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Submitted by: Ursula Jorch
Youre a leader. We all are. We all have the opportunity to lead and contribute.
Your ability to contribute, to have impact is affected by your leadership skills, in a big way. Your leadership can even be transformational for other people.
Take the leadership quiz, and see where you stand in your journey as a leader. Give yourself a score from 1 to 5 in each area, where 1 = opportunities for big growth and 5 = youve achieved a really solid skill level.
1. Clarity. You hold true to the vision of the impact you want to have, the positive contribution you want to make in your business, community, and beyond. Your focus and confidence in that vision show up in your everyday choices and actions. Your clarity gives others the opportunity to decide if they want to be a part of that and contribute with their own impact.
2. Decisiveness. You make decisions quickly once you have the information you need. You know that a decisive wrong call often leads to better long-term outcomes and a better team than a right call that youve spent weeks waffling about. Once you decide, you commit and put in your best effort. The consistency of your decisions comes from clarity about your impact vision.
3. Courage. You are willing to experiment, to be uncomfortable and move beyond the coziness of your known edges. Youre willing to be innovative, to boldly go where no one has gone before. (What can I say? Im a fan of the original Star Trek!) You know that even if youre afraid, you can choose to move ahead anyway.
4. Passion. You show that you care about your vision, your outcomes, and people. You share your energy and enthusiasm for what you do. You embrace opportunities to share what youre passionate about in all kinds of ways, from a book youre reading to your vision for your company.
5. Humility. Humility is a willingness to learn. You know youll never have all the answers. You admit when youre wrong. You accept feedback as an opportunity to grow. Youre open to having others contribute, which enriches your life and theirs. You use what youve learned to be flexible and make adjustments as necessary to achieve your goals.
6. Gratitude. You acknowledge what youre grateful for. You show how grateful you are to be where you are. You appreciate and recognize the contributions of others.
7. Authentic connection. You have the ability to connect with people in a real way. They can feel your sincerity and authenticity. You focus on what you can do for others first. You generously help others grow and have their own impact. You listen more than you talk. You show empathy. You know that communicating means that you ensure that the other person understands your ideas and expectations.
8. Insight. You know yourself. You can see others clearly. You seek to understand whats behind the obvious. You use your intuition and insight to be discerning, to separate the important from the unimportant. You dont major in minor things.
9. Accountability. You take responsibility first and foremost for yourself, what you say and what you do. You do what you say you are going to do. You take responsibility for what you have a stake in. You dont play the blame game. You lead by example: your integrity inspires others.
10. Resilience. You accept that failure will always be part of your success. Because you expect this, you dont freak out and make failures worse. You work with and train your mind to stay the course. You know that all great things take time, and that little steps add up.
Now add up your score. If your score is 50, yay you! Youre putting your leadership to great use, and youre committed to continually developing as a leader.
And if youre not quite there yet, its ok! Were all learning and growing. You can grow your capacity for good leadership by developing your skills in the ways I described.
Im looking forward to supporting you in your growth as a leader!
About the Author: Ursula Jorch, MSc, MEd, mentors entrepreneurs starting their businesses and seasoned entrepreneurs in transition to create the business of their dreams. Her coaching programs provide knowledge, support, clarity, inspiration, and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs to empower you to reach your goals. Start with a free guide and other valuable info at
WorkAlchemy.com
. This article was originally published at
workalchemy.com/business-leadership-quiz
and has been syndicated with permission.
Source:
isnare.com
Permanent Link:
isnare.com/?aid=1961985&ca=Business}
A compilation of brief news reports for Monday, May 7, 2007.
A 30 meter section of a gas pipeline in Luka (near Kiev) in Ukraine has been destroyed by an explosion. Although supplies to Europe via this pipeline have stopped, Ukrainian Energy Minister Georgi E. Boyko said that supplies to Europe would not be affected.
“There are no changes in volumes of gas being transported,” Yuri Korolchuk said. “Volumes due to pass through the damaged section are being redirected through the Soyuz pipeline.”
Normal flows are reported in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania.
Sources
Copper prices are rising. Between record copper imports from China, and a mining strike in Peru, the prices have climbed to over $8100 (United States dollars) a tonne, for a gain of $575 dollars over the last week. However the upward trend is not new, it has been climbing for quite some time. In April 2003, the price of copper was under $2000 a tonne.
The metal market has been tending up due to growth in the Chinese industrial production. This trickles down to the local level, where the buying price at scrap yards is ever climbing, making scrap metal collection a more profitable endeavour for individual people using pick up trucks or other such vehicles to collect and cash in the scrap metal at metal buying yards. It can be collected via agreements with businesses, from the garbage, or, sometimes, by theft.
Copper prices fell today on the NYMEX commodity exchange from US$3.7545 per pound to US$3.7125 based on the July futures contract.
Sources
One man was killed and another injured by an exploding backpack in the parking lot of the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The explosion happened at 4 a.m. PDT when the victim tried to remove a the object left on top of his car.
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are on the scene. Aerial images did not show any apparent damage.
“We believe the victim was the intended target of this,” Bill Cassell said, spokesperson for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. “This is being treated as a homicide in which the weapon used to cause death is a non-traditional weapon.”
Both of the victims worked at the Luxor.
Sources
Saturday, February 4, 2006
On Friday the 3rd, the Portuguese Air Force started to operate eight EH101 Merlin helicopters, replacing the old French made Puma helicopters; which have had more than 30 years of service, first used during the Portuguese Colonial War.
After the war, the Puma were used in missions of search and rescue,transport of patients and evacuation missions, and also assisted the USAF in recovery of NASA‘s Space Shuttles.
Twelve Merlin have been purchased; in three different models: six SAR (for use with Search & Rescue), four in CSAR (for deployment of troops to zones out of the country) and two in SIFICAP (for Fisheries Control).
The Merlin is capable of carrying more than 3 tons, its maximum speed is 309 km/h and it has a range of 1390 km. The Merlin is the helicopter used for the transportation of the president of the United States George W. Bush and other VIP’s.
Four Puma operating in the Azores and in Madeira will continue in service, for the next few months, until the last four Merlin CSAR helicopters are delivered. The air force is currently considering using these four onboard a future logistic support ship. (LPD)
A ceremony was held at the Air Base of Montijo, attending was Portuguese minister of National Defence, Luís Amado. He said during the ceremony that the old Puma might be converted for civilian protection missions, such as fire fighting.
“The Government will decide the future of the Puma helicopters on the board of appreciation that is being done with other sectors of the Government, namely the Ministry of Internal Administration, in the possibility of the Puma being adapted for other missions, for example on the scope of the civilian protection”.
The Merlin, was purchased in 2001 by the Government of António Guterres. The two first helicopters arrived in February 11 of last year, being held in February 24 an official ceremony in the Montijo Air Base, attending both the president of the Portuguese Republic, Jorge Sampaio, and the then minister of National Defense, Paulo Portas.
They have cost the Portuguese Government €446 million, (approximately US$536 million). This deal has given €60 million in counterparts, relatively in orders of production in the workshops of OGMA. It’s expected that this sum will grow to almost a total of €315 million.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Commander Ali Dizaei of London’s Metropolitan Police Service today became the most senior officer anywhere in the United Kingdom to be convicted of offences by a court. Dizaei, who was branded a “criminal in uniform” by Independent Police Complaints Commission chair Nick Hardwick, has been jailed for four years after he attempted to frame an Iraqi businessman.
It took a Southwark Crown Court jury under three hours to find Dizaei guilty of misconduct in a public office and attempting to pervert the course of justice. The charges carried a maximum of life imprisonment.
Dizaei, 47, who is head of the National Black Police Association, had gone to the Yas Persian restaurant, run by one of his friends, and taken his wife Shy with him. They then went to their car and struck up a conversation through its open window with the restaurant’s manager. During this conversation they were approached by Waad al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi website designer in his twenties. He requested that Dizaei pay £600 that he owed Baghdadi, who had constructed his website.
According to the Crown, this dispute had been ongoing for months and Dizaei had been attempting to intimidate Baghdadi. He told the Iraqi to depart when he entered the restaurant; although the businessman did, he stayed nearby and rang the 999 emergency number.
The exact content of the argument that led up to this is unclear. Dizaei and his wife testified that Baghdadi was abusive and threatening, telling the officer he would “extract the money out of your throat” while the owner of the Yas said he was “a crook basically… His history … everybody knows he’s not a good gentleman,” said owner Sohrab Eshragi. Eshragi said that the request Baghdadi leave the premises was due to concerns of trouble, claiming Baghdadi had been in a previous fight. Baghdadi denied the allegations and the court rejected Dizaei’s version of events.
| Everybody knows he’s not a good gentleman | ||
While Baghdadi was making his emergency call, Dizaei arrested him and made a 999 call of his own. He requested assistence from other officers, and said that Baghdadi had assaulted him by stabbing his stomach with a shisha pipe. He maintained this account when police arrived and kept it up in written statements, but although Baghdadi was found to be carrying such a pipe examination of Dizaei’s wounds by a police doctor concluded he had inflicted them upon himself.
A Home Office pathologist questioned this finding for the defence. Dr. Nat Cary said it was based on a “fundamentally flawed approach,” and that the injuries were consistent with Dizaei’s version of events. He has helped investigate the assassination of former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto, and the death newspaper seller Ian Thomlinson, the latter of whom died during a G20 protest.
The Crown further alleged that Dizaei told Baghdadi “I’ll fuck your life… You think I don’t know what you do in London… I’ll find every single detail of your life in London.” The prosecution case was presented by Peter Wright QC, who has prosecuted in trials over serial murders of Suffolk sex workers and a plot to bomb transatlantic airliners. He said that Dizaei’s actions were a “wholesale abuse of power by a senior police officer for entirely personal and oblique motives.”
Judge Justice Simon said that Dizaei had committed a “grave breach of public trust” and told him “This sentence needs to send a clear message that police officers of whatever rank are not above the law.” A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said outside the court that “He abused his power and ignored his responsibility,” and that while corruption was unacceptable in any police officer it was particularly so in a senior member of the forces. “The public should have confidence that we will prosecute anyone, regardless of their position, if they commit serious offences. We believe justice has been served for the victim and the public.”
| The greatest threat to the reputation of the police service is criminals in uniform like Dizaei | ||
“[I]f he [Dizaei] had been successful, Mr al-Baghdadi may have been sent to prison,” noted Hardwick. “Mr al-Baghdadi has shown tremendous strength of character throughout this case ? from the moment he was confronted by Ali Dizaei, throughout our investigation, and finally when giving evidence at court. We are grateful for the confidence he placed in the IPCC and, as a result of that, justice has been done today.”
Dizaei has been a policeman for 24 years, and at one stage was rumoured to be destined to take control of the Metropolitan Police, although the Metropolitan Police Authority may now choose to end this career. His trial, which began this month, is his second this decade. He was prosecuted in 2003 but cleared of any wrongdoing. The incident with Baghdadi was in June 2008 and Dizaei has been suspended on full pay since September of that year. Hardwick said that “The greatest threat to the reputation of the police service is criminals in uniform like Dizaei.”
byAlma Abell
Decorating a home can be a very stressful undertaking, but well worth it in order to have your home looking its best. There are a number of different things that you can do to make the interior of your home look great. One of the best ways to bring out the beauty of your home is by having well maintained window treatments. You will have many different options when it comes to available window treatments, which means that you will need to make sure to take your time and research well before choosing. The following are a few tips on how to get the best Window Treatments in Stamford.
It Starts With the Supplier
When trying to find the right Window Treatments in Stamford for your home, you will first need to find the right supplier in your area. You need to make sure that you choose a supplier that has been around for a while and knows what it takes to get great window treatments. The more experience that a supplier has, the easier it will be for you to get what you want. Make sure that you do the proper amount of research in order to find the right supplier for your needs.
The Decor You Already Have
Once you have found the right supplier, you will need to start thinking about the colors that you want. In most cases, you will be able to go by the existing decor that you have. If you are unsure about what colors will be best suited for your home, then you need to let a professional help you. The last thing that you want to do is to have a window dressing that does not go with the rest of the house. This will take away from the beauty of the home and it will look out of place.
When in the market for Window Treatments in Stamford, look to the team at Dominics Decorating. By choosing them, you can get the treatments that you want for your home in a timely manner. Call them or go to their company website for more information.
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By A Noton
When it comes to buying a house you are probably going to require the services of a mortgage broker. They are the people who act as the link between yourself and the company or bank that is going to give you the money to complete the purchase. It is therefore very important that you ensure you have the right broker for you as it is going to involve them handling a large sum of money under your name.
Due to what it involves it really is best if you get a company that has been doing this for a number of years. They shall have built up a track record and there shall be a great deal of trust in them which a younger company does not have. It gives you a greater sense of security that nothing is going to go wrong if you use an established mortgage broker.
At first what you are looking to do is to try and get some kind of reference or better still a direct personal recommendation from someone that you know and trust. So if you know someone who has recently bought a new house then ask who they used as their broker. The questions that you really need to ask is what services did they provide, how reasonable were their fees, and most importantly how well did you get on with them.
The relationship aspect is all important as it is this part which is going to give you the confidence that you can trust them to handle everything on your behalf. You do also get extra confidence by being able to search into their background a bit before using them.
When looking into their background you should be looking at their qualifications and if they belong to any official organizations that gives them a greater sense of credibility. These organizations can vary from country to country as well as state to state depending on where you live so look for the one most local to you.
Belonging to certain financial organizations or associations linked to mortgage brokers does mean that those groups see the company as being reputable and trustworthy so do look out for their logos. If you need any extra evidence you can even contact them and check that they are actual members.
Before you proceed with a mortgage broker it is important that you go and have a general chat with them at their office. This lets you get a first impression of if it is a well run business in a good office as it does make you feel you are dealing with someone who is professional. You would not want to use a broker who comes across as a mess as it makes you believe they are going to make mistakes and cause you all kinds of problems.
You do need to make sure that they are going to do everything for you. They can handle each aspect apart from putting your own signature on the official paperwork. Never be afraid to ask them questions if you do not understand something as they should be willing to help.
About the Author: A career as mortgage brokers can be very rewarding. If you have a good head for numbers, consider enrolling in a mortgage broker course.
Source: isnare.com
Permanent Link: isnare.com/?aid=641799&ca=Finances
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Today an injunction that was filed in the High Court yesterday to stop the Auckland City Council and Auckland Regional Council from telling the Government which stadium they prefer has failed. The decision is over a new stadium located on the waterfront of Auckland, New Zealand or an upgrade of the already existing, Eden Park, Auckland. The stadium is for the final of the Rugby World Cup 2011, which New Zealand is hosting.
The injunction was filed by a group of five Aucklanders who believe that the decision is being rushed. The injunction was filed in the name of a private citizen to represent a group of five Aucklanders. Rodney Hide, leader of the ACT party and Member of Parliament (MP) and MP for the Green party, Keith Locke, are helping the fight for the injunction as they believe the Aucklanders have a strong case.
Justice John Priestley said that the group did not need this injunction because they could fight the stadium decision in the future by different means. A second injunction has already been filed for two days, starting December 11.
Mayor of Auckland, Dick Hubbard, said: “The council’s advisors have informed that processes have been proper and appropriate.”
Rodney Harrison, Queens Counsel (QC), said: “The group that lodged the injunction were Auckland ratepayers, residents and concerned citizens but none of whom could be called high profile. I have no idea what those decisions might be. Exactly how the defendants (local government) react to central Government requests or pressure is a matter for them.”
ARC chairman, Mike Lee attacked his own counsel Brian Latimore for failing to follow instructions at today’s High Court injunction hearing. The instruction were “not to oppose any injunction, merely to assist the court by explaining what was going on and leave the argument to the judge and the other parties.”
Mr Lee said: “We were there as peacekeepers not combatants and it seems this guy has gone in and opened fire.”
Patrick McGuire, one of the five Aucklanders who had sought the injunction, said that Mr Hide had introduced all of them to each other after they each wrote a letter to him with their concerns. Mr McGuire said it requires “public input”.
Mr Hide said that he “had acted as a middle-man, arranging for the members of the group to meet with lawyers.” Mr Locke and Mr Hide are working together because they are concerned the legal processes of the decision over which stadium will be chosen and how the decision will be made. Mr Hide said he did not like the waterfront stadium, “I’m not a lawyer but the legal advice we have had is that the injunction has a high chance of succeeding.”
The two councils, Auckland City and Auckland Regional, have been consulting the affected groups to see which decision they should go with. The Auckland City Council is currently in a meeting discussing the stadium decision and the Regional Council will do it tomorrow.
If the waterfront stadium was chosen then the stadium will be located on Ports of Auckland land and they want a guarantee that their running of the ports will not be affected. Denis Carlisle, president of the local Maritime union, said: “The Ports of Auckland are asking for guarantees that they will not suffer any financial loss from the stadium project, and likewise the Maritime Union will be seeking compensation for our members for any loss of work. The issue was about safeguarding Port of Auckland’s role as a major working port.”
“[The Ports of Auckland] is one of the key gateways between New Zealand and the global economy.”
Saturday, May 21, 2005
In an effort to ease complaints by the U.S. and Europe about a heavy influx of low priced Chinese goods, China will raise export tariffs on 74 categories of textile products in June. This follows plans from the U.S. to impose quotas on Chinese textiles and clothing.
Products likely to see an increase from the Chinese move include synthetic fiber shirts, trousers, knit shirts and blouses, cotton shirts, and combined cotton yarn. Last week, similar restrictions were imposed by the U.S. on cotton trousers, knit shirts, and underwear. Currently, a 2.5 cent charge per item is imposed; the new tariff will raise this to the equivalent of 12 cents per piece now. While this is a fourfold increase, it is not expected to affect consumer prices. Because of this, some doubt the tariff will have any effect on correcting the trade imbalance.
This move is in response to U.S. trade quotas imposed due to concerns that increased Chinese goods would put U.S. textile manufacturers out of business. According to Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, a textile industry group in the U.S., the move will preserve 10,000 U.S. jobs. The new U.S. trade quota will limit the growth of Chinese textile imports to 7.5 percent compared with shipments over the past year.
Prior to January 1, a global quota system helped regulate the trade. With the quota system gone, fears have arisen that a flood of Chinese goods could undercut U.S. competitiveness in the market. China is able to market its goods cheaply due to an artificially weak yuan. The U.S. Treasury criticized the China yuan policy as “highly distortionary”, posing a major risk to China’s economy itself and to global economic growth. They challenged China to revalue its currency to bring it to a level they believe will allow fairer competition between global manufacturers.
China has disputed the charges of the U.S. Treasury. Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai said, “I believe they are not reasonable”.
Laura Jones, a representative of large retailers, also criticized the move, saying “These restrictions on imports from China will do absolutely nothing to help the U.S. textile industry — and the government knows it.”
China has seen a boom in economic growth in recent years due to growing trade surpluses with the West, but economists worry that the trade gap will cause longer term global economic problems. China’s textile and apparel exports are the most noteworthy example, with exports up over 1,000 percent in some categories this year and the rapid loss of marketshare and jobs by U.S. textile manufacturers.
Beginning in 1978, the Chinese economy has been transforming from a Soviet-style centrally planned economy to more of a free market style system, under the rigid political control of Communist Party of China.
To this end, the government has leveraged foreign trade to stimulate economic growth. The result has been a fourfold increase in GDP, making China the sixth largest economy in the world. By 2012 the People’s Republic of China may have the highest GDP in the world.
According to U.S. statistics, from 1999 to 2004 China’s trade surplus with the U.S. doubled to $170 billion. Wal-Mart is China’s seventh largest export partner, just ahead of the United Kingdom.
However, the gains from their “socialist market economy” have not been without problems. The Chinese leadership has often experienced the worst results of socialism and capitalism: bureaucracy, lassitude, corruption, and inflation. Inflation rates have been an on-going challenge, reaching as high as 17% in 1995.
Environmental deterioration is a longer-term threat to economic growth. In 1998, the World Health Organization reported that China had seven of the 10 most-polluted cities on Earth. Another concern among some economists is that China’s economy is over-heating, and due to its global economic expansion this could have major repercussions among other nations.
Typically, wages have been low and working conditions poor, with workers living in restrictive dormitories and working at boring factory jobs. However, recent labor shortages have started improving conditions, and raising the minimum wage towards the equivalent of 100-150 US dollars per month. The labor shortages are in part a result of a demographic trend caused by strict family planning.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Russ Aegard is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Thunder Bay-Atikokan riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.
Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.