful? One of the most popular ways to learn mindfulness is to attend a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. Popularized by Jon Kabat-Zinn since the late 1970s, MBSR is built on ancient meditation practices. However, it wasn't until the last decade that the marriage of mindfulness and leadership became reality. In 2007 Chade-Meng Tan - Google employee #107 -- launched Google's meditation program. The program currently teaches 2,000 Googlers per year to meditate in order to become better leaders.

In January, 2010 I had the privilege of presenting my ideas for developing compassionate, authentic leaders to the Dalai Lama at the Mind & Life Institute's conference in Zurich. The following year Janice Marturano formed the Institute for Mindful Leadership, based on the highly successful courses she created for General Mills. Today, leading companies like Blackrock, Aetna, Ford Motor and Goldman Sachs conduct mindfulness classes for thousands of their leaders.

What is causing this shift to mindful leadership? In the stress-filled 24/7 world in which we live, leaders of all organizations need the opportunity for a "time out" period. It is their opportunity to relax, breathe deeply, de-stress and gain clarity about their work and the decisions they are facing. As I stressed at last week's summit, mindfulness practices enable leaders to ensure the important issues are taking precedence over immediate pressures.

Business isn't the only sector practicing mindfulness. These practices are gaining widespread use in health care, non-profits, education, athletics and even government. Recent clinical studies are demonstrating that mindfulness not only reduces stress, it improves productivity and reduces health care costs. As Aetna learned in its 2011 controlled study of meditation and yoga, health care costs for participating employees could be reduced by $2000 a year. As a result, Aetna is currently offering mindfulness classes as a covered benefit to its enrollees.

My own mindfulness practice began with a course in Transcendental Meditation (TM) that my wife and I attended in 1974. For the past forty years I have meditated daily. It wasn't until the late 1990s that I felt comfortable sharing my practice publicly, as I feared people would find it strange or even weird. This practice is the best thing I have done to calm my mind and my emotions, focus on what is most important while releasing trivial worries and think clearly about important decisions. Perhaps even more importantly, my most creative ideas have come from meditation.

Of course, meditation is not for everyone. What is essential for all of us -- as I share in my classes and lectures -- is having a daily practice of taking twenty minutes to quiet your mind, reflect and be introspective. For you, it may come through prayer, journaling, reflecting in a beautiful place or taking a long walk or jog. The goal? To create more self-aware leaders who understand themselves, their motivations, their values and the purpose of their leadership.

Becoming a mindful leaders requires daily practice. It is easy to say, as I did back in 1974, that you don't have the time to fit this practice into your busy schedule. In fact, the opposite is true -- you don't have the time not to pursue it. A recent study by Aetna and Duke University proved that mindful practices can increase productivity by an hour a week. Just think what you could do with an extra hour: Play with your children? Take a walk with your spouse? Organize your life? However you use that extra time, mindfulness can help you accomplish it. More importantly, you will become more effective and satisfied in your work.

As I discuss in my new book, Discover Your True North, mindful leaders can help us begin to overcome the crisis in leadership we have experienced since 2001. Simply stated, mindfulness is a powerful practice that will help all of us become more authentic as leaders. If you haven't experienced it, give it a try, and you will find that you have a greater sense of well-being and become a better leader.

-- 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.












7 Things That Keep Marketers From Doing Marketing

$
0
0
2015-11-11-1447275473-4078964-6875893248_07146d1191_z.jpg

Image from birgerking via Flickr


Everyone seems to think marketers spend a majority of their days pondering their next big campaigns. The truth? Marketing is hard. The life of a marketer is far from glamorous.

Marketers analyze data, conceptualize campaigns, craft copy and content, design creatives, generate reports, study the competition and test different ideas. But a vast majority of marketers rarely find a few quiet hours to tackle their real responsibilities. Often, things pop up that derail them from being able to focus on the most fun and most impactful parts of their jobs.

The seven deadly distractions marketers face?

Burdensome meetings

At Bain & Company, Michael C. Mankins and his colleagues analyzed the Microsoft Outlook calendars of workers at a large organization to understand how employees utilized their time. From the study, the consultants "found that people there spent 300,000 hours a year just supporting the weekly executive committee meeting."

Meetings can be an unnecessary burden for professionals. Simply scheduling and organizing them can be soul-sucking exercises. Attendance, similarly, causes a lot of issues.

"Passive meetings are also a problem, and get more problematic as you rise in seniority," says James Rice, head of digital marketing at WikiJob. "You will be invited to meetings you can't contribute to much, as the host of the meeting would like you to be there, either for reassurance to answer potentially tricky questions." Sometimes, even courtesy invites do more harm than good. "Being in any meeting for an hour in which you contribute for five minutes is a huge waste of your time. Without irritating people too much, you want to foster a reputation for asking why you need to be in that meeting, and in many cases politely declining, or asking for the minutes."

At times, marketers find themselves stuck in meetings with at least one person who is notorious for straying off-topic. For Robert Manigold of digital agency Code Koalas, one of his peeves is a meeting that "[changes] the context of a person's focus." Instead of tackling projects you set out to do, you spend time discussing unimportant topics and solving other people's problems.

Constant one-off requests

Here are a few eerily familiar situations:

  • The sales team needs you to design a new deck for an urgent, upcoming client meeting. Deadline? Tomorrow morning.

  • Engineering wants updated copy for the website. They are doing a release later that evening.

  • Finance asks for receipts for purchases you made eight months ago, preferably delivered by EOD.


Marketers are constantly assigned tasks that support other departments' initiatives. Though certain projects may take only fifteen minutes or half an hour to complete, these distractions keep marketers from doing any real marketing.

Email bombardment

Marketers spend 14 percent of their day managing email--and it is largely unproductive.

At work, Courtney Lindbeck, director of internet marketing at Venta Marketing, tends to "get distracted by the large amount of emails that come in throughout the day." That is because clients and company management demand timely responses. "My agency has always been valued by how responsive we are to clients, but many times this 'quick response' approach is more so distracting than productive."

Sometimes, simply picking up the phone saves more time than explaining things over a lengthy email thread. Manigold of Code Koalas knows how frustrating it can be when clients send "multiple emails on an issue that could be handled with a quick phone call."

Excessive reporting

Everyone loves data, but for their campaigns, marketers are the only ones that know how to accurately analyze and report on it. "One of the areas where a marketing team needs to be firm is reporting, for the simple reason that management will often ask for more and more detail on reports, even if they never act on them," notes Rice of WikiJob.

"If you're spending the whole of Monday putting reports together, you're losing 20 percent of your week collating insight that you probably already knew was the case. Automate reports as much as possible, streamline them as much as possible, and make the case that they should be monthly rather than weekly." Leverage automation tools to extract the insights you need to be better at your job, impress your boss and 'wow' clients.

Ideas and suggestions

Whenever they come up with a new idea, your colleagues start to believe they could do your job for you. As newly minted experts in marketing, they offer their most brilliant suggestions for ways to create brand fame and fortune.

Though it is fun to entertain their ideas, many simply are not practical. Non-marketers rarely factor in budget and resource limitations when they conceive money-making schemes. After listening to their proposals, you may spend another hour dissecting why it just is not feasible.

Persistent management check-ins

Ronnie Deaver, marketing manager at ICT Asset Recovery, feels, "The most distracting thing in my day is upper management frequently asking for updates or 'what's new' throughout the week. This is particularly prevalent in my company because our marketing department is so young - unlike sales, we can't measure results in days and it makes people nervous." Explaining what you do to your non-marketing peers gets old quick. It almost becomes a regular exercise in justifying your role and salary, which can be hard to do when you only get a few hours in the day to actually complete anything marketing-related.

Show and tell

Well-intentioned conversations about work can have unintended consequences. Pulling someone aside for a quick chat can be detrimental to their overall productivity. "I have found trouble with my boss or other co-workers wanting to 'show me' something or go over work," shares Venta Marketing's Lindbeck.

Many people find it hard to seamlessly jump from one thing to another; doing so is usually a painful context switch. "When distracted, it can take close to 20 minutes to get back on track," adds Lindbeck. Internally, a solution Venta Marketing's team found was "scheduling blocks of uninterrupted time followed by meetings of things we need to address that day. It helps a lot and keeps us from continually interrupting each other."

To combat the endless distractions at work, marketers should establish guidelines and processes that allow their clients and colleagues to be heard but also enable marketers to focus for hours at a time and prioritize their primary workload. As a result, companies improve interdepartmental collaboration and produce better marketing.

This post originally appeared on the iMeet® Central blog and is republished with permission.

****


Danny Wong is the co-founder of Blank Label, an award-winning luxury menswear company. He is also a digital marketing consultant and freelance writer. To connect, tweet him @dannywong1190 or message him on LinkedIn.

-- 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.











Another Look at Lease-to-Own House Purchases

$
0
0
A lease-to-own house purchase (henceforth LTO) is a lease combined with an option to purchase the property within a specified period, usually three years or less, at an agreed-upon price. In recent years, I have written several articles on the topic, and they are among the most read of the many hundreds of articles on my web site. The reason is that they offer the hope of home ownership to many wannabe owners who can't meet purchase requirements in any other way; and they offer many wannabe home sellers who have been frustrated by the market's lack of interest in their home, an opportunity to sell at a more attractive price than is otherwise available.

Weaknesses of Buyers and Sellers

Both participants in LTO transactions do so because of weaknesses. In the case of buyers, the weakness almost always is that they are unable to qualify for the mortgage they need to finance a purchase. They may have a foreclosure on their record which they must wait out, or their credit score may be too low to meet lender requirements. The LTO offers such consumers an opportunity to bet on themselves. The bet is that before the option period expires, they will qualify for the mortgage they need to exercise the purchase option. During the option period, the foreclosure waiting period passes, and they have the opportunity to raise their credit score while living in the house.

In the case of sellers, the weakness is an inability to sell at what the owner considers the correct value. This could be because property values in the area in which the property was located had declined. In such case, the LTO offers the prospect of being able to sell in the future at a substantially higher price than is available today. Another possible weakness that has become important in recent years is that the condition of the house is poor and the owner does not have the means to fix it. An LTO buyer is likely not to be so fussy about the condition of the house, and may be positioned to fix the deficiencies during the option period.

Important Contractual Provisions of a Lease-Purchase Transaction

In a typical arrangement, the borrower pays an option fee, 1% to 5% of the price, which is credited to the purchase price. The borrower pays a market rent, and an additional rent credit payment that is also credited to the purchase price. The option fee, option period, rent, rent credit payment, and purchase price are all negotiable items. If the purchase option is not exercised, the buyer loses both the option fee and the rent credit payment.

The option fee and rent credit payment are viewed differently by buyers and sellers. To the buyer, they are part of the equity in the house they fully expect to own. To sellers, however, these payments are the best guarantee that their houses will sell; if they don't sell, the payments are retained as income. That the benefit to the seller generally exceeds the cost to the buyer makes the lease-to-own deal a possible win-win.

The rent credit payment, which is unique to LTO deals, is an amount above the market rent paid by the buyer, which is credited back to the buyer at closing. Rent credits can be used in two different ways which are not always distinguished.

The simplest approach reduces the sale price at closing by the total rent credit paid by the buyer. This reduces the required down payment only slightly. For example, if the sale price is $100,000 and the rent credit totals $5,000, the sale price becomes $95,000 and the down payment required at 5% falls from $5,000 to $4750.

The rent credit is much more useful to the buyer if it can be used for the down payment in its entirety. If the rent credit of $5,000 in the example above is used in this way, the price of the house would remain at $100,000 but the buyer would receive $5,000 from the seller at closing which could be used as down payment. For this to work, however, the lender must accept the rent credit as legitimate savings by the buyer. To be sure that the rent credit is an amount paid above a fair market rent, the lender will require that the market rent be documented by an appraisal. To be sure that the buyer actually made the payments, the lender will want to see the cancelled checks that evidence the payments. [Note: according to Jack Pritchard, the best way to get the rent credit accepted as down payment is to execute a new purchase contract at a reduced price. This eliminates the need to document the rent credit.]

Other provisions of LTO contracts are too numerous to mention here A more complete list that buyers and sellers can use in negotiating a deal is available at Lease-to-Own Contractual Provisions.

The LTO Calculator

Mainly of interest to potential sellers, my LTO calculator developed with Chuck Freedenberg allows sellers to view an LTO deal as an investment generating an attractive rate of return, relative to what the seller could obtain by selling at the best price obtainable in the current market. The investment return is net of the costs of ownership during the option period, including mortgage interest payments, property taxes, homeowners insurance and other expenses of ownership. The calculator is available at Lease-to-Own Calculator.

For more unbaised advice on forward or reverse mortgages, please visit my website The Mortgage Professor.

-- 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 Invisible Victims of Identity Theft: Our Kids

$
0
0
Somewhere between 10 million and 16 million Americans get "got" by fraudsters working the seams of identity-related crime every year. The methods are many and various. There are, of course, the familiar scams and frauds, but one harder to detect area of exploitation is child identity theft.

So why are children a target for identity thieves? It's called "runway." A child's Social Security number is pristine. There is no reason for a minor to use it in connection with any financial or credit-related transaction before reaching the age of 18--when he or she then becomes legally responsible for any contract they sign. Consequently, there's been no need for them, or their parents, to check their credit.

A pristine Social Security number in the hands of a skilled identity thief can be a ticket to truckloads of credit and significant cash. It holds the promise of an undisturbed romp for 15 years or more. Just think of all the bank accounts that could be opened; all the credit cards, personal loans, student loans, car loans and mortgages that could be secured; all the apartments that could be rented; all the smartphones, utilities and cable and Internet services that could be obtained; all the medical treatments, prescriptions and devices that could be purchased; all the tax refunds that could be mined; all the illegal jobs that could be obtained; and all the welfare or unemployment benefits that could be had with a gaggle of unblemished, unmonitored Social Security numbers and more than a decade of wide-open road?

Depending on the study, it is estimated that somewhere between 140,000 and 400,000 children become victims of identity theft every year. That truly is an estimate, because most children who become victims have no clue that they are being exploited. When they finally discover the trespass, they learn very quickly that there is no magic switch to make the pain go away. In fact, they are guilty until proven innocent.

Many have absolutely no idea how it happened, and it takes time to track this down and document everything. And while the situation is being investigated and (maybe) resolved, their credit has been decimated and their ability to participate in the economy is limited. Countless victims can't get a loan, find someone to rent them an apartment, get a utility or cellphone turned on without a hefty deposit, open their mailbox without receiving some letter referencing a creditor they've never heard of, or get and keep a job in an already difficult job market, and they even, on occasion, get arrested for a crime they didn't commit in a state where they have neither lived nor visited.

Take for just one example Cameron Noble.

The run-around was exquisite. That is, exquisitely painful. When Cameron Noble first tried to resolve his identity theft problem, he was told that there had been no crime, just an error. There had been no malfeasance. Noble was merely the victim of a keystroke error.

So how did he know a crime had happened? The 22-year-old Utah resident started receiving notices that his wages were being garnished for back payments on child support in California.

When Cameron was seven, his parents got the first inkling that something was amiss after receiving a notice from the IRS that their son was too old to qualify as a dependent on their joint tax return. After disputing the matter, they were told their son was a middle-aged, deadbeat dad who lived two states over in California. After some back and forth, the Nobles thought they had put the matter to rest. They had not, as was evidenced 15 years later when then the wage garnishment began.

When he tried to resolve the matter, Noble's credit reports all came to his address, but with the thief's name. In 2007, his tax refund was withheld to pay for the thief's child support, and in 2008 he got a notice that he owed back taxes.

Understandably, he asked the Social Security Administration to issue him a new Social Security number, but they refused because they believed the explanation was, indeed, a keystroke error. After Noble enlisted help from resolution experts, the Social Security Administration finally agreed that his was a case of identity theft.

Often a parent (or guardian) is the first line of defense when the whisper of a problem surfaces: an unexplained call from a debt collector, a pre-approved credit card offer in their child's name, a blocked federal or state tax return due to a previous filing in the same tax year using their child's Social Security number, an application for their child's first driver's license denied due to accumulated tickets or reckless driving charges in another state (or because a valid driver's license already exists in their name). Unfortunately, many parents miss these early warning signals. You don't have to be one of them.

The above is an adapted excerpt from Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers and Identity Thieves, which hits bookstores everywhere Black Friday.

-- 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.











Paul Druckman, CEO of the International Integrated Reporting Council Discusses the Meaning of Inclusive Capitalism

$
0
0
For me, an inclusive economic system means extending accountability beyond financial transactions and recognising that society impacts business.

An inclusive system seeks to enhance the value to business of all economic, human, social and environmental resources. It builds an understanding of the decisions and trade-offs, made over different time horizons, which impact an organization's strategy and business model. Such a system cannot be achieved without an agreement that economies and businesses must account for the full range of capitals that contribute towards value creation over time.

Integrated Reporting helps facilitate this new, inclusive philosophy through the measurement, management and communication of a company's strategy and performance. It yields more transparent reports that reveal the way in which companies draw upon multiple resources - financial, manufactured, human, intellectual, social and relationship, and natural - to create value over the short, medium and long term.

Inclusive capitalism is a system-wide extension of the internal changes that many businesses are already undertaking as a result of integrated thinking and reporting. I am hopeful that this new understanding - that finance, people, planet and knowledge are all inextricably linked - will result in the implementation of inclusive capitalism globally. In order for this to happen, enhanced governance and reporting systems that reflect our new understanding of connectivity must become embedded in capital markets.

Inclusive capitalism is a necessary shift to ensure financial stability and sustainable development in our 21st century markets. It helps create a marketplace characterised by open dialogue about strategy and resource allocation, thereby enabling investors to understand how the businesses in which they invest are addressing the great global challenges that we all face. This, in turn, will ensure better investment decisions over the short, medium and long term.

-- 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.











As an Undocumented Immigrant, It's Easier to Get My MD-PhD Than a U.S. Visa

$
0
0
Two events were the highlight of my past summer. The first one was preparing to move to the Chicago area, where I would join the Loyola Stritch School of Medicine MD-PhD program. An MD-PhD program is a highly competitive seven-year program that upon completion grants both a medical degree and a doctorate degree. This event was the first step to fulfill my dream of being a physician and an opportunity to experience a world I had never known. Due to my undocumented immigrant status, I had never lived outside of the New Mexico-Mexico border area.

cesar montelongo

Elementary school graduation with my cousins, one year after my family settled in the United States (2000).

The second event this summer was a notification by the U.S. Department of State to submit paperwork to receive permanent residence in this country. Over 18 years ago, my uncle had submitted a family-sponsored visa application on behalf of my family. Because only a finite number of visas are granted each year, we were told it would take 10 to 12 years before receiving one. I would live through my childhood, teens, and college years waiting for this date, even after the expected date arrived without any notice. But the day was finally here, we would finally begin the process to be legal residents of this nation.

The celebration was short-lived. Upon speaking with an immigration lawyer, my sister and I were informed that we were no longer part of the family application. Had my sister and I been 22 or 23 years old, the lawyer could have made a case for us, but age 25 and 26 was out of the question. As per immigration guidelines, we were no longer part of our family. Despite standing "in line" since we were small children, the process had taken so long that it had disqualified us.

cesar montelongo

NMSU award ceremony with my family (Left to right: Myself, my youngest brother, my father, my brother, my mother, and my sister). My brothers are U.S. citizens, while my parents may soon obtain a U.S. visa from the application process our family began 18 years ago (2015).

We were told that in five years my U.S.-citizen brother could begin a new family-sponsored visa application for us, but it would take an additional 18 or 20 years until a visa could be issued. It will be the year 2040 and I will be 51 years old by then. Even if I were to become a physician in the future, this would not expedite being granted legal status in the United States. As extreme and personal as this story sounds, it is the norm of our immigration system.

Throughout the summer, I could not help but compare my acceptance into an MD-PhD program and my inability to obtain a U.S. visa. In 2014 there were over 731,000 applicants to U.S. medical schools. Of these, only 20,343 students were accepted. Due to the competitiveness of MD-PhD programs, this same year there were only 626 MD-PhD matriculants in the entire nation. I am one of the first undocumented immigrant students to have been accepted into an MD-PhD program.

cesar montelongo

Working in the laboratory where I received my Master's degree (2015).

There are inherent difficulties in being admitted to medical school as an undocumented immigrant student. Students face the challenge of not only lacking a legal immigration status, but many are also members of underrepresented minorities, first-generation college students, children from low income households, members from underserved communities, and may have had minimal access to work or financial aid opportunities during college. Despite these obstacles, undocumented immigrant students are currently enrolled in medical school programs throughout the nation. How can these students succeed when they have nearly a one-in-a-million chance of doing so?

It is because we are given that chance. No matter how small the prospect is, no matter how torturous the path, we have the opportunity to be considered alongside all the other 731,000 medical school applicants. The fundamental reason that I was accepted into an MD-PhD program is because I was given a chance. And yet at one point in my visa application process, the chance of obtaining legal residence became non-existent.

My story is not a unique story. This is the story of a person who wishes to be an asset to this nation. A person who has lived in this country for nearly 20 years without unlawful action. A person who attempted by all means available to obtain legal residence. And through all this, a person who still finds themselves undocumented now and for the foreseeable future. It is a story shared by millions of children, students, and trained professionals currently in the United States.

cesar montelongo

White coat ceremony at Stritch School of Medicine (2015).

-- 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.











Viewing all 3381 articles
Browse latest View live


<script src="https://jsc.adskeeper.com/r/s/rssing.com.1596347.js" async> </script>