House moves to extend unemployment benefits - AP Business - Ledger-Enquirer.com

House moves to extend unemployment benefits - AP Business - Ledger-Enquirer.com

Shared via AddThis

'Dear Lord:
Thank you for bringing me to Timmy's house, and not to Michael Vick's --AMEN! '

Don't Quit!

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low, and the debts are high,

and you want to smile, but you have to sigh.

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twist and turns

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about,

When he might have won had he stuck it out;

Don't give up though the pace seems slow,

You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out,

the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,

and you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,

It's when things seem worst,

that you must not quit.

NBC is presently taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our American currency.

Please visit site and vote before NBC takes this off their web page. Poll is still open so you can vote:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/

Have you been thinking about your future? Are you going to be able to retire? Do you have children and need to save for college? Maybe a new car or you just want to save for that next vacation.

If you are considering working at home and have a computer and internet, we may be able to help you. If you do nothing now....Where will you be in five years? Or even one year? Will you be any closer to your financial goal?

Visit Here, fill out the form and let's see if we can help you.

The Roles Of Parents

So my little girl is off to 1st grade this year... I have been watching her more than usual lately....
I mean watching her without her even knowing.

She tends to play with the boys more than the girls around here...Which, I don't think twice of since I did the same thing.

I used to play touch football all the time with the neighborhood boys.... I never got into the Barbies and girly-girl things....Well, not until I was much older.

So I am standing at the front door watching her ride her bike off with another little boy...Her long blonde hair just bouncing up and down as she peddles away. She's only 6, but I am already wondering where the time went....When did she change from a baby to toddler....From toddler to a little girl....

She is very independent.... Needs to do things her way, even if it's wrong...She is developing a little sense of humor lately....She will just sit there and say something like "Yea, that's right"...It's just the way she says it to whatever I am asking..... lol. She really is funny.

I feel sad at times because a friend of mine told me that it is the childs father that teaches their daughter how to be treated by a man.... Maybe a future boyfriend... Husband.....And when a father is out of the picture, it is kind of hard for a little girl to know how to be treated by a man since they are not around.

I don't want my little girl to be treated badly by any man in her life...And I do see how NOT having her daddy around can affect the future choices that she makes. But I also can't rush out there and start dating just any man so she can learn how to be treated....

I guess I never realized the importance of a father in a daughters life...The role they took on. They are not there just to help take care of and raise... They actually teach (and not even knowingly) their daughter how a man is supposed to treat a lady....How a husband treats his wife is what the child will pick up and take with her.

Then there is my son...He's a little older now...So I guess the important role of a mother is to teach her son how a lady should be treated by a man... Again, I am lacking in that department. lol... But I do talk ALOT with my son... I think he knows what I would put up with from any man......What I think is acceptable, tolerable, good and bad....

My son says jokingly "Women do all the cleaning in the house" and I have to correct him and let him know that, that's not ok for every woman. If she is working just as much as the man then he can help out in the house as well.

I will say something about my son... He will make a lady very happy some day. He is sensitive enough to their needs yet is also manly.....lol.... When he is talking about something that really matters to him, his eyes get glossy, watery....Not tears..But, enough to matter to him. And I feel that passion, whatever it is, come right out.

So I guess I'm left with just doing the best I can... Striving and trying to leave a positive impact on my children.

Check out the awesome gifts at http://www.thegreatwahmgiveaway.com

What is Teamwork?

The ______ of the Leader

According to John Maxwell, "The speed of the leader is the speed of the team." While that's true, it is important to remember that the leader sets many agendas in addition to speed. Consider this phrase: The ______ of the leader is the ______ of the team. Now pick almost any word to fill in the blanks...

Attitude.

Enthusiasm.

Focus.

Service.

Rarely will team members rise higher than the standard set by the team leader. As I often share with my audiences, team members pay more attention to what the leader does than what the leader says. Ideally, there is congruence between the words and the action of the leaders. Wherever there is discongruence, followers choose to believe actions.

Are you giving team members something to live up to? Or are you a limiting factor in the team's success?

Teamwork: Where?

While working with a telecom company recently, I was reminded of a couple of points about teamwork that are seldom addressed but critically important. The first is this:

Teamwork isn't always the best means to an end.

There is much organizational work that is better done by an individual. Trying to bring teamwork to bear on every process and activity is likely to create something that has a scary resemblance to the dreaded "management by committee."

To make teamwork work, it is necessary to answer the question "Where?" Where should we team and/or partner? What areas will be improved by applying a teamwork approach?

Secondly, it isn't enough to sell the benefits of teamwork if you can't identify the opportunities. This is related to my previous point. Start by asking where in your organization teamwork is most needed. Rather than apply a general and vague team approach, target specific areas. Once momentum is gained in those important areas, you can increase the scope of teamwork.

I wonder how many team efforts crashed and burned because nobody ever asked if teamwork was desirable for the type of work being done, or identified where the opportunities for teamwork were greatest.

Middle-Down Teamwork

One of the most common mistakes I observe is what I call "middle-down teamwork." That occurs when upper management thinks that teamwork is a great concept for every in the organization except them.

Here's what happens: someone in leadership gets turned-on by an article in Fortune or Business Week about the organizational benefits of teamwork. That usually results in a mandate to create teamwork that is directed to middle management. Middle management is expected to put their people through prerequisite training and take the steps necessary to ""make it happen." Often during the initial training, it becomes painfully obvious to those involved that upper management neither practices nor supports the concept of teamwork, and that if teamwork is to happen, it will happen from the middle down. Evaluations of the training include comments like, "Why wasn't upper management involved in the training?" and "I hope our leadership takes these lessons to heart."

For teamwork to work, it must be embraced--in principle and in practice--by everyone in the organization. But, in my opinion, the best place for a teamwork initiative to start is at the top. Once employees see leadership practicing what they preach, it becomes significantly easier to get acceptance throughout the organization.

1. In successful teams, team members are interdependent. They are willing to ask for help when they need it and offer help when they can provide it.
2. Work groups compete inward. Teams compete outward. There are three things you can use to create healthy competition: a competitor in the marketplace, a team goal to be achieved or a common problem to be solved.
3. Team members are self-starters. Since they understand the big picture, they don't need to be told what to do.
4. Successful team members share both rewards and sacrifices. Don't expect people to make sacrifices if they won't get to share in the rewards later.
5. The best thing you can strive for is not a team with a great leader. The highest goal is a team of leaders.

Plugging

Plugging... What an effective way to get your business or service out there.. And guess what? It's FREE.

So many websites and blogs have plug boards on them that will allow you to place your plug and url on their board in exchange for allowing them to plug on yours...And you can still find websites and blogs that will let you plug without even having a plug board of your own.

Of course you can google "plug boards" but you won't get as many listings as you would by actually visiting one. Because once you visit one, you will have access to many more.

You will need a plug image that represents you. For this blog, I am using the "My Kids My Why" and I can go to other blogs or websites and plug it...Meaning, when someone clicks on the image, it will take them to my business or service.

Example: at the bottom of this blog is a section called "Plug It" When plugging you will need an image url and a website url.... In the first box is where you will input the image url.... That link is what allows your image to show.... The second box is your website url..... once you enter both, you click on "plug" and that will display your image and link so someone can click on it and see what you are all about.

So go ahead and plug everywhere you can... It's a great way to get your business/service out there and the best part is, it's FREE!



Cindy Ashworth is a single, work at home mom. Providing a REAL work at home business with one on one coaching and mentoring. The way it should be! Also the owner of www.asinglewahm.blogspot.com and www.mykidsmywhy.com.

Articles written in this blog by Cindy Ashworth are the sole property of Cindy Ashworth and permission is needed for duplication.