Elon Musk is poised to take Twitter private here's what that means for the company and its future success  The Conversation

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Elon Musk is poised to take Twitter private here's what that means for the company and its future success - The Conversation

Legendary coaches - Patriots' Belichick, Bears' Halas have much more in common than 324 wins  ESPN

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Legendary coaches - Patriots' Belichick, Bears' Halas have much more in common than 324 wins - ESPN

A student at King Edward School in Kitchener, Ont., places a crowdsourced medal on Junio's neck for selflessly giving up his spot in the 1,000 metres at the Sochi Olympics in May 2014.

As Gilmore Junio attempts to reach his third consecutive Olympics, some things haven't changed.

"My whole career, it's always been motivated with trying to create moments that Canada can celebrate and be proud of not only what I do on the ice, but what I do off of it. So hopefully I have a couple more of those moments in the back pocket," Junio told CBC Sports recently.

The 31-year-old long-track speed skater burst onto the scene at the 2014 Sochi Olympics for one of those off-ice moments, when he gave his spot in the 1,000-metre race to teammate Denny Morrison, who'd failed to qualify after a fall in trials.

Morrison wound up with a silver medal.

Nearly eight years later, Junio remains mindful of targets beyond personal success.

"I've been on the national team now for 11 years, and there's no reason why another Filipino kid shouldn't be able to come up and be inspired and push towards being on the national team," Junio said.

Junio said he reconsidered his role with the team during the pandemic, concluding that he could be an inspiration for Asian children who may never have heard of speed skating.

"And it doesn't have be speed skating. I'm just speaking to the broad sense of getting more diversity to all the national teams and across all sports," Junio said.

The Calgary native, whose parents are both from the Philippines, said he hoped to reach the Filipino community in his hometown specifically. As of 2016, Alberta was home to a greater percentage of the Canadian Filipino community than any province besides Ontario.

The alleged inhumane treatment of ethnic minorities by 2022 Olympic host China has led to calls from human-rights groups for a full boycott of the Winter Games.

Canada announced Wednesday it would follow in the American approach.

"It's definitely a big concern but that's something that, it's tough," Junio said.

"When I was first learning about the Olympics, the Olympics were about peace and bringing nations together. And that's something I've held on to and that's the romanticism of the Olympics is that everyone's coming together."

It was chance that led Junio to begin his Olympic journey, after his dad saw a TV ad for a speed skating identification camp when he was 13.

"I was a hockey player at the time and I was a pretty good skater and I think maybe fearing for my safety I was a pretty small kid my dad suggested I try it out. It was just in the summer and I had nothing else to do."

Junio will return to the Olympic Oval in Calgary for the final World Cup stop of the season this weekend. Live coverage on CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem and the CBC Sports app begins Friday at 2:20 p.m. ET.

Junio originally started as a short tracker, but an on-ice accident at 19 led to a pair of fractured vertebrae and had the emerging Olympian contemplating his athletic future.

The 2010 Vancouver Olympics reeled him back to the rink.

"Through the years there were definitely points where confidence has waned. ... But I think it's just reminding myself of why I speed skate or why I do all the training and all the competitions," Junio said.

"It's to represent the people that believe in me and it's so much bigger than just myself."

Junio went on to collect 10th- and 17th-place finishes in the 500m at the 2014 and 2018 Olympics, respectively, along with seven career World Cup medals in the distance.

His 2022 Olympic fate will be determined by results in Calgary and at the Canadian Olympic skate-off at the end of December.

CBC Sports analyst Anastasia Bucsis, a former speed skater who trained alongside Junio for nearly a decade, said she believes Junio will make the Olympic team.

"He is best when he's having fun, enjoying the process, and living his values. Gilmore is so technically sound, and he's a very smart skater. He's mature. He's lived highs and lows," she said.

Bucsis added that coming off the pandemic-affected 2020 season, it's taken time for Junio to rediscover his "race legs," but that he's working through those issues with the goal of peaking in February.

"He's already inspired so many kids with his results as one of the country's top sprint speed skaters of all time let alone the sportsmanship he showed in 2014 that although the pressure is building, he is a true pro, and I would never bet against Gilmore," she said.

It was the previous Canadian speed skating generation that Junio credits with shaping his career particularly Morrison and Jamie Gregg.

"Both me and my wife [former speed skater Danielle Gregg] kind of took him under our wing. He's like our fifth child. I guess my first child. But then we had four others," Gregg said.

Gregg said he was drawn to Junio, who was later named godfather to one of his four kids, because of his willingness to accept advice. Gregg would show him the little things on tour, like how to dress and what to eat.

The two remain in constant contact, and the Gregg family gathers around the iPad to catch each of Junio's races.

"I think he's doing well because his openers right now are incredible. He just needs to translate that to a good last lap and then he could be up there with the best in the world," Gregg said.

Gregg, Morrison,Bucsisand Junio were all part of the same training group in the lead-up to Sochi that fostered what Morrison called a "diamond culture," since diamondsformunder pressure andtake"relentless hours of honing and polishing and cutting." The diamond-like performances on the ice were saved for when it mattered most.

The group referred to Junio by the nickname chipotle because he was a "spicy little firecracker," Morrison said.

Morrison called his 2014 medal one of the greatest memories of his life, thanks to Junio, adding that heencompasses what it means to be Canadian.

"He loves hockey. He's just an all-around great guy,nice guy. He wears flannel. Herepresents diversity. And he'scome here and he's doing things to help promote that and make it a better place than it may have been without the involvement of him and his family," Morrison said.

Morrison said Junio is his closest connection to the speed-skating world these days. He's been encouraging him to simply enjoy the ride ahead of Beijing.

And he knows Juniowill get right back up if he falls citing a story from when the two were in Istanbul getting late-night eats together.

"He was on a highrise stool and I think reaching for hot sauce or something like that. And the stool just [collapsed]. He just rode it all the way down and fellso hard and then just pops back up on his feet, dusts himselfoff and was like, 'Nothing happened,what?'Hejust played it off. Totally cool," Morrison recalled with laughter.

Through it all, the hockey player in Junio never quite went away, either.

There's the superstitions, from putting his left skate on first to listening to the same Fall Out Boy album, beginning with the second track, on the way to each event.

But Junio claims he's trying to grow out of those one ritual he's ditched is the pre-competition steak dinner, in part due to the absence of good steak in World Cup cities such as Stavanger, Norway.

There's also his Flames fandom, which continues to burn bright. Jarome Iginla, Junio's favourite player, was recently inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

"He was measured by what he did on the ice and not the colour of his skin. And that's something that I've always held on to," Junio said.

Iginla spent parts of 16 seasons with the Flames, including nearly nine as captain. Despite plenty of personal accolades, he never won a Stanley Cup in Calgary. He spent the final years of his career elsewhere in hopes of that elusive championship, but ultimately came up short.

In a way, Junio's career is a mirror to Iginla's. His actions led directly to team success in his first Olympics, but he was never able to reach the podium beyond the World Cup circuit.

Junio said Canadian speed skating legend Clara Hughes' bronze medal in Vancouver was a race he'd like to emulate.

"It was a race she described as a race of peace where she was just completely happy despite the result of whatever had happened, and that's something that I've kind of been chasing.

"And so that's my biggest goal is to go to the Olympics to have a performance that I'm proud of, that other people are proud of. And if it results with a medal, that would be great. But the mindset is just perform, but exemplify what it means to be Canadian and push the boundaries of what we can achieve as an older skater, an Asian-Canadian and a Canadian."

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Gilmore Junio wants speed skating career to be defined by more than personal success - CBC Sports

Andre Burakovsky cannot be stopped.

The Avalanche winger scored a hat trick Sunday night, the first of his NHL career, for a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers. Burakovsky has accounted for five goals over his past two games. He downplayed that personal success.

Im just happy to be producing, Burakovsky said. Today was a lucky day for me.

The Avalanche (16-7-2) put on a defensive clinic to start the night. Floridas first shot on goal didnt arrive until 12:15 into the game. But the hard-charging Avalanche offense with goals in 14 consecutive regulation periods entering Sunday finally stalled out.

The second period began scoreless with a frightening sequence for Jacob MacDonald.

The Avs defenseman was knocked out and motionless on the ice after taking a brutal hit (shoulder-to-chin) from Florida winger Ryan Lomberg. MacDonald was removed from the game on a stretcher by athletic training staff and did not return. The Avalanche later announced MacDonald was alert, responsive and has full movement while undergoing further medical evaluation.

A scary moment. But hes seen our trainers and everything is going good, coach Jared Bednar said. I think (the hit) might have been clean. Physicality is part of the game but I dont love seeing guys go down, especially when they cant get up.

Colorado broke through on its 18th shot of the night with 22.5 seconds left in the second period when Burakovsky buried a feed from Mikko Rantanen on a power-play chance. It marked the 200th career NHL assist for Rantanen. Burakovsky netted another goal in the third to lead 2-0.

The Panthers clawed back. Florida tied the game midway into the final period, over a stretch of less than three minutes, with goals from Joe Thornton and Brandon Montour.

Burakovsky scored the game-winner later in the third with a snipe from the high slot. He now has 12 goals on the season.

(Burakovsky) has an unbelievable shot and he was obviously using it tonight, Avalanche starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper said. Its great to see him get rewarded. Those were all great plays. Whenever you score three goals in a game, youre doing something right. That was huge for us.

Kuemper finished the night with 31 saves. His biggest test was a hectic final sequence under heavy pressure. Defenseman Erik Johnson laid out for a critical stick-save in the last seconds to preserve the win.

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Andre Burakovsky hat trick propels Avalanche to victory over Panthers - The Denver Post

Story Highlights

Great leaders know that development is a necessity -- not a "nice to have." They're obsessed with personal growth and relentlessly focused on growing their leadership abilities.

But too often, leaders struggle to build leadership strength because they use development "solutions" that are based on a faulty premise: that becoming a better leader begins with correcting weaknesses. Other leadership development offerings teach skills that aren't actually connected to outcomes.

This sad reality shortchanges not only leaders, but also organizational performance, resiliency and agility. Poor leadership development inhibits your company's potential -- and it becomes a risk factor when unexpected change arises.

Great leaders know that development is a necessity -- not a "nice to have." They're obsessed with personal growth and relentlessly focused on growing their leadership abilities.

This begs the question: How can you become a better leader, exactly?

Gallup has spent decades answering this question. We've conducted in-depth research about the talents, experiences and development leaders need to inspire people, make razor-sharp decisions and spark lasting organizational growth. As part of this work, Gallup completed the largest study of its kind (covering more than 14,000,000 employees, 2,000 organizations, 559 job studies and 360 general job demands) to identify the most essential competencies leaders need to achieve excellence.

Whether you're a CEO, team leader or entrepreneur, Gallup's science uncovered seven universal behaviors that directly affect performance and big-picture outcomes. In fact, these seven behaviors apply to many roles -- they are crucial behaviors that define a high-performance workplace.

Doing these seven things well can be the biggest differentiator between average leaders and exceptional ones -- which is why Gallup recommends that you make them central to your leadership development.

Whether you're a CEO, team leader or entrepreneur, Gallup's science uncovered seven universal behaviors that directly affect performance and big-picture outcomes.

These seven behaviors are a guiding light for ongoing leadership development. You will find that you easily excel in some areas, while others might not come as naturally. The best way to improve is to focus on what you're already good at.

When you emphasize your natural patterns of excellence, you can understand why you lead the way you do and how you lead best. Self-awareness enables focused, outcome-oriented development as you lean into your natural abilities and use them to grow in areas where you struggle.

For example, perhaps building relationships and communicating clearly are second nature to you, but you struggle to recognize others' development needs. How can you use conversations to coach others, recognize their good work and discover how to help them grow?

Whether you're a team leader or an executive, your time is best spent developing what you're good at, not worrying about what you're bad at. Understanding your strengths is the most effective way to grow in the seven behaviors -- and it's a proven way to become a better leader.

Bailey Nelson is a writer at Gallup.

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Great Leaders Have These Behaviors in Common - Gallup

It seemed like Marcus Morris Sr. chose to only make the most difficult shots Monday night.

With the shot clock running down in the fourth quarter, Morris took a pass from backup point guard Eric Bledsoe at the top of the key. Morris had missed two wide-open 3s and one of his three free throws, but the LA Clippers starting power forward was otherwise in his duffel bag all night.

Morris started right, went behind the back to get to his left toward the paint and then backed down Suns forward Cameron Johnson at the right elbow. Suns forward Mikal Bridges helped off Bledsoe, who had spaced to the left wing to discourage Morris from getting into the middle of the floor. Morris wound up circling back to his right and launching a fadeaway over Johnson that beat the shot clock and gave the Clippers a 21-point lead over the team with the NBAs best record.

Morris bucket capped a season-high 24-point night for him, with eight of those points coming during a 26-13 fourth-quarter run that eliminated any comeback opportunities for Chris Pauls Suns. In a game that did not feature Kawhi Leonard, Devin Booker, Paul George,

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How Marcus Morris Sr.'s success correlates to the Clippers' best version: 'My rhythm is there' - The Athletic

Effective Fundraising: The Trustee's Role and Beyond

F. Warren McFarlan

208 pages, Wiley, 2021

Buy the book

An unglamorous but absolutely essential activity for a successful social enterprise is the securing of revenue streams to support its activities and programs. Repeatedly, social enterprise CEOs report spending up to 50 percent of their time on development activities. Unfortunately, without success in this domain, even the most compelling propositions can fail or fall short.

This book focuses on why assembling the right board of trustees is an invaluable resource to social enterprise CEOs in helping them achieve success in development and what individual trustees can do to be effective in this domain. The board is, of course, firstly responsible for defining the organizations mission and the strategy for its execution. Secondly, the board is responsible for recruiting, supporting, and evaluating the CEO. Thirdly, however, the board plays a vital role in securing necessary financial resources and is ultimately responsible for conceiving and executing the fundraising strategy. This book is aimed at improving that process. It provides both direction and easy to relate to practical examples of organizational approaches that have achieved success.

This books audience is board chairs, heads of governance committees, and most importantly, new board members. The boards development role is the most significant difference between a social enterprise board and a for-profit board. The role of nonprofit trustees is particularly complicated because most people do not like to ask other people for money, even for causes they believe deeply in. The following excerpt makes the case for active trustee involvement in development as a giver, a connecter, or asker, and describes the steps an individual takes to be more effective.F. Warren McFarlan

* * *

This book is based on three propositions. The first is that most people do not like asking other people for money. (There are fortunately exceptions that are real treasures). They feel solicitation somehow transforms them into beggars, which they find demeaning. They also worry about being seen as abusing relationships as well as being subjected to requests from the prospective donors for future requests to support their charities. The second proposition is that the most effective advocates for an institution are its supporters. Accordingly, every trustee must give according to their means and in so doing be motivated to fully internalize the mission of the organization and become passionate about it. An inner passion and commitment to its mission appropriately harnessed, transforms them into very powerful sales agents. They have already voted with their time and treasure, giving instant credibility to the listener to their pitch. Often the most powerful part of a donor ask presentation is the moment when the solicitor describes how and why they have personally supported the organization. Thirdly, there are things that can be done to relatively easily transform someone from being reluctant to making the ask into someone who, as a sales advocate, can effectively and enthusiastically make an ask. Over time, they can move from easy things, like hosting events to making annual fund asks, capital campaign asks, or even becoming a campaign chair. We simply have to change their mindset for this task.

Solicitation is of enormous importance to most social enterprises regardless of size and type. The parish church or temple, for example, lives almost completely on members' donations. It is not unusual for 90% of all funds for the year to come from an annual stewardship campaign. Additionally, the funds for special projects for the church, like an elevator acquisition or rebuilding of a bell tower, come from capital campaigns rooted in members' philanthropy. Members must ask other members to make this happen.

In a different vein are schools and universities which have operational cash flow streams such as student tuition, sports contest admission fees, art museum and theatre admission fees, and so forth. These streams are normally inadequate to cover all operating expenses. Large schools and universities (like Exeter and Harvard, for example), therefore, often have large endowments (the result of philanthropy of previous generations) plus large development departments to raise current funds. Endowment income plus annual gifts are how these institutional budgets are balanced. Additionally, these institutions have very active planned giving programs, which extend the reach of the institution plus periodic multi-billion dollar capital campaigns. Survival of the institution often depends on growing these sources of funds. Alumni and trustees, of course, are critical to the effective making of asks bolstered by both the institution leadership and their development professionals. The lay solicitors who believe deeply in the organization's mission, however, add a special credibility to the fundraising effort.

Similarly, institutions like Boston's Museum of Fine Arts have both annual fund campaigns and capital campaigns. In addition, however, they also have potential donors of individual pieces or collections of art who must be courted. Someone who has given objects to a museum has a credibility that few administrators can have. A final example, nonprofit hospitals depend on capital campaigns for new facilities and research funds. Grateful patients make very useful trustees and are invaluable for making the ask.

Some social enterprises are prosperous like well-endowed schools, whereas others, like small house museums, already cash strapped, are currently seeing philanthropy dropping at a 7% rate per year because of the difficulty in developing a persuasive sales pitch in this new charitable unfriendly tax world. For some institutions, this funding shortfall is so severe that it means bankruptcy or forced merger. For example, all across New England, small colleges and museums have been closing or merging over the past decade, driven by cash flow shortfalls both in the face of new tax laws and being out of favor with the donors as a charity of choice.

The same consolidation has been going on in the nonprofit hospital sector for the past 30 years. Overlay a map of the hospitals in New England 30 years ago on a map of today's hospitals and one sees a war zone with massive casualties and few survivors. Philanthropic success can literally ensure survival in one's current form or be a key to major transformation or strategic alliance. The ask, in short, is a vital function and people must be willing to be trained to do it. A social enterprise board needs many skills to exercise its responsibilities effectively. Fundraising skills of its members as givers, connectors, and askers, however, often are critical ones. Consequently, the timeworn phrase GGG (giveget or get off) is still operative for the board members of many social enterprises. Both givers and connecters at the very top of an organization are essential to the health and survival of many social enterprises. The author was recently accused wryly of being a shameless proponent and advocate of stewardship at the top. It is a sin he will readily confess to.

How to get started as a new trustee or solicitor in your philanthropic activities? The first thing a new social enterprise trustee or solicitor who is beginning on the path of philanthropic engagement must do is to take the time to truly internalize the mission of the organization in all its nuances. Until you can accurately and passionately describe its mission, you cannot sell it. In my previous book, Joining a Non-Profit Board: What You Need to Know, the entire book was devoted to mission and the board's role in developing and executing it. The second thing that the trustee and donor must do commensurate with one's personal resources is to aggressively support the organization (translation: write a personal check large enough that it hurts). Nothing gives you more credibility in selling an organization's mission and needs to future donors than the fact that you are personally supporting it in a meaningful way. When you are talking about your gift and how you thought about it, you add a priceless note of authenticity to your pitch. A neighbor of the author, when taking over her church's annual stewardship campaign, looked carefully at her previous years' donations and made a stretch gift from her perspective. In the ensuing months, the making of this gift gave an underlying passion to her presentations (both public and one-on-one) which rang with the authenticity of the true believer. This passion was critical to the campaign's ultimate success. Enthusiasm and passion are vital tools in the fundraising tool kit. A good fundraiser has many of the attributes of an evangelist.

A recent leader of a hospital's capital campaign shows the importance of donor longitudinal engagement. Twenty years ago, the individual had been chair of the hospital's board. After serving his term and making a significant seven-digit-figure gift to the hospital's first capital campaign, he had remained involved with the hospital as a corporator and then as its liaison to another medical organization. He also continued being a patient of the hospital, using many of its doctors over the years. As a fundraiser, the 20+ years of experience and involvement with the hospital underscored his deep commitment, which came through in the various solicitation calls and visits he made for the current campaign (including his self-solicitation) to which as a campaign co-chair, he had first pledged generously.

What the preceding example shows is that a trustee's fundraising skills can be valuable to an organization long after the trustee's term has expired. Former trustees properly engaged are real assets as solicitors in campaigns ranging from those of bricks and mortar to planned giving. Preparation for this role begins when one first becomes engaged as a solicitor and is then successively nurtured and deepened over the years of one's service in many ways. When you recruit trustees, you are engaging their services for the organization not just for their terms as a trustee, but for a very long period of time during which the individual will pass through many roles with the organization beyond that of trustee. Their historical memory of past donors and prior campaign issues, plus their deep commitment, provides invaluable context for today's and tomorrow's campaigns.

Excerpt from:
Effective Fundraising: The Trustee's Role and Beyond by F. Warren McFarlan | Trustees Capital - Stanford Social Innovation Review

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

When launching a company, the desire to grow quickly can be overwhelming, but successfully moving a company to the next level means carefully stabilizing a business model as well as proving viability. Without attention to these necessary details, along with finances, intelligent hiring and other operational needs, you run the risk of becoming one of the 50% of startups that fail by their fourth year.Focusing on being intentional in scaling a startup will help ensure that you tackling all these tasks appropriately, which then allows you to laser-focus on product development and other elementals.

But what does it mean to be intentional in this process?

Every new business faces hurdles, from development of an initial idea, to scaling, to hitting growth goals, but it can be easy for budding entrepreneurs to resist constructive criticism while addressing them to believe they are wunderkinds who simply dont face what others do. Some may feel their startup will grow easily and quickly simply because their idea is so good, because they have a strong online following and/or believe the world needs their service immediately.Learning the art of being humbleto absorb and apply constructive criticism or lessons from missteps whether in finances, supply, operational process or hiring can help you avoid mistakes.

Related: Why Some Startups Succeed (and Why Most Fail)

Even if your idea is solid and your plan is ironclad, change is a given, and embracing it will allow you to thrive. This last year we have seen how unforeseen events like a pandemic can foster new technological advances along with new business challenges.Successfully scaling a startup involves curating technology to fit your mission, organizational makeup and end goals, so don't run from change, even at the beginning of your startup journey. Those who accept its inevitability also learn to weave it into the fabric of business, and will be more able to weather storms to come.

Paying close attention to those you engage with, and how you are engaging with them, helps a startup tap into who their customers are and how they relate to a company, but its a process that takes time. This brand of communication awareness also applies to employees; growing a business too quickly can result in poor morale, or at least a loss of staff focus. Try to embrace serenity, simplicity and self-care, in yourself and your staff, and keep your ears open at all times.

A brand of engagement to be wary of, meanwhile, is excessive comparison to other startups in your niche. It can be tough to turn off this "comparison radar", to ignore what your competitors may be doing to scale their businesses, but to succeed in your first year and beyond, emphasize being authentic from the get-go, not an iteration of someone else. The simple truth is that trying to replicate what another company may be doing virtually never results in long-term success, and consumers and social media followers can spot a copycat from a mile away. Make engagement personal to you and your company, and growth will follow.

Related: How to Get Out of the Comparison Trap

A winning brand of entrepreneurial intentionality also comes from knowing an audience and what they want to hear from you.What problem is your business solving? How are you solving it? Why does anyone want your solution, and why do they want to pay for it? Where are these people who want what you're selling, and how do you reach them? Without knowing how to answer these questions, scaling will be difficult akin to just throwing things at the wall hoping something sticks. Scaling will happen more fluidly if you intentionally consider who is following your startup, why, and how to best serve them.

Its vital to hire for productive capabilities, to be sure, but also for temperament. Pay close attention, for example, to employees' appetite for groundbreaking. Do they bring ideas to the table or slink away to the fringes? Openly communicate regularly with staff about mission and goals. Keep them abreast of changes, triumphs and even losses, so they are invested in scaling the business as much as you.Finally, onboard intentionally, making sure to bring on people who align with what you are trying to accomplish. And the obverse also applies: scaling can mean losing people not aligned with your vision. And by all means, hire smart rather than fast.

Related: 9 Ways to Recruit the Best Talent for Your Startup

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The Benefits of Intentionally Scaling Your Startup - Entrepreneur

Whether you're an individual or online business, personal branding is crucial to propelling your online presence.

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December 21, 2020 3 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The world's richest man, Jeff Bezos, famously said, "Your personal brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room." In this digital age, as a company or individual, you should audit your presence online to see what would come up when prospects search for your name. Maximizing your digital presence is essential for your company or personal brand as online sales, resources, education, and sales have all skyrocketed. Whether you're an entrepreneur, expert, thought leader, executive, or business owner, maximizing your digital presence has proven to bring more connections, customers, and revenue.

Since the pandemic, the majority of executive meetings, sales demos, and business transactions are conducted online. Consumers are heavily researching online, looking for the right connection or right representative that they can trust and build with.

With an uncertain year coming to a close, personal branding expert and strategist Chris Diazhas worked and consulted with countless executives, personal brands, and businesses helping them refine and amplify their strategies to achieve online success. Diazshares three key trends that suggest how personal branding fuels business growth.

Related: Why Building a Personal Brand is More Important Than Ever

Once you have established your personal brand authority in your industry, your demand increases, and you can thereby charge a premium for your services. The key here is becoming the kind of customer or client you would want to attract. According to Diaz, "maintaining high standards and professional branding will make it easier to sell more because, through your personal brand, you can demonstrate your value."

Related: You Need a Personal Brand. Here's How to Build One

The online market is heavily saturated by billions of people, and the trust factor in the marketplace is at an all-time low. Consumers andclients want to know who they are doing business with, no matter the niche or industry. They want to find someone who they can trust and value. "By differentiating yourself and positioning yourself as the authority or expert in your industry, you build much more credibility with your target market," Diaz said.

Related: 4 Personal Branding Strategies You Can Implement Today

"Connection is the new currency." Covid-19 has impacted the way we connect and interact online. The economy has taken a major digital shift, and the reliance on online branding for entrepreneurs has become crucial. All of our communication, sales demos, and business meetings have turned completely virtual. You want to become attractive to your prospects. Your personal brand is the most powerful marketing, sales, and networking tool that exists today.

"It's your modern-day resume," Diaz said. Building online relationships and expanding your network will generate many more referrals, leads, business, and income. "It's not about who you know; it's who knows you. For that, your first impression with your personal brand has to be top tier," he adds.

In today's digital age, your financial success is directly proportional to how many people know you, like you, and trust you, so it's in your best interest to build a strong personal brand.

Original post:
Personal Branding: The Key to Success in the Digital Age - Entrepreneur

A fundamental principle of effective communication isshow, dont tell. The EMS education corollary is Telling isnt teaching. This doesnt mean you shouldnt speak; it means that for students to be able to perform as emergency medical providers, they must be able to make their own connections with the course material.

Making personal connections doesnt mean becoming best buddies with the textbook. A personal connection is when youre doing more than just memorizing and nodding your head as someone tells you something. It is when that knowledge clicks and true understanding occursthe kind of understanding that allows you to apply this knowledge in a variety of circumstances different than the ones you were originally taught. These personal connections are crucial to understanding and applying the information as well as building the confidence to perform under field conditions.

One of the methods I use to accomplish thisduring breakout and practical sessions is to have instructors literally teach with their hands behind their backs. Instructors can still prompt students and give advice, but once the background information has been taught and students have seen a demonstration, they just have to do it themselves, even if they fumble at first. This is how connections are made.

Because this can initially make students uncomfortablethey may be expecting more reviews, demonstrations, and hand-holdingit is important to make it clear that this is a walk-through, not a test, and that youre there to help them move the knowledge from their brains to their hands, not walk them through the exercise. It must be clear to both instructors and students that students are not being thrown to the wolves. This step can only occur after the students are otherwise set up for success, even if we dont expect them to perform perfectly in the first go-around.

Often instructors in charge of breakout sessions turn them into mini-lectures. Sessions begin with, Lets just review once more before we start. The instructors intention is to help students prepare, but consider it from the students perspective: What they hear is, Now that youve finished reading and watching videos and listening to lectures, you finally get your hands on the skill youve been training for, but first let me explain it all over again. If students and educators have worked properly to try this skill for the first time, then let them get to it, see where they struggle, and assist where needed. If the students still arent prepared, then a quick review before shoving equipment into their hands is likely to bore the prepared students and not be enough to help the unprepared ones.

All human beings tend to overestimate their ability to perform. This is why EMS students tend not to pay as much attention during breakout sessions. They often expect these sessions to be passive rather than active experiences. Be sure to reward those who are first to jump in and give it a try; as peer leaders they are demonstrating positive behavior as well as showing other students how to perform, even if you need to provide corrective feedback. Students tend to be much more attentive when watching other students take an assessment or perform a practice they will have to do next. This is much better active learning then watching an instructor repeat a demonstration.

Students focus better when they understand no one is going to do it for them. Even if youre in the early phases of skills practice and providing feedback as students go, teaching with your hands behind your back tells students you are there for support, but they must do it themselves. This helps build one of the most important soft skills of any EMS provider: self-reliance.

As students continue to practice, educators can leverage the power of the pause. As students work through a skill or simulation, hold not only your hands behind your back but your mouth closed until the very end. This may initially result in a long, awkward pause while they wait for you to tell them how they messed up or the right way to do it. Once they understand you are there to give feedback only at the end and they must troubleshoot their own obstacles, the pause will be shorter, and the learning will be stronger.

As they continue to practice, students become confident they can do it under dynamic conditions. They learn to identify their own prompts and decision points. As you interject less as an educator, students will have the opportunity to identify important clues and cues that should prompt them to take action or decide the best course for the patient.

As an EMS educator, you are already a success. Now it is the students turn. By teaching with your hands behind your back, you help your students learn what success looks like, but also what success feels like.

Rommie L. Duckworth, LP, is a dedicated emergency responder and award-winning educator with more than 25 years working in career and volunteer fire departments, hospital healthcare systems, and public and private emergency medical services. He is currently a career fire captain and paramedic EMS coordinator.

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Duckworth on Education: Teach With Your Hands Behind Your Back - EMSWorld