Ending 2nd
Quarter 2011
In this issue:

In John C. Maxwell’s bestselling book called “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership,” John refers to the Law of Solid Ground. He says that “Character makes trust possible. And trust makes leadership possible. That is the Law of Solid Ground.” As a leader we need to build trust, and to build trust John goes on to say, “a leader must exemplify competence, connection, and character.” Character communicates consistency and respect from really great leaders. Remember, leadership is not about position or power, it is all about influence. Leadership ability is Influence ability.

Having been in the military, I realized that some of the very most modern leadership training existed there and I was grateful to have worked for and been trained by many great leaders. One of those leaders was a man by the name of Lee Ellis. Lee was my Vice-Commandant at the Squadron Officer Leadership School I attended. Lee was also a Hanoi Hilton POW. Since meeting Lee and listening to him teach and mentor, I have learned that even in the squalid conditions of a prison cell, a person’s character is the main thing. Lee tells the story of one of his cellmates coming back from interrogation day after day and yet never losing weight or being tortured like he and his other cellmate were. Eventually, the two of them realized that their cellmate was compromising his character to the enemy. So, the decision was made to relieve this ranking individual from command. Character ultimately drove the decision, because the trust was broken, and therefore leadership or influence was no longer possible for the original commander.

Too often today, we are all focused on performance as being the technical execution of some skill or service. However, there is much more to performance than just getting the technical piece(s) right, we must execute with good character as well. General H. Norman Schwarzkopf believed character was significant enough to say, “Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without strategy.” That is a very powerful statement from a man who commanded the first Gulf war successfully.

So, I have learned that great leaders believe character is a very real and integral part of our lives and should drive our performance. I want to challenge you today by asking, “what are you doing on a daily basis to improve yourself, your character, and ultimately your performance?” I encourage you to lead with character first in all that you do, and if you aren’t already, start to develop and grow yourself by reading and/or listening to good books or audio recordings of other leaders that are focused on leading with character first. John C. Maxwell, Stephen Covey, Bob Burg are just a few examples of leaders and authors that exemplify the Law of the Solid Ground and are committed to character driven leadership

So, remember the Law of the Solid Ground and that character counts everywhere all the time. As leaders we need to work hard to develop trust with those around us and lead our lives with Character First. If you would like to know more or would like to schedule Dane Deutsch to come and host a seminar on any of John Maxwell’s 101 books on Ethics, Relationships, Equipping, Attitude, and Leadership just give him a call at 877- 327-6385 (877- DCSNetl). Dane is a well respected and popular inspirational speaker as well as a founding partner and trainer with John C. Maxwell’s Leadership Team.

any of us have heard the fable about the blind men and the elephant. When the men were asked to describe what an elephant looked like the descriptions ranged from a snake to a tree to a fan depending on whether the blind man had touched the trunk, the leg or the ear. What does an ancient fable like this have to do with technology? It's the same problem we have when we try to explain to you how useful a tool Microsoft SharePoint can be to your business. SharePoint is so flexible and has so many uses; we often have trouble describing it in a way you can get the whole picture.

So, here goes our description of SharePoint.  It's:

•	A shared company calendar that everyone can access
•	An electronic bulletin board where you post notices for the whole company
•	Your own company library for forms and policies
•	A photo album for your digital images
•	An electronic water cooler for company discussions
•	A lock box for sensitive company information
•	A shared web page of your company's most used links
•	A piece of useful technology for the distinctly untechnical
•	And much, much more

The good news is that many of you have SharePoint available for use today if you are using Microsoft Server 2003 or Small Business Server. All that you may need is our help in getting started. Contact us today for pricing options and to find out how you can tame an elephant --- one piece at a time.

Business Continuity Tip
 

A disaster can strike at any time. You and your coworkers should know what to grab and where to go if an emergency happens. Does your company have an emergency plan in place? Ask around, and if no plan is in place, help create one. Employee safety should be THE top priority when disaster strikes. When an emergency happens it is important for employees to react quickly and with purpose. Knowledge and practice are paramount.

Click here for employee safety tips from Ready.gov.

If I ask you right now whether or not you are in sales, chances are you would say, "No, I'm in accounts payable or customer service or marketing." You might even say, "I'm the CEO."

No matter what your job is, you are in sales. Every time you interact with a customer, you are selling your professional credibility, the company's products or services, and the company's image. So, even if you don't work in the sales department, read on.

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We hope you have have successfully weathered the summer storms. Now is a good time to check your UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) devices and surge protectors because there is a good chance they have taken some voltage hits and suffered power outages.

Larger UPS devices, otherwise known as Battery Backups, may have power indicators that tell you how much battery capacity is left. Smaller devices may not have such indicators. If they are connected to a computer, chances are good they came with some software that gathers that information. Opening the software can give you some general idea of the overall health of your UPS. Either way, you can't always believe the lights and software.

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I spend a growing percentage of my time getting rid of unwanted e-mails that contain viruses. If I open one of them, it potentially could overwrite files and disable my antivirus software.

What exactly is in the heads of these virus writers? Anything?

I took my inquiry to Sarah Gordon, an expert on the psychology of hackers and virus writers. She did her best to answer an overly broad question. Gordon is a senior research fellow at Symantec's security response unit, and previously was a researcher for the antivirus research and development team at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center.

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