Without Truth You Can't

 hold these truths to be self-evident." With that one statement our Constitution calibrates at a level of 700- enlightenment.

"The truth! You can't handle the truth!" With that one statement Jack Nicholson's character, in the movie A Few Good Men, falls apart on the witness stand. His men trusted him to protect them but instead, his version of the truth, corrupted him.

More than ever you can't have trust if you don't have the truth. The truth comes in sharing the facts and information with others- both the good and the bad. It comes with the ability to clearly separate opinion from fact. It comes from the ability to lay out the unknowns or obstacles as succinctly as possible so people can make the most effective decisions.

In sales, if you are going to be truthful and create trust then it means you can be going for the yes. If you are, it will cause a conflict for you with how you listen. When you go for the yes your brain starts to ONLY listen for what fits your parameters, you begin to "shade" the truth so it fits, and you don't challenge when you should. If you want clients to trust you, they need to know you will always be truthful when working with them even if it means sending them to the competitors. In the movie Miracle on 34th Street, Santa brought more business in to Macy's by sending people to Gimbles or other stores for toys Macy's was out of or didn't carry.

As a leader you can't expect to have a high trust culture when you aren't truthful about your own shortcomings. People need to see that you are willing to be candid about what you are good at and what you are worki

Be A Better Leader

dership is a hands-on activity. It is valuable to read about and learn from those leaders who have preceded us, but you become a leader when you act as one, and not before.

You become a better leader by action, not study.

I participate in a workplace leadership committee with my local Chamber of Commerce where we are chartered with the mission to bring best practices to our Chamber members-at-large. The monthly meetings are exciting since the participants are all interested in leading edge ideas, personal growth, inspiration and helping others become better leaders.

At our recent meetings, I noticed that many great ideas flowed within the committee; but, I wondered if any of these ideas were relevant to the general membership. By relevant I mean: did the member companies understand the workplace leadership attitudes and needs of their employees; and, were they taking any actions to address them. If leadership is action, then our committee discussions are meaningless unless we, as better leaders, translate into action the ideas shared at our meetings.

As chairman for this year, I am called to lead. To me, a call to lead means: observe the situation, identify an improvement opportunity, create an action plan, and implement. So this is what I did, to become a better leader.

Observation: I have sensed that few if any companies are taking positive actions to mitigate the workplace effects of the most recent economic problems, or have a strategy for handling the dynamics of their personnel changes when growth begins again. It seems that they are exhausted dealing with the trauma of the past few years and are mystified as to when and how the business environment will improve. In essence, they do not have a good grip on their own company situation. Their better leaders know this too.

Improvement Opportunity: I believe these companies need to become better informed about their workplace. They should obtain an accurate assessment

What Your Employees Are

s and business owners the world over lose thousands each year due to employees using their paid work time to slack off. Do you find yourself wondering what your employees really do when they run errands? Do you find they take extraordinarily long lunch breaks? Do you even find yourself suspicious each time your employees leave on a long business trip? Fortunately, with the right technology, you can track their cell phone location and learn what they're up to when they're away.
The advantage to having cell phone spyware at your fingertips is that it allows you to monitor your employees' activities through the phone itself. Quality programs keep tabs on phone logs, text transcripts, address book names, and more. Best of all, you can track the cell phone's location via a GPS. Fast, accurate, and legal, this software will be able to put your doubts to rest.
How does this cell phone software work? Essentially, it remains hidden in the phone and sends you updates to an account you create online. Installing the program is simple - all you do is create your account, install the program via the instructions online, and reboot the phone. Once the phone reboots, the program works undetected for as long as the phone is on and working properly. There is no limit to how much data you receive, nor is there any limit to how long you will continue to receive it. Simply log in to your account and you will be able to see what they're doing any time, whether they're driving off for lunch or taking a business trip halfway across the world.
One of the best things about cell phone spyware is its sheer diversity. Not only can you use it on more than one phone, but it's compatible with a number of cell phones, including smartphones, Blackberry devices, Nokia phones, Android phones, Samsung phones, Symbian S60 phones, iPhones, and many others. It doesn't matter how advanced the phone is, this program will be able to infiltrate t