How Cog Marketing Stifles Innovation

by Leesa Barnes on September 29, 2011

Maria Gamb

Yesterday, I had a wonderful conversation with Maria Gamb, author of Healing the Corporate World. I shared my unhappiness about my business structure. While I’m well versed in the matters of marketing (especially internet marketing), I feel as if I’m going through a reset that’s lasting a good year or more and I’m getting impatient with all this waiting.

God places certain people in my life at certain times and my conversation with Maria was no accident. She listened to me and after I finished she asked:

“In all that you shared with me, can you see what your role is on this earth?”

Defeated, I said no. She then said:

“You’re a catalyst for other catalysts.”

Yes, of course! That’s what Nancy Marmolejo helped me realize in SpotlightU. I’m a visionary, an influencer, a Brand Evangelist (check out SpotlightU for more).

As soon as I hung up the phone, I felt an overwhelming urge to remove things from my life that have been holding me back and cluttering up my perspective.

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What Jack Layton Taught Me About Influence

by Leesa Barnes on August 22, 2011

Jack Layton

I was saddened to hear that Jack Layton died following a year long battle against cancer. He just turned 61 a few weeks before his death.

I first became aware of Jack Layton in 1998 when I moved to Toronto. I moved to the Broadview & Danforth area in what is known as Greektown. Because I respect what my ancestors sacrificed to allow me the freedom to cast a ballot, I’m extremely interested in politics and took an interest in learning more about the politicians that represent me.

The Toronto city councillor who represented me in the Broadview & Danforth area was Jack Layton. On the political spectrum, he’s on the left. Although my own politics is still evolving (am I right of center or just center? Am I a Tory or a Red Tory?), what I do know is that I’m not left of center. Not at all.

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Why Political Correctness Stifles Growth

by Leesa Barnes on May 10, 2011

An National Hockey League agent, Todd Reynolds, recently tweeted the following from the @uptownhockey twitter account:

When Todd started to see the negative reaction to his tweet, he followed up with the one below just a few minutes later:

While I’m sure social media experts will pick apart the error of tweeting such an inflammatory comment from a business account, I’m saddened by the hateful response Todd received. People attacked hate with hate – even when it was under the guise of understanding and love.
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To Celebrate an Evil Person’s Death Makes Us Equally Evil

May 4, 2011

Death is what happens to all of us. When we die, our body returns to dust and our breath is no more. Our soul goes back to God, no matter if we lived a good or evil life. To celebrate the death of a wicked man is, in itself, an oddity. He wasn’t born wicked [...]

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Why Selfishness Will Hand the Conservative Party a Majority Government

April 22, 2011

When you lead with ego, you lose out. When selfishness guides your intentions, you sacrifice connections. You become irrelevant. On May 2, 2011, Canadians will vote federally for the fourth time in seven years. Elections have been held in Canada in 2004, 2006, 2008 and now, 2011. Unlike in the United States where a President [...]

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What Happens When I Stop Reading

April 13, 2011

When I stop reading, I stop blogging. I stop thinking. I stop coming up with innovative ideas. Since Christmas 2010, I started reading again. I watch 2-hours of television a day – and even that I feel is too much. Outside of that, I read. And since I’m very particular about which events I attend, [...]

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Plugging the Energy Leaks in Your Business

March 22, 2011

In her book, Jesus, CEO: Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership, Laurie Beth Jones says that Jesus guarded his energy because He had a bigger mission. He prevented energy leaks from happening in His life so that he wasn’t distracted from what he was placed on this earth to do.

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What is a leader?

March 15, 2011

Deepak Chopra, in his book The Soul of Leadership, defines a great leader, not as someone who seeks power, but: “[one] who can respond to their own needs and the needs of others from the higher levels of spirit with vision, creativity and a sense of unity with the people they lead.”

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Deliver Results Before You Deliver a Message

March 9, 2011

In his book Everyone Communicates, Few Connect, John C. Maxwell shares that connectors live what they communicate. They do so by… Connecting with themselves Righting their wrongs Being accountable Leading the way they live Telling the truth Being vulnerable Following the Golden Rule Delivering results The one I want to focus on is delivering results. [...]

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Stooge & Refreshed Move of the Week

March 7, 2011

I read alot. Sometimes, I read 2 or 3 books at the same time. I’m able to read some of the greatest business books out there on the market because I get quite a few review copies in the mail or I simply go to my local library and check books out. I also take [...]

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My Joyous Contribution to Your Serious, Stressful Life

March 1, 2011

If you don’t laugh at least once per day, something’s wrong with your life. Seriously. If I haven’t had at least one gut wrenching, stomach twisting laugh each day, I watch a bunch of funny videos on YouTube before going to bed (but I don’t read the comments, they’re often quite mean). So, here’s a [...]

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The Principle of Circulation

February 22, 2011

I volunteer on the board at my church. In November 2010, I was going to resign. I even told my Pastor I was doing so. I think I blogged about doing so as well. Two months later, I rescinded the resignation. A few things changed my mind… The first is that I was letting my [...]

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3 Ways Leaders Can Discipline Bad Behaviour With Love

February 16, 2011

Bev Oda is a Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party of Canada. The Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, are the ruling party in Canada. Bev is a politician and no one really cared about Bev until earlier this week when she admitted she lied. Well, she didn’t really come right out and say “I [...]

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Four Ways Leaders Can Create a Love Revolution in Their Business

February 14, 2011

In this video, I share the four ways leaders can create a love revolution in their business and amongst their network of friends, fans and followers.

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How to Develop Your Follow Through Factor

February 3, 2011

Some of you know that I was really good playing basketball back in high school and university, but there was one thing I was lousy at. I couldn’t shoot freethrows. I was like the Shaquille O’Neal on my team and the opposition usually figured that out pretty quickly. If the opposing team was down by [...]

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