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The Unheard Third: How to identify, grow, and keep your latent leaders

Leaders lead. Followers follow. And then there’s The Unheard Third™: The people in the middle who, for one reason or another, fall through the leadership cracks when they’re passed through or passed over. These latent leaders are the next generation achievers whose potential has yet to, or may never be, turned into performance: Failing to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack, they just blend into the background,. They’re leaders, but just not yet. Left untended, The Unheard Third™ grows more and more disengaged, discontented and disheartened. Eventually, they become just another retention statistic.

There are millions of people who are waiting to make a contribution, who are enthusiastic about their work and their lives: They are waiting to let the rest of the world know about both. And companies can either tap into their enormous potential, or waste a precious resource and lose a competitive advantage.

So why do these folks languish under the radar, unrecognized and unrewarded? Though it’s not for lack of talent, skill or intelligence the reasons are still plentiful. Remember: un-mined does not imply incapable. (Could one of these describe you?

They don’t quite qualify for the high potential track. They haven’t yet learned the skills to stand up and stand out-to get the recognition they deserve.

They don’t know where they’re going or, if they do, they don’t know how to get there (grab a mentor, please).

They’re disengaged in their careers-what they have to offer is de-valued, untraditional or under-utilized so they haven’t put their skin in the game.

They just don’t see themselves as leadership material or they don’t identify with the word “leadership”. (This is particularly problematic for women who are fully two thirds of The Unheard Third™).

As the middle child in the organizational family, The Unheard Third™ is virtually invisible to the people who can positively influence their careers because, in actuality, they themselves feel invisible. Akin to the middle child in a family of origin, this group refuses to be categorized, is independent by nature and often has a sense of not belonging.

Failing to fit neatly into traditional definitions of leadership, they are needlessly discarded or ignored, more out of efficiency and convenience than for any other reason: Like it or not, most companies simply run smoother when things are nice and neat and tidy. But nice and neat and tidy betrays creativity, innovation and growth. In fact, The Unheard Third™ obstinately refusing to fit into an uninspired model of leadership might be precisely what is needed to shake up your organization and incite change.

Let’s face it-there’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all genius: We each arrive with our own brand of brilliance and never is this more crucial than when business is tough or times troubling. Looking at The Unheard Third™ through the lens of opportunity, this population is an invitation to dismantle the status quo and to explore rich resources and previously disregarded talent in the most unlikely of places. This group teaches us the consummate lesson in diversity by being, well… diverse. They demand we broaden our definition of leadership. They remind us of the value of commitment, and the price we pay for forgetting that. By far it’s greatest contribution to the workplace lies with the fact that The Unheard Third™ is the ultimate study of the do’s and don’ts of engagement-the intrapersonal and interpersonal relationship between individuals, their work, their purpose and their passion.

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New Help for OCD

If you suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, or even from obsessive thinking, no doubt you’ve run the gamut of help available and not been too pleased with the results. Maybe the best you’ve been offered is CBT and medication? Well now there is far better help available, but first let’s look at a brief history of OCD treatment!

The Old Days …

In the distant past, the first commonly-used treatment for OCD was psychoanalysis, based on the theory that OCD behaviour was outside of conscious control, and therefore caused by deep unconscious impulses which had to be discovered and understood. It was believed that once this occurred, the OCD would be cured. The trouble with psychoanalysis was 2-fold. Firstly it went on for very many months and even years (at enormous expense!), and secondly, it didn’t work! Psychoanalysis was a lousy failure.

CBT – Better than Nothing (Just) …

Since the 1980′s we have known that OCD is often (but certainly not always) receptive to a mixture of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and medication which alters brain chemistry (specifically neurotransmitters). This approach involves deliberately exposing the patient to the OCD triggers that give rise to ritualistic thoughts and/or behaviours, and then preventing the patient from taking the desired action. Although this does work in roughly 65% of cases, the process is unnecessarily cruel, creating enormous anxiety and even distress for the patient, and at the same time expecting the patient to control his/her impulses through sheer willpower, a silly and callous expectation if there ever was one!

Finally, an Humane and Effective Treatment …

Over the last decade a very new approach to OCD has been developed and refined. This treatment centres on accurate identification of the array of precise trigger stimuli to obsessive or compulsive thoughts and behaviours. These are the triggers that can be shown to predictably give rise to OCD responses which can quite accurately be labelled “conditioned responses”. Conditioned responses are by nature automatic, and often occur before the person is even aware they are happening.

It has previously been believed that conditioned responses were difficult to resolve or eradicate but recent studies involving chemical manipulation of brain pathways utilised during the replay of a conditioned response has provided the key to freedom from OCD, freedom which is often acquired quite quickly and easily, although some cases still require some persistence.

The name of this treatment is Brief Multi-Sensory Activation, or BMSA. It is a gentle treatment, often giving at least some relief almost immediately, and works by eliminating the conditioned responses which characterise OCD. In cases of obsessive or compulsive behaviour, the patient will feel little difference, except that he or she may (with some surprise) notice in hindsight that they did not do the behaviour, and that they now feel little or no need. In cases of obsessive thinking, the same thoughts may continue to arise for some time, but they no longer carry an emotional charge, and soon they no longer even arise.

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Exhibits

Do you wonder what enthralls an audience in a trade show? It’s not the huge crowd of people around or the excitement in the air – it is the powerful display of products with all their sleek placements, banners, and graphics. Exhibits, a shortened form for exhibition, seek to highlight the qualities of new products or services before a focused audience.

Exhibitions can be of different types. They can be art exhibitions, computer expositions, film exhibitions or industrial exhibitions. Exhibitions are powerful events that provide an opportunity to witness the best a company or service provider has to offer. Exhibitions are also known as ‘expos’ in modern parlance.

Exhibits are powerful marketing agents that seek to bridge the gap between the buyer and the seller. In art exhibits, for instance, artists display a wide array of their work before a focused audience. The audience in turn generates interest by word of mouth, and consequently leads to sales of the artist’s work.

Exhibits are also displayed through specialized ‘exhibit booths’ in trade fairs, book fairs or industrial fairs. These exhibit booths seek to bring about a direct impact on the sales curve. Exhibit displays serve as a window to the external buyers, and enable them to analyze and compare it with other products before reaching a buying decision.

Modern exhibits can come in several forms. Apart from the physical exhibits, individuals, companies and service providers today use online exhibits to garner popularity and wider acceptance. Online exhibits have several advantages over physical exhibits. Online exhibits can be made in the form of sleek websites and information portals at the fraction of the cost incurred in creating and displaying physical exhibits. However, in spite of such easy global reach and acceptance, physical exhibits in exhibitions and trade fairs still remain a better choice. After all, it’s all too difficult to get a focused audience.

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Desperate Housewives Cast Members Play Golf for Charity

During March of this year, several cast members of the highly-popular television series, Desperate Housewives, participated in a friendly competition on the golf course. Even some of the show’s crew made their way to the star-studded event, perhaps wanting to show they are also capable of displaying great sportsmanship.

With the turnout of the golf game, it was pretty clear that many of those who participated were a bit rusty with the golf clubs. Actress Brenda Strong, whose portrayal of Mary Alice Young has her doing more voice work than hands-on acting, admitted to not having played the game in more than a decade, while actor Ricardo Antonio Chavira, who has become widely popular for his portrayal of Carlos Solis, was only introduced to the sport a couple of days before the event.

On the other hand, Dougray Scott, who plays Ian Kavanaugh on the show, did extremely well on the green, but did have some unfair advantage over the others. After all, he started golfing at the age of six, thanks to his father, who is also an avid golf player.

Of course, there were some celebrities who found themselves in middle of the pack. Teri Hatcher, who portrays neurotic writer and single mom Susan Mayer, and Doug Savant, who portrays unfulfilled husband Tom Scavo, did fairly well throughout the course of the competition.

To those who are wondering why the Desperate Housewives family decided to head off and battle it out on the golf course, you will be impressed to know that the event was organized not as a means to further promote the show (they don’t really need it anyway at this point in time), but to raise funds for the Casa Pacifica children’s charity. By the end of the game, the celebrities were able to give the charity thousands of dollars, which will be used to improve the quality of life of many abused, neglected and disturbed children from Southern California.

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What’s Going On In The “GO Zone”

Duck!!! Here comes another hurricane……. This is becoming a common mantra on the Gulf coast the last few years. I personally have cut more fallen trees out of my yard the last couple of years compared to the other 30+ years that I have lived in the state of Florida.

Hurricanes have had a major impact on coastal properties because of the growing concerns of people with regard to living in storm-prone areas. Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast region almost a year ago and is considered to be the most devastating and most expensive natural disaster, brought a lot of damage to real-estate properties in the area expanding to three states: Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The after-effects of the hurricane were so unnerving that there are no doubt residents who would have considered of moving instead of just rebuilding their homes in the same disaster-prone region. Moreover, the effects of the hurricanes on insurance companies are as devastating because of the huge property losses caused by these natural disasters. Hence, insurance premiums on coastal properties will definitely go up to help insurance companies recover from their current and future losses due to natural disasters.

The hurricanes have also had a big impact on real estate investors. In 2002 to middle of 2005, investing in condos on the beach in preconstruction was exploding. Investors took advantage of the rise of the real estate industry during those times. Offers to sell properties would frequently sell out in hours or days. There was even a condominium tower near the beach front that got all units sold out in just a matter of two days. Prices were very competitive and promos and discounts were also offered. However, the hype reached a sudden halt with the series of hurricanes that hit the gulf area. These natural disasters affected the market value of beach properties.

On the other hand, hurricanes may offer one of the major opportunities in decades. Just before America bid goodbye to the series of unfortunate events in 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, also known as HR 4440. This act is being envisioned by the president to help the communities and residents of the Gulf Coast region which received the most devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The bill aims to help these people get back to their normal lives after all that had happened. This Act has become known as the Go Zone Act and areas impacted by this bill are now referred to as the Go Zone.

GO Zone Act

After the tremendous Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma hit the Gulf Coast region, these natural disasters left the area so devastated that many people could not find housing or shelter to restart their lives. While some people will want to leave, others are just as determined to rebuild bigger and better than ever. The GO Zone Act was approved by the government to help bring life once more to the affected areas. The government offered this bill mainly to encourage investors to build their businesses in the area and create more jobs for the residents in the region. With the different provisions in this approved bill, the government entices residents to stay and rebuild their houses and businesses as well as new investors to buy properties and help in the fast recovery and development of the affected states’ economy.

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I Gave Him A Night To Remember

The love of my life was having a big birthday and I wanted to give him a gift he’d never forget. A gift that would prove my love beyond all doubt. But what could I do to make him feel like a king among men?

I could come to the door naked. Nah, been there, done that. I could slave all day and make a delicious meal. Nah, done that one already too.

Maybe a night of dancing and romancing. Or better yet, tickets to his favorite team and unlimited beer. I knew he’d love that, but would I? Now maybe that sounds selfish, but I wanted to get something out of it, too. Sports and a drunken lover are definitely not my thing.

I wracked my brain and asked around until coming up with what I hoped would be the perfect solution. I would get someone to write his life story in rhyme. I’d get all his friends together, throw a nice little bash at his favorite restaurant and then, at the appropriate moment, I’d read the tribute to him.

I wrote down everything I could think of about him. I went way back to his childhood. I even interviewed his siblings and his mother and got all kinds of juicy tidbits. I wanted it to be funny and sentimental all at once, but above all clever. Because he’s one smart cookie, that guy of mine, and I wanted him to really love it and be proud Then I went on the internet in search of someone who could write a combination roast and tribute that totally rhymed. I finally chose a service that sounded good and was inexpensive, considering that this would be totally custom-written for me. I was told it would be delivered to me by email and then I could have it framed, presented as a scroll, whatever I wanted.

Being the unreasonable woman that I am, I asked for it to be delivered in two weeks. Can you imagine? A whole life story in verse, written in two weeks. Well, I was told that it would be no problem. This was getting good! The best part was that I could decide exactly how much to spend. They charged a certain amount per stanza and I could decide, based on that, exactly how many stanzas I thought it would take to do the occasion justice.

Goodness, the price was totally reasonable. I couldn’t have bought him a nice gift for less. So I went for it. I went on the website, copied and pasted all the information I already had written out and stored in my notepad document. Then I went to the shopping cart and charged the proper amount and that was it! I was assured that my credit card wouldn’t actually be charged until I was totally happy with the poem and they would make any changes I wanted, free of charge!

I tried to forget about it for the next two weeks and kept busy doing last minute things for the party, which was going to be a big surprise. I have to admit to being just a wee bit nervous, wondering if the custom-written tribute would be delivered on time. I had been assured that it would be, but we all know how that can go.

So the two weeks flew by and suddenly I checked my email and there it was! I printed it out, went to Starbucks and sat down with a delicious large latte. Then I began to read and wow! I was totally blown away! It was clever. Funny. Sentimental. Mentioned everyone and everything I had asked for. All woven into a totally made to order poem. It was completely original and would not apply to another human being on the planet. And the rhyming was perfect! The writer was a genius!

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