I have been a broadcaster for more than 40 years but my dad used to ask me, “So when are ya gonna get a real job?”
Dad spent 40 years at the same insurance company, was a simple and honest man who cared about God and family first. I couldn’t have asked for a better childhood thanks to my parents’ love and guidance. I never met anybody who had anything bad to say about my dad and that’s hard to live up to.
Being a father has always been tough but I think that it’s particularly important these days. And a father is only one part of the family equation—a child needs both parents now more than ever.
Dads, its time to step up. Be there for guidance, be there for love but BE THERE FOR YOUR KIDS!!
I can only try to be the best I can and I hope you can too.
How to Win Friends and Influence People was one of my dad’s favorite books. I find that so much of the book is still very relevant especially for networking. Though most of us don’t have time to read through entire books, Linda Cole has condensed much of the book’s most relevant points for today’s world:
Dale Carnegie wrote a fantastic book back in 1936 that really spelled out How to Win Friends and Influence People, and in my view it was so successful and continues to be successful because it contains such a lot of common sense about treating others how we ourselves like to be treated.
Unfortunately, we sometimes forget our common sense due to work and other pressures, and times have changed a little too, so I have put together a quick list with a few examples of both “old” and modern day areas to focus on to leave a lasting impression and be remembered for the right reasons.
1. Pay someone a compliment
If there is a genuine reason to pay someone a compliment, make their day and tell them. The person wearing a great shirt or a nice perfume will always appreciate a positive compliment, and that compliment will stay with them all day. I wear the best shoes I can afford and they get noticed, very often making the topic of conversation.
2. Say thanks often
Show your appreciation by saying thanks when someone holds the door open for you, or goes out of their way to do something. When did you last thank your partner for being awesome or your staff for doing a great job? Appreciation is one of the main drivers for someone staying committed in a relationship or job, don’t forget to tell them.
3. Give generously
If you are not the type to get stuck in when manual labor is needed, how else can you give generously? A fellow Rotarian who didn’t have the time for the physical work, gave his expertise generously instead, allowing the club and other charities to benefit from his experience and knowledge.
4. Do what you say you will
Don’t let others think badly of you by not doing what you said you will, even the smallest of things, someone may well be relying on you.
5. Smile
I am a big believer in this. The chap that held the door open for me with a beaming smile made me feel like a princess. How can you pass on such great feelings to others to make their day?
6. Use their name
What was the name of the barista that made your coffee this morning? Next time you order, thank them as usual and follow up with their name, it will be noticed. Using their name really is Dale 101, “the single sweetest sound in any language is a person’s name”.
7. Follow up
The drain layer that came to give me a quote didn’t follow up until 2 months after he visited. Needless to say, someone else did the job and he lost out. Do you follow up 100% of the time in a timely manner before your competitor gets in? You will stand out just by following up every time because so few people do it.
Linda Coles is the author of “Learn marketing with social media in 7 days” (Wiley) and is an author, speaker and trainer on building relationships. She lives in New Zealand on a fig orchard. You can get a complimentary sample of a chapter of her book by registering for her newsletter.
I’m not a basher. I would rather build up than tear down.
In most situations, I always try to see the good on both sides and pretty much stay in the middle—especially when it comes to politics. But when Mr Hope and Change came along, I was optimistic. I thought that maybe some of the stink in politics would go away. Now I realize that human nature will never change—power has always corrupted especially in politics and has always been that way no matter which side of the aisle .
I still try to see myself as a compassionate conservative with a slight bend to the left (does that make sense?) but these latest government shenanigans have made me more determined than ever to stay informed, seek the truth and do what I can to stay on the straight and narrow. I just try to do the right thing.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Never mind that I personally can’t possibly afford decent health care for any reasonable amount of money due to pre-existing conditions, and since I’m only working part time—that’s not even the most pressing issue. Have you seen the recent Time magazine article exposing the obscene profits by supposedly “non profit” hospitals right here in Central Florida? We have 2 hospitals in the top 10! Please understand, I don’t begrudge any company from making a healthy profit but when it’s at the expense of the rest of us I have to throw a flag. The only way for us to get a handle on healthcare costs (with or without Obamacare) is to start at the root of the problem: HOSPITALS AND HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS ARE CHARGING TOO MUCH, and they are getting away with it. Just because it may be “the standard industry charge” doesn’t justify or make it right. Of course the medical industry has a lot of friends in government and a huge and powerful lobby but what they are doing to us is outrageous and has to stop. This is not like the telecommunications industry or the retail industry. The medical industry is essential to life itself and should be treated as such.
http://healthland.time.com/why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/
In spite of the rain threat this past Saturday April 20th, dozens of riders enjoyed a scenic cruise through Seminole and Lake counties in Central Florida to raise money for non-profit RAIN, RescuingAnimalsInNeed.org, a local pet rescue organization.
RAIN saves animals taken in by pet shelters and finds them loving homes. RAIN survives entirely on donations and gets no money from any government organization which is why this event was so important.
Pledge4Patriots, an organization providing help to first responders and their families, is proud and honored to be able to step up to help other worthy non-profits. Congratulations to Kirk, Sheila, Lois and the rest of the volunteer staff who helped make this event so successful raising nearly $1000 for RAIN.
For more information on RAIN and how you can get involved, go to www.rescuinganimalsinneed.org
And to find out more about Pledge4Patriots, go to http://www.pledge4patriots.com
Thank you for your support.
First off, there never really was a yellow brick road through Kansas City in spite of the Wizard of Oz. And they don’t stop traffic downtown in the middle of rush hour to heard the cattle to market. But it’s always great to come back because Kansas City has always been good to me. Born and raised in Kansas City, I have now lived in Florida for more than 30 years but occasionally, I return to my hometown to visit with old friends and especially to see my dear old mom.
I continually marvel at the growth and the changes I’ve seen since I moved away. On the surface it appears to be vibrant and affordable area with great neighborhoods, headquarters to many large corporations and professional sports teams, lots of new construction, plenty of culture and nightlife and a highway system second to none. I have always thought it to be a great place to live, raise a family and prosper and it still is—but not for everybody.
The Kansas City area still struggles with racial and social equality and it’s becoming more evident that there is much improvement to be made. Most of the growth and development in the KC area has been at the expense of the inner cities on both sides of the state line as white flight to the suburbs is rampant especially to the South and West. No metropolitan area can succeed without diversity.
Schools are another critical piece of the puzzle and there’s trouble in River City there as well. The Kansas City Missouri school district’s financial woes have caused it to lose its state accreditation and is no longer able to provide sports programs at most city schools. Some of these schools have been closed and are for sale. On the other hand, many of the suburban public school districts including booming Overland Park and Olathe have better funding and it shows. Unfortunately, it appears the only option for parents in both Kansas City Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas is private school and of course that can get pricey.
I don’t have the answers but this is unthinkable and no good will ever come of it. I can only pray that the Kansas City area can pull together and do what’s right for the future.
I guess I’m not surprised at the shenanigans of most of our elected officials, but what Mayor Dyer is doing is just not right. Check out this from fellow blogger Mike Cantone in the West Orlando News this past weekt:
http://westorlandonews.com/2013/03/12/done-deal-no-terms-dyers-debt-on-debt-parramore-purchases/
Added by Mike Cantone on March 12, 2013.
According to new public records, the recent financial purchases of Parramore land brokered by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer are even worse than first suspected. For starters, City Clerk Alana Brenner admitted that the terms of purchase have “not been established yet” despite the mayor making multi-million dollar deals. So the city has purchased land on behalf of taxpayers and we don’t know the terms of purchase? Not what tax payers like to hear.
The funding source used by Mayor Dyer was the “internal loan fund.” The internal loan fund means a conduit financing device to distribute proceeds of debt into loans to various operating funds of the City, and carries with it an interest rate and administrative fees.
That means the City of Orlando is currently using loans off of their already existing debt to purchase the land, instead of revitalizing that land or helping turn it over to private homeowners or small business in Parramore. The City of Orlando is also now costing tax payers more than the advertised public “purchase price” as the interest rate will be around 4.5%, or at least $200,000 taxpayer dollars on the mayor’s $4.3 million purchases, in addition to the administrative fee on top of that.
The City of Orlando is rushing into these purchases without even having the terms laid out for proper oversight and accountability by the citizens. While this may be a “done deal” per se, it is very telling that the process included no set terms, no public hearing, no public input, and now against our city’s current debt, more risk and more cost to taxpayers thanks to the actions of Mayor Dyer and City CFO Rebecca Sutton.
City Clerk Brenner insisted there is no need to worry, saying in an email, “they [the terms of purchase] will be set in such a manner to not increase the overall debt service cost of the General Fund (i.e. the repayment schedule will match drop offs from previous internal loans in order to keep the overall total debt service payment constant).”
Right, we heard similar statements from the banks in 2007. Without any real citizen oversight, Orlando tax payers have no assurances. And now, due to the complex city financing system of shuffling debt from one project to the next, it is difficult to answer the basic question of “where’s the money?”
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