Competence goes beyond words.  It’s the leader’s ability to say it, plan it, and do it in such a way that others know that you know how- and know that they want to follow you.”- John Maxwell

Maxwell starts off the chapter with the story of Ben Franklin. I honest didn’t know that much about Ben, other than the usual stories I heard.. you know key, lightening, electric, and his face on money.  The story as Maxwell told it, showed Ben was highly competent, excelled in many areas, and was naturally curious. He enjoyed creating new solutions to every day issues.

As Maxwell says, “we all admire people who display high competence, whether they are precision craftsmen, world-class athletes, or successful business leaders. But the truth is that you don’t have to be Faberge, Michael Jordan, or Bill Gates to excel in the area of competence. If you want to cultivate that quality, here’s what you need to do.

1. Show up every day. Responsible people show up when they’re expected. But highly competent people take it a step further. They don’t show up in body only. They come ready to play every day- no matter how they feel.
2. Keep improving. Continue to search for way to keep learning, growing and improving.
3. Follow through with excellence. “Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives” Performing at a high level of excellence is always a choice, an act of the will.
4. Accomplish more than expected.  Highly competent people always go the extra mile. For them, good enough is never good enough.
5. Inspire others. While some people rely on relational skills alone to survive, effective leaders combine these skills with high competence to take their organizations to new levels of excellence and influence.

Where do you stand when it comes to getting the job done? Do you attack everything you do with passion and fervor and at the highest level possible? or is good enough well, good enough?

To improve your competence, Maxwell suggests the following:

• Get your head in the game. If you have been mentally or emotionally detached from your work, it’s time to reengage.
• Redefine the standard. If you’re not performing at a consistently high level, reexamine your standards. Are you shooting too low?
• Find three ways to improve. Do a little research to find three things you can do to improve your professional skills.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter Competence. Next up, Courage.

Expect success,

Donna

Educators take something simple and make it complicated. Communicators take something complicated and make it simple.- John Maxwell

I just love how Maxwell gives tips on effective communicating… something I continually strive to do.

1. Simplify your message. “Write an exciting opening that will grab everybody in your audience. Then you write a dramatic summary and closing that will make the people want to act. Then put them as close together as possible.”
2. See the person. As you communicate with people-whether individually or groups-ask yourself these questions: who is my audience? What are their questions? What needs to be accomplished? and how much time do I have? People believe in great communicators because great communicators believe in people.
3. Show the truth. Credibility precedes great communication. Believe in what you say and live what you say. There is no greater credibility than conviction in action.
4. Seek a response. Never forget that the goal of communicating is action. Every time you speak to people, give them something to feel, something to remember, and something to do.

To improve your communication, Maxwell suggests the following:

• Be clear as a bell. Examine a letter, memo or other item you have recently written (this goes for texts, IMs and status updates as well!) Are your sentences short and direct? Have you chosen the fewest words possible?
• Refocus your attention. For the next week, pay attention to your focus when you communicate. Is on you, your material, or your audience? If it’s not on people, you need to change it. Think about their needs, questions and desires.
• Live your message. Are there any discrepancies between what you communicate and what you do? Talk to a few trustworthy people and ask them whether you are living your message.

I find that I write like I speak, and I know I’m wordy. I try to work on my communication skills and I have found I have improved over time. I hope you are enjoying this series of posts and would love some feedback.

Next up “Competence: If you build it, they will come”….

Expect success!
-Donna

So, I was part of an incredible team that launched a new company called LiveSmart 360. And in true Murphy’s law, everything that could go wrong with the launch seemed to go wrong… we had shipping issues, customer services, IT issues, blah blah blah…. the issues were stacking up, and I know that while my team was getting frustrated, it was starting to affect me as well. I found myself wondering if I was going to stay or go, after all the people I led here trusted ME and I felt that I let them down even though the company was experiencing these ‘issues’.  Being on the fence was causing me a lot of conflict. I needed to make a decision, make a commitment.

He who has done his best for his own time has lived for all times.-Johann von Schiller, Playwright

I started reading this chapter again and fell in love with the story of Michelangelo which Maxwell defines commitment through his painting of the Sistine Chapel. For four grueling years, the artist laid on his back painting the ceiling. The level of his commitment was obvious, including his detail of dark corners where man wouldn’t see and appreciate the fine work. When asked about why did he spend so much time on this particular area, when he could have cut corners because no one could see his painting in the dark corner, Michelangelo replied “God will see”.  I realized the commitment wasn’t to anyone but himself.

I realized that I was fretting about nothing. I WAS committed… to MYSELF, my dream, my vision. I WAS committed to my work, my mission and my purpose.  It is OK for me to feel overwhelmed, it is fine for me to feel frustrated. It isn’t a lack of commitment, it is an exercise to prove my commitment to myself! I will never quit on my dream and today I choose my company as the vehicle to take me there. Yes they had problems, but they are working through them. For today, I’m committed to LiveSmart 360. Wow. What an incredible amount of pressure I released.

Maxwell has these jewels of a definition when asked what is commitment?

• To the boxer, it’s getting off the mat one time more than you’ve been knocked down.
• To the marathoner, it’s running another ten miles when your strength is gone.
• To the soldier, it’s going over the hill, not knowing what’s waiting on the other side.
• To the missionary, it’s saying good-bye to your own comfort to make life better for others.
• To the leader, it’s all that and more because everyone you lead is depending on you.

I was reminded that true commitment inspires and attracts people.

Maxwell says there are only four types of people:

1. Cop-outs. People who have no goals and do not commit.
2. Holdouts. People who don’t know if they can reach their goals, so they’re afraid to commit.
3. Dropouts. People who start toward a goal but quit when the going gets tough.
4. All-outs. People who set goals, commit to them, and pay the price to reach them.

What kind of person are you? Have you been reaching your goals? Are you achieving all that you believe you can? Do people believe in you and follow you readily? If you answer to any of these questions is no, the problem may be your level of commitment.

Here is what you can do to improve your commitment:

• Measure it. Sometimes we think we are committed to something, but our actions indicate otherwise. Take out your calendar and spend a moment going over how you spend your time on what you are committed too. This is a measure of your commitment. You may, (or may not for that matter) be surprised at how much or how little time you really spend on your commitment.
• Know what’s worth dying for. Ask yourself… if it came down to it, what in life would you not be able to stop doing, no matter what the consequences were? Spend some time mediating on this, write down what you discover. See if your actions match your ideals.
• Use the Edison method. What Edison did was have a press conference when he had a good idea for an invention. Then he would go into his lab and invent it. This accountability was a way to increase his commitment.

Normally I would end a blog post when Maxwell’s “take-away” but not today. Today I’m gonna give you my two cents. Commitment to me is something I’m working on. I’m not perfect and would lying if I said I’m so committed on everything I say. Like losing weight. I don’t know how many times I declare, “I’m committed!” and I fail and fall short. I would then beat myself up. I realize now it isn’t dieting I need to work on, it is my commitment, I need to just take more action. I need to feel it in my heart, and I need to tell someone else about it. So when I’m ready to commit, I’ll do those things.

Then there are those things I’m so committed on, I know what Maxwell says is true because I feel it. Like my mission to help thousands of people find freedom with a home based business. I feel it in my heart because I know it works, I have seen it work. I continue to have actions to help others find their freedom, and share with people what I have done, how I have done it and my recommendations.  My blog is my commitment.

I’m committed to my family, my faith, my friends, my work, my business… and it feels great. I will continue to work on my commitment to keep it strong, when I stop working on it, my commitment may get weak. Quitting on my commitment is not an option.

And thanks for indulging in my therapy. Next up, Communication.

Expect success!
Donna

Working from home doesn’t wave a magic wand and make the chaos dissipate, it makes it different. I’m not stressed, freaked out, screaming and loud, panicked that we are not running on our schedule on time.  I’m not worried if I’m going to be late to work, or worse yet, if I’m going to be late picking up the kids…. and that stress alone was enough to bring a heart attack to some weaker men!

I still pack lunches (well, for summer camps now) but I take my time when I drop them off, give them a big hug and kiss and head back to my office, in my home. I’m dressed without a care if my make up is on or not and I’m enjoying another great cup of coffee. The house is quiet, the dogs are on the floor resting, and while I still have loads of laundry to do, a kitchen to clean up and a house that will always have some cleaning to get done…I can’t help but to sit here with a smile on my face, thinking TGIM. How wonderful Monday mornings are!

If you are stressed on Monday mornings, if you dred them…. like I did… there is hope. Just put yourself in a time out from the chaos, and close your eyes. Imagine how your life would be without that stress, and if you just made your home based business work a bit better, smarter. If you could replace your full time income so you could have that extra cup of coffee. Then when you get home from work today, and after you fix dinner, clean the kitchen, put the kids to bed…. remind yourself about your morning and do that one extra thing on your business that you were going to put off another day. Isn’t Monday mornings worth it?

Expect success!
Donna

This is a sticky post. Scroll down to see the current post.

Hello and make yourself at home. I’m Donna Valdes. And like you, I wear many hats during my day. This blog is about how I’m able to maintain all those roles, while make money from home. It amazes me how just earning a few hundred extra to a few thousand can save marriages, homes, get someone out of debt. With a few simple ideas and strategies you can earn extra cash every month.  I will be sharing my tips, techniques, thoughts and rants, anything pertaining to how I run my home based business. I invite you to join me in my journey and perhaps you’ll find it helpful in your business.  Join my mailing list (fill out the form on the left), and you’ll be notified every time I create a new blog post, but best of all, you will get a report on how to Create Hot Local Leads for little or no cost (and don’t we love that!)

Again, I want to thank you for visiting my blog. There are millions, yeah, millions of blogs on the subject out there in cyberworld. I hope you decide that I’m valuable enough to stick around and visit again.

Expect success!

Please msg me your address to donnavaldes (at) gmail.

Congrats again!
Donna

How can you have charisma? Be more concerned about making others feel good about themselves than you are making them feel good about you.” – Dan Reiland

When I think of the word CHARISMA, I think of the used car salesman that sold me my first car. I was 19 years old, saved up all my money, and walked in with all the wide eye naive enthusiasm buying my first car. I remember feeling excited, overwhelmed and totally ready to negotiate the killer contract. Until he walked up. An hour later I signed off on a used AMC Renault Encore, paying outrageous interest. Funny thing, I was satisfied and content with the contract; although now, looking back I was an idiot.  To me, that salesman was the most charismatic person I met.

Later as my career in home business started, I met many charismatic people. Those people on stage that were well polished, looked great, spoke even greater…. like politicians, many of them had that smile and kissed babies and shook hands in the crowd in between fulfilling the photograph requests with their patient followers.   I started to believe having charisma was not a good thing.

I was wrong. I confused charisma with another trait…. one we will cover later in the book. I was so glad to read this chapter and remind myself what charisma was, and that it wasn’t a bad thing to have… in fact, it is a great thing.

Charisma, as Maxwell defines it on page 10, is “the ability to draw people to you And like other character traits, it can be developed.” Whew. Good to know. So there is still hope for me to develop my charisma. I do need more followers.

Here are some pointers to make you into the person others want to follow:

1. Love life. Become a celebrator not a complainer. Be passionate about life.
2. Put a “10″ on every person’s head. See the good in people.
3. Give people hope. Love Napoleon Hill’s quote that leaders become a “dealer in hope”.
4. Share yourself. Share your wisdom, resources and time.

The bottom line is other-mindedness. Leaders who think about others and their concerns before thinking of themselves exhibit charisma.

What I loved about this chapter is Maxwell’s mention of the roadblocks to charisma: see if you encountered any of these….

• Pride. Nobody wants to follow a leader who thinks they are better than everyone else.
• Insecurity. If you are uncomfortable with who you are, others will be too.
• Moodiness. If people never know what to expect from you, they stop expecting. (Ok, this is a bit unfair to us WAHMs…haven’t met a single woman out there that isn’t moody!)
• Perfectionism. I’m guilty of this big time!
• Cynicism. People don’t want to be rained on by someone who sees a cloud around every silver lining.

To improve your charisma, Maxwell suggests the following:

• Change your focus. When you talk to others, see how much of the conversation revolves around you.
• Play the first impression game. Treat everyone you meet for the next few days as a “10″ or VIP. Learn their name, their interest. See how much you can learn about them!
• Share yourself. How can you add value to your family, friends, colleagues….

When you focus on others, not on yourself… that charisma. Plain and simple and it is something I’m working on to improve.

Next chapter, “Commitment: It Separates Doers From Dreamers”…..

so cool off inside and read a good book! This month, we are going over “The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader” and in a prior post, I even provided the first chapter. But this book is so good, I really want you to have it….

So I am going to give away 5 copies of this book, and I’m going to make this really simple for you to get it.

So how do you get into the contest? Easy. Spread the word about my blog.

Click the bottom of this post, tell me what you would like to see more articles on, what topics you would like to read about, or give me general feedback… which book would you like to see reviewed? more topics about women in business? how about getting started? or more advanced topics? When you post your comment, you will be asked to post it on your profile on Facebook and please do so along with your recommendation for your friends to also check out my blog.

Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence. -Bernard Montgomery, British Field Marshal

By now you hopefully have read the first chapter of our book of the month, if not, click the last post and you can find the first chapter there. But it is only the first chapter.

The first chapter is about CHARACTER. How Maxwell defines character was summed up at the end of his first story about Bill Lear. Bill Lear after creating the Lear Jet, realized there were some issues that cause crashes. So he took up the plane to recreate the scenario of the crash so he could diagnose the problem.  When he discovered the cause, he grounded all the lear jets so he could fix them.  It cost him a great deal of money, but it was the right thing to do.

“Grounding the planes cost Lear a lot of money. And it planted seeds of doubt in the minds of potential customers.  As a result, he needed two years to rebuild the business. But Lear never regretted his decision. He was willing to risk his success, his fortune, and even his life to solve the mystery of those crashes – but not his integrity. And that takes character.- page 3″

Maxwell then goes on to talk about how leaders and character. Here was the golden sentance for me…

“Crisis doesn’t necessarily make character, but it certainly does reveal it”.

Think about your own business. How do you handle crisis? Do you run and hide from it, hoping that it will resolve itself and go away? Do you tackle it head-on?  Do you complain about it?

Here are some bullet points about character

1. Character is more than just talk. I guess that is when you walk the walk and talk the talk, eh?
2. Talent is a gift, but character is a choice. NOW this is a strong statement. Because when you have a choice, you accept the outcome of your decisions. Self responsibility is a tough pill if you lack character and make poor choices.
3. Character brings lasting success with people. People will gossip and talk about you. Just human nature. What do you want them to say about YOU?
4. Leaders cannot rise about the limitations of their character.

I love Maxwell’s advice for how to improve your character:

Homework for you!

• Search for the cracks. Take time to review the major parts of your life and where you may have cut corners, compromised, or let other down. Write this down for the last two months. Okay, this may be a challenge for some of you.
• Look for patterns. Is there a particular area where you have a weakness or a type of problem that keeps surfacing?
• Face the music. The beginning of character repair comes when you face your flaws, apologize and deal with the consequences of your actions.
• Rebuild. Create a plan that will prevent you from making the same mistakes again.

So I drove 8 hours to an event this past weekend in Atlanta. Spent the night with the host, had a great time in her home, and after doing the event, decided to drive 8 hours home.  I was exhausted but so glad I went. Not because I said anything earth shattering. I went to tell the team “thank you” for all their hard work and effort. Our company was late in doing proper recognition, something that was important to me. So I took it upon myself to spend the money and time to create certificates. I mean really nice ones. Some people thought they were cheesy but many others more just wanted to know that there were appreciated. So I did my best to present everyone with some recognition.

During the long ride home, my daughter asked me, “Why didn’t you just mail them? Why did we drive all that way?” I replied, “because I said I would. Also I wanted them to feel how much I appreciate them.” And she quietly replied “that’s cool.  That’s why people follow you. You do what you say.”  I’d like to think I have good character.

I’m always looking to improve it and hope the exercise here helps you identify the areas you can improve yours.

Leave some feedback and tell me what you think about character. Next up: charisma. This should be a doosy.

-Expect success!

Donna