Business Ethics: The Law of Corporate Karma

According to the shamanic traditions, the great mystery of being is that all things are alive and have a level of intelligence. This is because all things are a part of the Great Spirit. However, all things also function individually, in thought and action. It is in these individual actions that karma is born. Karmic laws also state that all karma, both good and bad, must also return home...return to sender!

Most of us don't have a good grasp of group karma. Simply stated, if you agree to be a member of a group situation, you are also agreeing to it's collective karmic pattern of return. So sooner or later problems at work, in your business or corporate structure will show up at your front door. It's like you caught the flu from the group...but now your personally ill.

As humanity grows in it's awareness...it also grows in karmic responsibility. So years ago many industries caused environmental problems, but were not aware of that fact. However, karmic law states all things must return home..........so these industries don't really exist today.....or operate in a weakened condition [ in the future they will not exist at all].

According to my spirit guides, there is a big push these days too clean up the karma of the global business world. We know from the news that many business institutions, and even very large corporations are in trouble these days..many will not make it through the heavy gate of karmic return. They will fail.............

On the brighter side, Spirit is not against business, but is really pro-business....so now what?The newer business model that is emerging is much more holistic. By agreeing to function more holistically, much less damaging karma developes.....and if you're really aware of all business levels...very little negative karma developes. So, if you're in a corporate or business situation, and things are not really going right...take the time to clear the issues up, before you catch the karmic flu!

Just at the environmental level, many things should be addressed....but just start by keeping your office or work space clean and organized....this helps clear out negative energy patterns. Taking it one step further...use Feng Shui tools and techniques if you know how. Or buy a book, hire a consultant or use trial and error to solve some of the ongoing issues around you at the job or business.

Presidential Debate Number 2: Who Won?

The tension was palatable as the 2012 Presidential Town Hall meeting concluded. Following the debate, both men greeted their families and then continued campaigning - signing autographs and having their picture taken. Neither candidate turned to greet the other, neither acknowledged the others family. To me, this was a natural reaction to the animosity that was expressed during the debate. And in fact, if they had greeted each other I would have questioned the authenticity of the gesture. At the same time, last night's debate made it crystal clear that Obama and Romney are very different when it comes to both their vision, policies and how they see their role as Commander and Chief.

The Score

So who won this debate? It depends on who you ask. Interpreting the behaviors of the candidates - ignoring each other and continuing to woo the American voter - suggests that each man believed he emerged as the winner.

Then again, some might say that since Obama raised his game in comparison to his first debate performance, he is the winner.

As a speaker coach, I was listening for clarity of thought as well as how each man expressed himself. I relied on my Presidential Debate ScoreCard, (I hope you did as well) to guide the assessment of each candidate, focusing on his confidence and credibility in his communications. For me, while it was close, Romney won.

Body Language: Appearance and Stance

Both men looked sharp with strong erect posture, even when sitting on the stool. When they stood, they stood tall and proud, looking comfortable in their surroundings.

However, Obama didn't come across as optimistic as he did four years ago. He looked tired, perhaps even a little "beaten up", clearly not as refreshed and vital looking at Romney.

The assessment: Romney 1

Movement

Both men stood immediately when it was their turn to answer a question. In fact, Romney would stand when Obama's time was up; alerting the moderator that it was "his turn". I had to laugh at one point when the moderator, Candy Crowley of CNN, asked both men a follow-up question on wages and job growth and they moved almost in unison - standing, taking six steps forward, stopping and assuming the same stance. It couldn't have been any better if they rehearsed it.

Approaching people asking questions - moving around freely and comfortably and void of any distracting mannerisms both men "owned the room".

The assessment: Draw

Eye Contact

Eye contact is all about inclusion and the rule of thumb is a minimum of 90% direct, roving, continuous eye contact. And while both men had direct eye contact, Obama made more of an effort to look at and include the entire audience when he spoke.

The assessment: Obama 1

Gestures

Both aligned what they were saying with how they expressed themselves - their words, and gestures in-synch. In addition, their gestures were plentiful, varied and spontaneous. Obama's gestures were small, tight to his torso - waist high. Romney's gestures tended to be "larger", more expressive with the movement coming from his shoulder. One wasn't necessarily any more effective than the other, just different.

The assessment: Draw

Vocal Delivery

If you recall, during the first debate, Obama said "ah" whenever he paused. This made him sound uncertain, struggling for words. There were no fillers this time allowing the pauses to be less defined or used to punctuate what he was saying.

What got in the way this time was Obama's tone of voice - in an effort to sound passionate and more assertive, he could come across as dogmatic.

While both men had a conversational tone most of the time, Romney did tend to have more fluidity to his talk (avoiding a repetitive vocal pattern) and varied his pace with more vocal inflection.

The assessment: Romney 2

Messaging

Romney's messaging offered assurance to the American voter saying, "I know how to make it happen". However, something happened that threw Romney off his game responding to the question about the terrorist attack in Libya. Following Obama's response Romney looked as if he had been ambushed and wasn't sure how to recover. For the first time in the debates, his response included "ah's" - clearly a nervous reaction.

Obama's messaging was more aggressive than in the first debate and he nailed the final question by "closing the sale" when he asked for another four years.

The assessment: Draw

Round Two Results

Last night both men were in it to win it! While it was close, my assessment was Romney won by a slim margin. What was yours?

6 Easy To Implement Ideas For Making Teams More Effective

Effective teams deliver results and most would agree that teams as a collective can deliver more than a single individual. At the same time, there is often a huge difference between what people understand and what actually happens in practice.

Making teams more effective often only requires some simple changes and in this article I want to share with you 6 ideas that you can take and implement to get better results from teams.

Tip 1: Keep the focus on performance

It is really easy to focus on things like the number of hours or the number or projects teams are working on and lose sight of performance. Every successful team that I was part of had a strong focus on performance. If you want teams to thrive give them a performance challenge to address.

Tip 2: Have a clear purpose

Effective teams have a clear purpose and know what it is. It might be to improve customer service, develop new products or tackle process bottlenecks to name just a few. The clearer the purpose the greater the impact and effectiveness of the team. When teams lack purpose they just tend to drift.

Tip 3: Make sure you have the right people and mix of skills

One of the great things about a team is that everyone on a team brings something different to the team in terms of skills, experiences and background. Having the right people on a team with different personal and professional attributes and skills can really make a huge difference.

Tip 4: Plug the gaps

Even if at the outset you think you have the right skills, some shortfalls will inevitably arise. Make sure that you give the team the time and support to address skills deficiencies that arise or to do the work to acquire the knowledge they need to keep moving forward. Remember that a gap in a team is like a hole in your bucket.

Tip 5: Allow creativity and balanced risk taking

Creativity is all about considering all of the options; even those that on the face of it might seem completely off the wall. Let people experiment on a small scale and see what seems to working and what is not working. The fact is that any progress is likely to require some kind of risk taking.

Tip 6: Create the conditions for effective teamwork

For most of our life, whether it is in education, careers or even sport, we are conditioned to compete rather than collaborate. The best organisations understand that to enable team working you have to create the conditions that make it more worthwhile to collaborate than compete.

The Bottom Line: Sometimes teams will work and other times they won't. At the same time, often small adjustments can yield big benefits when it comes to teams.

Things to Know Before Selecting One of the Best Schools in Hyderabad

In case you are planning to put your child in one of the best schools, it is important that you know about them in advance. Since the first step to right education is the first step in one of the best schools in Hyderabad, here are few things to know and keep in mind while choosing one.

The Quality of Education

One of the primary factors to select the best place of education is the quality. Many schools get recognized by the level of education and the way it's propounded in different classes. The quality also depends upon the result-oriented approach of the system in imparting education in a progressive environment. The best schools in hyderabad have adopted the designed rules to inculcate a sense of development and improvement among students.

Academics

One of the main requirements of opting for best schools in Hyderabad is academics. A variety of curriculum is in application in most of the schools. There are people. who wish to continue with country's educational system, for instance, CBSE and ICSE. However, some schools have adopted the International Baccalaureate to encourage students to pick up the Cambridge curricula. The system is increasingly adopted by the institutions to help students learn in a practical and non-theoretical way.

Activities: Sports and Extra-curriculum

If you are interested in getting your child's admission in the best schools of Hyderabad, sports and extra-curriculum is one of the crucial areas to look out for. Hyderabad has produced some of the best sportspeople in the country like. Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal. If you are looking to seek admission in the best institution, then it is very important to choose the one which can support and offer the best sports facilities including the services of coaches and physiotherapists.

A True Learning Environment

Every parent wishes his child to join an institution, which can inculcate a sense of culture, cooperation and bond. The best schools in this city of Andhra Pradesh have played a role in changing the way the child starts thinking in any environment. Various festivities and functions round the year organized during the year are awe-inspiring. Contests and programs are helpful in bringing the inherent talent of the child to the forefront. It also makes it possible to stay in touch with the basics of life.

The best schools of Hyderabad have helped impart a system of education for students at all levels that can allow a complete exposure to their survival in future. An atmosphere created to encourage and motivate the child into exploring and absorbing the best in life is one of the main mottos. As a matter fact, many intellectuals have contributed in making a better and more fruitful environment which can improve and enhance the hidden talent and versatility in the children. The focus is on promoting thinking, learning and creative approach which instills a sense of physical, intellectual and emotional growth and development. Keep in mind that a student-friendly atmosphere is a given advantage over a teacher-friendly approach.

Create Recurring Income With a Paid Membership Site

Paid membership sites have become hot Internet properties recently, but most people who start them don't succeed with them. A profitable membership site can add new income streams, reach new markets, and create greater profits in your business.

If you're a thought leader or business professional, think carefully before you launch into building a membership site - it isn't for everybody. It works best if you have:

an established business delivering value to your clients through your face-to-face services resources that deliver on-going value (such as e-books, audio programs and worksheets) or the time to give members access to you (through webinars, group coaching, short consulting sessions, and so on) a network of clients, peers who can deliver value to your members, and a database of potential members

Benefits of a Membership Site

A membership site has a number of potential benefits for you:

Recurring Income: The most obvious benefit is that you create a new income stream. Market Once: You only need to convince people once to sign up, and then charge them every month. Vehicle for Value: The membership site is a way for you to deliver, share and archive your resources. Build Loyalty: You keep delivering value to your members in all your communication. Reward Loyalty: Members get access to things that non-members don't. Maintain Relationships: You can offer free membership to selected people, as a way to keep and build relationships.

It also has benefits for your members:

Manage Cash Flow: They know exactly how much they will spend each month. Join a Community: Some people join a membership site primarily so they can be part of a community of like-minded people. Make One Decision: They don't have to keep making decisions about whether to buy individual products and services. Get Increasing Value: The longer somebody is a member, the more value they get, because the network expands and you keep adding resources. So each month their membership dollar goes further. On-Demand Learning: Members can dip into the archive whenever they want, rather than waiting until you deliver what they need. Save Money: Finally, of course they save money, because you give them discounts, special prices and members-only offers.

Are You Ready?

Broadly, as an expert, you have four potential types of income:

Active: You get paid for delivering value to your clients - speaking, coaching, consulting, professional services, etc. Bundled: You get paid more for your activity, because you bundle in other products and services. Recurring: You get paid over and over again for your activity, because clients buy a subscription. Passive: You get paid even without any activity.

Each level of income relies on one thing:

To generate active income, you need to demonstrate value (otherwise, clients won't pay!) To generate bundled income, you need products (physical, electronic or even additional services) To generate recurring income, you need a network (potential members, joint venture partners, affiliates and staff) To generate passive income, you need marketing skills - especially marketing that stands alone without you being there to sell

The fourth level - passive income - can be achieved by itself, but the other three build on each other. A membership site is an example of recurring income.

The Proven Path

Because a membership site is recurring income, you need value, products and a network. It's difficult to succeed unless you have all three.

This is the most common path to success.

Unfortunately, some business owners launch into a membership site too soon, and discover that they don't have expertise that members value, they don't have enough products and resources to keep the site going, or they don't have a network to promote, support and buy membership.

So make sure you have value, products and a network - and a commitment to making your membership site work!

1st Presidential Debate: Obama Lacked-The-Luster of a Commander and Chief

The first Presidential debate I asked... what will win over the American voter, substance, style or possibly both?

And the answer is BOTH - at least for Romney.

First, let me state that I observed the presidential debate from a non-partisan point of view. As a speaker coach, I was listening for clarity of thought as well as how each man expressed himself.

So, what exactly did Romney do that projected a presence that said, "confident, credible and congenial"? What happened to the dynamic and engaging persona that has contributed to Obama's popularity?

As the two men greeted each other, Obama's impeccable posture, determined stride, pleasant expression all said, "I am here to win". Romney, on the other hand, had a slight hesitancy in his walk and his face had a flash of nervous tension, as if he was questioning what was about to happen and recalibrating his strategy.

But all that as quickly changed and here's how...

One: Pace

The pace at which the two men spoke influenced each candidate's credibility. First up, Obama maintained a vocal pattern of saying 7 or 8 words followed by a pause. He was missing his typical vocal inflections that conveys passion and adding insult to injury, he filled each pause with an "ah". Bottom line, he didn't have his usual rhythm that engages an audience and the "fillers" made him sound uncertain, struggling for words. Not good for credibility.

On the other hand, Romney was articulate, clear and concise he was able to connect with his message and his audience. Romney spoke at a good clip and appeared to be in the moment, thinking about what he was saying as he said it. His ability to "think-the-thought" kept me engaged and wanting to listen, to understand his position.

Two: Facial Expression

After the initial hand shake, Romney kept a pleasant expression on his face. One commentator referred to it as a "half-smile". I am not sure what exactly he was doing but it worked - it made him look friendly, "familiar", someone I'd have as an associate or friend. This personable style made his stories about the people he met along the campaign trail (job hunters, people worried about health insurance, etc.) believable.

Another facial expression that Romney mastered was eye contact. He looked at Obama when talking with him, at Jim Lehrer when talking to him and he looked directly at the American public when talking to us. Did you notice that how he stayed engaged with his opponent when Obama was speaking? Smart.

Obama's strategy was quite different. When Romney was speaking, he typically looked down, rarely acknowledging his opponent. When it was his turn to speak, he directed his comments to Lehrer only looking at Romney when challenging him. But what was most surprising was he did not show that million dollar smile which can instantly put people at ease and provide an emotional connection with his audience. Instead he looked irritated and impatient. When he did smile it appeared to be forced rather than sincere.

Three: Physical Expression

The best presenters get everything working together - their words, body language and voice, are in-synch... aligned and supporting their message. Here again, Obama was off his game, even his gestures positioned him as the weaker candidate. Almost dismissive in his behavior, Obama kept is head down, gestures were small, tight to his torso - waist high and he would lean on one leg, causing his shoulder to slouch losing that winning posture.

Romney owned the room, he kept his strong stance and his gestures tended to be "larger", more expressive with the movement coming from his shoulder. Controlled and purposeful, these behaviors along with his direct eye contact proclaimed, "I am in it to win it".

Four: Structure

Right from the get-go, Romney was clear, direct and concise when he spoke. His responses provided structure to the debate. For example, he described his 5-step plan, his rebuttals included a preview of what he was going to say and then he addressed each topic, saying first... second... etc. Whether or not you agree with his politics, you certainly knew where he was headed and what he was talking about. Obama, on the other hand, appeared to wonder. I kept waiting for him to take back control but it didn't happen.

Round One Results

Last night Romney wasn't asking to be our next president, he was letting us experience what it would be like for him to be the president. While Obama felt like the default candidate.The results: Romney 1 Vs. Obama: 0