Leading by Example

This is a reprint of a blog by my BFF Melanie Crowe, an incredible leader that has made a very positive impact on my life.  It is very insightful so I thought it was worth repeating…Enjoy

The best example of leadership is leadership by example.
~Jerry McClain

 

For over eight years, I have always heard this quote.  I totally agree with it that if you are a leader, you must lead your team by example.

In my business, if I want my team to build their businesses, I cannot just ask them to do the tasks or just tell them. I must also do the same business building tasks for my personal business and show them how to build their business.

I have to lead by example by building my own business and partnering with those that are showing me they are committed to building theirs as well. Through that, new leaders will rise and lead their teams.

A true leader is not a dictator or a boss. A true leader is encouraging, uplifting, positive, able to give constructive criticism when asked, and also able to keep moving forward and not getting sidelined.

Is a leader a motivator?  Only to a certain extent. A leader can motivate to a point by offering encouragement and having belief in the team before the team has that belief. But motivation comes from within. No one can be a true business builder if they don’t have motivation inside themselves that will keep them going when the going gets tough.

As you build your business or decide to build a business, know what it takes to move your business forward and do it. Lead by example, not by words

~Melanie Crowe~

How are you funding your children’s college education?

My son is going to be 18 in a few weeks and we are in the throes of the whole college process.  He has chosen his school, has been accepted and yesterday we received the financial aid awards letter.  This explains what financial aid he will get and what we need to contribute to make up the difference.  WOW!  What an eye opener!  I thought there would be more opportunity for financing and grants and less of having to figure out how you will come up with the huge gap.  We didn’t make the right choices while he was in high school in preparation for this next adventure in college funding.  Where most people would be stressed and incur debt upon this revelation.  I am actually excited.  Because I have the means to raise the money we need to make the first payment in the fall.  That’s why I work from home.  I don’t need to go out and work at a part-time job making $8 an hour, that wouldn’t even make a dent in the school bill.  All I need to do is increase my daily activity in my business.  I have the tools that I need right here at home and I am thrilled.   What are YOUR options?  Are you willing to do something different to alleviate debt in your life?  If you are ready to build something from home, let me know.  I can help you.

 

A day in the life of working from home!

I work from home because I wanted to be home for my children, but also so I could supplement my income and help contribute to the family finances.  The flexibility of creating my own schedule enables me to participate in the activities that my children have, take care of household duties and create a corporate income.

So what does a day in a life of a work at home mom look like?  Here’s a schedule of my typical day:

6:30 have my coffee, help the kids get their stuff together, and they leave for school at 7:15.  They are all in middle & high school.

7:30 read the news, check the weather, and make my plan for the day

8:00 Bible study- I want to keep God in my daily plans

8:30 Treadmill/shower/dress/pick up/throw clothes in washer

10:00 I’m in my office, ready to work, there are 30,000 people daily looking for a home based business.  My job is to find them.

10-2:00 Work activities include interviewing people, setting appointments , making presentations, helping new partners get started, following up

2-7:00 Kids are home, finish housework and daily chores, attend kid’s sporting events, help with homework, prepare dinner, and hang with my family

7-9:00 back in my office for evening time.  I can only do this a couple days weekly, because of other obligations, like church and volunteer activities.

I also spend time on training and personal development because my income and growth depend on it.  Those things are done in off-business hours, because what I am doing during my office hours are income producing activities, and training isn’t income producing but it’s absolutely necessary.  Think about starting a new job or career.  You wouldn’t be able to walk into that without learning the job.

Not everyone has this kind of time to devote to their business, and that’s okay.  It’s important to understand your time investment determines your income.  You can spend less time and earn less income or it will just take you longer to reach your goals.  You decide!

Organizational skills and prioritizing your work hours are critical to your success.  It’s extremely easy to be distracted, and find excuses while you work at home, so a solid work ethic is important.  You have to treat your business like a business and not a hobby if you want to see the results.  The #1 cause for failure in a home based business is EXCUSES.  Things like I have laundry to do, my kids need me to plan a room party, my soap opera is on.  Sacrifice is necessary if you want to be successful.  You cannot fit 10-20 hours of business activity into an already busy life.  So what are you willing to give up to be successful?  Let’s face it, nothing changes in your life until you change something and doing the same things over and over is the definition of insanity.  So make a decision, don’t look back and get to work.  Your family will thank you for it.

 

Don’t ask, don’t tell?

Eye opening information from Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. Quoted from the article- “Toxic chemicals that can cause obesity, cancer, reproductive problems, and learning disabilities are in the products we use every day. That’s because federal law on chemicals takes a “don’t ask, don’t tell” approach: EPA can’t require companies to test chemicals for safety, nobody’s telling what chemicals are even in products, and chemicals with known hazards can be used in places we live, work, or play.:

http://www.saferchemicals.org/resources/obesity.html

I choose green living made easy!

Do you think your home is safe?

Do you use any of these products?

1.            Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder w/Talc

2.            Crest Tartar Control Toothpaste

3.            VO5 Hair Conditioner

4.            Clairol Nice-n-Easy Hair Color

5.            Ajax Cleanser

6.            Lysol Disinfectanthouse

These are the top 6 cancer-causing products  in the average home.  Why do you use these?  Should we really trust the labeling of the manufacturers?  Labeling laws just don’t protect the consumer.  Do your homework and choose household products that are safe.  I did!

[Source: The National Cancer Prevention Coalition]

www.preventcancer.com/consumers/general/dirty_dozen.htm

Why set Goals?

Excerpted from Design your Best Year Ever, by Darren Hardy

Setting goals is the key to success.  The greatest achievers in the world have all succeeded because they mapped out their plans for their visions.  They set goals and referred to them daily to ensure they were on the right track.  Why does this seem to be such a difficult task for most people?  Simply writing down your goals will not get them accomplished.  You have to be committed – and stay committed – throughout the year if you really want to see them come to fruition.  You have to actively engage in accomplishing them and to do that, you must understand why you are setting them.

So here are 3 reasons that you should set goals:

1.  Know “WHY” before you get lost in “HOW.”  If you know the Why, you will figure out the How!  If your Why is big enough the How is easy.  BUT, if your Why is not identified or significant, then any level of difficulty in the How, will be enough to defeat you.  “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
2. You cannot hit a target you cannot see.  “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” ~Yogi Berra.  The world is goal-oriented.  An airplane needs to have a destination set in order to design a flight plan to reach it.  When you get in your car, you have to know where you want to end up even before you pull out of the driveway.  When you know exactly where you are going and focus on that point, you will go directly to that end.  Without a focus for your direction in life, you will wander aimlessly until you are hopelessly lost and confused.
3. For what it makes of you.  Set big goals that challenge you to ignite the great potential that lies within you – to become the person you were meant to be.

“The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.”  ~ Jim Rohn

“You will become as great as your dominant aspiration.” ~ James Allen

“Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come true.” ~Napoleon Hill

Formaldehyde

We’ve been talking lately about harmful chemicals that are in our everyday household products.  Sure, we’ve been using certain personal care products in our home for years and we may or may not notice a difference in the health of our families.  But look around.  Children today are carrying inhalers because of asthma.  In one decade, there has been a 42% increase in asthma (29% for men, 82% for women). The higher rate for women is believed to be due to women’s longer exposure times to household chemicals. [Center for Disease Control] 

In 1901, cancer was rare: 1 out of 8,000. Since the Industrial Revolution, the cancer rate today has risen to 1 in 3 and is not improving. [The American Cancer Society]  So what can we do?  We take action! We read labels and educate ourselves.  Let’s talk about an ingredient that you may not realize how common it is, and how many of your personal care products contain it.  It’s called Formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is a highly toxic substance and one of the most common indoor air pollutants. It is a highly suspected cancer-causing agent. It is an irritant to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs and may cause a wide variety of reactions, including skin reactions, ear infections, headaches, depression, joint pain, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, vomiting, sleep disturbances, and many more. How many of these names would you have recognized as formaldehyde? Manufactures can legally use over 30 different trade names for this chemical. Below are some: 

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/formaldehyde.html

• Formalin
• Quaternium-15 (formaldehyde releasing agent)
• Methanal
• Methyl Aldehyde
• Methylene Oxide
• Oxymethylene
• Bfv*
• Fannoform*
• Formol*
• Fyde*
• Karsan*
• Methaldehyde
• Formalith*
• Methylene Glycol
• Ivalon*
• Oxomethane
• Formalin 40
• Formic Aldehyde
• Hoch
• Paraform
• Lysoform*
• Morbocid
• Trioxane
• Polyoxmethylene
• denotes trade name

Think back to your high school science class, they used formaldehyde to soak the frogs in that we dissected and we are embalmed with it when we die.  It’s a cheap preservative used to prolong the shelf life of a product.  That’s it!  So use care when you select personal care products.  Choose a natural alternative.  Your family will thank you!