Category: Leadership
Leaders
Knowing When It’s Time
Mike started his business with three friends doing what he loves …Finance! From doing what he loved, he turned his business into a multi-million dollar company extending his interests into real estate. The business subsequently grew from three friends to over 100 employees across various locations. With this rapid growth came the challenges of employee confusion about polices and processes; pay inequity; and more! Mike now begs for help from a Human Resource expert.
The Advantage of a HR Professional is to interpret specific employment laws. At its simplest level, if an employer has 15 Full Time employees it is covered by Title VII of the civil rights act; the American with Disabilities act (ADA) and the Genetic information nondiscrimination act (GINA). Expand to 20 Full-Time employees, the Age Discrimination in employment act (ADEA), and COBRA protections comes into play. Further growth to 50 Full Time employees, enter the Family & Medical leave act (FMLA).
This can be a lot for a growing small or medium sized business. It may not necessarily mean hiring a full time HR, but at least help from an external HR Consultant.
Signs that a business needs Human Resource help:
- An inability to find workers needed in a timely fashion during the recruitment process;
- Employee confusion about policies & processes;
- Rising pay inequality issues that need to be addressed.
One bad hire can cost a company more than $50,000 p.a., not to mention the potential challenges with employee morale.
A good HR Professional can help reduce risk and streamline practices. A Cost benefit analysis will help to decide if the time is right for hiring HR support.
If you’re a growing business with 15 or more employees, Don’t Go it Alone; CALL us, we are here to help.
Tel: 954.495.1644. Email: scameron@ccahr.com
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Build Your Career in 2015
If you want Something that you have never had before, you have to do something that you have never done before. Be Bold. Have Faith. GO GET IT!!
Contact Dr C. For help www.ccahr.com
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Don’t Wait! Gain Control of your Social Security Benefts
At a Legislative Conference at the White House on June 26, 2014, Stacy Rogers, Senior Adviser to the Acting Commissioner, SSA, encouraged Americans to gain control of their Social Security Benefits. She advised that Statements are no longer being mailed to individuals due to budgetary constraints.
Ms. Rogers encouraged individuals to set up their own Social Security account to get their social security statements. Waiting until retirement is far too late to contest records.
So be wise and visit http://www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount and create a ‘My Social Security’ account to get your Social Security Statement. Your statement provides:
* Estimates of your retirement, disability and survivors benefits
*Your earnings record
*The estimated social security and medicare taxes that you have paid.
So don’t wait! Go ahead and gain control of your Social Security benefits!
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Caribbean American Heritage Month Legislative Conference Week on Capitol Hill and White House
Dr. Shelly Cameron with Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, State Representative Hazelle Rogers, and members of the Institute of Caribbean Studies Team in Washington DC
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15 Leadership Traits of Successful Leaders
The 15 Leadership Traits of Successful Leaders are identified from groundbreaking research. As you Dream of becoming an effective leader, which do you identify with?
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The Secret of G…
The Secret of Getting Ahead is Getting Started…Mark Twain
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THE BIGGEST LEADERS
I penned my thoughts to write on America’s Biggest Leaders, but somehow found my way to the mailbox. There I saw Fortune’s list of “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders”. It was no surprise that Geoff Colvin identified the world’s most extraordinary leaders with his criteria being among the living and currently active in their leadership roles. These great individuals included the likes of Pope Francis, Bill Clinton, Warren Buffet, Geoffrey Canada, Angelina Jolie, and others.
I shifted my attention to deceased leaders instead. These individuals were unlike the mega entrepreneurs discussed in Buchholz’s New Ideas From Dead CEOs. Since Leadership means different things to different people, I decided to use Bill Clinton’s definition. In his words, leadership is bringing people together in pursuit of a common cause, developing a plan to achieve it, and staying with it until the goal is achieved. He believes that leaders share the attributes of steadfastness in pursuit of a goal, flexibility in determining how best to achieve it; the courage to make hard decisions; and the confidence to stay with it and explain it.
As the world yearns for effective leadership, it seems to defy us, and as Colvin asserts, it is becoming even more difficult to identify. Of the various leadership attributes, humility was a trait identified by Jim Collins in his research on Good to Great leaders. This quality seems to evade leaders in our society today, in their quest to achieve Success. Humility enamors not being arrogant, haughty or conceited. But more the qualities of being unpretentious and unassuming; modest, courteous, respectful, teachable and selfless.
Top humble leaders that have passed on that emerging leaders can learn from include Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Eleanor Roosevelt, among others. As the ambitious individuals among us strive to be great, humility is encouraged. Let’s be mindful that once “we think we have got it, we have lost it”.
What are your thoughts? Which other past humble leader can you add?
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Every Great Dre…
Every Great Dream begins with a Dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to Change the World.
Harriet Tubman
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It’s Not What You Say…It’s the How
It’s Not What You Say…It’s the How
It’s not what you say, but how you say it. Just imagine hearing of the tragic passing of your loved one … by text message. The news in itself is devastating. But that is exactly what airline officials did. ABC news reported that It was communicated:
“Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived. As you will hear in the next hour from Malaysia’s Prime Minister, we must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean,” the (text) message read.
It was reported that “Malaysia Airlines Families Fainted, cried and screamed over the news”. Would the result have been the same had the message been verbally communicated? Probably, but the leaders would have appeared a lot more considerate.
As the old adage suggests, it’s not what you say, but how you say it. In this age of digital communication, it is still necessary for leaders to understand the context of what is being said before selecting the mode of communication. Using text message to communicate tragic death announcement after a long period of waiting, anxiety and mental anguish can appear inconsiderate.
No doubt the leaders of the missing aircraft were themselves tired and anxious, and wanted to bring comfort and closure to tired, anxious and grieving relatives. Speed did the job (by text), but in this case speed was like putting a cold turkey into the microwave and pressing “a minute express cook”… it doesn’t work. Grieving family members want empathy. They want to know that in spite of it all leaders care and are doing their best.
Organizational leaders, let’s take this as a learning and practice effective communication. Select the right method because as the old adage says… it’s not what you say, but how you say it.
Now its your turn. Do you believe that the method of communication was appropriate? Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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YOU CAN DO IT IF YOU REALLY WANT
I snuck away at the start of this year to a Cool place in DC to finish my Doctoral studies, and am thrilled to say that by mid-year…I did it!! But nothing I did compared with the greatest challenge I embraced when I faced my fears and jumped 12,000 ft. from a small aircraft in a tandem skydive!!! Yikes!! View it here http://youtu.be/KbaFsgRZJC0. It was the most exhilarating experience! Amidst a feeling of fear, and the desire to accomplish a planned feat, I embraced the challenge. It affirmed to me that we can do great things when we put our minds to it. Even when we’re afraid, we can do it with God’s divine help. So, what’s holding you back from achieving your dreams, your goals, and your desires? Make a decision today. Do what’s laid on your heart. Put your plans in place. Don’t worry about the resources because once you put the ‘key in the ignition’ everything else will fall into place.
Here are a few simplified tips adapted from the tried and proven PDCA problem-solving approach to get you started.
Plan. Nothing happens without a plan. So take some time out and reflect on what your problems or procrastinations are and what you would like to achieve. The New Year is a good time to start.
Do. Think about ways to solve. What can you do to accomplish your goals and aspirations? “Do” here means ‘try” or “test”. Whatever you do, think about ways that you can use to get to your dreams, then select a path and start the ignition.
Check. At regular intervals, check to make sure your plan is working. Let’s say for example you had decided on a career change. What are the things you need to put in place to accomplish this change? If it is to get a better job, define what a ‘better job’ looks like. Do you have the necessary skills to accomplish this goal? If not, can you acquire it through training? Do you even like the job you’re looking at or are you considering it because it pays more? Whatever you do, make sure it’s realistic.
Act. Finally, select and implement your plan. Review and repeat the steps at intervals to make sure you’re on track.
So, make a decision today. Put your plans in place and Remember, you can do it if you really want!! Best wishes for the New Year, and beyond.
