Saturday, May 16, 2009

Learn What the US Marines Know About Building GREAT Teams

Adapt the Marine Corps' model of leadership, decision-making, team building maneuvers, and execution to your business. This course is designed to prepare organizations to thrive on the economic battlefield and calls for teams to engage and learn the maneuvers, strategies, and tactics of business WARFIGHTING. This conference comes at a time when organizations must rely on their teams to compete at peak levels to ensure its future. The warfighting strategies for teams outlined in this conference breaks inherited ways of thinking, cultural assumptions and rules, and provide patterns for charting the complex organizational situations and competitive scenarios associates may face along their journey of becoming a great team member.

Participants will gain tools to:

- Drive results and change amidst uncertain market conditions
- Decentralize decision making capacity across their organizations in order to compete in

today's critical markets and overcome the economic perils they face
- Target critical vulnerabilities that drive results and change using the GREAT

team's "Memorandum of Understanding"
- Create uniqueness into ultimate power
- Learn the seven WARFIGHTING competencies of GREAT teams
- Understand how to integrate the strategies inspired by two great warfighting classics, "The

Art of War" and "The 36 Stratagems" to win the currently engaged economic battlefield
- Drive results and change using the 8-WARFIGHTING strategies for successful cultural

transformation

TURN UNCERTAINTY INTO A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR YOUR TEAMS AND BUSINESS

Introduction to the seven guiding principles of Business WARFIGHTING For GREAT Teams as applied to business: Review "how-to" prescriptions that illustrates guiding principles (target critical vulnerabilities, Decentralize decision making, boldness, surprise, focus, tempo, and combined arms) to create uncontested market space, make the competition irrelevant, and increase the team's "intellectual and emotional thought space" for value creation.

Introduction to the leadership pillars of Business WARFIGHTING For GREAT Teams as applied to business: Examine "The Law of the Bank" to identify the critical leadership principles that are driven by GREAT teams in successful organizations (binding and trust, transactional leadership and management, depth of character, interpersonal relationships - respect and fair treatment, integrity, and unselfishness).

Introduction to the Five Paragraph Order of Business WARFIGHTING For GREAT Teams as applied to business: Learn to understand "how-to" integrate the "SMEAC" acronym to resolve conflict to any situation, business, organization, personal, and professional (understand the "situation" and plan a course of action, identify a clear "mission" - SMART goals and successful objectives - to engage high and low ground, target critical successes and "execute" towards the Future Picture - expect the unexpected and deal with it accordingly, remain fluid in your priorities to ensure "administrative/logistics" are firmly being acknowledged and achieved, complete the succession process through "command and control" measures; document lessons learned to ensure generational excellence).

The concept of business WARFIGHTING can be used in any industry, in any organization, and on any team. Heavy emphasis is placed on interactive discussion throughout the course (i.e., "how can you apply these ideas in your organization" immediately upon your return?) This conference, and its accompanying publication "Business WARFIGHTING For GREAT Teams" by authors Damian D. "Skipper" Pitts and Jason G. Brown, illustrates how to use its strategies to develop extraordinary teams from ordinary ones, while operating within great team environments to impact the future. Used appropriately, individuals and teams will be able to manage their way to victory in any competitive scenario, whether at a business engagement, departmental, or personal level. In times such as the economic perils ongoing around the world, there is no better role model for the warrior culture and warrior nature that is hidden within every individual than the one described and articulated on the pages of this timeless text and deployed within the instruction in this conference.

For additional information, please contact Solutions@thebisongroup.com, REF: Business WARFIGHTING "Mission Brief."

Damian D. "Skipper" Pitts, A United States Marine turned business professional is co-author of Business WARFIGHTING For GREAT Teams (Book Surge Publishing, 2009) and Founder and Chairman of the Bison Group Corporation, a management consulting and training firm. He is the author The Process of LeaderShaping, a cultural transformational program and university course of study and has consulted or presented to numerous leading U.S. and foreign corporations, helping them to realize increased integrated talent management strategies, team building maneuvers, and decision-making skills to compete in today's highly uncertain business environments.

He has also authored four additional publications with his most successful title, The Art of Detachment: Breakthrough Principles to Transformational Leadership (Kendall Hunt, 2007). His works allowed him to be chosen as the technical, military and development specialists by the U.S. film industry to the feature film "Stateside" that released in theaters in May 2004 where he trained and acted onscreen with "A-List" talents Val Kilmer and Jonathan Tucker along with 75 -other actors, teaching them the principles of leadership, team development, and influence for the production. He is now teaching his programs at Temple University.

Horizontal Or Vertical Drywall

How to Choose a Home Builder

Buying a new home is a major decision. Choosing a good home builder is also very important. You will want someone who is established and can be trusted, someone has the knowledge and skills in constructing a new home, someone who can manage team of craftsmen skilled at building a quality house. It's very important that you develop a good relationship with your home builder.

When you look for a new home builder, there are several things that you need to consider.

First of all, you should always ask for references and check for qualification. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to find good constructors. You can ask your friends, family and coworkers whether they have any good construction companies to recommend. Here are some questions to ask for a builder: Are you a professional builder or only a part-time constructor? How long have you been in this industry and what experience do you have? Can you give us references from your past clients? You can contact your local licensing board to make sure that builder is licensed. You can check with the Better Business Bureau to see whether any complaints have been made against that builder.

Also, you want to find a builder that constructs the type of homes that you want to built. Different builders have different areas of expertise. You should make sure that you have chosen one with the right expertise.

Besides, you should ask a constructor whether you can get a warranty with your new house. A warranty will help to protect your investment in your new home.

You should also ask what kinds of after-sales services they provide. Good builders always provide after-sales services that fix minor problems and they usually respond quickly to their clients' requests.

When you are ready to sign the contract, make sure to read the contract carefully to make sure it's detailed enough to cover everything.

Choosing the right home builder is crucial in building a new house. By following the right steps you can find a good builder that helps you to build your dream home.

Brian Walker is a freelance Internet writer. You can find more articles on home builders on http://www.myfavoritebuilder.com.

What Causes Attic Odors And Stra

Friday, May 15, 2009

Modular Homes - Total Cost of Construction

So you are looking at property and have decided to build a modular home. You may have even decided to act as your own general contractor. You are now putting together a budget. It is fairly easy to get the prices for the land and the modular home, but it is not as cut and dry to piece together everything else that will be needed at your job site.

I built a modular home about two years ago and went through the same process. I had a difficult time finding ballpark figures for many things when trying to budget my project. Below is a list of things to keep in mind when putting together your budget:

1. Utility hooks ups and your distance from existing utilities (electric, natural gas, propane, water)
2. Excavation for foundation/basement
3. Foundation and basement
4. Driveway costs
5. Electrician to wire up basement
6. Plumber to do rough plumbing under basement floor prior to setting house
7. Concrete flatwork (basement floor)
8. Plumber to do finish plumbing (hook home to rough plumbing)
9. Electrician to hook house to utilities
10. Plumber and electrician for a septic tank (if needed)
11. Carpenters for a deck
12. Contractor for a patio

It is important to get multiple bids when costing your project. Another thing to keep in mind is that you should not necessarily choose your contractors because they are the cheapest. You must check with references, view previous work they have done, verify that they are insured and licensed to work in your city. I met with my foundation contractor at a job site he was working on and was so impressed that I chose him even though he was the highest of my three bidders. I could have saved a couple of thousand dollars with someone else but I doubt it would have been worth it.

If you do not feel that you have the time or expertise to manage the contractors involved, many modular home builders will act as your general contractor for a fee. This may be the route to choose if you do not have time to meet with all of your contractors at the job site.

Tim Montey is a modular home enthusiast who built his first modular home two years ago and detailed that experience, lessons learned and costs at http://www.modularhomechoice.com

Find more detailed information on the total cost of a modular home at the above link on the Financing page.

What Does A Gfi Do

Creating Your Electricity

Creating your own electricity and generating your own power has always been one of my dreams. Having a self sufficient home, not only a house that takes care of itself by generating its own electricity through windmills or solar panels but the satisfaction knowing that no matter what happens to the electrical companies you will always have electricity at your home.

What a wonderful feeling it would be to get a check back from the utility company instead of paying them every single month. I don't know about you but my utility bills are ridiculous and seemed to be going up in price constantly. I can't believe all the fees they have been charging for years to all of their customers. If you add all the fees for every person in the city or county this comes to a large, a very large number and it's getting worse not better.

Generating your own electricity with solar or wind power is definitely green thinking. This is going to be the wave of the future as fuel used to create electricity continues to rise in price. I really can't imagine what the price of electricity is going to be like in 10 years as the mass consumption continues to rise in developing countries.

We have got to start taking care of our own needs through solar or wind power. We have got to start creating our own electricity to become self reliant. The more self reliant we become as a nation the less dependent we will be on major corporations, especially large power conglomerates.

Creating our own electricity can also be used for electrical cars that can be purchased in the future. Think of the money you will say in fuel costs as the price of gasoline continues to increase as well as less pollution into our environment.

This is definitely the wave of the future and common sense tells us this. I suggest you read this article again if you haven't figured out some of the problems coming our way in the future.

Think green and together we can start saving the planet.

While searching for new alternatives and trying to get some advice on creating your own electricity I came across a book you can purchase in digital format. This book seems to have quite a bit of information on creating your own electricity for a totally self sufficient home.

This book has been created in digital format to reduce the consumption of trees and the waste involved in creating a regular book. What a wonderful idea for helping our environment in quite a few ways.

While searching for new alternatives and trying to get some advice on creating your own electricity I came across a book you can purchase in digital format. This book seems to have quite a bit of information on creating your own electricity for a totally self sufficient home.

This book has been created in digital format to reduce the consumption of trees and the waste involved in creating a regular book. What a wonderful idea for helping our environment in quite a few ways.

For more information visit http://www.gregvan.com and look for Get Earth4Energy Here Create your own electricity! Save 1000's with Earth4Energy

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

How to Install a Ceramic Glass Tile Backsplash

Ceramic glass tile backsplash are used to give a unique look to your kitchen. You may spend lot of time and money in decorating your kitchen. Ceramic glass tile backsplash is considered to be the best option for decorating your kitchen. You will varieties of tiles that would suit the design of your kitchen. You will find various kinds of patterns. You will have to decide the best design and pattern for your kitchen.

There are various types of ceramic glass tile backsplash. Before installing ceramic glass tile backsplash you need to choose the tile that would fit into your need and demand. You should choose a color and pattern that would match with your existing decoration. These patterns would help you to give a new and unique look to your kitchen.

After choosing tile for your kitchen you should take the measurement. You should take proper measurement. Before purchasing your ceramics tile you should take the measurement of your room. Then decide the number of tiles that you need for your space but don't forget to leave some space for grout.

After purchasing your tiles try to gather your tools. Try to gather all the tools that you need for installing the tile. You may need material like pencil, cutter and many other things for attaching your tile. You should gather your tools before starting the procedure of installation.

After gathering the tools cut the tiles into pieces. You need to cut these tiles before you start attaching these tiles. Remember that all tiles should be of same size. There should be no difference in the size of the tiles. You should use ceramic tile cutter to cut these tile. Don't forget to wear your goggles before you start cutting. If you don't want to be injured then learn to use your tools before you perform the activity of attaching your tiles. You should be careful while using your equipments.

Now you may start installing your ceramic tile. After preparing all the tools that you need for installing ceramic you may start the procedure of installing the tiles. Don't forget to turn of your electricity. You may get electric shock if you put your tool in the socket. After attaching your tiles wash the wall with the help of soap and warm water. This would help you to clean your wall.

Before moving towards the next step makes sure that the wall is dry. Next step is to spread the adhesive with the help of an applicator. You should follow the instructions of manufactures if you want to successfully attach the tile. Now you can start laying down the tile. Always prefer to start from the center of the design and then move outward. When the adhesives dry you may start attaching tiles on the grout. Follow the directions that are provided by the company. Follow the rules of mixing.

These tiles would help you to give a unique and exclusive look to your house. These tiles would help you to fulfill your dreams.

Mike X Smith is a leading writer and businessmen in the field of glass tile backsplash. Check out the new line of glass tile backsplash! Many colors to choose from!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Tile Shower Pan - 3 Different Types

Your tile shower pan can be of three types. If you are considering installing a new shower you should know your choices. If you have problems with your current shower leaking, knowing how the shower is put together helps you talk to a tradesman who will work on it.

Traditional Tile Shower Pans

Most likely your existing shower pan is made using traditional methods. That means the shower floor is built up with masonry or a cement mix. The concept used for this method is simple, but there are several tricks and some art involved. This method if properly done will produce ceramic showers that work great for many decades.

Very briefly the traditional pan is built as follows. First, set a special shower drain in place with the drain top at the height of the finished floor. Make sure you have a good solid sub floor topped with roofing felt. Then pour in mortar mix and slope it to the drain. The next layer is a waterproof vinyl membrane. This sheet is the waterproof barrier which is glued to the drain. Above the membrane or liner goes the top layer of masonry sloped to the drain. Then finally install the tile and grout to finish the floor.

Know that the masonry and grout in a shower floor are not waterproof. Only the vinyl liner is waterproof. If installed properly, you have a long-lasting set-up. If mistakes are made, you have a problem. Also the shower floor is not maintenance free. The joints at the floor to walls must be checked regularly and may require caulking from time to time.

Fiberglass Shower Pans

A quick and easy way to build a shower pan is to install a fiberglass pan made for this purpose. These are the pans you see at building stores. Tile cannot be installed on these pans. It's fast and relatively easy but fiberglass pans have negatives. These pans do not last as long as traditional pans. They are easily scratched and damaged. And a fiberglass shower pan does not have the luxury look and feel of a ceramic tile shower.

Tile Ready Shower Pans

There are several systems now that make installing a shower pan faster than the traditional way. All the systems use a vinyl pan with an integral drain designed for installation of ceramic tile over the top of the pan. Methods vary, but systems contain material to line the walls and make a completely waterproof shower. Some systems use a mortar base for the shower pan to sit on. Others use a special foam base.

The advantages of these systems over traditional systems is speed. No waiting for mortar layers to dry. Also the level of art and skill for the installer is less. The disadvantage is cost. Typically the tile ready showers are far more expensive than a traditional tile shower pan.
The material is sometimes as expensive as the whole job cost the traditional way.

Puzzled about how to build a ceramic tile shower? Need more information? Visit our site for tile shower pan tips.

We invite you to visit http://www.installingceramictile.net for answers to your ceramic shower questions.

Considering Home Painting

When remodeling a house, homeowners should not forget the importance of painting their home's exterior. With expert help, homeowners can get a paint job that will allow the rest of the remodel to come together nicely and compliment the rest of the work that has been done. Exterior painting is often the factor that brings the remodel together and gives the house the best chance of looking great.

When considering home painting, homeowners should realize the importance of a good paint job. Simply painting the house is often not enough to make the house look its best. The homeowner should ensure that the job is left to the most qualified person possible. When things are left to the experts, everything else will just fall into place. Simplicity when it comes to handling these complicated jobs is something every homeowner can smile about. Realizing that they cannot handle home painting and other complex jobs themselves is the best realization a homeowner can come to when remodeling.

Contractors are their best bet in getting the results they are expecting or hoping for. The work of an amateur is just not up to par with the work of a professional. Professionals simply have too much training and experience for amateurs trying to emulate their work. Home painting can be tricky, so this training and experience will come in handy for sure. When the painter does not possess these qualities, they will often fall short of the expectations that have been laid upon them.

More information on College Works Painting home repair for your home is just a click away.