Team of employees after an accomplishment.

When he was asked what the secret to his success was, my father didnt hesitate: It was my mother. Without her, he explained, he wouldnt have been able to complete college or start his own business. Besides holding down the fort, my mother was my fathers biggest advocate. She offered words of encouragement when he wanted to give up. She provided feedback on his decisions. She was also more than willing to entertain guests when my father wanted to thank his colleagues or wow his clients.

As a business owner and a family man myself, I try to follow in my parents footsteps. I acknowledge that without my wife, I wouldnt be here. I make it a point to tell her that and show her how much I value her, such as leaving work at work when I get home. I also share this philosophy with my employees. Personally, I believe its the right thing to do. But beyond that, if things are going well at home, people are happier. And when theyre happier, theyre more productive and more likely to stick around.

How can you show your workers families how much you value them? Here are eight places to start.

1. Allow for more flexible work arrangements.

Instead of forcing your team to stick to an outdated 9-to-5 schedule, grant flexible work schedules that sync with peoples personal lives. For example, they could work only when their kids are in school. Even better, you could allow them to work from home more often. In fact, flexible work is critical to retention and loyalty. A survey from FlexJob found that 80% of employees would be more loyal if they had more flexible schedules.

2. Offer paid family leave.

Life events have a tendency to pop up, regardless of your work schedule. One benefit you should offer your team is a generous leave policy even for events that dont fall under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Examples include maternity/paternity leave, sick leave, and family leave.

Just make sure that you clearly communicate time-off policies to your teammates so they understand.

3. Provide on-site childcare.

Want to help your staff reduce anxiety and save money? Provide on-site childcare. At a minimum, you should at least ease up on infants-at-work policies that have been championed by Parenting in the Workplace Institute.

If this isnt possible because you dont have the extra space or cant meet childcare regulations, at least offer to pay for a portion of their daycare fees.

4. Arrange for concierge services.

If you dont have a child, you probably dont realize how important this perk can be. Its a chore to get your kid in the car and unload him or her just to pick up your dry cleaning or grab a couple of grocery items for dinner.

You may think this is outside your budget. But according to SHRM, full-service concierge benefits can range in cost from $3 to $8 per employee per month. As a result, this will improve retention and job satisfaction.

5. Make yourself available.

Prioritizing time with each employee may not be on the top of your to-do list; it may even seem impossible. However, its a proven way to build rapport with your team. Even more beneficial, youll get to know your team members personally, enabling you to spot any warning signs and determine how best to thank them for their efforts. For example, if I know that a team member and her family enjoy going to the movies or eating at a specific restaurant, I will give her gift cards to those places so the whole family can enjoy the reward.

Additionally, this is part of creating and maintaining an atmosphere of compassion. That means employees wont hesitate to come to you if theres a problem at home. Just remember not to pry listen and understand what you can do to help, like reducing their workload or connecting them with your employee assistance program.

6. Encourage employees to prioritize their health and wellness.

Helping your employees focus on their mental and physical well-being isnt just good for your bottom line; it will also improve employees home lives. If theyre not as stressed or exhausted, theyll be healthier, happier, and more productive at home as well.

Offering excellent health insurance is a start. But also consider implementing an employee wellness program, providing healthy snacks, holding more standing meetings, or helping teammates curb vices like smoking.

7. Be respectful of their time.

Its been found that 41% of people work at least one hour outside work hours 89 days each year, as well as on 50% of weekend days. On the surface, that may not sound like much, but it adds up over time. More importantly, thats at least one less hour employees get to spend with their families each week.

Encourage your workers to leave work at work and actually enjoy their downtime with their families. You can set an example by not bombarding them with messages outside work hours.

Id also recommend that you dont keep people past their typical schedule unless its been previously agreed upon, like staying late to ensure that a product or project meets a one-time deadline. One way I do this is by avoiding scheduling meetings too close to closing time.

8. Build a family-friendly business.

Instead of taking your employees out to happy hour, have more family-friendly events like picnics or outings to sporting events or amusement parks. Id also suggest volunteer opportunities that will strengthen camaraderie among your teammates, their families, and the community. Adults and kids alike, for example, can volunteer at a soup kitchen or help maintain a community garden.

We all want to attract and retain top talent. One of the most effective ways to do so is by showing your employees and their families that you value them. This helps employees achieve work-life balance, making everyone happier, healthier, and more productive. In turn, youre more likely to create true advocates for your company among both your employees and their families.

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How To Support The People Who Support Your Employees - Forbes

That means every eligible employee will receive a check next month for 16.6% of their annual salary, which is the equivalent of an additional two months' pay. "Delta would be nothing without our 90,000 people. They deserve all the credit," Delta CEO Ed Bastian said on LinkedIn.

The profit payout to employees for 2019 is a record amount. It is also the sixth year in a row that the company has paid out more than $1 billion to workers, a Delta spokesperson said. The profit-sharing plan started in 2012 following Delta's merger with Northwest.

The company's profit-sharing bonus is on top of all the other financial benefits it normally provides employees, such as a 401(k) match and other bonus programs for rank-and-file workers, according to the spokesperson.

Full-time and part-time workers, whether or not they're unionized, will be getting checks. The only people excluded from the profit-sharing plan are the company's officers, directors and general managers, although they will be paid their own performance-based bonuses.

Delta's employee payout is good business, said Joseph Blasi, director of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University.

"Research shows that cash profit-sharing plans, combined with a supportive corporate culture that encourages employees to offer suggestions and participate in solving company problems, can reduce turnover and improve corporate performance and personal motivation."

Direct cash payments are not the only way companies can share profits with workers. Some make profit-sharing contributions to workers' retirement accounts or pay them in stock.

Delta is hardly the only company to offer a cash-based profit-sharing plan. But such plans are most common in the airline and auto industries, Blasi said.

Such high payouts are not the norm, however.

According to a 2018 survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, 38% of adult US workers said they receive cash profit-sharing, but the median amount reported was just $2,000, or 5% of pay.

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Delta gave its employees 2 months of extra pay. Here's why that's good business - CNN

A West Lothian baker is celebrating a coveted silver award for her first attempt at the prestigious Cake International Show held recently at the NEC in Birmingham.

Steph McNab (31) owns and runs the Cherry Blossom Designer Cakes shop in George Street, Bathgate, a business she set up in the town less than a year ago with help from Enterprising Bathgate.

Running the business herself, Steph specialises in creating uniquely styled, bespoke wedding and celebration cakes.

She also offers a selection of other delicious delights including cupcakes, macarons, cake pops, cakesicles and cookies.

Each cake is handmade on the premises from high quality ingredients with many of the recipes originated and evolved by Steph herself.

Personal customer service is a top priority, with Steph working closely with clients on a one to one basis to achieve genuinely stunning results.

Speaking of her award, Steph said: Having spent considerable time initially converting the premises then establishing the shop and trying to grow the business, Im delighted with progress to date.

Orders are flowing fast and Im getting a lot of really positive feedback from customers, which inspired me to enter the Wedding Cake of Three or More Tiers category at Cake International.

Obviously I was nervous at the prospect of designing a potentially award winning wedding cake for what is recognized as the worlds largest cake competition attracting competitors from all parts of the globe, but I really enjoyed the experience.

Competition was fierce, but I managed to land a silver award. To be fair, I was absolutely chuffed to win any award at my first attempt, not least at the most prestigious cake show in the world, but to then later find out I was only three points off a gold award has made me even more determined to aim for the top prize next year.

Steph has always been interested in cake design ever since she was a teenager, however the thought of making a career out of her passion was initially just a dream. After leaving school in 2006, Steph attended Edinburghs Napier University where she studied Forensic Biology.

However, Steph eventually realised a career in forensic science wasnt where her future lay, so she left University in 2011 to take up a period of paid employment.

Eventually though, the long established lure of wishing to start her own designer cake business was too strong to resist.

Steph decided to leave her job and in 2015, enrolled in a bakery and cake design course at the City of Glasgow College.

On graduating in 2018, she took the plunge and started her own cake business the same year, initially working from home but as orders started to grow, she soon outgrew her kitchen.

Retail premises were obviously now required but they needed to both accommodate a fully equipped baking area as well as space for showing off Stephs amazing cake creations.

The decision was made to look for a high street location in Bathgate.

The vibrant West Lothian town was chosen largely due to Bathgates excellent location within central Scotland but also, Steph is very familiar and comfortable with the area through her family having a long established connection with the town as she also lives in West Lothian.

After a detailed and lengthy search, a former shoe shop in George Street, Bathgate was chosen and following a total renovation from top to bottom, Cherry Blossom Designer Cakes commenced trading in April 2019 and hasnt looked back since.

Steph says business is flourishing with a flow of commissions coming in from across central Scotland from Peebles to Glasgow. Recent clients wedding venues include Airth Castle and the House for an Art Lover in Glasgow.

Steph would also wish to acknowledge the help received from Enterprising Bathgate in establishing her business in the town, along with fellow Bathgate traders and shop owners who continue to provide either valuable advice or custom, or both.

Visit http://www.cherryblossomdesignercakes.com, telephone 01506 798987 or email info@cherryblossomdesignercakes.com for more information

Enterprising Bathgate is Scotlands first Business Improvement District (BID) and supports local businesses, community groups and environmental projects with the aim of making Bathgate town centre and attractive and safe place to shop, work and play http://www.enterprisingbathgate.com.

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Baker is celebrating sweet smell of success with prestigious award - Daily Record

Though women own 40 percent of U.S. businesses, making 'real money' is oftentimes more the exception than the rule. Here are some things getting in our way.

January 23, 2020 8 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Where are the million-dollar women? In 2018, just 1.7 percent of women-owned businesses generated more than$1 millionin revenue,and the challenges are even greater for women of color entrepreneurs. Why is it that even though women own 40 percentof all businessesin the U.S., making "real money" is morethe exception than it is the rule? What's getting in our way when it comes to business ideasthat make bank?

As a scaling coach and founder of Million Dollar Women, I work with hundreds of women across the country who are scaling up, and I interviewed dozens of successful female CEOs who built multimillion-dollar businesses from scratch in my book. In my experience, here are 10 of the mistakes that tend to get in our way.

Any entrepreneur who reaches $1 million in revenue likely knows how to delegate, and they usually haveone or more full-time staff members, off-site contractors, virtual assistants and/or interns. In my experience, many women tend to be hesitant about delegating, in part due to perfectionism. Even when they know theyre stretched too thin, many women avoid delegating they'reafraid the job wont be completed correctly, they dont want to spend the money or maybe they don't have as much relevant experience in management. As a recovering perfectionist myself, I believe that until women learn to become delegation ninjas," it's difficult to focus on work and effectively scale ups. In the Million Dollar Women community, we call this a shift from beingthe do-er to being the leader.

The secret to scaling up isn't usually about doing more of what you'redoing and working longer hours. (You probably already work too much.)It's about working smarter, not harder. Finding the right internal systems and processes for your finances, marketing, sales and operationsis crucial. While it can seem challenging to carve out the time to get these right, having good systems helps allow for rapid growth. To reach$1 millionin revenue and beyond, we need to fine-tune the moneymaking machines at the center of our businesses. This means having a proven strategy, a sales playbook and functioning sales funnel, the right team and software the automates much of the work.

A quote often attributed to Henry Ford says it best: Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right. We may think we're making rational decisions all day based on facts and figures, but in reality, oursubconscious tends to drivethe show. Many entrepreneurs think ramping up sales is the ticket to rapid growth, but without the right mindset, many entrepreneurs lack the belief in themselves required go big. In my view, its rarely competence holding women back instead, it's confidence and a mix of beliefs about money, whether they deserve success and the fear of the potential sacrifices involved ingoing big. A powerful mindset is important because it's the foundation on which you build your mansion, and it's the number-one thing the women I interviewed for Million Dollar Women underscored as critical to their success. Replacinglimiting beliefs with empowering ones can make it possible to truly embrace success.

Being able to identify the scalable part of your business can mean the difference between hitting a plateau and the hockey stick growth that we all aim for. It can also help make your company attractive to investors because your company could feasibly grow X times bigger without having to hire X times as many staff members (or spending X times as much on marketing or infrastructure).It takes approaching your company with that lens of What is scalable, and how do I productize my services so I can charge more and reach more customers?"

In some ways, women aren't taught to invest in ourselves we're taught to put other peoples needs in front of our own. But in my view, the fastest way to scale your business is to learn from people who have been there, done that and can show you the way. Of course you can find your way to success on your own, but it could take significantly longer. And more than 50 percentof small businesses go out of business within the first five years. Having the right coach or entrepreneur program is the way to make sure you avoid the crash and burn scenario and are on track for high growth.

Finances tend to be the Achilles heel of business for many women entrepreneurs I know, and this can result in not poor financial planning or management and running out of cash. Wedont need to have finance degrees or MBAs torun our businesses, but we do need to educate ourselves in order to create a cash runway, steward our money better and effectively raise capital when necessary.

I recallone of my advisors telling me, You can be low on cash for a long time, but you can only run out of cash once. Many businesses fail or start sinking simply because they run out of cash. In my research for Million Dollar Women, I learned that women are twice as likely as men to shut down their businesses because they run out of cash. I made some errors in the early days of one of my businesses that almost cost me the company, so this one really hits home. You can better avoid this issue by working with an advisor on your cash flow projections or finding a great accountant who can walk you through your numbers. Dont be afraid to ask for help or say you dont understand, and be sure to look at what you owe and what is owed to you on a weekly basis so you can have a healthy cash balance.

Every entrepreneur has a different skill set. Some are excellent when it comes to having a vision for their companybut not so good at execution. Some are excellent at getting things done but lackthe mindset for big-picture planning. Both are essential to your business success, so figuring out your strengths and hiring for your weaknesses (or creating an advisory council to help you) is imperative. Without good vision, how can we create one-, three- and five-year plans for our businesses? And without good execution, how can we build the systems and hire theteams that allows us to keep scaling up? Successful entrepreneurs learn to work on the business not just in the business (or during the work day)and to make strategy a priority. They learn to both plan the dive and dive the plan in other words, take time for planning and make sure everyone knows their role in executing on that plan.

One of the dangers of running out of cash (see #7) is runaway marketing spend. Between bidding on Google search terms, trying Facebook ads and other online and offline marketing, marketing is one biggest expenditures for fast-growing companies. There was a time at Little Pim where we didnt track where our customers were coming from and didnt know which marketing channels were performing and why. Eventually, we started keeping a closer eye on our marketing spend that way, we were able to avoid falling into the money pit that marketing can be and begin getting excellent ROAS (Return on Ad Spend). We implemented what I call the "75/25 marketing budget rule" (part of the "moneymaking machine" we built that I referenced in #2).Figuring out which marketing channels work for you and rigorously tracking your spend is a key part of scaling up.

I snuck two mistakes into this last one. We dont know what we dont know, right? So the only way to learn what we dont know is to surround ourselves with people who can help us stretch to the next level. Make time for personal and business growth, whether its reading business blogs and books, attending conferences, joining organizations for entrepreneurs, watching videosor finding the right coaches and mentors. I did all of these, and most of the women I've spoken to who make it to $1 millionin revenueand beyond did some combination of the above. Make time for your business and personal growth, and it should pay off in spades.

If any of these resonated with you, now you know what to work on in 2020. Remember that "youcan only grow your business as big as you grow yourself" so here's to a year of exponential growth.

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The Top 10 Mistakes That Keep Women Entrepreneurs From Scaling to $1 Million - Entrepreneur

Executive Summary

For most people, deciding to make a mid-career job switch is not a big deal. But for family members in a family business, the decision becomes far more complex. A critical misstep in communicating your choice can lead to a permanent break in family relations, but paralysis can result in personal bitterness and regret over the career you could have had if youd chosen a different path. Before making any big moves, evaluate where you are in your own career development, why its not what you might have hoped for, and what you can (and cant) do about it. Examine whats triggering your instincts to leave and then separate the reasons into what you can influence/change vs. what you have to live with (or not). For example, if you have a different opinion on how the business should be run, consider whether its truly a deal-breaker. More often than not, individual operational decisions come into focus over time and lose their immediate fight-or-flight response, but a major strategic shift or a constant pattern of having your opinion overruled is worth fighting for diplomatically.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made headlines when they announced their decision to step back from their royal duties in favor of greater independence. While their desire to step away from the pressure of the royal spotlight is understandable, even commendable, the announcement reveals how fraught separation can be. The suddenness of the declaration left the public wondering what happened and what this means for the future of the monarchy. The Queen swiftly responded that the conversation is in early stages. And the media was filled with stories of the royal family being blindsided by the news and people picking sides. Though the British monarchy may be more famous than most family businesses, the issues that arise when a family member decides to leave the business are not unique.

For most people, deciding to make a mid-career job switch is not a big deal. But for family members in a family business, the decision becomes far more complex. A critical misstep in communicating your choice can lead to a permanent break in family relations, but paralysis can result in personal bitterness and regret over the career you could have had if youd chosen a different path.

You may face this question because your initial entry into the business was not well thought through perhaps you entered on vague promises (One day this will all be yours!) without clear responsibilities or even a real job title. We know of one family business member who never even got a business card during the four years he worked in his familys industrial supplies company because no one could agree on his title. Once youre in the job day-to-day, you may realize that the benefits of being part of a family business arent worth it if youre not contributing in a meaningful way.

Others come to the crossroad later in their career when they reach the sinking realization that theyre not destined to be the next leader of the family business, or worse, that their passion has worn off. We worked with one deeply unhappy daughter of a family business leader who aspired to become an entrepreneur, but felt obliged to join her dads company instead. Lacking passion for the family business, her career there never took off and she now bitterly regrets the road not taken. For many, the process of generational transition is painfully slow and emotionally consuming. We know family business leaders who insist theyre still in their prime well into their 80s and refuse to discuss handing over the reins to the younger generation working in the company, who grow frustrated waiting in the wings for their turn to lead. Sound familiar?

If youre on the brink of a monumental decision, take a breath and consider your position carefully before making any sudden moves. The worst thing you can do is to storm off on a Friday, have regrets over the weekend, and then slink back the next week as if nothing ever happened (weve seen that, too). Such impetuousness will destroy your credibility within the firm and within the family.

Before making any big moves, evaluate where you are in your own career development, why its not what you might have hoped for, and what you can (and cant) do about it. It may not be too late to get your career back on course. We suggest working through a six-step approach to evaluate your options:

Compare your vision to your familys vision: A critical factor in deciding whether a company (your family business or any other business) is right for you is whether you believe in its long-term vision. In a family business, the shareholders formulate this vision jointly. It can be tough to get a myriad of perspectives in perfect alignment, but its essential to get the broad strokes right because the board and management will develop the companys strategy based on it.

Evaluate whether you share the same vision for the business as the other shareholders. If youre aligned, you can hold up tough decisions against your shared vision to see if theyre directionally sound. If youre not, staying at the family business will always be an uphill battle and you may be better off elsewhere.

Clarify your aspirations: Its not essential that you want to end up running the company someday. Weve seen many satisfied family members employed in positions in the family business that align with their skills and interests so dont set a false binary choice (I am the future leader of this business or nothing) for yourself as the only path to happiness. One of the most fulfilled family employees we know chose to leave her high-powered job in international sales to become the archivist at her familys consumer goods business. She discovered her real passion was capturing the familys history, including their successes and failures, and passing the lessons learned on to the next generation.

Be as clear about your aspirations as possible: What do you seek to accomplish in the family business? How and when will you develop the skills necessary for the role you aspire to? How does that fit with the senior generations aspirations for their own career paths? Where can you put your skills to their highest and best use?

Identify your deal-breakers: Its natural to have differences of opinion in business. In family businesses, these opinions are heightened by emotions and family dynamics. To have a successful, long-term career ina family business,youwill need to learn how to share control with the rest ofyour family members engaged in the business. Get the decisions most important to you right, and let the others ride.

Examine whats triggering your instincts to leave and then separate the reasons into what you can influence/change vs. what you have to live with (or not). For example, if you have a different opinion on how the business should be run, consider whether its truly a deal-breaker. More often than not, individual operational decisions come into focus over time and lose their immediate fight-or-flight response, but a major strategic shift or a constant pattern of having your opinion overruled is worth fighting for diplomatically.

Find and leverage mentors to guide you: An essential resource when youre in a family business is an experienced mentor who can provide a neutral perspective and help guideyour career without the biases of a family member or the challenges that an in-house HR department would face in evaluating the next family leader. A good mentor can be an independent board director, a senior executive who is capable of being neutral, or even someone that is not directly connected to the family business but knows enough to be of help.

Ask your mentor for an honest assessment of where you are developmentally and what youll need to do to achieve your goals. Talk to your mentor regularly (at least twice a year plus a more substantial check-in every three years) and ask for their help to keep you on track with your goals. A good mentor may also help you redefine what success looks like so that youre not solely focused on becoming the next company CEO.

Ask for merit-based evaluations and a development plan: Dont be afraid to ask for constructive feedback if you truly want to perform to the best of your abilities. Many family businesses fall into the trap of thinking that family members dont need to have the same HR processes as non-family members. The truth is, its even more important for family employees to receive honest feedback if the company is to be successful, because someone whos been coddled to the top could make a decision that jeopardizes the future of the company. Avoid being that person by asking for honest, 360 feedback from those around you. Work with your mentor to assess how to learn from the feedback you receive and incorporate it into your leadership style.

Finally, make the decision thats right for you but be careful how you communicate it: If, after careful consideration, you choose to leave your day-to-day role in the business to pursue another venture, contemplate how to leave with dignity and retain familial relationships. Make sure you have a clear exit story to communicate internally and externally (such as pursuing an MBA to gain skills to become a more effective contributor to the organization later) so youre not perceived as leaving in a huff. Have a plan for what you want to do next and socialize it with your family members before it ends up in the company newsletter. After all, you may no longer be an employee, but you are likely to still be a shareholder (or future shareholder) in the business. Reflect on how your departure may affect your role holistically. Can you still be an effective owner and work with the other family owners to govern the company, when youve moved outside of daily operations?

If you do choose to stay, be clear on why you are staying and what you hope to accomplish by staying in the family business. If you dont address the problems that led you to this point of frustration, they arent likely to go away. Think about an approach to resolving your major concerns. Are you in the right role? Do you have sufficient support and direction? What changes are needed to make staying a sustainable and enjoyable prospect? Review your progress regularly. Keep track of how you are doing relative to achieving major milestones and your ultimate career goals.

As Harry and Meghan will discover as they carve out their progressive new roles in the British monarchy, there is more than one right way to have an impact on the family business, stay close to your family, and still have a fulfilling career. Consider Lord Jacob Rothschild, one of the heirs to Europes long-lasting banking dynasty. After a disagreement over the direction the family firm was taking, he left the flagship N. M. Rothschild bank and set up RIT Capital Partners. At the time, his decision seemed risky, but years later, RIT is one of the biggest investment trusts in the UK, and Jacob has had an esteemed career. A billionaire in his own right, hes even found a way back into the family fold, recently forming a joint venture with Edmond de Rothschild Group and RIT Capital. His journey shows that there are many possible paths to navigate your role in the family business.

Weve seen many leaders for whom being an engaged shareholder is a better fit than a day-to-day manager, and vice versa. Whatever your decision may be, show your family that you respect and honor the family legacy and that you seek personal fulfillment. Ask for their support along your lifes journey, whether thats inside or outside the family business.

Read the original here:
Is It Time to Leave the Family Business? - Harvard Business Review

Every year, Ive listened to Republicans tell us how pro-life they are. But a couple of years ago, when they had the House and the Senate and the presidency, we didnt defund Planned Parenthood, said Lance Lohr, a resident of Lancaster County, Pa., who attended his 10th March for Life on Friday.

I go by peoples actions, he continued, and in Trump's case I believe he is pro-life because of what hes done.

Trumps top aides and religious advisers have taken great pains to portray him as a fervent abortion opponent after the 2016 cycle, when his views on the hot-button issue were anything but consistent. At the time, Trump declined to say whether any of his past romantic partners had abortions, suggested that women who have undergone the procedure should incur some form of punishment and infuriated anti-abortion groups, like the Susan B. Anthony List, when he said it wouldve been better if it were up to the states to determine the legality of abortion.

Many of those same groups that were confused by Trumps positions and reluctant to support him are now working to reelect him in 2020 not because they all believe hes had a change of heart, but because, in their view, no one has done more to dismantle abortion protections or pave the way for a test of the landmark Supreme Court legal decision in Roe v. Wade.

I dont know enough about Trump to know what his stance was prior to his presidency. Even now, I dont really care what he feels. I care what hes doing, said Nicole Burnshaw of Glen Mills, Pa., who attended this years March for Life with her nine children.

Trump used his remarks on Friday to remind the crowd of his administrations actions on abortion, an issue his reelection campaign has leaned on heavily as it looks to shore up evangelical support for the president and target other religious voters in key battleground states.

Speaking to tens of thousands of anti-abortion advocates from across the country, Trump emphasized how his administration has overseen the confirmation of 187 federal judges who apply the Constitution as written. He also highlighted his successful nominations of Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, two judges who were carefully vetted by anti-abortion groups prior to making it onto his list of potential nominees for the high court. And speaking about himself, Trump said unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House.

From the first day in office, Ive taken a historic action to support Americas families and to protect the unborn. ... I reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy, and we issued a landmark pro-life rule to govern the use of Title X taxpayer funding, he said, referring to the ultimatum his administration gave family-planning clinics last August to stop referring patients to abortion clinics or risk losing federal funding.

I notified Congress that I would veto any legislation that weakens pro-life policies or that encourages destruction of human life. At the United Nations, I made clear that global bureaucrats have no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that protect innocent life, he added.

The lines drew raucous applause and showed how many of the presidents socially conservative supporters a vital part of his electoral success in 2016, and a key coalition for his 2020 campaign are undeterred by the drama surrounding his Senate impeachment trial.

I love this impeachment. It keeps those creeps on the hill so busy that they dont pass any laws or mess with what the president is doing, said Lohr, the Lancaster County resident.

Since his January 2017 inauguration, Trump has worked to regulate and restrict abortion access using a series of rule changes that restrict the way taxpayer funds flow to foreign and domestic organizations that perform or promote abortions. Hours before his speech on Friday, officials at the Department of Health and Human Services threatened to withhold federal funding to California unless the state drops its mandate requiring private health insurers to cover abortion procedures.

Just as government shouldnt force a kosher deli to serve ham, you shouldnt require nuns to pay for abortion, and even more so because it involves the taking of a human life, Roger Severino, director of the agencys Office for Civil Rights, said on a conference call with reporters ahead of Trumps remarks. The department issued a similar notice of violation against the University of Vermont last August after concluding that a nurse was forced to participate in an abortion procedure despite repeated personal objections.

Because of his follow-through on certain abortion-related policy promises, Trump has used the issue on the 2020 campaign trail to draw aggressive distinctions between himself and the field of Democratic presidential hopefuls, nearly all of whom support codifying Roe in legislation. He spent a sizable portion of his remarks Friday going after what he called the dangerous agenda of far-left Democrats claiming that lawmakers in New York celebrated legislation allowing abortion up until delivery and repeating his dubious claim that Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said he would allow for newborns to be executed after birth. (Northams comments came last year, as Virginia state legislators debated a bill that would have rolled back certain restrictions for women seeking abortions).

Together, we are the voice for the voiceless, he told the crowd, standing on a stage alongside Republican Sens. Mike Lee and James Lankford, who introduced legislation in 2015 to strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding.

When it comes to abortion Democrats have embraced the most radical and extreme positions taken and seen in this country for years and decades and you can even say or centuries, Trump said, adding that Democrats are coming after me because of his anti-abortion agenda.

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Many of the same sentiments were featured in Trumps second State of the Union address nearly a year ago, when he railed against his political opponents for supporting legislation in New York that expanded abortion access beyond 24 weeks if there is a threat to the womans life or health, or if the pregnancy is considered nonviable. White House officials and outside allies involved with the speechwriting process at the time told POLITICO the idea to include a line about abortion originated from the president himself.

The day before the State of the Union I met with him about what was going to be in it and he had clearly been thinking about this a lot because the first thing he said was about abortion and how outrageous it was to see what happened in New York and Virginia, a person close to Trump recalled.

The speech Trump eventually delivered to Congress marked another first for the incumbent Republican, whom anti-abortion supporters now widely refer to as the most pro-life president in history. No other modern GOP president devoted a significant portion of his State of the Union to the topic of abortion. Its these milestones under the current administration that abortion opponents are expected to pay close attention to long after Trump leaves office, as they search for candidates who match his zeal and build on his anti-abortion agenda.

I remember when Reagan spoke by closed-circuit television for the first time. I thought, Wow this is great, Lohr said of the former presidents live Oval Office address to March for Life participants in 1985.

But this is even better, he added, shortly before Trump departed the White House for the National Mall.

Myah Ward contributed to this report.

See the rest here:
Trump sets a new GOP standard in the abortion fight - POLITICO

Photo of NIC's Comox Valley Campus(Provided by North Island College)

North Island College is taking part in its first annual Thrive Week next month, which focuses on student mental health and well being.

Thrive Week is an initiative started by the University of British Columbia and has been adopted by many post-secondary institutions as a way to celebrate community, encourage self-care and promote mental health literacy.

NICs Director of Student Affairs, Felicity Blaiklock says good mental health is very important for students to be their best, both in school and in their own lives.

Thrive seemed like a wonderful opportunity to promote mental health, reduce stigma around mental health and help create that supportive campus culture. That engagement, that connection is a fundamental part of well being.

We all experience challenges in our lives at a certain time and college students are just the same as everyone else. They also experience challenges and struggles that may be to do with their academic studies or they may be to do with something completely different outside their lives.

Blaiklock adds that having healthy facility and staff who can support these students is also essential for the foundation of academic and personal success.

All of NICs campus will be taking part in the festivities, which will feature food on campus, first nations storytelling, activities where people can move their bodies, some trail walks, and some yoga from February 3rd through the 7th.

For more information on Thrive Week and NIC, visit http://www.nic.bc.ca.

Excerpt from:
North Island College launching Thrive Week across all its campuses - My Comox Valley Now

World number one Ash Barty's on-courtsecret weapon may be her slice backhand but it is her mental game which is helping her most to win, her mentor and leadership coach Ben Crowe says.

It's no surprise for Crowe that Barty thanked her team and joked she was sick of seeing her own face after advancing to the third round of the Australian Open, where she will play Elena Rybakina on Friday.

Crowe is the mindset coach restoring the fortunes of the Australian Cricket team, after helping the Richmond Football Club to two premierships and also mentors world champion surfer Stephanie Gilmore and fellow tennis ace Grigor Dimitrov. He also works with many CEOs and corporates.

"Ben has become a massive part of my team ... helping me with my mental application, and changing my perspective of things in both life and in sport," the young Aussie star has been quoted saying.

Crowe says the key to Barty's humility and mental strength is the separation between her personal and professional worlds.

"Ash knows tennis is what she does, it is not who she is," Crowe told The Australian Financial Review on Thursday.

There is a whole generation of 50-plus alpha males who have achieved success but are not fulfilled.

Ben Crowe, mindset coach

"Ash has captured the hearts and minds of Australians but also the whole world because she is showing how you can achieve professionally but still have perspective personally which I think the world is craving."

"Especially after the Hayne royal commission, there is a whole generation of 50-plus alpha males who have achieved success but are not fulfilled. Achievement without fulfilment is the ultimate failure in life," he says.

Ash Barty celebrates her victory over Polona to advance to round three on Friday.Eddie Jim

"That is why the separation between the personal and professional is so important."

Crowe, a former international marketing director for Nike,shares many of the same lessons with CEOs, executives and boardrooms, emphasising three key mindsets.

"The first is around purpose mindset," he says, which shifts your perspective from "I to we" or money, fame and status to intrinsic motivations.

"You stand for something, you believe in something, there is something that lights you up and there is a contribution or legacy you want to leave the world which at your funeral will be celebrated about you."

Our greatest failures can lead to our greatest success because it unlocks humility and learning.

Ben Crowe, Ash Barty's mentor

Secondly, connection mindset is really embracing vulnerability as a strength which gives people inside the organisation permission to be imperfect but unconditionally worthy.

"Often leaders put on a mask or armour for self preservation because you think you have to be this perfect CEO."

"The reason our greatest failures can lead to our greatest success is because it unlocks humility and learning. It is also why our greatest success can lead to our greatest failures because of ego, pride and identity."

Finally, performance mindset means totally focusing your attention in the moment of performance on the best version of yourself and the things you can control and letting go and accepting the things you can't control which cause anxiety, stress and worry."

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Meet the man helping Barty ace her mental game - The Australian Financial Review

It was January 19, 1997, and Steve Austin was alone in the ring at the Alamodome in San Antonio, taking full advantage of a rare moment of solitude during the usually crowded Royal Rumble. He sat on the top rope and checked the watch that wasn't on his wrist, obnoxiously signaling his impatience in waiting for his next opponent and in the process creating one of the images that would become iconic for his reign in WWF (now WWE).

Less than a year earlier, Austin had been known as The Ringmaster, a disastrous character that had almost sunk his chances at a big-time wrestling career. Now he was on the verge of superstardomfully inhabiting a new Stone Cold character he'd crafted, inspired by an HBO special on mob killers, as a blend of old-fashioned ass-kicker and hilarious, noxious lip. No one was safe from the bottom of his plain black boots when he was inclined to stomp a mudhole, and his motor-mouth silver tongue spared neither hero nor villain.

And fans couldn't get enough of it.

It was a kind of wrestling character that had never really existed before. Even WWE owner Vince McMahon, the sport's most influential and successful promoter, was confounded. No matter how dastardly, how vile, Austin's behavior was, his popularity only grew.

"I was supposed to be a heel. They weren't supposed to like me," Austin says now, revealing that the conundrum even led to a discussion with McMahon in a parking lot in Lowell, Massachusetts.

"I said, 'Vince, I noticed when I'm watching the show back, you guys are editing a lot of things that I say on commentary.' And he goes, 'Well, quite frankly, Steve, you're popping the guys in the truck.' The TV guys who have seen and heard everything were laughing and getting a kick out of what I was saying. And to Vince, that didn't work. ...

"I told Vince, 'Hey man, you got guys here, 6'10", 7-foot, 300, 320 pounds.' I said, 'I'm 6'2". I got black trunks, black boots, bald head and a goatee. If you take my personality from me, I cannot compete with anybody here. But if you give me my personality, I can.'"

McMahon, to his credit, had taken in what his budding new star was saying and, faced with floundering ratings and a competitor in WCW challenging his supremacy for the first time in a decade, he'd decided to take a chance on something outside his regular collection of stock wrestling characters.

"That's when he took the restrictions off and I started really growing into that character, finding my confidence, flipping people off, flying the bird," Austin says. "And for some reason, I just think people wanted a different brand of entertainment than they had been used to. And I broke from the mold of being a traditional babyface. I was a guy that was running in the gray area. You didn't know what Stone Cold was going to do, but you knew he was going to be wildly entertaining."

Austin walked the fine line between good and evil, and it was one of those magical combinations that led to a boom in business for WWF.

Sitting on that top rope in San Antonio, he had become bigger than the tropes that previously defined professional wrestling.

He was announcing himself as the chosen one in a field of Hall of Fame talent and in the process helping create a whole new era in wrestlingthe "Attitude Era," as we now know itin which the stars were a little more personal, a little more real, and heroes could be villains because sometimes what the world needs is a little righteous justice.

"I was operating as someone with an extreme attitude, and that was highly entertaining to the people just because of the energy I was emitting or giving off," Austin says. "It was captivating, and, in the end, the people thought it was awesome.

"I don't like to sit here and blow smoke up my ass. I just think people were ready for a change."

And his performance perfectly encapsulated how he would deliver that change.

The Royal Rumble match is more than just a vehicle to launch a new star or reestablish an old one. It's an attraction in its own right, an elegantly designed brain child of McMahon's longtime consigliere Pat Patterson. Himself a wrestling star in the 1970s and early '80s, Patterson had marvelled at the yearly success of the Battle Royal in the San Francisco territory when he was there.

The match typically gathered every star in the territory, imported superstar slabs of beef from outside promotions, like Andre the Giant, and threw them into the ring at the same time. The last one left standing without being tossed over the top rope was the winner. Patterson's unique twist was to have each wrestler enter the ring individually every minute or so until all 30 had walked the aisle. The resulting series of countdowns, surprises and WWE's dazzling entrances made the match, now entering its 33rd year, immediately iconic.

"I think it has resonated because of that excitement factor. It's an hourlong match that just keeps building on itself. There's always something happening," says Paul "Triple H" Levesque, WWE's executive VP of talent, live events and creative. "Just when it seems to settle down, the buzzer goes off and a new surprise comes out and everyone says, 'Oh my God.' The dynamic just keeps changing for the whole hour."

While the bones of the Rumble have remained the same for three decades, WWE has perfected the match to the point it's almost its own art form. Today, rather than having Patterson come up with all 29 eliminations like he did for the first Rumble, it takes a team of WWE's top producers to keep the match moving. Every wrestler goes into the match knowing when they are going to be eliminated and by whom. The rest of the canvas, down to the most minute details, has to be painted every year, with the goal of keeping the crowd energized and the action moving for 60 minutes or more.

"It's a huge, huge team effort," says Seth Rollins, who won the Royal Rumble match last year and will be one of the 30 competitors in the 2020 event this Sunday. "You've got all the producers backstage coming up with ideas. Everybody in the match is trying to make moments for themselves too. It's a big, big undertaking, and I think, when it comes out good, everybody feels a huge sense of relief, and then we're moving on towards WrestleMania.

"I give a lot of credit personally to [producer] Jamie Noble. He has been instrumental in really kind of laying groundwork for these things and being the guy that everyone goes to to make sure that the things are sorted. He's one of those guys who's always been real crafty when it comes to seeing things before they happen in the ring. He's been one of the guys in charge of the Rumble matches for as long as I've been up here."

For the performers, the match can be alternatingly chaotic, thrilling and boring. There's a huge spotlight on them, especially when they first arrive in the ring, but then there are also minutes at a time where the entire goal is to stay out of the way and let others shine.

"I think they're fun to work, but at the same time they're a pain in the ass to work because there's a lot going onthere's a lot to remember," Austin says. "You're always going to have a couple of guysI've been there myselfjust standing around in the corner 'trying' to throw the other guy over the top. Doggone it, they just can't leverage him enough, you know?

"Sometimes the ring is so crowded, you really can't lock into anything because if someone tries to do something, it inevitably turns into a cluster because there's too many guys in the ring. They are tedious."

Rollins, while putting it a little more delicately, agrees that it can be easy for a wrestler's eyes to glaze over, especially when they are going to be in the match for 30 minutes or more.

"There's so many stories that are interweaving and going on throughout the course of the matchup that it's hard to get lost in the moment in the match," Rollins says. "There's a timeline for how many people we want to be in different places and at what times during the match. There's so much going on that doesn't involve you that it can be easy to lose focus.

"Whereas in a one-on-one match you have to be focused at all times, sometimes in the Rumble you're in there and you find yourself almost just watching to see what's happening around you. It's almost like an out-of-body experience; you become an observer, a fan in a way."

The match is also an opportunity for wrestlers beyond the eventual winner to make their mark. Each year, someone stands out by working just a little harder than their peers, tossing themselves around for an appreciative fanbase that is savvy enough to recognize the hard work.

"You can really make a case for yourself," Austin says. "Winning sets you up for a designed push, because they've designated you as that guy, but man, if someone goes out there and just shines, like Kane did when he eliminated 11 guys [in 2001], it's like, 'Holy smokes, this guy's badass.'

"That was a planned thing. But you can go out there and ad lib your way to success by doing a lot of things that are entertaining. It's a litmus test. It's an eyeball test. If you do it right, everybody's thinking: 'That guy did pretty damn good. We might be able to do something with that cat.'"

And if you don't do it right?

Mistakes happen, sometimes requiring the carefully scheduled match to undergo some real-time revisions. Austin still shakes his bald head at his first Rumble appearance, in 1996, an opportunity to announce himself to the WWE Universe he badly botched.

"I was supposed to be like the fourth-to-last guy left in the ring, a pretty damn good spot and a pretty good shove from the company for a guy coming in," Austin says. "I did a clothesline spot with Fatu and was going to hang onto the top rope and come back in. Well, the thing was, everybody was wearing baby oil in those days, so the ropes and everything were very, very slippery, and I couldn't grab the top rope, and I ended up on my ass on the floor, eliminated early.

"I had to get Shawn Michaels' attention and let him know I was out. He had to figure out how to fix my mess. I go back to the back, and I'm thinking, 'OK man, here's this company taking a chance on me, and I blew it.'"

The 1997 Rumble was a chance to make that rightand start a revolution.

In some ways, Austin was portrayed as a babyface in his iconic 1997 Rumble, standing tall against all comers, a man apart, even among the baddest men on the planet.

He was the fifth of 30 competitors to enter, and he went the distance, lasting more than 45 minutes and eliminating a then-record 10 opponents along the way.

But just as important as any of that was how the match ended, with Austin reestablishing himself as a heel. After being "eliminated," Austin sneaked back into the ring, unseen by the referees, and dispatched the promotion's staunchest protector of good, Bret Hart, attacking him from behind and throwing him over the top rope and then basking in a glory he hadn't truly earned.

Only the fans still didn't turn on him.

"I didn't feel that I was performing as a babyface. I thought I was totally performing as someone who didn't give a rat's ass, so to speak," Austin says. "God dang it, man, I tried to entertain people whether I was heel, baby, whatever I was, I tried to be that 120 percent, and I believed everything that I was doing was completely real.

"It was all about attitude, just chucking people over the top rope, dropping down and giving them the bird. And then of course, yeah, I cheated at the end."

Twenty-three years later, fans still haven't turned on him. His iconic "Austin 3:16" is still a staple T-shirt for fans at live WWE eventsand beyond the wrestling world. Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard even went viral dressing as Austin for Halloween last year.

Wrestlers, too, still feel the impact of Austin and the movement he got rolling at that Royal Rumble.

"I think a huge, huge part of his popularity had to do with his struggles," says Rollins, who grew up watching Austin in his prime. "That's something our audience can relate to. I think everybody in their life in one way or another feels like they're the underdog, and so to have someone like Steve who embodied all your fantasies of wanting to stick your middle finger in your boss' face or punch your boss in the face...he was an every man, the guy who just drank beer and didn't give a damn about anything."

Rollins even plays a part in spreading the gospel of Austin to up-and-coming wrestlers.

"I have a wrestling school, and one of my big things we teach is, when all else fails, What would Stone Cold do? Sort of like WWJD, it's WWSCD," Rollins says. "If you're in trouble in a match, and you don't know what to do, What would Steve Austin do?"

If there is a wrestler today best living up to Austin's legacy of success at the Royal Rumble, it must be Kofi Kingston. No, he's never managed to win, but each year he does something we've never seen before to avoid elimination and commands the audience's attention.

"He's almost made himself a legend in Royal Rumble lore," Rollins says. "It's one of those things that the audience looks forward to every year ... Who's going to win? Who's going to start? What kind of surprises do we have to look forward to? And what's Kofi going to do? How's he going to top himself?"

"The margin for error on that stuff is so slim, but yet somehow he pulls it out every time," Triple H says. "He's a remarkable athlete. He creates these moments where, yeah, you remember the winner, but fans are like, 'Oh my God, Kofi walked on his hands and jumped on a table.'

"There used to be this prevailing notion when I first came into the company that if you weren't winning it, you don't want to be in the Rumble. Now wrestlers recognize you can get over and become a star. You could make the argument that those moments that Kofi had in the Royal Rumble are things that led to him becoming WWE champion. Because without those moments, I don't know that he would have been in that position."

For Austin, the 1997 Royal Rumble win set up a feud with Hart that would carry over to WrestleMania 13. Austin lost that match but was on his way to becoming the headliner who would win two more Rumbles, become a six-time champion and change WWE forever.

"His impact on our industry, on what a babyface looks like, what a good guy, a hero looks like in our stories, it's forever changed because of him," Rollins says. Without him, the business wouldn't be where it is today."

Today, it's well-established that the Rumble can have that type of impact. It's an event that sets the tone for the first half of the year, establishing the key players leading into WWE's yearly showcase of the immortals, WrestleMania.

While 30 superstars may enter, only a handful are viable potential winners capable of headlining the biggest show of the year. When the final body hits the floor, WWE will have made its case to the fans, asking them to accept the winner as worthy of the honor.

Sometimes that decision holds. Occasionally, it is hastily rewritten to better serve the audience. Either way, it's a statement of intent and a unique vote of confidence that tells both the talent and the wider world of wrestling who WWE sees as the most compelling superstars on the planet.

"As the match wears down and gets into the end, you begin to see, 'All right, here's what they're focusing on,'" Triple H says. "It's almost like in football where, as you start to get to the end of the season, you realize: 'All right, these are the teams that are really good. This team had a lot of hype, but the season didn't pan out. Now you're getting into the playoffs, and we see who's really there.'

"By the end of the Rumble, you're saying, 'Hey, here's your top five or six people in the company right now.' And sometimes there's a surprise that you didn't see coming. Sometimes it's exactly who you thought. When it's done well, there's almost nothing more exciting. You can really make it into something special."

The 2020 Royal Rumble streams live on the WWE Network this Sunday at 7 p.m. Eastern.

Jonathan Snowden covers combat sports for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @JESnowden.

Read more:
A Rumble to Remember - Bleacher Report

As business leaders adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), which marries physical assets and advanced digital technologies, leaders are now taking responsibility for developing the skills of their workforce.

Getty

According to Deloitte Globals 2020 Readiness Report, The Fourth Industrial Revolution: At the intersection of readiness and responsibility,preparing workers to meet the demands of Industry 4.0 continues to be a fundamental business challenge, and leaders lack confidence in how their organizations are faring. Only 10 percent of executives surveyed said they have made a great deal of progress in understanding what skills will be needed in the future, and only one-fifth completely agreed their organizations are ready.

To meet this challenge, executives are focusing on training and developmentand looking to hire people with the appetite for continuous learning. In fact, according to the report, three-fourths of these executives are now making workforce development a top Industry 4.0 priority and plan to make their biggest investments in this area. And more than 80 percent of executives say they have created, or are creating, a corporate culture of lifelong learning.

Thats a stark difference from the hands-off approach of the past.Two years ago, executives, suggested there wasnt much they could do to ready their people for the skills required in the Industry 4.0 era; only 12 percent of executives said their organizations could influence education, training, and lifelong learning to a significant degree.

Companies are starting to understand that if they want to succeed in Industry 4.0, they must create agile work environments and modernized workplace cultures where employees can continuously acquire new skills to keep up with the changing nature of work," says Michele Parmelee, Deloitte Global Chief People and Purpose Officer.

The skills of the future

While technical proficiency is an obvious and evolving need, its critical that people also cultivate so-called human skills, which will have even greater value in a more-automated workplace. Not only will developing these soft skills, such as critical thinking, creativity, and empathy, create a more adaptable workforce as jobs are restructured, but it will also help human workers specialize in areas where machines are less likely to excel, says Parmelee.

According to IFTF research, the top skills that future employees will need to be successful include contextualized intelligencea nuanced understanding of society, business, culture, and peopleand an entrepreneurial mindset.

While many human skills are often considered to be innate traits, they can actually be taught to future workers and are linked to improved performance. According to a Harvard research study, social-emotional, non-cognitive skills are malleable into adulthood and can be developed with the right resources, environment, and incentives.

Young professionals are eager for this kind of training, according to Deloittes Millennial Survey. They understand that automation can free them from repetitive and mundane tasks to focus on assignments that require a more personal touch, Parmelee explains. So, theyre especially seeking help building confidence, interpersonal skills, andparticularly for Gen Zethics aptitude.

However, millennials do not believe their employers are focused enough on nurturing soft skills. More than a third said it is essential to a companys long-term success that its employees and leaders have strong interpersonal skills, but only 26 percent said they were offered much help or support in developing them. They said similar support deficits existed in the areas of confidence, integrity, critical thinking, and creativity.

Universities and companies are starting to take note and develop their own emotional intelligence, or EQ programs. Stanford University, for example, offers a Compassion Cultivation Training course to help people develop compassion and empathy for others, while one of the courses in Deloittes internal leadership program is The Art of Empathy, which helps leaders learn to walk in the shoes of others.

I think the best way we can serve our organizations and our people is to create a company culture that actually trains and equips people to be flexible, self-reliant, and empowered, says Pierre Naud, CEO of nCino, a software company that provides cloud solutions to financial institutions. And they should feel that they can use their own brain power and experience to actually mold their jobs as we go forward, to adapt at the pace of change.

Visit link:
The Best Job Skills For The Future Are Inherently Human - Forbes