5 Things you can do to improve your communication and “connect”

As a leader, you spend a lot of time dealing with other people.

In your position, you advise, inform, coax, explain, instruct, discuss, review, clarify, counsel, guide, suggest, convince, persuade, coach, respond etcetera etcetera etcetera (from the king and I!)

So often, communication between people are misinterpreted,  as people have different interpretations and different messages from the same words which could result in wasted time, frustration and redoing work, causing unhappy customers, an unhappy team and potentially lower profits!!

To ensure that you communicate effectively…. It is imperative that you are able to “connect”!!

Here are five areas for improvement:
1. Manage Expectations
Be clear on what is expected helps your people have time to think, strategise and get on with important business, as well answer enquires in a timely manner.

2. Delegate Effectively
If you delegate – communicate!! Define clearly the scope of the task, areas of responsibility, reporting and review arrangements, resources available  etc. Good communication will cause time and money saving with people not having to reinvent the wheel. Communicate clearly before the project and give effective feedback after the project… giving and getting praise or positive feedback is an awesome feeling. Negative feedback is good if you can improve processes going forward.
Good communication helps the person take responsibility, learn for themselves and improve quickly.

3. Listen with 100% focus
Avoid interruptions when listening. FOCUS on what the other person is saying. God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth…. Use these senses in that proportion. One connects when one hears what the other is saying!

4. Set Tight Agendas and stick to them
Keep to the subject, keep to time, push for clear decisions wherever appropriate and above all, keep it short.

5. Shut down the grapevine
Good communication means informing your people of what your plans are, where the business is going, and involving them in getting there. If they are not clear on this they will get this information “from the grapevine”… distorted and incorrect!!

If there are concerns, make it easy for your team to air them so that you can deal with them and get your team focused on the job at hand and ensure they are clear of why they are doing it and how it is benefitting the vision of the company….

The janitor at Nasa when asked what he does… he said “ I help people get to the moon”

I look forward to being a part of "the Inner Circle Club" group of 10 to discuss "Everyone Communicates and Few Connect" - who wants to joi n me?

Smokin!! the mask Tango Pete

To lift your spirits

Doing Business in India - Part 1 -

India is proof that G-d exists
Common culture, common language, federation
Interesting comparisons with Europe.
Europe is trying to find a common base... where India was a couple of 1100 years ago.

Moguls and British Empire used India as a Labour Pool... but things are now changing and changing fast!

"Doing Business in India Part 2 - India's Population , Demographics and ...

6 things to do to make a connection into an alliance partner

1. An alliance partner is someone you consult regularly for advice
2. You proactively share and collaborate on ideas
3. You keep your antennaes open to your alliance partners interests - and assist them when you can
4. You look to pursue opportunities together
5. You talk up your alliance partner
6. When an alliance partner runs into problems and has issues, you are there for them - stand up for their reputation and they will stand up for yours

11 Vital Mobile Apps for Entrepreneurs

11 Vital Mobile Apps for Entrepreneurs for those with Iphones - these Apps are sensational!!

10 Rules of being a Creator and Innovator and Innovating

1.   Make Work into Play
2.   Try New Things
3.   Be Prepared to Fail
4.   Teach Others What you Know
5.   Find time to relax - take time out
6.   Work When Others are resting
7.   Always be Creating
8.   Have Passion - Love What you Do - or leeave
9.   Inspire and be Inspired
10. Persevere

BSI Leaders Networking Breakfast

There are only 10 places remaining to attend a 2 hour breakfast hosted by Ivan Ang, the leadership expert. Click on the following link to see what people have said about him and his mastermind course. http://www.bsi.com.au/news/Mastermind_referrals/.

Learn more about the Mastermind program and the Inner Circle network which each will focus on different crucial elements on how to become a better leader. 

The benefits of attending the Leadership and Network Breakfast are:

• You will have the opportunity to network with other people looking to grow as leaders.
• You will learn about leadership principles and practices from John Maxwell’s “Everyone communicates, Few connect” that help you succeed in life and business.
• You will discover the various options to help you continue growing as a leader.
• You will complete your Leadership Development Action Plan. This will include; what are your 2012 leadership goals, how are you going to achieve those goals and when will you achieve them by.

“90% of people can’t apply what they know. Education is NOT the key to success. Application is.” - John Maxwell. 

Those who have had the opportunity to have already attended the mastermind group on leadership have had a great start towards their leadership growth and their feedback has been sensational, Thank You. 

Come along on Tuesday 24th January from 7am until 9.30am at the Amora Jamison, 11 Jamison Street, Sydney (off George Street) in the “Charr Room” and discover how YOU can keep growing as a leader.

Click here to register now

Liquidity Finance - Helping you with your Loans and Mortgages

Welcome to 2012!

We are back for another exciting year, with a fresh new look website and a recharged team ready to help you out with all your finance needs.

On our website, you will find:

• Useful tools such as calculators for borrowing capacity and loan comparisons
• Hot tips to reducing your home loan
• Fact Finders and checklists
• Details on our affiliate partners
• News and updates on the home loan and finance industry

We are open to your feedback in regards to items that you would like included on the website. Please click here Liquidity Finance

It looks as though 2012 is going to be a year for opportunity. An opportunity to restructure and acquire.

Restructure your loan and take advantage of lower interest rates. Consolidation of loans with higher interest rates to those with lower interest rates can save thousands and assist with cash flow.

Acquire property to take advantage of low fixed and variable rates which will increase your borrowing capacity and reduce your cost to hold the new asset.

Whether you are continuing or starting your financial journey, Liquidity Finance and our partners at Ark Total Wealth remain committed to helping you achieve your financial goals.

We wish you a safe and prosperous 2012 and look forward to speaking with you soon.

For your free property report, 
follow us on twitter  https://twitter.com/#!/liqfin  
and we will contact you to get the address of the property you want valued!  

http://liquidityfinance.com.au/

Michael Luca Mortgage Broker - Manager Suite 701, Level 7, 14 Martin Place Sydney NSW 2000 GPO BOX 4013 Sydney NSW 2001 P: 02 9290 2777 D: 02 9003 1519 M: 0405 113 543 F: 02 9262 5788 E: michael.luca@liquidityfinance.com.au

Dear 16 year old me

Watch and share!!

The next 10 year bull market to start in 2012!

Our strategy for some time is to go for defensive, income stocks. Two favourites are Telstra and Woolworths, I own both. The income portfolio is furnished with high yielding, defensive stocks and is proving an island in the storm.

I expect this trajectory will continue in 2012 with the possibility the market might overshoot a couple of hundred points on the downside but not for long. I have repeatedly said the 2012 low – just perhaps edging into 2013 – would launch the Teens decade bull market. That low would feel bad, there would be feelings of panic. But just like the post 1987 crash market to January 1991, the market might not fall below previous lows, or much below them. A breech of those lows would simply engender the panic that creates the bottom.

China is very important. Internal infrastructure investment is likely to be boosted in 2012 and will continue to dominate and underpin commodities demand

A soft Europe slows China's exports as that is its largest market. Also a slowing Europe itself will absorb less commodities. But overall I cannot get too bothered, no hard landing, still not looking for a downturn anything like the scale of the GFC... no major credit squeeze! No significant inflation!

As the Top 20 goes, so does the market. Our estimates for the Top 20 give 12.3% upside for 2012 EPS and a further 5.0% for 2013 while our dividend forecast sees the yield increase from 4.9% in 2011 to 5.8% in 2012 and 6.2% in 2013. Those numbers support a potential rise in our Index, possibly to that 20% chance of 5500. But I expect offshore generated fear to keep the indices down and give investors wonderful dividend yields... something I have stressed for some months together with my successful forecast of two 0.25% interest cuts before Christmas.

The market appears cheap, a 25% discount broadly equating to a buy. That discount also tallies with the low market PE. But banks sell on a low PE as they are highly leveraged. The resource stocks are currently selling on low PEs because commodity prices are perceived as high and falling. The market is preparing for a commodities downturn as world growth contracts through 2012/2013.

We are more positive on our resource majors despite our Commodity Forecast – Table 3 – pointing to most prices gradually declining including iron ore at $80 a tonne by 2016 and copper at $3.13. These are still good prices for our majors BHP and RIO. We have oil steady at $100 a barrel, sufficient to support the current immense investment in LNG, shale gas, and liquids from tar sands, coal, biomass and gas.

The US S&P 500 is on a 12.3 PE against consensus 2012 earnings, not expensive. The major bottoms over the last 15/20 years have often been at a PE of 15!

http://www.bsi.com.au/news/cat/wealth/post/next_bull_market

Jackie Eancho - What a Voice

Food for the soul!

Zappos - Culture of Customer Service at its best!

And that is why it has a turnover of over $1b in 10 years!!