Assessment comes before change. To see growth and get improved results, take an honest assessment of your leadership skills: Would you follow you? Why?

Take this challenge:

1) Identify the attitudes and characteristics the organization values.

2) Assess yourself and your leadership team against the characteristics identified in #1.

3) Answer the question: Is the staff following or obeying our leadership?

4) Prioritize the areas of weakness identified in the previous steps.

5) Select the most important characteristic that will have the greatest impact on the growth of the organization.

6) Create an action plan for developing that skill set in the management team.

Depending on the organization and its current leadership, this may not be an exercise that
can be done internally. When habits are entrenched they are hard to see. Whether you
conduct the assessment internally or bring in an objective third party, do not begin this
exercise if you are not totally and 100% committed to it. One of the biggest
mistakes organizations make is to begin down the road of self-improvement but when it
becomes hard or sensitive, they discontinue the journey and what began with promise ends
as an exercise in futility. Each time this happens, trust is eroded and a “can’t do” attitude
grows within the organization.

Know that you can develop leadership throughout your organization but the first step is to recognize the need to do so. John Maxwell’s “Law of the Lid” indicates that an organization can only grow as high as the leaders. If you aren’t growing as you should it may be your leadership. Take the necessary steps to develop the current leadership team (and your aspiring one) and the result may well be the growth that has been eluding you.

Karen Hosey,President and CEO of Z.O.E. Consulting, LLC. has over 20 years experience in strategic planning, sales and leadership development. She currently assists businesses and ministries in achieving their vision through customized processes in strategic planning, and leadership, sales/customer service development. As a business coach, she guides leaders (and those aspiring to be) to fulfill their potential. She is an energetic, motivational conference and seminar speaker who uses her experiences to entertain and educate on a variety of topics that relate to business, management and self-improvement.

Visit our website http://zoeconsulting.net/ or

send an email to karen@zoeconsulting.net

A soft cover book, perhaps 6″ x 9″ or other industry standard size for a trade paperback would be priced retail anywhere from $12 to $30 for consumer distribution, up to $50 for a professional book, and even higher for a textbook. An add-on CD might be $20, and a book plus CD package might sell for $40 minimum.

Although this may sound like a small number, it is realistic to think in terms of selling 600 to 1,200 copies the first year (50 to 100 copies per month). Contrary to popular opinion, nonfiction books are perennials, and sales can build over time, leading to subsequent editions. Libraries are a great market for this type of book.

Plan for between 50 and 250 complimentary copies to send out to friends and clients and for review purposes. While some copies will be sold at retail, many will be sold as a discount-something to consider in your retail pricing.

It might seem that if you worked with a traditional publisher who would bear some of the costs that you would get to break even on some of them faster. Ironically, this may not be true.

If you self-publish at $20 per book retail and you sell the book at one-third off on all copies, the price out the door becomes about $14. Assuming that your financial layout is $10,000, including your comp copies, you need to sell about 800 books to break even.

Alternately, let’s say you work with a traditional publisher. You will still incur many of the costs, so let’s assume they would be $8,000 (book proposal coach or writer/editor/marketing efforts). A publisher will generally have to discount as much as 40 percent to 60 percent. Optimistically, using the same one-third off on all copies, that’s a price of $14 per book-the same as a self-published book. But wait-your royalty (at 10 percent) gives you a little over $1 for each book sold. So in this case, you have to sell about 600 copies before you reach breakeven on your own expenditures.

As a side note, the publisher will have to sell 10,000 to 20,000 copies to reach its breakeven, which you might think would be an incentive to sell that many copies. Unfortunately, it is a regular part of the book publishing business model to expect 70 prcent to 90 percent of titles not to get to breakeven. Their business model is to take a relatively small risk on very few new authors, not spend much money on those authors in marketing, and make their money with books by nationally known, well-established authors.

Using this model, you can see why it is difficult to make money selling books unless you sell a lot of them. Even leaving $2 a book, there are ongoing costs you haven’t covered (mostly marketing and publicity) that can easily eat up your profit margin.

Writing a book is a great way to boost a career or leave a legacy, but it is a tough way to make a living. Adequate pricing will ensure that you don’t lose money on each book, but prices for books are so low, generally, that it is tough to make a sizable profit.

It is estimated that only a few thousand people are making a living solely on their writing in the United States. Authors who make a living at books sales usually have written a number of books that they earn money on over a period of time. Many have also often found ways to sell in quantity through educational institutions, corporations, and so forth.

Many authors run seminar businesses and incorporate their books into the price of a seminar. They may also be established speakers and sell books as well as other products, such as CDs and video tapes/DVDs, at the back of the room.

Making money as a writer often requires a considerable investment of the author’s time and money, but it is rewarding as a career.

Many famous people who’ve made money writing nonfiction have ensured book sales because they are already recognized experts and have constant media exposure.

Copyright (c) 2007 Gail Richards

Gail Richards is founder of http://www.AuthorSmart.com a dynamic website connecting aspiring authors with the classes, audio library, tools, information and resources needed to make smart, informed decisions at each step in the nonfiction book publishing journey. Jan King is the founder of http://www.eWomenPublishingNetwork.com a membership organization devoted to supporting and coaching women who become successfully published nonfiction authors.

Larry Bird’s impact on NBA basketball history was immediate. For the 1980 season Larry Bird led the Celtics to superstardom legacy. Bird was named the league’s Rookie lingerie The Year and was voted onto the Eastern Conference All Star-Team. He was honored with this title all for all of his twelve seasons of his career in the NBA. He was scoring 12 points per game, 10 rebounds per game, an outstanding 143 steals and second in assists.

In Bird’s second professional season- he led the Celtics to the NBA Playoffs. Larry Bird helped the Celtics’ deficit by helping them overcome and winning the last three games, which propelled the Celtics into the NBA Finals. They defeated the Houston Rockets in six games.

In 1984 Bird earned the award for Most Valuable Player by defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in a seven game final. The following year, the Boston Celtics would have another incredible winning year by defeating The Rockets in six games. Bird again was honored with the Finals MVP Award for that year, averaging 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

In 1987 Bird made his final appearance for the Celtics against the Milwaukee Bucks and the Detroit Pistons. That year the Celtics ended up losing to the unmatched Lakers in six games and to the Detroit Pistons in 1988.

Bird’s body continued to deteriorate to injuries to debilitating back problems and to bone spurs in his heels. Both these conditions would eventually lead to his retirement in 1992. Unwilling to stop due to injuries, he joined Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan to play in the United States basketball team for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Names the “Dream Team”- they defeated their competition to win the Gold Medal for the United States Basketball Olympic Team.

Larry Bird’s NBA honors include; elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame (1988), NBA champion (1981, 1984, 1986), NBA Finals MVP (1984, 1986), NBA MVP ( 1984, 1985, 1986), Nine-Time All-NBA First Team ( 1980-88), All NBA Second Team (1990), All-Defensive Second Team (1982, 1983, 1984), NBA Rookie of The Year (1980), One of the Fifty Greatest Players in NBA History (1996), Olympic Gold Medalist (1992).

About the Author: Eddie Delgado is the owner and writer for http://www.VintageSportsCardMemorabilia.com VSCM is the ultimate NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL sports card and memorabilia site for Abecita collectors.

Giorgio Armani is a popular menswear brand of clothing all over collection world. The fashion house is also a source of superior and signature apparel. Through the years, the label has been making Italy proud because the designer and founder of the company is a pure Italian by heart and by legacy.

Like many other fashion designers, Armani had humble beginnings. While young, he was confused and tried entering a few other professions. He got into medicine before shifting gears to pursue a career in photography, which did not work out. From there, he worked as a window dresser in an Italian department store before finally getting into fashion designing.

With his skills and sheer talent for styling and designing clothes, Armani was able to establish his own design house in 1974. Together with venture partner and friend Sergio Galeotti, he put up a company called Giorgio Armani SpA. Initially, the company carried all men’s wear. A year after, lines for women were also unveiled.

Taking the lead from other fashion designers, Armani developed and launched his own perfume line in 1982. As usual and typical of the brand, perfumes were originally targeted for the male population. Fragrances for women followed afterwards. Among the most famous of the brands perfumes are the Emporio, Acqua di Gio, Remix, and Attitude, all for men, while for women there are striking names like Sensi, Beyonce Knowles’ and Armani Le Perfum.

Such perfumes are well known around the world. Demand for the products has also been very high since the company has actively distributed them. After perfumes, many other personal products came from the Armani brand like sunglasses, shoes and even several business accessories.

It might be because of competition, but another characteristics that separates and distinguishes Giorgio Armani from the rest is his unusual dislike for fellow Italian designers Valentino and Gianni Versace. As much as possible, he has always been emphasizing that he do not want anything to do with the two designers.

Giorgio Armani is one of the most admirable designers of the current generation. People around the world should be proud and satisfied that they could still get the chance to wear designs and clothing from this wonderful brand.

Find Giorgio Armani perfumes and colognes at Perfume Center. Read more about Giorgio Armani perfumes