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Extract from our Leadership book scheduled for publishing in February 2013

Any book about leadership should commence with a description of what we mean by leaders and leadership. Whilst we know that leaders are individuals who influence the members of groups and represent their views, leadership itself is not so easy to explain. Some would argue that it is situations which create leaders and others would argue that it is the characteristics of the individual themselves which determines whether they go on to become leaders.

What is Leadership?

Before we go further, we should define what leadership is. Generally speaking, leadership is the movement of others towards a clear goal or direction of the leader. The leader will guide or direct others to achieve the leader’s vision for the group. One of the difficulties in defining leadership is that it is that it is hard to elucidate exactly what makes certain people leaders.  Leadership can be considered to involve personal qualities and behaviours demonstrated by a person’s accomplishment in a particular field. For example, a person may be a leader in business, information technology, sport, education, voluntary work, and so on. They might also be a leader during a particular time. For instance during wartime, a crisis, an election, or a strike. Leadership is also often considered to be part of organisational behaviour, which in some ways is similar to management. However, being in charge of a business or organisation does not necessarily make a good leader. Leadership, therefore, is not a simple concept and it is little wonder that many researchers have spent many years examining the nature and scope of this intriguing behaviour. 

Being in Charge or Being a Leader?

Leadership is not necessarily the same as being in charge of something.  Whilst leaders often have some degree of authority so too do many other people. For instance, a security guard patrolling the perimeter of a building may be in charge, but this in itself does not make them a leader. Gibb has argued that 'headship' means holding a position in an official hierarchy. It does not necessarily mean that a person is a leader. A person in charge of an organisation may not necessarily have influence over the people in the group, and it is this influence which is an integral part of leadership. Leadership means having the capacity to influence, to encourage others to behave in a particular way. Therefore, if the head of an organisation cannot influence others, then they are not necessarily a leader. 

Is Leadership the Same As Power?

The concepts of leadership and power do have a lot in common. Many believe that certain people are leaders because they can exercise superior power.  We may consider it impossible for a leader to be a leader without having some degree of power. Therefore, power and leadership have become confused.  Lapierre defines leadership as a behaviour that affects the behaviour of other people, rather than the behaviour of the people affecting the leader.   So the leader is able to influence the behaviour of people, more than people can influence the behaviour of the leader. 

Pigor also states that leadership is a concept that is used to apply to a personality that is placed in a situation where it directs and controls the pursuit of a common cause. Terry argues that leadership is the activity of influencing people to strive to mutual objectives, whilst Allen argues that leadership is an activity aimed at persuading people to cooperate towards achieving a common objective.  In light of these different perspectives, we might conclude that leadership involves the attempt to affect the behaviour of others. Power is not the same thing.

Where leadership generally suggests that following the leader is optional, power suggests an ability to control or command others, where the person does not have the option to follow – they are either forced to follow, or are so overwhelmed by the power that they follow without thinking. When we think of historical leaders, we generally think of people that inspired others to greatness, such as Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi. If we think of people in history with a lot of power, we think of political dictators, or people such as Adolf Hitler, who had control over people without them necessarily having a choice. Power, of course, does not have to be a bad thing. In combination with high integrity, a leader with power can create the extraordinary.

In the home environment, the difference between power and leadership can be demonstrated in a different way - a baby has the power to change the behaviour of his/her parents, but this influence is not the same as leadership in the family. 

Extract from our Leadership book scheduled for publishing in February 2013

Any book about leadership should commence with a description of what we mean by leaders and leadership. Whilst we know that leaders are individuals who influence the members of groups and represent their views, leadership itself is not so easy to explain. Some would argue that it is situations which create leaders and others would argue that it is the characteristics of the individual themselves which determines whether they go on to become leaders.

What is Leadership?

Before we go further, we should define what leadership is. Generally speaking, leadership is the movement of others towards a clear goal or direction of the leader. The leader will guide or direct others to achieve the leader’s vision for the group. One of the difficulties in defining leadership is that it is that it is hard to elucidate exactly what makes certain people leaders.  Leadership can be considered to involve personal qualities and behaviours demonstrated by a person’s accomplishment in a particular field. For example, a person may be a leader in business, information technology, sport, education, voluntary work, and so on. They might also be a leader during a particular time. For instance during wartime, a crisis, an election, or a strike. Leadership is also often considered to be part of organisational behaviour, which in some ways is similar to management. However, being in charge of a business or organisation does not necessarily make a good leader. Leadership, therefore, is not a simple concept and it is little wonder that many researchers have spent many years examining the nature and scope of this intriguing behaviour. 

Being in Charge or Being a Leader?

Leadership is not necessarily the same as being in charge of something.  Whilst leaders often have some degree of authority so too do many other people. For instance, a security guard patrolling the perimeter of a building may be in charge, but this in itself does not make them a leader. Gibb has argued that 'headship' means holding a position in an official hierarchy. It does not necessarily mean that a person is a leader. A person in charge of an organisation may not necessarily have influence over the people in the group, and it is this influence which is an integral part of leadership. Leadership means having the capacity to influence, to encourage others to behave in a particular way. Therefore, if the head of an organisation cannot influence others, then they are not necessarily a leader. 

Is Leadership the Same As Power?

The concepts of leadership and power do have a lot in common. Many believe that certain people are leaders because they can exercise superior power.  We may consider it impossible for a leader to be a leader without having some degree of power. Therefore, power and leadership have become confused.  Lapierre defines leadership as a behaviour that affects the behaviour of other people, rather than the behaviour of the people affecting the leader.   So the leader is able to influence the behaviour of people, more than people can influence the behaviour of the leader. 

Pigor also states that leadership is a concept that is used to apply to a personality that is placed in a situation where it directs and controls the pursuit of a common cause. Terry argues that leadership is the activity of influencing people to strive to mutual objectives, whilst Allen argues that leadership is an activity aimed at persuading people to cooperate towards achieving a common objective.  In light of these different perspectives, we might conclude that leadership involves the attempt to affect the behaviour of others. Power is not the same thing.

Where leadership generally suggests that following the leader is optional, power suggests an ability to control or command others, where the person does not have the option to follow – they are either forced to follow, or are so overwhelmed by the power that they follow without thinking. When we think of historical leaders, we generally think of people that inspired others to greatness, such as Nelson Mandela or Mahatma Gandhi. If we think of people in history with a lot of power, we think of political dictators, or people such as Adolf Hitler, who had control over people without them necessarily having a choice. Power, of course, does not have to be a bad thing. In combination with high integrity, a leader with power can create the extraordinary.

In the home environment, the difference between power and leadership can be demonstrated in a different way - a baby has the power to change the behaviour of his/her parents, but this influence is not the same as leadership in the family. 

How Do You Market on the Internet
(extract from our Modern Marketing Ebook)

The internet may not have had a massive impact on how we produce goods or plan our business; or how we do the bookkeeping or manage our staff; but when it comes to communicating with potential customers, the internet has caused very dramatic changes in the world of commerce and particularly marketing. 

Websites
In the previous chapter we talked about websites and how they can be used. Just having a website is, however, often not enough. A website has to be done well to be effective.

A website can be used to advertise goods and services, or, it can be used to advertise and sell goods and services.  Either way, it should be linked in with all your social media tools.

If the website is used to advertise the goods and services, but not sell them, it should still tell the potential customer where to buy them. If the website is used to both advertise and sell the products, it should be an effective advert and encourage the potential customer to click to buy the product instantly. 

You can hire a website designer who will design the website to fit your needs, or use pre-designed websites.  These come in the form of templates which allow you to change the content.  You can also use blogging sites such as Wordpress to design your site. Whatever you decide to do, it is important that the website is effective. A complicated, flashy website will not necessarily achieve the effect you want.  The following are some simple rules on the effective design of websites.

1. Keep it Simple
It sounds obvious, but if the site is too complicated, there is less chance that visits to the site will convert to sales. The more that is on the page, the more it may confuse a visitor. Fancy, complicated graphics, links, innovations and bolt-ons can look good, but do not mean the customer will want or be able to buy the product. 

For example; a customer may read a good review of a product and decide it is the product they wish to buy but then the button to ‘click to buy’ is not obvious, or they are taken through three more web pages before they can buy, so they lose interest and leave.  So make it simple, describe your product and have a button where someone can immediately go to buy it. Make the button large and obvious.  A customer does not want to be searching all over the site for the place to buy the product. It is just the same as a customer walking into a physical shop. They might wander around, but if they can’t find the product, they may leave the shop. 

2. Tell Customers What They Need to Learn
A customer wants the facts. They want to be told how long, high and wide the object is.  If it is a fridge, for example, they want to know how many shelves it has, what colour it is, how energy efficient it is, how much it costs and so on. The customer will want to know all of the facts to determine whether they will buy the product.  Tell them what they need to know without too much extraneous information.

3. Do Not Focus Too Heavily on Layout
What you like in terms of website design is not necessarily the same as what your customers may like. We hear a lot about the colours of a website, the font, the layout, the background, how many pictures it should have and so on. What one person thinks is classy, however, another may think is boring. So try not to over-think the layout of the website.  Once the website is built, as long as you have all of your fields and pages sorted out, you can then fiddle around with the colours and do market research amongst customers and potential customers.  Until it is on the internet, it is hard to determine how effective it is. 

Whilst saying “don’t worry about the layout”, there are a few aspect of design that are of particular importance, such as the size of the front used. If the customer has to squint to see what you have to say, the font is probably too small, so ensure it is clear enough for the potential customer to read.  Your site should also include a “call to action”, such as a button which tells the customer to “click here” or “buy now for a huge discount”.

In addition to these elements there are all sorts of other issues that can be taken into consideration if you intend to make your website inclusive and easily accessed by people with disabilities.  Even things like a customer’s colour blindness can have a major impact on the legibility of your site.  Ideally, you want a site that as many people as possible can read and buy from.  If, for example, your website relied heavily on video, you might consider captioning the video so that people with hearing impairments may also be able to interact with you.

When designing your site, therefore, it is worth doing a bit of research on the internet and familiarising yourself with the principles of inclusive web design.  This is not necessarily something that the web designer you engage will know about.

4. Plan

It is important to plan what you are going to say and how you are going to say it. Otherwise you can end up with websites that are messy and complicated. Having a plan to your website can help you to stay on track for what you aim to achieve.  Before planning your website ask yourself these questions:

•  What do I want to achieve?
•  Who are my potential visitors?
•  What are the needs of my visitors?
•  How am I going to convert my visitors to customers?
•  What is my marketing strategy?

Then, draw up a site plan.  Work out how many pages you need both now and into the future and how these pages will interlink.  It is easier to plan for website expansion now than to tack it on a year or two down the track. 

5. Make it Easy for Customers
Customers and potential customers do not necessarily want to spend a great deal of time reading your website. They want to scan and look at the images, and then buy the product. They want to absorb information in short chunks. They want to be led to the next step. So each step should be clear and uncomplicated.  Important information should stand out. Each page should have suitable titles, headers, descriptions and suitable links.  Everything else is unnecessary padding, so remove it.  Although the key attraction of your page might be the photos, image are generally the last to load, so put some thought into your captions too.  

6. Tell Customers Where to Go
When a customer visits your site, they may want to explore, so make sure the navigation system is simple and easy to understand. Do not rely on complex drop down menus. Make sure it is clear; “if you want to see fridges, click this button”. The more simply the navigation is organised, the easier it is for the customer to find the information they want.

7. Do Not Distract the Customer
Although they can help with search engine optimisation, links to other websites can be distracting. If they lead potential customers away from your website, they are potentially losing you business.  If you are using links, make sure they are placed somewhere that prevents this from happening – not on the home page.

8. Ensure Links and Buttons Work
There is nothing worse for your business than for a customer to decide to buy a product, click on the button, and come up with an error message. So check every button and link to make sure they work.

9. Ensure the Site is Easily Found on Search Engines
Whilst a website should be attractive and useful to customers, this is all to no avail if they cannot find it. It is important, therefore, to ensure that you are aware of the rules used by search engines. This is not as easy as it sounds.  Search engines often change their rules, and you should do your best to stay abreast of the latest changes.  This will require regular research.  In the interim, a good way to ensure you are found, is by the use of keywords. 

Keywords should describe your product or service in a clear way. For example, a search engine may pick the first five words on a webpage to decide what the page is about, so if you write:

This is a great fridge
The first five words are “this is a great fridge”. The only word that the search engine may take notice of really is fridge. So it may not really attract attention.

But what if you did the following?

Fridge – Black, Table Top Style
This fridge is black in colour and fits on a table top or desk. The search engine will find the first five words, fridge, black, table top, style. So if someone does a search for black table top fridge, your website will come up in their search.

The visible words on your website are not the only thing taken into account by search engines.  A lot of what is called “metadata” is hidden behind the scenes.  This is information placed in by the programmer to let search engines know what the website is about.  You want your metadata to be reflected in the front end of the website, in order to increase the likelihood of being found by search engines. 
 

Study Internet Marketing -click to see our home study course

An Extract frome our Scented Plants Book

(releases November 2012)

Lavender

Everyone loves lavender. As a garden plant, it’s reliable, hardy and attractive, with a profuse display of soft-coloured flower spikes for months on end. As a perfume, it has a fresh, spicy and irresistible scent. As a healing adjunct, it soothes aches and pains, and relieves nervous tension.

Lavender has been a popular cultivated plant for many centuries and is perhaps the most common, and certainly one of the most versatile herbs you could ever consider growing.  It can be grown as a shrub, a tub plant or a hedge; you can keep it cut low or let it grow to over a metre tall, depending on the species. The flowers and leaves can be used for medicinal, craft, cosmetic and even culinary purposes.

Just about everyone knows the English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) with its soft grey-green leaves and strongly scented mauve flowers, but there are numerous other species and varieties with a range of flower colours and leaf shapes. They are excellent as cottage garden plants, as semi-formal hedges, and as feature plants in Mediterranean-style courtyards.

WHAT LAVENDER TO GROW WHERE
Though there are approximately 30 different species of Lavenders, the most commonly grown are:

English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
French lavender (Lavandula dentata)
Spanish or Italian lavender (Lavandula stoechas)

Lavandula angustifolia - English lavender is a hardy sub-shrub growing to around 60- 80cm metre tall with a similar spread.  Its soft grey leaves are from 2.5 to 4cm long (on a healthy plant).  The flower head is a loose cylindrical spike around 4-5cm long borne on an erect stalk 5-8cm long. Clusters of small blue flowers occur at the ends of spikes only in spring.  English lavender has camphor-less scent that produces the purest and most fragrant oil, hence is the preferred one if you plan on harvesting your plants.

Lavandula dentata - French lavender, generally grow to a metre or more, particularly in warm climates.  Its leaves are easy to distinguish from L. angustifolia by their toothed margins and smaller size (2.5 – 3cm long). French lavender frequently flowers all year round. The flowers are on a spike like raceme to about 5cm long and 1.5cm wide borne on 12-15cm stalks with leaf-like bract at the base.

Lavandula stoechas - Spanish or Italian lavender (as it is also known) is easily identified by the large, sterile, petal-like bracts protruding from the top of the flower spikes. The size and shape of the fertile bracts on the rest of the inflorescence are usually round/cordate and hairy. The leaves are grey-green with entire margins. The stoechas species is more suited to warm conditions. It is camphor scented and flowers throughout the year, with short breaks between flowering periods. There are many hybrids available.

The variety you choose depends on your climate and purpose for growing it:

• Most lavender grows well in a Mediterranean climate, with a wet winter and dry summer. 
• In the subtropics, L. dentata (French lavender) and L. stoechas (Italian lavender) will tolerate humidity.
• Beware of using L. stoechas in inland semi-arid areas as it can be a serious weed; it is also a declared environmental weed in some countries.
• L. angustifolia (English lavender) produces the purest oil. Some varieties of L. angustifolia are purer than others. 
• For low or medium hedges, use L. angustifolia or L. dentata varieties.

An Extract frome our Scented Plants Book

(sceduled release November 2012)

Lavender

Everyone loves lavender. As a garden plant, it’s reliable, hardy and attractive, with a profuse display of soft-coloured flower spikes for months on end. As a perfume, it has a fresh, spicy and irresistible scent. As a healing adjunct, it soothes aches and pains, and relieves nervous tension.

Lavender has been a popular cultivated plant for many centuries and is perhaps the most common, and certainly one of the most versatile herbs you could ever consider growing.  It can be grown as a shrub, a tub plant or a hedge; you can keep it cut low or let it grow to over a metre tall, depending on the species. The flowers and leaves can be used for medicinal, craft, cosmetic and even culinary purposes.

Just about everyone knows the English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) with its soft grey-green leaves and strongly scented mauve flowers, but there are numerous other species and varieties with a range of flower colours and leaf shapes. They are excellent as cottage garden plants, as semi-formal hedges, and as feature plants in Mediterranean-style courtyards.

WHAT LAVENDER TO GROW WHERE
Though there are approximately 30 different species of Lavenders, the most commonly grown are:

English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
French lavender (Lavandula dentata)
Spanish or Italian lavender (Lavandula stoechas)

Lavandula angustifolia - English lavender is a hardy sub-shrub growing to around 60- 80cm metre tall with a similar spread.  Its soft grey leaves are from 2.5 to 4cm long (on a healthy plant).  The flower head is a loose cylindrical spike around 4-5cm long borne on an erect stalk 5-8cm long. Clusters of small blue flowers occur at the ends of spikes only in spring.  English lavender has camphor-less scent that produces the purest and most fragrant oil, hence is the preferred one if you plan on harvesting your plants.

Lavandula dentata - French lavender, generally grow to a metre or more, particularly in warm climates.  Its leaves are easy to distinguish from L. angustifolia by their toothed margins and smaller size (2.5 – 3cm long). French lavender frequently flowers all year round. The flowers are on a spike like raceme to about 5cm long and 1.5cm wide borne on 12-15cm stalks with leaf-like bract at the base.

Lavandula stoechas - Spanish or Italian lavender (as it is also known) is easily identified by the large, sterile, petal-like bracts protruding from the top of the flower spikes. The size and shape of the fertile bracts on the rest of the inflorescence are usually round/cordate and hairy. The leaves are grey-green with entire margins. The stoechas species is more suited to warm conditions. It is camphor scented and flowers throughout the year, with short breaks between flowering periods. There are many hybrids available.

The variety you choose depends on your climate and purpose for growing it:

• Most lavender grows well in a Mediterranean climate, with a wet winter and dry summer. 
• In the subtropics, L. dentata (French lavender) and L. stoechas (Italian lavender) will tolerate humidity.
• Beware of using L. stoechas in inland semi-arid areas as it can be a serious weed; it is also a declared environmental weed in some countries.
• L. angustifolia (English lavender) produces the purest oil. Some varieties of L. angustifolia are purer than others. 
• For low or medium hedges, use L. angustifolia or L. dentata varieties.

Where are the Jobs?

Perhaps people are looking in the wrong place for work. I hear about plenty of successful individuals and businesses, but increasingly, most have one thing in common. They are not following traditional employment pathways.

Most people still have their mind set in the past when it comes to work. The old idea of getting a university degree or apprenticeship, and having a guaranteed job simply does not work any more. If you can manage to push such prejudices aside and look at work in the context of a rapidly changing world; career opportunities can take on a whole new appearance.

I saw 2 interesting things in the media recently:

You may find the following interesting:

1.   Quotes from "Whakademia" -a new book out of NSW University Press  http://newsouthpublishing.com/articles/wrong-sort-knowledge/

"academic experience: general disillusionment, over-regulation, stress, casualisation and a drift away from the profession".

"worrying is the demise of non-compliant academic eccentrics who have been largely displaced by acquiescent operatives"

"despite all the talk about excellence, innovation, choice, opportunity and flexibility, it seems that many students graduating in business, journalism and other courses are less than job-ready"

This is worth a read!

2.  There was an interesting article in the Australian Magazine (in the Australian Newspaper on Saturday). Loretta Napoleoni, economist -answered 10 questions
Interestingly here are some of her comments:

-commenting on the Chinese being better Capitalists than westerners -"they can get things done much quicker than us"

 -commenting on Western politicians having lost control of their economies - "Politics in the west has turned into a form of show business"

 -commenting on the Australian workforce "more jobs will go offshore to Asia, real wages in the west will decline, the middle classes will contract, trade unions will die, but there will be a growing class of super rich"

-commenting on the future of debt laden economies -"Stimulis packages can work if focused on lifting the productive sector. Encouraging consumers to spend more and rack up debt is a terrible waste of money"

-comment on whether theEuro will survive - "No -Within the next 3 to 4 years there will be a severe contraction across the world economy"

I see these as further indicators of a massive restructuring of global society that is underway -perhaps on the scale of the industrial revolution -and the fact that most people are simply not recognising and adapting.

I think this situation presents us with fabulous opportunity; but also a challenge to create all new ways of doing things. Tweaking the existing political, economic and education systems will probably be insufficient.

Now is not a time to be working "within the system" ....now is the time to be creating new systems!

by John Mason 

Principal and Publisher at ACS Distance Education   www.acsedu.co.uk

We've finished writing a book on Marine animals; and will start doing the layout this week.

This e-book is designed to provide a guide for some of the more common animals found in marine ecosystems around the world. The animals are presented in groups according to similar morphological features.

Chapter1 of this e-book introduces the concept of taxonomic classification. It provides a general overview of how marine animals are classified into various phyla, orders, families etc. The larger groups are covered in further detail in following chapters. These are broken up into marine fish, birds, reptiles, mammals, invertebrates and zooplankton.

A guide to terminology used throughout the e-book is located at the end. Those words in the terminology section are highlighted using bold font throughout the passages. This e-book is aimed for anyone who has an interest in marine animals. 

We hope to have the book launched within a few weeks.

We've finished writing a book on Marine animals; and will start doing the layout this week.

This e-book is designed to provide a guide for some of the more common animalsfound in marine ecosystems around the world. The animals are presented in groupsaccording to similar morphological features.

Chapter1 of this e-book introduces the concept of taxonomicclassification. It provides a general overview of how marine animals areclassified into various phyla, orders, families etc. The larger groups arecovered in further detail in following chapters. These are broken up intomarine fish, birds, reptiles, mammals, invertebrates and zooplankton.

Aguide to terminology used throughout the e-book is located at the end. Thosewords in the terminology section are highlighted using bold font throughout the passages. This e-book is aimed for anyone who has an interest in marine animals. 

We hope to have the book launched within a few weeks.

Kid’s eat colour

Published by Wellbeing Newsletter 18 January 2012  http://www.wellbeing.com.au

 Parenting is a quixotic task; if anything resembles tilting at windmills, it is trying to get it right as a parent. Yes, parenting is rewarding and uplifting, but also rigorous and difficult. Parents are required at various times to possess the diplomacy skills of Kissinger (in solving disputes), the creativity of Michelangelo (in finding ways to occupy time that don’t involve a flat screen), the patience of a medieval Cathedral builder, and the energy and drive of Edmund Hilary (in order to keep up with the expansive life force that kids express. Any one of these qualities is deserving of a Nobel Prize in and of itself but underlying all of this there is the simple yet infinitely challenging task of getting your child to eat well. At least new research has some advice to offer on this latter front.

In the new study pre-teen children and adults were presented with pictures of food arranged in 48 different combinations. The varied combinations included changes in food, food placement, and positioning of an entrée.

What emerged is that compared to adults children prefer a plat that contains more elements and colours but also prefer more figurative designs in the way their food is presented on the plate.

This is good news as we all know that a “rainbow” of food featuring the many coloured vegetables and fruits, complete with the health-promoting plant chemicals that generate those colours, comprise a healthy diet.

The bad news is that parents now need to bring to the kitchen the colour sense of a Matisse and the presentation skills of an Andy Warhol. Why not? After all, it’s just another string to add to an already bristling bow.

Someone put their foot down on the world's accellerator .

What has changed in your life over the past few years, and how are you coping?

Social media, web sites and e books didn't exist not so long ago.

It could be argued that the rate of change has ruined a lot of industries. It is difficult to predict anything anymore.

• People don't advertise so much in newspapers anymore; they use social media or web sites instead

• People study things in a course, graduate, then find what they studied is out of date

• Business plan for the future, looking at what is in demand today; but by the time they launch the product, it is no longer in demand

If you see a need today & plan to deliver it tomorrow; by the time you organise the resources to deliver on that need, the world has moved on and the need no longer exists.
Social media has increased the connections between people, but so have web sites, the telephone, fax, broadcast media and air travel.
Social media may well be replaced by something else that we cannot yet imagine, just as the telephone replaced the hand written letter.

Nothing stays the same, and either we embrace change and become one of the minority who takes advantage of change; or we fear change and become one of the majority who are destabilized by change.

What are you?