I am sure that every manager, business owner, entrepreneur, net-worker, team builder, religious leader, non-profit director… has faced the issue of loyalty at some point or other.

Loyalty is the end-goal of a well-traveled mountain path littered by barriers and detours.

I’m just sounding off on the topic, as I ponder on this after 2 years of developing and overseeing the growth of a non-profit. The core program of the non-profit is to provide community relief in the sector of housing counseling; with ancillary programs of youth development, community education, and food drives.

The initial mission was targeted towards youth development, but as the housing crisis blossomed the need for housing counseling services grew. Without a fund raising portal to hold the foundation together, the need to create a work program around the counseling service was identified.

We brought in the first core of close acquaintances and taught them in the areas of marketing, team building and housing counseling. Providing countless hours of training via website information, conference calls, quarterly training and many selfless one on one session.

Many people came through the unseen doors of The Helpful Hands Foundation receiving more than they ever gave. Some were in foreclosure and learned key points on home preservation and lender requirements. Many were at the doors of court houses and were empowered with hope; armed with confidence and knowledge they were able to talk to judges and attorneys and restore home ownership.

In a period of two years over 1,000 people were saved from foreclosure.

In those same two years we watched over 600 people come into the housing counseling work program of the non profit and… we watched them leave. People were paid on commission. What ever money came in for services was all disbursed back to the counselors. Incentive was built into the same commission so that managers can rise and build teams and get compensated for helping the non profit grow and train more counselors. This effort would maximize the community outreach.

Today The Helpful Hands nonprofit organization survives on hope, the income generated barely covers the office and overhead.

What pains me is that those that have been brought into the inner circle claim to want to help… but money is their boss. Not loyalty to a cause.

The Cause at The Helpful Hands Foundation: Helping People. The motto: “helping one hand at a time”
How do we help? Through service.

Many say they will support you … but that support comes when they pay their bills. Does your opportunity help fill other peoples pocket?

Is your organization filling a need? What kind of need? Does it create jobs? Does it fill an emotional need? Does it educate others?

I still find myself with the initial question, how does a non profit create loyalty when income margin is based on volume? People helping people. What a novelty: people helping people!!?

Why would anyone want to join a non profit and help it grow (or church, company, team etc)?

Again, I find myself at the mercy of God defining my mission as one that serves the many. Reminding myself that if I share my knowledge, my love, my compassion then in His wisdom I will be blessed.

If you are a leader and believe in your company, if you believe in its mission statement, if you believe in touching peoples lives… then let that define you. Become the best at your trade whether it be leadership, recruiter, trainer, manager.

If you are a leader and believe in the money your position can attract. Then let that define you and follow the money.

Don’t stay in a company where you will not be fulfilled (whether you are the founder or a manager).

If you are a hiring manager, recruiter or trainer (church leader, business owner etc)- remember you are influencing the make-up of the organization by the people you bring and train; and it is a privilege to be a mentor to someone. The opportunity of interaction and giving to another human being is priceless.

I have learned that many people place ZERO value on knowledge that is given freely or even emotional goodwill they receive from a kindred spirit. If they don’t see it with their eyes, if they can’t touch the results with their hands you just haven’t done enough for them.

I have been a trainer for over 25 years and I’ve embraced with much pain the lesson from the above sentence and practice the Catch and Release philosophy.

Many walked through doors of The Helpful Hands Foundation and this has allowed me to be on many Catch and Release expeditions; in these expeditions some were saved from foreclosure, others were hungry and were fed, and I’m not talking just about food… I’m talking about knowledge. Knowledge that now is theirs to grow and share with others.

The Helpful Hands Foundation the non profit that changes peoples lives.

Perhaps one day we will find a few good people that will help it grow.

Your actions will soon DEFINE… YOU.

In seeking the lighter side of life, I seek the brighter side of me.

Life is so truly amazing, never a dull moment. Just when you think you have it figured out. Right there at the peak of monotony – BAM! Something presents itself to shake the floor underneath you.

Yes, I had one of those moments, getting into the swing of life; I had reached another plateau just getting comfortable. Comfortable in my plateau. When out of the blue, something odd happened, something unexpected and by all external purposes seemed trivial.

Many of us have this very same experience, where life is on a smooth track and for no apparent reason you’re taken off course. This is a great test of character. Moments like these test you at the very core.

Do you give in to the circumstances?

Do you question the circumstances?

Do you welcome and embrace the circumstances?

I did all three. I gave into the moment and swam in the sea of emotions. I than questioned the events and dug deep for answers; and after the swimming and the digging I then embraced the situation and welcomed the change.

Whether the challenges that knock on the door of your life be mental, emotional or physical they present themselves as an opportunity for you to grow. These challenges tend to test your resolve and your capacity. To choose the brighter side of life is one of the greatest challenges we face as humans. It is so much easier to point fingers outside of oneself, unfortunately it doesn’t get you closer to the transformation you seek.

Embracing the brighter side of me, means that I chose to focus on what is working, on what is beautiful, on what is possible. By offering the brighter side of me, others can experience the magic of faith and hope.

Daisy Says: Let the brighter side of you shower others with the rays of your love.

One important point to consider is the setting of milestones or deadlines on the road to its completion.

To establish a goal without setting a specific time within which to accomplish it… is to give it the lowest priority. Look at your goals and see how much priority you give it… do you have dead lines for your projects? How important is your future if you have no dates with destiny?

After all, if you don’t set a time requirement, you have
“ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD”

How much effort do you put into something now that has no time requirement?

Setting a time frame helps you establish a sense of urgency that will help in motivating you and helps you determine which tasks must be accomplished first.

Long range goals >> that’s exactly what they are LOOOONG Range (they are more like WANTS… and soooo farrrrr into the future that they are FUZZY). Some long term goals are 5 years down the road… sheez, do
you know how much can happen in just 6 months, let’s not even think 5 years!

By establishing intermediate and short-term goals we increase not only the sense of urgency, but also the sense of ACCOMPLISHMENT and the sense of moving forward towards your long term goals.

Understanding what you want… and then creating an action plan 3 months to 6 months will help you pace yourself into the future.

So the key to becoming successful at attaining your goals is to establish the time frame in which you wish it to be accomplished and then:

FOLLOW UP!

The second step to successful goal attainment is understanding that no time frame has CREDIBILITY unless someone is held accountable for the goals attainment. Find an accountability partner.

When working on your own personal goals, set DAILY objectives for yourself and keep track of them. For example, each day make a list of things you wish to accomplish. Prioritize them and do not begin work on the lower priority items until you have completed those with the highest priority.

If you don’t have a goal, ANY DIRECTION YOU GO IS AS GOOD AS ANOTHER.

It does not seize to surprise me when people demand so much out of life and yet they themselves fail to give back to life what it demands of them. There are those individuals in my quiet observation that just can’t go by their day without complaining about something wrong with everything in their world but themselves… they are doing everything right (from eating right, exercising, sharing goodwill, going above and beyond their job description at work, being a good son/daughter – father-mother-wife-husband, giving back to their community) — I mean… gosh if you talk to them … you would assume you are talking to the most perfect human being on earth!

Yet, when you have the opportunity to REALLY enter into their space – they have bad eating habits, they lack discipline, their homes a mess, their relationships are lacking, they have poor work ethics, they gossip as they walk out of their religious house, their cars a mess and even their pets are ungroomed — and on and on.

I’m not much of a theosophist yet I have enjoyed the many parables found in the Good Book. A particular story of interest is in Luke 12:36-48, where Jesus tells a parable of servants who are waiting for their master’s return. Many lessons have been drawn from this parable; the lesson I extract from this reading is that those endowed with a gift – be it artistic, intellectual or circumstantial – should cultivate that gift and use it as a vehicle for excellence in life.

Many may confuse the parable to refer to those that are given much financial awards… while financial success is the world’s yardstick, it must not become ours.

Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.

‘God doesn’t give us more than we can handle’ – often used when people are suffering, yet this can be applied to: spiritual blessings, material possessions, and our personal characteristics. Within our core being we should strive for excellence… to Give more than is expected, to BE more than is expected, to LOVE more than is expected – You are the gift… do not be an unopened gift box.

Dig deep within yourself today and find out what areas of YOU that you keep hidden and ask yourself WHY?
Why not share that part of you, why have you not given more? Are you simply afraid that MORE will be expected… and you JUST want to get by? Don’t expect others to give your their best! and Don’t expect the world to give you its best. Before you open your mouth to spew your negative web… gauge your words and see if you yourself measure up.

Am I perfect? HEck no! I share this with you because, striving to be a better human is not easy…it is an EVERY DAY event… as well as a worthwhile cause.

If you are not getting more out of life and your relationships ask yourself why, and before you put the blame on anything outside of you seek within and weed your garden first.

Daisy Says: Share the BEST of yourself with the world..

This blog is dedicated to all my friends that are in any company that may require them to sell a product or service.

Sales is not for everyone, yet each one of us at some point though-out our day attempt to persuade others to understand our point of view. It all starts with asking questions and a lot of listening.

If you joined a company to “help” people whether you are selling a product or service that would benefit your customer please understand that you are in the profession of SELLING.

Tell yourself that you will be successful as a sales professional and that you will learn something today that will make you even more professional tomorrow!

Asking the right questions and listening to the answer is a great relationship builder and important to the persuasion process. Zig Ziglar once said: Talking is sharing, listening is caring.

In life, some people will treat you rudely, on occasion many will let you down, some people may even avoid you. With all the negative externals out of the way one benefit about the sales profession: You get to be your own boss, you’re in business for yourself but not by yourself.

Wouldn’t you agree that it is time to take your sales profession seriously and begin developing the skills that will make a difference to your customer and your bottom line?

If you feel that you have aligned yourself with a company or product that you can endorse there could be no greater satisfaction of being able to save someone time, money and frustration because of the services you have to offer.

I will share with you a couple of points that will make a difference in your sales profession: conduct yourself with honesty and integrity.

YOUR:
Values determine behavior – behavior determines reputation – reputation determines advantages.

Remember – people with a job could walk in and get their pink slip, you “as your own boss” create SECURITY by creating activity. Creating activity starts with PROSPECTING, without prospecting you will never have a chance to develop your sales skills. Prospecting is an all the time activity.

One of the most dreadful words for an ‘unprofessional’ sales person is the word: NO
Yet, when your prospects say no, they most often are conveying a message to you letting you know that they ‘do not know’ enough to say yes! Your job is to empower your customer with knowledge so that they have new information (reasons, features and benefits) that will guide your prospect to the YES decision today!

Begin today developing a genuine interest and concern for other people and you will be on your way to becoming a professional in sales.

Daisy Says: There is no greater mountain to climb than to the peak of your infinity.