We look forward to seeing you there!

Guest post by Jenny Heafey

Time has helped mold me both personally and professionally. I have drawn great strengths from my leadership team with the IPA Family and all the wonderful IPA family members that I have had the blessing to know, my family, and my faith.  Along this journey there have been many different tools that I have become accustom to and to schedule into my daily routine. These tools and resources have helped me be the very best that I can be, so that I can give the very best to those that I care most about!   Walk the talk has offered me daily inspiration and motivation, so I would like to share with you some clips from their daily “digest’ that has served me well.  Enjoy.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

For all of us, especially leaders, actions speak louder than words. Successful people act as if their decisions will appear on the news or in the newspaper. Choose to:

• Practice respect and integrity in all dealings.
• Tame the ego and forget the perfectionism.
• Stay in control of your emotions.
• Remain logical, reasonable and consistent.
• Honor confidences.
• Help people avoid embarrassment.
• Avoid threatening or being threatened.
• Stop the blame game and apologize.

Always do right. This will surprise some people and astonish the rest.

~Mark Twain

“Basic Training” on Respect

Everyone wants it: RESPECT

Here’s a “Basic Training” reminder about RESPECT:

RECOGNIZE the inherent worth of all human beings.
ELIMINATE derogatory words and phrases from your vocabulary.
SPEAK with people – not at them…or about them.
PRACTICE empathy.  Walk awhile in others’ shoes.
EARN respect from others through respect-worthy behaviors.
CONSIDER others’ feelings before speaking and acting.
TREAT everyone with dignity and courtesy.

~Mark Twain

Focus on what you get to do rather than what you have to do. Choose to be excited about the opportunities you have today to positively affect people and outcomes. Think about the impact you can make and notice how your passion and excitement carry you through the day.

Learn by teaching. One of the best ways to learn something new is to teach it to someone else. If there is something you want to learn in your organization, volunteer to teach it. If there are new rules, a new software program, a new initiative – see if you can teach it to the rest of the team. Not only will you show your willingness to be a team player, you will also master that thing that you are teaching

Identify your goals for the week. People don’t plan to fail, but they do fail to plan. Some don’t set goals … others fail to write them down. Be exceptional – be a goal getter! How will you know if you had a successful week or not? Begin with the end in mind. What are the things you want to accomplish? Write them down and monitor them.

Remember this:

Inspiration will only last until you decide that self motivation will take over.

~Jenny Heafey

Have a fabulous and exciting day!

As I write to you today from the magnificent city of Chicago, where I will be visiting our “Center of Excellence” a bit later, I wanted to briefly share with you a great experience and some insights that I personally experienced yesterday while on my visit here.

As most of you are aware by now, the IPA Family launched its new website community this past Monday to rave reviews. Yesterday, I was here in Chicago doing some film work with our strategic business partner, CareerBuilder, as well as our close friend and colleague, Ms. Lori Davila. Lori and I filmed for a number of hours. We prepared detailed footage, information, and facts that will allow individuals who are reviewing the potential of whether the IPA Family career opportunity may provide mutual benefit for both them and their families as well as ours in the career search. We talked about many interesting aspects, possibilities, as well as realities pertaining to what the IPA Family career opportunity is and what in fact it is not.

If you are current member of the IPA Family, then you already have a great feel for the sincerity and genuine care that we have for serving others at the highest levels of professional ethics and integrity. If you are somewhat new to the IPA Family, you are probably just now getting a sense for it. If you are not an IPA Family member at this point, you may just be focusing on whether our team and performance culture is a good fit for you, and rightly so. One of the huge benefits in your consideration and research that our new web community provides, is how easy navigation to “external” third-party sources that can give you validated information about IPA as well as the companies that we represent or our a part of. They range from our accreditation with the Better Business Bureau, the financial strength of the carriers and ratings of A- (Excellent) we represent through the A.M Best rating organization, our parent companies listing (IHC) on the New York Stock Exchange, and many more. The point being, we want to give everyone that is considering us, and us them, credible career sources that are not self generated or pure chat/rant room generated to assist them in their process.

On the flip side, probably the biggest takeaway I had from our filming session yesterday was just the pure injustice someone can inflict on themselves as well as their family when they don’t use sources that are factual and true. While the benefits of the Internet has enhanced all of our lives, I believe we would all agree there are so many items, sites, information, and so on, that we would equally agree is not only damaging to someone in the career search but also just the general morality of what we want ourselves and children to be exposed to. IPA does not, and will not, subscribe or support any form of what we refer to as “Internet graffiti” Simply stated, if it cannot be validated or verified…it doesn’t count!

Is IPA the right career opportunity for everyone that comes across it? Absolutely not! Is every person that comes across the IPA Family career opportunity right for IPA? Absolutely not! We will, however, commit to anyone that may be looking at our opportunity that we will not use any “unverifiable” information that may be out there on someone by any sources that do not validate the information that is provided. We will only use authorized organizations that provide background checks with exact non-biased information.

All of that is said to say this: Regardless of whether you are researching IPA, a competitor of IPA’s, an opportunity or job that is outside of our industry, make a pledge to yourself that you will only use information by sources that you utilize that you are 100 percent certain validates the information that is there or that it allows people to put there. By taking this unwavering personal stand, you will never compromise yourself or your family in your career search and endeavors!

Until next time,

D-

From Social Media Examiner, here are eight hot tips for making your social media efforts sizzle.

Gaining trust takes time, especially after an extended period of untrustworthy behavior, writes Wally Bock. He recounts the story of Kurt, who expected immediate results from his team after a business coach helped him alter his manipulative ways. “If you’ve been untrustworthy, changing your ways won’t bring instant results. You have to allow trust to grow slowly,” Bock writes.

Find the entire post at Three Star Marketing Blog.

Innovative companies such as Zappos and Netflix disrupted their business categories by offering “tremendously fantastic” service that competitors deemed impossible, Jason Cohen writes. There are at least six advantages to such a strategy, Cohen writes, along with the big downside that the numbers may not work out and your company may go broke. But that’s the fate of many startups, he notes. “Since it’s already difficult, why not at least give yourself an edge in having the Fantastic Thing?” Cohen writes.

Find the entire article at Entrepreneur.com.

Number five in our series of top business tips is overlooked small-business tax deductions. Do you qualify?

Number six in our series, here are some management excellence tools from Art Petty.

Good management isn’t just about hiring the right people; it’s also about parting ways with the wrong ones. Truly awful performers are easy enough to get rid of, but many business owners are reluctant to fire workers who might rate a six on a 10-point scale. “They’re not that bad, but they’re just not good,” Jay Goltz writes. How do you know who the “sixes” are? If you think about them resigning on their own, and your “visceral response” is a feeling of relief, then it may be time to do what needs to be done.

The Dirty Little Secret of Successful Companies, from the New York Times.