By Alan Cutler, Leadership Writer, Speaker and Mentor

“There is no such thing as a perfect leader, either in the past
or present, in China or elsewhere. If there is one, he is only
pretending, like a pig inverting spring onions into his nose in
an effort to look like an elephant”. Liu Shao-Chi

It may be true that there is no such thing as the perfect
leader – leaders are human, after all. However, that is not to
say that people who hold leadership positions should not
continually seek to improve their leadership skills.

Some managers hardly set an example for others to follow. They
may have a badge on their office door or overall that pronounces
them ‘Head of Service’; ‘Area Manager’; or ‘Unit Supervisor’ but
do these ‘badge holders’ display all the necessary qualities to
inspire others to follow them? It is unlikely that people are
promoted to senior positions without any leadership skills, but
they may lack one or more essential ones.

In order to measure managers’ leadership capabilities we need to
identify what are the essential qualities of an effective
leader. In my view they are six in number:

 A Leader is a visionary  A Leader sets an
example  A Leader understands what motivates each team
member  A Leader builds supportive relationships
 A Leader empowers others to reach their potential
 A Leader understands the power of communications

These are the six components that each leader must work hard at
continually and consistently applying and, most importantly,
demonstrating in all he or she does. Think of it as a jigsaw -
The Leadership Jigsaw®

Unless all six pieces are in place, the leader will not achieve
his or her potential, nor will those looking to following their
leader. No one aspiring to lead a high-performing team can do so
if they are ‘one piece short of a jigsaw’! Let’s consider each
piece in a little more detail.

VISION. Leadership involves taking people on a journey, but if
people are to follow it must not be a journey into the unknown.
Such destinations may work for Captain Kirk of the Starship
Enterprise but they will not work for modern-day leaders with
their feet placed firmly on terra-firma! A person holding a
leadership position without a clear vision, or the ability to
communicate one effectively, will be heading into darkness
(probably alone!).

Creating a vision must, by its very nature, be one of the
foremost roles of a leader – as it sets a positive theme for the
future. A leader’s vision – which he or she personally
associates themselves with – should appeal to people at an
emotional level, as well as a practical one. It should be
meaningful, relevant and inspirational: encouraging people to
buy into it willingly. When leaders express their vision in a
way that touches their followers, they invite strong commitment:
a common purpose that focuses people on a shared, mutually
beneficial objective.

“A leader shapes and shares a vision which gives point to the
work of others” Charles Handy

EXAMPLE. One of the most important and effective qualities
leaders can display is consistently and visibly to link the
values they stand for with their everyday actions. Indeed,
consistency and visibility are the keys. People respect and
follow leaders whose behaviour mirrors their words; they have no
respect for leaders who say one thing and do another. “Do as I
say, not as I do” is simply not good enough.

Leaders should, therefore, look hard into the mirror and
consider what they see. They should ask themselves: “Do I lead
in such a way that I would willingly follow myself? Do I
consistently demonstrate leadership qualities that I would
recognise in leaders that I, myself, respect?” You can be sure
of one thing: you may not be continually assessing your
performance as a leader, but your followers will be! They will
be watching your every move and taking a lead from you.

The leaders acts as though everyone is watching, even when
no-one is watching” Brian Tracy

MOTIVATION. Having a vision is one thing: selling it in a way
that others want to realise it is quite another. The leader’s
role is to focus the energies of followers on shared goals and
to encourage them to achieve those goals. Yet everybody is
different and responds to different stimuli. Truly great leaders
understand their followers: they understand their needs, their
dreams, their fears, their emotions – what ‘makes them tick’. It
is an understanding of the impact of differing needs on
different people that is vital for effective leadership.

One of the greatest motivators is to believe that you are
contributing to your team’s success and, hence, to the success
of the overall vision. People need to believe that they are
playing their part and successful leaders ensure that they
receive the recognition their efforts deserve. In my experience
of working with junior managers across the country, a belief
that they are not valued for their efforts is one of the most
commonly found demotivators.

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something
you want done because he wants to do it” Dwight D
Eisenhower

RELATIONSHIP. It is axiomatic that a leader needs followers – a
team of people working together towards a common aim. To be
effective, a team working across an organisation requires
supportive relationships not only between leader and followers,
but between followers themselves. A culture of trust must exist
between all members, at all levels, with the leader providing
the shining example for all to follow.

Notwithstanding the fundamental changes forced upon
organisations in recent years (down-sizing and delegated budgets
for example) some departments are still led by ‘badge-holders’
who busy themselves interfering in the work of their
subordinates; are unwilling to share information; and insist on
sanctioning every decision. Yet if the modern leader’s challenge
is to make optimum use of fewer resources (and it is!) this will
only happen if people are encouraged to participate in an open,
positive environment based upon mutually-supportive
relationships. ‘Mushroom management’ must be replaced by a
culture where everyone is prepared to give and receive trust.

“All your strength is in your union. All your danger is in
discord” Henry Longfellow The Song of Hiawatha

EMPOWERMENT. Enlightened leaders understand that most people
naturally want to better themselves and, given the appropriate
support and encouragement, will grasp the opportunity to acquire
new skills and knowledge. They also realise that the key to
getting the best out of people is to give them responsibility
for their own actions, rather than creating an environment of
control and mistrust.

Such leaders are willing to delegate aspects of their role to
their subordinates when the situation allows and, moreover, are
prepared to empower them to take decisions themselves, within
parameters, without recourse to higher authority.

Empowerment is based upon the belief that, given the
opportunity, people are preordained to think for themselves and
will generate ideas that benefit their workplace, their
organisation and, hence, by extension – themselves. Following
orders robotically produces robots; allowing invention and
inspiration produces ideas and a pride in individual and team
achievements.

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you
will help them to become what they are capable of being”
Goethe

COMMUNICATION. Whilst all those holding the badge of
leadership, without exception, would preach the importance of
effective communications, not all practice what they preach.
But, yet again, it is the leader who should lead the way by his
or her example.

Productive communications are built upon understanding between
all parties. A leader who is prepared to get out and ‘walk the
talk’ will be in a far better position to both reinforce the
vision, and hear how it is being received, than one who remains
desk-bound. There are few more potent motivating actions a
leader can take than to make the effort to speak to front-line
workers and to ask “how are things going?”, and mean it!

We live in the ‘communication age’. Yet with the previously
unimaginable powers now at our fingertips come inherent dangers.
Communications is not only about the ‘what’ – just as important
is the ‘how’. Wise leaders balance the efficiency of technology
with the impact of the human touch. They are well aware that
they cannot shake a hand, pat a back, or even smile via email!

“A leader is someone who knows what she wants to achieve and how
to communicate it” Margaret Thatcher

THE MESSAGE? The message is that true leaders need to be
proficient in a wide range of essential skills that can be
represented by The Leadership Jigsaw. Those holding leadership
positions should measure themselves against this model of
excellence to ensure that they are not ‘one piece short of a
jigsaw’.

The Leadership Jigsaw is a model of leadership best practice
created by Alan Cutler, a leadership writer, motivational
speaker and mentor. For more details of how Alan can develop the
leadership skills of your managers see www.leadershiptalks.com,
or contact him on alan@leadershiptalks.com. Full details of The
Leadership Jigsaw are contained in his book, ‘One Piece Short of
a Jigsaw’, obtainable from www.leadershiptalks.com

A couple of years ago I was at a friend’s house party. Naturally, like most gatherings I attend, a few of my friends pleaded with me to perform a few tricks for the guests. I say pleaded because they know I only perform when I’m in the mood to perform. Although I’m a performer by nature, to be truthful, sometimes I just cannot be bothered and don’t take kindly to people expecting me to perform like a monkey whenever they want me to.

Mind reading and mentalism to me is a bit more special than to just randomly ‘do a trick’ whenever someone asks you to. I believe in the experience of the spectators and if I don’t think the mood is right, I won’t perform. That being said, this time I felt the time was right, it probably had to do with the 70% of attendees being rather beautiful females and one in particular really caught my eye.. so anyway..

I decided I WOULD perform some mind reading. I thought this would be a great way to get this young ladies’ attention.

So sat at a large table in the kitchen surrounded by about 10 people, and more importantly, the young lady I had my eye on and I proceeded to warm up with some ESP testing cards and rightly guessing which ESP symbol each volunteer had chosen. I could feel the spectators getting excited. I then moved onto a bit of playing card mind reading which involved reading the minds of volunteers and correctly guessing which playing card they chose. I also mixed in a bit of pseudo-psychological influence for good measure.

I could see it all going really well and the important female spectator was probably showing the most interest, asking me to ‘do her next’.. read her mind that is. So anyway, what happened next confused me for a good few days.

I decided I would try out a cold reading technique I had learned earlier that day, what that involved was asking them a very general statement that would either hit – and you’d have a miracle and miss – where you could brush it off as something that could happen in the future. For those of you who don’t know, cold reading is what psychics mostly use when they give one-on-one demonstrations of ‘psychic ability’ to people they’ve just met. So I said to her “Where’s the broken door?”

She looked at me puzzled, “What do you mean?”

So I said it again, “Where’s the broken door?”

Her puzzlement turned into downright shock and she ran out of the kitchen screaming to tell her best friend who was in another room. I found her in the other room explaining to her friend what I had just said and it was impossible for me to know. I found out that literally the week before, she had been locked in her bathroom because the lock on the door was faulty and she had to call down to her house mate to get help. I had performed a miracle.

I was almost shaking with excitement but my excitement was very short lived when for the rest of the night, she wouldn’t go near me because ‘I was just too weird’. Great.. she thought I was a f****ing freak.

So the morale of the story and to bring this to an end is be very careful what you perform and who you perform it on. If you’re trying to impress most women, don’t completely freak them out, unless the girl’s a bit weird, they probably won’t enjoy it. I’ve figured out the reason is that if they think you’re truly psychic they feel naked and exposed and can’t relax around you. This is probably why I don’t claim to be psychic and instead perform ‘psychological tests’.

Either way, experience will tell you which tricks and suited for which people. I have a trick in the ultimate mind reading manual I wrote called Stigmata 2.0 and it’s so powerful I will usually only perform it to the right people. I’ve scared a few women away with it let me tell you but then again, I’ve got a few numbers off it too.

I hope you can learn something from my story and think about your mind reading tricks to make them really special.

With the lower cost of Copper Jewelry better than silver or gold it make it popular. Especially with more various on the shapes, design and colors able to attract more buyers to buy them.

When you are interested to have one of the copper jewelry, you can have a look at the Archmailledesigns.com. There you can get the attractive copper jewelry.

There’s one great thing about the single women in Taipei that they are quite interested in the people from the west this increases your chances of dating one of them! Furthermore, it is a basic characteristic feature of Taipei people that they are very friendly and they easily mix up with strangers. This will help you befriending Taipei people. But if you get completely blended in their culture it would be more helpful.

Great sense of humor is the key to relationship and when it comes to dating it is the most essential personality trait and it will definitely help you in dating Taiwanese women for they like humorous people. Another most essential thing about them is that they have a very strong bonding with their family so not at any cost insult their family. Keep one more thing in your mind if you are really looking forward to dating Taipei women do not keep on praising their beauty they will surely smell the rat and you will lose the chance of dating a beautiful woman.

Well these tips will surely help you getting a date but where to search for her is still sounds an enigma! But never to worry as it is not at all a trouble. There are plenty of Taiwanese dating sites where you can easily find a person of your choice. You can quite easily get registered to such sites and search women of your choice. These sites are very helpful for you will come to know about the culture, language and the societal setup of Taipei in details and will be able to get connected with thousands of people amongst them you can definitely find your ideal match. On these sites you will get to know about Taipei personals that have likes and dislikes that you have this will further filter your search. Finding Taipei personals with similar preferences is otherwise a tough job but these sites will make the job extremely easy.

You also have the option of having a family plan or one based on the region in which you live. As with all things they all have plus points and minus points.

Be aware though that many prepaid cellular phones do not always have all the features of their monthly pay cousins. Businesses for example would not benefit from the family option.

If you are someone that uses a cellular phone to contact other members of your family a great deal then the family option is ideal with discounts for those calls. Special rates for family members are sometimes part of the contract and for those who use their phones a great deal, savings can be made.

For businesses with operatives around the country then free calls are normally available with National cell phone plans and are a real incentive to large organizations. You will also not be charged for roaming with this type of plan and this is of huge benefit to business travelers.

Unfortunately, this benefit is not included in regional plans and you will probably be charged for national calls albeit at a reduced rate. Although most individuals prefer the prepaid option, this is not always the best cell phone plan option for travelers and business people.

One last thing to remember is it is not healthy being at everyone’s beck and call as it can cause stress and resentment, so don’t leave your cell phone switched on 24 hours a day. This is something to be aware of when you finally decide on the one cell phone plan out of many cell phone plans available.

In most cases, the man of the house is the prime source of income. When a couple is going through a divorce, chances are that most of their assets will be split down the middle, but the woman who is involved in the divorce may be forced to go to work after the divorce has been finalized. Divorce attorneys for women will help assist them with the divorce filing process and let them know what they can expect after the divorce has been finalized.

Divorces, can be a difficult thing to have to go through. However, by obtaining some type of legal aide, the process can then begin to run a little bit smoother. Women that are choosing to divorce their husbands should also take it upon themselves to engage in a few simple practices in order to ensure that their demands are met.

Perhaps one of the first things that women should do, is elect to open up a bank account that is solely theirs. The joint account that a woman has with her husband may be used for bills, food and any other necessities that are considered appropriate.

Legal aide can be obtained either offline or online. Online legal guidance has simplified the divorce process for women. Women are more than obliged to ask a skilled expert any questions that they have pertaining to the divorce process. It is important for women to understand the divorce process, and an attorney will help women understand the process in laments terms.

If you have children, or have a wide amount of assets, then legal presentation is needed. If you have sporadic questions that you want answered to help you choose the best attorney there are plethora of self-help legal websites that can assist you.

If you’ve ever wondered how to treat women – or how to treat women right (the way they REALLY want to be treated), you’re in the right spot. This is how to treat women if you want them to feel and keep feeling attraction for you.

There’s a fine line when it comes to building attraction with a woman, and being a “nice guy”. There’s also a reason women are very attracted to “bad boys”. Women just simply aren’t attracted to guys who are too nice.

Bear with me…

Deep down, women are programmed to be attracted to certain things. Things like high status, confidence and strong values, because these traits are inherently masculine traits. And women are naturally attracted to men who have strong masculine traits

So, how does this relate to how to treat women?

It relates because you should never sacrifice your status, confidence, or values just to be please women. Women will often test you to see if you will fold. And when they do, you shouldn’t automatically fold just to please her if it means sacrificing your values, status, or self confidence

Women want you to be a MAN. Not a wuss.

They want to be respected.

They want to be protected.

They want to be cared for emotionally.

They want you to be in control.

They DON’T want you to be submissive. It’s just not attractive.

Remember, even when they “test” you, and try to get you to fold, it’s an opportunity for you to make them want you EVEN MORE, by standing your ground, and holding true to your values, but still showing her the utmost respect.

Once you understand this, you can do the things the “bad boys” do that drive women crazy with lust, without being a jerk. You can treat her how she REALLY wants to be treated.

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Assuming you have already taken care of the confidence issue, the first thing you do upon approaching the object of your seduction is to compliment her. An effective compliment should be G-rated and not directly aimed at specific body parts. One of my top secret tips to seduce women is to find a flaw they might be sensitive to such as a crooked smile or curly hair, and make a special effort to compliment that. When you say it aloud it sounds cruel, but this also makes her feel like you get her. Other compliments that will work to seduce women:

• Your smile is gorgeous. This compliment is simple and makes it impossible for her not to smile
• You look beautiful, stunning, breathtaking etc… any creative adjective will do.
• Try to stay away from complimenting legs, boobs, bottoms and mouth. Keep it appropriate until you get the green light.

Physical contact is crucial, just keep it appropriate. While you are deep into conversation, a physical connection will let her see you in a different light. While you’re talking, as you emphasize a point cover her hand with yours. This is sure to send a bit of electricity up and down her body. Because physical contact is the trickiest of tips to seduce women, I’ve provided you with a few more;

• Tell her you smell something amazing and lightly grab her wrist to get a whiff of her perfume. This small interaction will be seared into her mind and she could even consider seducing you!

• The small of the back; whether you’re leading her through a crowded bar or the dance floor, placing your hand in this spot is like turning on button and sure to yield positive results.

• A light brush of the arm always works, and coupled with “wow, your skin is incredibly soft”, is a guaranteed tip to seduce the woman of your dreams

Finally if you have been successful with approached above, the next obvious level would be to seduce her with a kiss. Make sure you are looking deep into her eyes and holding closely.

If she is receptive, make it very gentle and very light. Just give her enough to let her decide on whether she wants more or not. If she does, then you will know it.