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adanicole04 · 5 years ago

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Power to the People: An Ideological Analysis

**this is a paper I wrote in college about the ideology of democracy, and tied to current culture. It’s been a couple years since this was written, but I remember this being one of my favorite projects, and I believe it’s still applicable today. Hope you enjoy! But please don’t steal it ;)

Introduction:

NBC’s Parks and Recreation character Leslie Knope is a passionate bureaucrat who personally renewed my faith in what government is supposed to be by consistently reinforcing what democracy means to her. It may be a little pathetic in retrospect that it actually took a TV show to do so, but in light of everything happening today, it seems pretty understandable. Considering approval ratings of Congress have been at a historic all-time low for several years now, it should come as no surprise that “this more negative attitude toward Congress mirrors other indicators showing that Americans are at or near record lows in their confidence in the executive and judicial branches and the federal government in general” (Connolly, 2016).

The American people are losing (if not already lost) trust in their government, and really, who can blame them? We’ve been lied to, deceived, and had our money stolen from us to be blown on government officials vacation homes while the rest of us have the worries of our basic needs to live constantly hanging over our heads. We are a people in need of reassurance; not of what our government is doing for us (because who knows if we are ever told the truth about that), but what our government was founded on: democracy.

After Donald Trump was elected president, there seemed to be enough interest as to what “Leslie Knope” would say, that an actual letter was written up in her name (by the writers of the show). There is a lengthy story about democracy, the central idea of this paper, of which I will discuss later. For now, I will start with the proclaimed point of that story.

“People are unpredictable, and democracy is insane.”

Critics, like random Quora user Carl Hancock, argue that democracy should be considered a concept, and that the ideology of democracy is limited to the belief of one’s ideal form of government (Hancock, 2013). And even Merriam-Webster defines “democracy” as a form of government (Democracy). Should democracy be restricted to a concept and/or form of government?

Foss (2009) states that “an ideology is a pattern of beliefs that determines a group’s interpretations of some aspect of the world” (p. 209). Our government should be reflected on the beliefs and values our founding fathers had for America: that we are free people. By limiting “democracy” to a form of government, we eliminate the potential belief system that essentially directs our government. Using “Leslie Knope Writes Letter to America Following Donald Trump’s Victory” as my main artifact, quotes from Parks and Recreation (Parks & Rec for short) episodes, and ideological criticism, I argue that democracy is (and should be considered as) an ideology.

Foss (1989) also asserts that the goal of a rhetorical criticism is to introduce an artifact and essay that transforms the lives of the reader (p. 26). My goal for this analysis is to embody the persona of Leslie Knope herself, and inspire American citizens to engage in the idea of democracy. I know too many people who actively avoid anything political, because it’s not only an untrustworthy area, but it’s also confusing due to issues exactly like this essay: what even IS democracy? My contribution is to simplify the rhetorical foundation of what government is supposed to be to provide confidence the people should have about it.

Context and Artifact Analysis:

Parks & Rec first aired sometime in 2009 while interest in politics really sparked after the 2008 Presidential Election. President Obama based his political campaign on “hope”, creating a positive aura around Congress. The creators of Parks & Rec were inspired by this and with the success of the politically charged show The Wire to produce a comedy about an optimistic woman starting her career in politics while highlighting the general failure of local government (Weiner, 2009).

This government-loving optimist named Leslie Knope was born, and she reminded us every week why government is important, and what it stands for. She was always consistent in her views of democracy, women in government, and breakfast foods. All of the characters were impeccably cast, but Amy Poehler brought upon a certain charm and admirable trait to her love of government. Personally, I related politically more with the character Ron Swanson, a firm libertarian. However, I really loved Knope’s idea of democracy, and how often she talked about it.

For instance, when visitors from Venezuela came to Pawnee, Indiana (the fictitious location of the show) to financially help build a park, one of the men tried to trick Knope into taking their money, videotaping the donation, so they could humiliate Americans back in their country. Knope hilariously stood her ground by reinforcing her American values by telling him, “I am gonna build that park myself, and it is gonna be awesome. And it's not gonna have a fountain shaped like Hugo Chavez's head spitting water all over everyone. Unless that's what the people want. And that, sir, is democracy.”

When it came down to the recent election of Donald Trump, it was embarrassingly comforting to have that same reassurance by her. Honestly, there are more than enough quotes from the show itself to discuss, but her letter to America was classic Leslie Knope rhetoric covering a very real issue.

To make her initial point, she almost immediately began with a story. She was in fourth grade, and her teacher conducted a mock election in which two fictitious characters were presented. One character was cool, promised things like extra recess and pizza with a candy bar crust, and the other was “bookish”, and promised to take things slow to be able to evaluate the problems of the school in a careful, intentional manner.

But before they voted, one student (Greg) asked if they could nominate a third candidate. Her teacher replied, ““Sure! The essence of democracy is that everyone—” and Greg cut her off and said “I nominate a T. rex named Dr. Farts who wears sunglasses and plays the saxophone, and his plan is to fart as much as possible and eat all the teachers,” and everyone laughed, and before Mrs. Kolphner could blink, Dr. Farts the T. rex had been elected President of Pawnee Elementary School in a 1984 Reagan-esque landslide, with my one vote for Greenie the Tortoise playing the role of “Minnesota.”

Knope then went on to say, “Winston Churchill once said, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except all those other forms that have been tried.” … The point is: people making their own decisions is, on balance, better than an autocrat making decisions for them. It’s just that sometimes those decisions are bad, or self-defeating, or maddening, and a day where you get dressed up in your best victory pantsuit and spend an ungodly amount of money decorating your house with American flags and custom-made cardboard-cutouts of suffragettes in anticipation of a glass-ceiling-shattering historical milestone ends with you getting (metaphorically) eaten by a giant farting T. rex.”

Even in her self-proclaimed despair, she finds a way to make us laugh. More importantly, Knope reminds us the importance of having our belief system of democracy serve as the foundation to how government operations should run, even if the results don’t sway in the direction we want or intend. Regardless, “democracy only works if people get involved” (Pilot Episode) because “the whole point of democracy is decisions are made by the people, as a group” (Canvassing).

There were also a couple of episodes in Season 6 where her idea of democracy was even further defined. In New Slogan, Leslie inspires the town of Pawnee to vote for a new town slogan. Obviously, she created most of the selections, and she encouraged the people to vote for one of the slogans. Well, matters took a brief turn for the worst when the local radio DJ “the Douche” suggested a write-in option of “The Home of the Stick Up Leslie Knope’s Butt”, and it led the polls. And why was there a write-in option you may wonder? “Because every election has a write-in option. That's how democracy works. I'm not a dictator. If I we're a dictator, I would throw the Douche in prison without a trial” (New Slogan). Once again, even though sometimes it makes her hysterically angry, her ideology of democracy guides practically everything she does, and every decision she makes.

Even when her archenemy Councilman Jeremy Jamm snuck in a meeting to vote on a bill that would take away voting rights to its new citizens (there was a town merger that joined the bordering town of “Eagleton” when their government went bankrupt) right before Knope’s recall election. Councilwoman Knope interrupted the meeting to filibuster it so it couldn’t pass. During the filibuster, she found out that the new citizens supported her actions, but would not be voting in her favor. She had to weigh the options out loud, but ultimately remained true to her beliefs. She could’ve stopped in order to have a better chance in the election, but instead she declared that “the right to vote is fundamental in any democracy, and this is bigger than me or anyone” (Filibuster).

Ideological Criticism:

By using the application of ideology to democracy, we can ensure a level of consistency that is desperately needed (and currently lacking) within political actions. As opposed to the restrictions the literal translation of democracy offers, the ideology behind it ensures that the “actions and their rationale are not isolated but woven into a broader fabric of understanding, anticipation, and value” (Brock, Huglen, Klumpp, & Howell, 2005).

During my analysis of the presented artifacts, it is clear that Leslie Knope has a deeply rooted understanding of democracy that is based on the idea of “the people”; that government cannot properly or fairly operate without the input of its citizens. The element that Knope presents is that we also need people within our governmental systems to uphold those beliefs and values. We need people to encourage group participation.

Although she explicitly speaks to females near the end of her letter, she acknowledges the misogyny protruding from Trump. Because this character is also quite the feminist, it probably would’ve been easier to cover this and other artifacts using a feminism approach. However, I’ve found that her hardcore belief in democracy is the basis of her rhetoric and actions. She encompasses the power within groups by simply using the word “we”; accomplished within this letter, and pretty much everything she does on the show.

“We will acknowledge this result, but we will not accept it. We will overcome it, and we will defeat it. Now find your team, and get to work.”

Democracy isn’t yet another form of government. It should be the idea behind every single decision made and action taken within the system. Political leaders and elected officials should stop and think, “Is this what the people want? AM I 100% SURE?” before signing or approving anything.

Using her anger as a tool, she encourages the beliefs behind democracy to fight the good fight in politics, and overcome this embarrassment that is our current president. When she says, “I work hard and I form ideas and I meet and talk to other people who feel like me, and we sit down and drink hot chocolate (I have plenty) and we plan. We plan like mofos. We figure out how to fight back, and do good in this infuriating world that constantly wants to bend toward the bad. And we will be kind to each other, and supportive of each other’s ideas,” she is literally describing her idea of democracy in classic Leslie Knope fashion. As the elected official in her town, she remains determined to improve lives through the power of the people, and through communication.

Conclusion:

Democracy shouldn’t be placed in a box, and set aside in politics. It should be the automatic default deciding factor for everything that happens in our government. Without the ideology of democracy, we have no real guide for how things are done. The values and beliefs behind it consistently point to the PEOPLE; not one person, not only elected officials. If anything, the elected officials should ONLY be acting in the wishes and demands of their citizens. No politician should have a final say in anything without the approval of the people first. Maybe that’s why our government is as screwed up as it is: because we have put democracy in a box, labeled it as a concept, and threw it in the dark and musty basement that no one ever goes in.

Politicians want us to believe that the notion behind democracy is some liberal tactic to take more of your money, and encourages welfare systems “for the good of the people”. This also discourages others to participate in government because people will blindly accept and trust that elected officials will do the right thing. Well, if there is no foundation of beliefs, morals and/or values, what (besides dirty money) is left to guide them?

Simple answer? Democracy. Myself, and others like Mrs. Knope (aka Parks & Rec writers) firmly believe that democracy is a set of beliefs grounding all political actions to be decided upon by the people. It is also the mutual understanding of myself and others like me that this can only be done through communication. Any politician has the “power” to draft a bill, and receive approval within the system, without ever reaching awareness of his or her citizens. In a fair and just democracy, that can no longer happen. Americans need to understand the true power of the people, and reconstruct our government to do the same. We are in desperate need of a government that works for us, not over us. We can only make this happen through the ideology of democracy.

#america #american #democracy #ideology #fourth of july #independence day #true democracy #parks and rec #leslie knope

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diveronarpg · 6 years ago

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Congratulations, DAPHNE! You’ve been accepted for the role of EDMUND with the faceclaim of Hunter Parrish. Admin Kaitlin: Oh man... oh man, oh man, oh man. Daphne, there were a great many things about this application that spoke to me, but I cannot imagine a world in which you didn’t include that final interview question because wow--it took my god damn breath away. With a single line, a part of me just knew that you understood Easton on an absolutely intrinsic level. You show so so much development potential just from your sample alone, never mind your actual plots. I cannot tell you how excited I am to start plotting things out with you, and to see you on the dash. Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

OUT OF CHARACTER

Alias | Daphne

Age | 22

Preferred Pronouns | she/her

Activity Level | 6/10 – I’m trying to get back into the swing of writing things, but I tend to be quite slow with replies. I even struggled with trying to finish this application on time (oops!), but there it is.

Timezone | EST

IN CHARACTER

Character | Edmund / Easton Craven, although he sometimes uses his mother’s maiden name (which is Westfall, because I have a terrible sense of humour). Please let me change his face claim to Hunter Parrish so I may bless the dash with his presence. :)

What drew you to this character?

Why bastard? Wherefore base? There’s a lot to be said for individual interpretations of characters, but I’ve always considered Edmund to be a remarkably nuanced individual in Shakespeare canon. He’s someone with nothing to lose and everything to gain. He’s the very definition of Machiavellianism, delectably manipulative, clever, and cunning in his own right, and by god, he’s hungry—so deprived, so angry that he should be despicable in his ruthless pursuit of satisfaction. But somehow, he still demonstrates the capacity for remorse; he evokes sympathy for his situation. He takes matters into his own hands, refuses to settle with the cards fate has dealt him, and I can’t help but admire that audacity, even if it stems from long-standing resentment and spite. The way he chooses to reclaim his identity is a well-earned fuck you to the system, and as a wise Lannister once said, you should never forget what you are. Wear it like armour, and it can never be used to hurt you—if only there was anything left of Easton to hurt.

I’m a huge glutton for fictional angst and bitterness, but admittedly, what I love more than either of those things is the sheer futility of Easton’s situation. I love him precisely because the odds were against him from the very start. In King Lear, he’s drawn the short stick in life, and the moment Edmund steels himself against the order of the world, he becomes a marked man living on borrowed time. Easton is similar in the sense that he’s doomed to never achieve the fulfillment he so desperately craves. He will never be able to fill the emptiness that remains after his forest fire of hatred has razed all else to the ground, and that is largely because the circumstances for his unhappiness are beyond his control. He was born broken, which isn’t to say that he doesn’t have to be held accountable for his actions, but rather that the descent into hell for him is easier than most; to be damned, after all, is his one and only birthright. He is very much a monster of his father’s making—so much that I imagine for all he wishes to reject his background, the resemblance he bears to his father both in appearance and ambition is ironically uncanny to everyone around him. A part of me aches deeply for the person he might have become if only he had been loved (tl;dr, yes, I am a sucker for characters with major daddy issues), but since that isn’t the case, our only other option, really, is to bask in the glory (the horror) of what his father created: Easton as he is currently, as the Craven’s unholy son. You see, the gods may deny his cause, but I came here to stand up for him in their stead.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character?

I. KING OF NOTHING - Easton pursues glory with a dark, ugly vengeance. He wants to rule, and he’s hellbent on getting there, although the way I picture it is that he’s currently biding his time under the radar, scoping out the playing field, and figuring out how he can manipulate people to his best possible advantage before he makes his move—much like a spider unattended, quietly spinning its web in the dark corner of a room. And while that in itself will be pretty fascinating to flesh out, I’m more concerned with the endgame of it all. For Easton, there’s no question that the ends justify the means, but what, exactly, is the “end” he is trying to justify? I don’t think he has a good grasp on the answer, and while he ultimately has the drive and the craftiness to ascend through the ranks, the question I want Easton to confront once he arrives there is, what now? As much as he wants the world to pay, becoming the king he thinks he deserves to be will not make him whole. I want to explore his struggle to deny this growing realization, and to have him eventually look down upon a kingdom from his point of conquest, only to see the vast emptiness that lies before him—to understand that despite everything, this is the one constant that has stuck by him his entire life. And once he accepts that nothingness? Some men just want to watch the world burn.

II. MY BROTHER’S KEEPER - But Easton was loved, you cry; he has Everett! To which I say, ah, but does he really? I think that to some extent, Easton is aware that Everett does care for him—his own feelings, however, are much more complicated, because he can’t seem to separate his resentment towards Everett from the deep-seated insecurities at the very core of his being. He has the life that Easton has always wanted, so it makes sense that at the heart of these issues, they’re intertwined. The way Easton sees it, Everett may care about him, but he does so from a position of privilege: his life was handed to him on a silver platter, and for that, he can never hope to understand. Easton is convinced that Everett never truly put his full effort into trying to understand or to help mediate their family dynamic when it mattered, and to be honest, I don’t think he’s wrong to feel that way. Not that he gives a damn anymore—as far as he’s concerned, they don’t owe each other anything—but since they’re both working under the Capulets, ignoring Everett won’t be as easy as it used to be, and I can’t wait to see how their relationship unfolds because there’s really no other character who defines him more. It’s inevitable that Easton will eventually realize his relationship with Everett is something to be exploited, not only because he’s a complete tool, but also because it’s that timeless rom-com cliché: to fake a relationship for ulterior motives only to realize that some small, twisted part of you may actually care (gasp, the horror!) for the other person. Except they’re brothers, not lovers, and I can’t think of any better way for Easton to come to terms. Something tells me that Everett may not be so forgiving, but I am 100% here for the drama and the fallout that ensues.

III. BERSERKER - There’s a very dark and primal part of Easton that contributes to his anger, and although his mind is definitely valued, this is ultimately what makes him such a great soldier for the Capulets. The moment Easton gives into that rage, all his boundaries disappear, and he becomes single-minded in his ruthlessness. He’s much better at reigning in his temper than he used to be, but you can still sense the savagery that brews just below the surface—the dark, nameless thing that paces restlessly inside of him, just waiting for an excuse to be let loose. I imagine it’s something that’s often been ascribed to him as innate, if only because of his illegitimacy. What I’m interested in exploring is, how much of that is true, and how much of it matters? Is it still something he can keep at bay, something he can still reject, if he so chooses, as it’s called into play more often with the Capulet’s plans? Or is it something he has no choice to succumb to—that internal war between instinct and emotion versus logic and reason?

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? Sure!

IN DEPTH

I didn’t manage to finish the interview section in time, but I still put one of the responses in the Extras section just because I thought it was too good to waste :)

In-Character Para Sample:

[FOUR YEARS AGO]

“Huh.” Colborne brings a hand to his chin. “Interesting. It’s risky, but it might just be ballsy enough to work.”

He is 22 when he still believes the world could be his oyster—eager to impress, eager to prove himself, and he preens, but it comes a moment too soon. He’s gathering back up his sheets and packing up his briefcase when the executive starts again, shaking his head with a chuckle.

“I have to say, I’m impressed. This isn’t exactly what I was expecting from someone of Craven & Ricci calibre.”

The world slows to a stop.

“What did you just say?” he asks, fighting to keep his voice even. The clasp on his briefcase shuts with a click. Easton turns to face him. The Dellecher executive is mopping his forehead with a handkerchief, and all he can hear is the irregular beat of his heart, responding in time to those dreaded two words.

“Well, Everett—your brother, isn’t that right? He called earlier. Put in a good word for you.”

Half-brother, he almost corrects with a growl.

Of course he did, thinks Easton, with a cold, resounding clarity. How completely and utterly stupid of him to assume there was a world beyond Everett’s reach, simply because he’d picked what he thought to be a relatively obscure firm. His face shutters, and for a moment, he pauses. Takes in a breath. The world is bleached white, but when he responds, his voice is still calm. Serene.

“I see.”

“How about it, then? You think you’ll be ready to start on Monday?”

Easton smiles thinly and gathers his coat. It’s easier than it used to be, and just like that, the door swings shut on another opportunity.

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” he says, without turning around. “I assumed I was going into this position based on my own merit.”

Colborne laughs, just a little nervously.

“Look. You’re talented, don’t get me wrong,” he says, licking his lips, and Easton can’t help but wonder, snidely, where this man was twenty, thirty years prior—how his words fall to pieces as soon as they leave his mouth, buoyed up on the tongue of a hypocrite. This man may be a superior, but to Easton he’s nothing, and he loses more respect for him with every passing second.

“But you’re also young, and you’re inexperienced. Talent won’t get you everywhere. I’ve got ten other guys all dying to get their hands on this job, and frankly, if you weren’t a Craven, well…”

But he isn’t a Craven.

Not really.

He stops listening to Colborne and slides the dossier across the table. Later, he thinks back on how he was too forgiving—how he should have burned that folder; how he should have let the company go up in flames.

Colborne’s voice swims in and out of focus.

“You should be thankful, really,” he says grimly. “All your connections, all that luck, and you’re just throwing it away. You have no idea how many people would kill to be in your position—”

And just like that, something in Easton snaps. All the control he’s been working so hard to exercise unravels in an instant as a hot streak of rage courses through him, rearing its ugly head. He grabs Colborne by the tie and shoves him up against the wall so hard that the Escher replica hanging on the wall crashes to the floor, frame splintering into pieces.

“You have no idea what I should or shouldn’t be thankful for, you sorry son of a bitch,” Easton spits, fingers clenched around his disgustingly damp collar. Red starbursts flare in his periphery, adrenaline pumping fire through his veins, and the image of Colborne’s face, bloodied and broken, rises up in his mind, the satisfaction of hearing the crack of his skull running rampant in his brain. He’s about to slug him when his mother’s laugh appears out of the blue, unwelcome and intrusive.

Suddenly he’s twenty again, sitting in the backroom of a Venetian cabaret club across from someone he can’t call anything other than a stranger.

You can dress nice all you want, she tuts through ribbons of cigarette smoke, nodding at his clothes. It’s a valiant attempt, I’ll give you that much. You almost even pass as being fully related to that beloved brother of yours.

But you can’t hide that temper.

Easton drops his fist.

It’s the bastard’s blood.

(For the first time, he wonders whether she meant him or his father.)

He lets go of Colborne, who slides down against the floor, shocked into silence, and something ugly blooms in chest when he steps back—something that feels an awful lot like guilt. It lingers as he dons his coat and smoothes out his hair, intermingling with the stench of the man’s sweat, and the longer he looks at him, the more he realizes that he feels nothing for the man—that the guilt isn’t so much for Colborne as it is for the satisfaction he gets from towering over him.

Easton nods at the folder.

“Something to remember me by,” he says stiffly. “Use it. Or don’t. I really don’t fucking care.”

He calls Everett while he’s waiting for the bus and catches a glimpse of his reflection in the glass pane. He looks every inch the part. Not a wrinkle, not a flyaway hair, not a thread out of place. It’s a far cry from how he was managing just a few months ago—ever since their father announced he was stepping down, and he’d let himself entertain the inkling of hope that maybe, just maybe, there would be a sign—but what’s important hasn’t changed. He still isn’t good enough.

Everett picks up on the first ring.

“You called Dellecher,” he accuses, voice flat.

“Westfall? Really?” Everett sounds amused. Bored, even, as if it surprises him in the slightest that he’d choose to use a different name.“Do you truly hate us that much, little brother?”

Irrevocably, something stings. More than the nip of winter frost at his cheeks, or at his ears. No, he decides, it’s not so much a sting as it is a burn, spreading through his ribcage, up his throat like white fire. A gloved fist clenches at his side, and in that moment, he makes up his mind. He’ll claw his way to the top if he has to or die trying.

Do you truly hate us that much, little brother?

If only he knew the half of it.

“Stay out of my way, Everett,” Easton says coldly, just before ending the call. “I don’t need your help.”

He doesn’t need anyone’s.

He’ll make it on his own—just like he always has.

EXTRAS:

Mockblog: http://machiavillains.tumblr.com

A cornucopia of unrelated (but still fun) facts:

Also has a hand in managing certain offshore accounts, so I guess he does dirty work for his day job too? Point being either way, he’s not afraid to and will play dirty

Is still sensitive about a cryptocurrency fiasco that happened last year and will lash out if you mention it in the slightest

His misspelt Starbucks name is always Edinger Westphal

Yes, he’s kind of juvenile but that’s what happens when you’re emotionally stunted because your dad doesn’t love you

And finally, the response to “What has been your biggest mistake so far?” question:

“Haven’t you heard?” Easton smirks faintly, the smile no less cruel, no less mocking. If only they knew how easy it came to him now—how easily he wears the words, how they slant around his ears like a crown, not a curse (or maybe—just maybe—they’re one and the same). “I’m the bastard son,” he says with a dramatic flourish, reclining further back in his chair. But there’s something true, something bitter about it, something that snags at the end of his words. “My biggest mistake was being born.”

All in all, it appears the Easton in my head is much more of a mopey, woe-is-me mess than I expected and I’m really sorry about that BUT he appears well put-together and vindictive on the outside I promise it’s just inside he never grew up and he’s still an angsty teen.

Okay, that’s it! I’m sorry this was so long, and thanks again for considering me :)

#accepted #accepted: edmund

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riichardwilson · 4 years ago

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How to Use Executive Search Recruitment Practices to Foster Diversity and Inclusion in Your Workforce

September 11, 2020 6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

By now, anyone who’s paying attention to workplace diversity, equity and inclusion knows that gender and racial representation are essential to organizational growth. Studies have shown time and time again that companies with diverse leadership teams are more profitable and innovative. Employees are also more engaged, and customer retention is higher.

Based on a study by legendary management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, when an organization has more gender and ethnic diversity, the likelihood of financial outperformance in the market is an average of 35 percent greater.

Related: 7 Ways to Check Your Bias When Evaluating Your Team

Achieving parity is a process

Diversity has proven to increase the bottom line. In 2017, companies in the S&P 500 closed the year at an increase of 19.45 percent. At that time,16 companies did not have a single woman on the board or in the C-suite. By the end of 2019, every company had at least one woman on their board — and closed the year at a nearly 30 percent increase. Plain and simple, diversity at the top is good for business.

So if the data is this crystal clear, why are women and people of color still so underrepresented in executive leadership? Recently, Mogul, the global diversity recruitment company of which I am CEO, held a “Diversity in Executive Search” webinar about this topic. Cathrin Stickney, the founder and CEO of Parity.org, a nonprofit that advocates for representation of women and people of color at the highest levels of business, shared insights with Mogul members.

She outlined that achieving parity in organizational leadership is a multi-pronged process and specifically highlighted the importance of making progress across representation. Recruitment is a foundational step in increasing representation. If you’re in leadership and looking to add diversity in your workforce — and you absolutely should be — there are five easily implementable executive recruitment strategies that you can take advantage of to give you the best chance to hire the top talent. Many of these I’ve come across in my personal executive search practice, and it’s changed the way we recruit at Mogul.

1. Eliminate unconscious bias at every opportunity. Unconscious bias is present everywhere and affects everything from recruitment to compensation, mentoring and promotion. Bias can create unintended setbacks in designing a truly diverse and inclusive workplace.

2. Be deliberate in your recruiting process. During her session, Stickney noted that there are no two ways around this; if you want to design the best team, you must be deliberate. This means creating gender and ethnically neutral job descriptions, taking out any overly casual or “bro” language, and eliminating age and other identifiers in your applications. Effective neutral job descriptions will attract top talent, and the removal of identifiers will allow you to look at their qualifications as objectively as possible.

Related: We’re Looking at the Wrong Workplace Diversity Numbers

3. Put together a diverse interview panel. Bringing minorities into your interview process shows your candidate that you understand the importance of different perspectives. In 2014, Intel began requiring that interview panels for all new hires include at least two members of underrepresented communities. Since then, Intel’s diversity numbers have shot up. Before the new requirement, 31 percent of new hires were either women or people of color; two years later, that number was 45 percent.

4. Hold your search firm or recruiter accountable. We hear a lot about diverse slates. But, as Stickney noted, you can have a seemingly diverse slate and still never hire a woman. You also could have 50-50 gender parity in your slate, but if everybody comes from the same ethnic or cultural background, that’s not true diversity. Stickney defines true diversity as a representative slate. When working with an executive recruiter, request candidates who represent the gender and racial makeup of your country or region and make the search firm you’ve hired commit to bring a representative slate of qualified candidates and hold them accountable to deliver what you want. Top executive recruiters will have an expanded network of diverse individuals, so a good rule of thumb for an effective representative slate should include 50 percent women and 40 percent people of color. Don’t settle for the sake of time, and push back if you don’t get what you’ve asked for.

5. Be aware of common myths and see through them. Stickney pointed out three common myths within hiring practices that need to be addressed. The first is that top talent went only to top schools. I say this as a Harvard Business and Yale graduate, but there are plenty of incredible people who have risen through the ranks via their own grit and tenacity who have never received a degree. I certainly have my own bias when a fellow Yalie’s application hits my desk, but anyone who has hired enough people will agree that top schools matter less than the person’s passion for their work.

Second, Stickney points out that “culture fit” is a buzzy phrase that needs redefining. Hiring for culture fit by way of personality fit only asks things like: Are you like me? Can I get along with you? Can we socialize together? Do I understand you? Do you understand me? While it’s important to know if you’ll be able to work with someone on a day-to-day basis, these criteria should carry only so much weight. Through the hiring process, you should define your culture by company values and match the candidates who share those values.

The third myth is the notion that there are not enough women and people of color that qualify for the open executive and board seats. As Stickney pointed out, this is a network problem. We all need to continue to diversify our networks if we want to find better candidates. There are plenty of qualified women capable of moving up the ladder. It’s a matter of being active on professional platforms like Mogul and LinkedIn, and diversifying your network to find them.

Related: Be Intentional About Diversity

Progress is happening, but slowly

A final word on the progress we’re all making together. As noted in the 2019 Spencer Stuart Board Index, a record-breaking 59 percent of new directors are diverse, and women constitute 46 percent of the new directors coming in. Women and minorities now represent a combined 39 percent of all S&P 500 directors. Yes, it’s a new milestone, but it’s still far from 50 percent.

Creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce is a top-down effort, and I believe organizations need to be publicly committed to it. Being committed to diversity and inclusion allows top talent to know where you stand, and lets your current employees, suppliers and customers know you are a company that does the right thing. Posting about your successes on your public-facing channels highlights that you are a champion of diversity and will attract the best and the brightest to your organization.

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scpie · 4 years ago

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How to Use Executive Search Recruitment Practices to Foster Diversity and Inclusion in Your Workforce

September 11, 2020 6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Related: 7 Ways to Check Your Bias When Evaluating Your Team

Achieving parity is a process

Related: We’re Looking at the Wrong Workplace Diversity Numbers

Related: Be Intentional About Diversity

Progress is happening, but slowly

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laurelkrugerr · 4 years ago

Text

How to Use Executive Search Recruitment Practices to Foster Diversity and Inclusion in Your Workforce

September 11, 2020 6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Related: 7 Ways to Check Your Bias When Evaluating Your Team

Achieving parity is a process

Related: We’re Looking at the Wrong Workplace Diversity Numbers

Related: Be Intentional About Diversity

Progress is happening, but slowly

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Delray Beach SEO

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fyzil · 4 years ago

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2020

#Whirlwind of emotions. #Ups and downs, #highs and lows, #dips and valleys, #tough moments, #JOY of fatherhood, #emotional wreck, #trough of sorrow, #points of uncertainty, #desire to do better - to have what i haven’t had by doing what i hadn’t done, #falling forward.

2017 -I have been here before, a moment of zero fulfilment, of depression, being less of myself, difficulty and challenges. I rose from it, I grew from it, I had faith, i wasn’t discouraged, i never held back, i gave it everything i had, i flourished and blossomed again, I conquered.

2020 - I hit my deepest lows, i got hit again and again and again, but i will RISE UP LIKE THE WARRIOR I AM, i am responsible for my happiness, I will get it.

Desires, Passion, Quitting, Resentment, Hardship.

I wont stop, I wont quit, I wont cave... I would succeed, I would accomplish, I would keep trying, I would get what i never had by doing something i never did. We’ve been here before. I have been successful in my own way which reminds me that... I am a Warrior, my mind is tougher than I believe, I am smarter than i give myself credit for, I am on a path to accomplishment, I am a winner. Note to me - Keep scrapping, keep working hard. You don't have to impress anyone but you. Now is the time to build. Fold your sleeves up, get your hands dirty, pray to God for direction and guidance and you'll reap and enjoy the fruits soon, keep going and don't look back. You don't have to worry or hurry to live the dream, it's coming, at its time - The right time. Jul 03, 2020. Hafiz The biggest challenge working on an idea in these early days is the wavering thoughts and emotions of whether it’s going to be a success or failure. One minute I feel sure and boisterous about it all, another minute I am in so much doubt I loose all the energy and desire to even do anything about it. I remain unflappable and will keep bursting my ass to get it off the ground and see it through to immense success. It’s so tough glueing all the pieces needed together but we won’t back down. We evade roadblocks not turn back. Jul 13,2020. Hafiz

Don’t be afraid to fail big, dream big, dream without goals are just dreams.

I have seen a pattern in my growth over the last decade. In 2011, i devoted myself to making a 2:1 and better grades. By 2012, i achieved the latter a lot but it became clear I wouldn’t be able to graduate with the grades i wanted. I took all my efforts and channeled it into programming, studying entrepreneurship, networking and creating good relationships at CCHub and also getting mentored by a Google Engineer - Toki. I abandoned school. I never attended classes, was highly anti-social and only wore tracks all through - I was done on the inside. My ultimate aim was to get into Huawei, to be hired as a software prodigy. All the programming, extra hours and tough moments learning Data Structures and Algorithm paid off. All the dedication and devotion paid off. Huawei welcomed a whiz kid. It was no mean feat... Alhamdulilah! In 2013, the year i got my famous scars, the year i spread myself so so thin, worked my tail off at Huawei. I needed to prove i was more than hype, that i was the real deal - I DID. Colleagues, bosses, and peers were amazed at the prospects i demonstrated. I got stifled by the new HR who didn’t understand why i was so celebrated. I was super anti-social again as all i did was focus on performing my best to seal my role as a Solutions Architect - The first time a college grad will be hired straight to a senior role. Unfortunately I wasn’t given the role officially but i kept performing and excelling while functioning at it. In 2015, the year i grew balls. I found out that i didn’t want to live on salaries and the pennies Segun and I squared from small side gigs with Solar89digital. It was time to play amongst the big boys. It was a moonshot but with a lot of zest, 5X tenacity, we landed a fantastic gig with the Government. It burnt us out but we learnt a lot and made a lot of money - millions. Made my first million and more. Moved into a very big apartment, got a land, travelled to SA and became Product Management Certified, enrolled into Edinburgh’s MBA programme, and picked up my first car from home - A Mistibushi Gallant. Did all these by being super anti-social, focused only on the things i wanted to achieve and grew tremendously in belief, wisdom and experience. In 2018, after just getting married, i knew i didn’t want to be stuck working an IT job in a law firm. In the previous year, i was fired by Huawei for refusing to come to work. My brother connected me to the Job to get me back on my feet. I did get married on the job and was able to put myself together. However I believed I was better than staying on it - my gut feeling and my soul knew, I just had to prove to myself. Interviewed with NIBSS, Mainone, Andela, Paystack, etc. I finally did great at Interswitch but eventually got sent to Arca/Clane by them. So much joy through the internal hardship of self-doubt and the What ifs. A lot of reflection into my achievements in the previous 5 years and how it would all have culminated into working as an IT guy in a law firm? NO NO NO. Glad i was able to make a switch back into proper Corporate work after a 1 year hiatus. Was humble though and learnt a lot through it all. I did what i needed to do to get what i wanted but then I had to move on from it. Great place to work though. Learnt about foreign culture and human interaction.

2018 further sharpened my mind. I shifted my mindset to how I can test my mettle on an international scale. I started to look out for opportunities in diaspora and this was another moment of digging deep again. I wanted nothing but such move. I was desperate and I wanted it so bad. It however took over 100+ applications, 25+ interviews, and 3 final stage rejections to land at PayJoy. Bottom line, I’m a 100% all-in guy once I’m gunning for something. I don’t fear neither do I frail. My mind is stronger than my body and my brain is blessed to have me to try to make the best of it always. Along those lines, i had a stint at a Big name company to make my resume look good, but we eventually landed where we wanted. This is 2020. Another year of intense growth. I’ve been here before, how hard, tough and painful it feels when expanding, stretching my limits and going to territories I have never been before. I know this feeling, I can tap into this mindset, and now it’s activated - Full Mode. With God on my side, I’m willed, I’m powerful, I’m grateful, I’m tenacious and I won’t stop till the desired accomplishments are achieved. Stepping into 2020, we knew this is what we’d have to go through, and we were ready. Mabrouk came along and there came extra motivation being a father. Yes it comes with a lot of erring and downsides - being Anti-social, excessively private and unwavering in my cause, It’s just how i know best to do it. It’s how i have got results before and it has worked many many many times over and over and over again for me - Why change or break it? I have been locked up in a jail (my house) for the past 3 months, grinding out myself to execute on my entrepreneurship quest. I haven’t stopped thinking about it for a second and i have possibly researched the most in my entire life these last months - even paid for and conducted a lot of research. This is the year it starts and we have to throw the kitchen sink at it if need be.

I am not in a hurry to do the flashy things like getting an exotic car, buying extravagant things. I’ve the money but there is no rush because these things will come whether i want it or not. The money for it will come in abundance and i would even be tired of it and start doing a lot of charity.

I will keep on going till i see my objectives to fruition, no backing down from it, no anxieties. At the end, i would either be a very successful entrepreneur or a failed founder with a lot of experience that can be used to pursue another challenge or company with an even bigger purpose and ambition. I would not have wasted the time. All i will keep doing is “Rinse and Repeat” and if i unfortunately never become that successful business man, in a few years or within a decade, i’d have enough knowledge from all my experiences to be a mentor, a coach or a consultant, which would then make me a lot of money regardless which i can conveniently use for my kids as they grow or live the comfortable life. As far as I see it, there’s no loosing embarking on this mission - Only winning.

More pain, daunting task ahead as we keep Vysend moving forward. Blessed to have Valentina Valencia in our corner. She’s remarkable, pushing the living day light out of us. Had a session on roadmapping and focus before we speak to Sebastian from Seedstars tomorrow. We keep pushing

Aug 11,2020 11:56PM

#Settling for a life that is less than what i'm capable of living.#Take chances. Do what you are passionate about.

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batterymonster2021 · 5 years ago

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The first 20 hours -- how to learn anything | Josh Kaufman | TEDxCSU

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The first 20 hours -- how to learn anything | Josh Kaufman | TEDxCSU

Translator: Gustavo Rocha Reviewer: Marssi Draw hi everyone. Two year ago, my life converted forever. My spouse Kelsey and i welcomed our daughter Lela into the arena. Now, fitting a mother or father is an mighty expertise. Your entire world alterations over night. And your entire priorities alternate right away. So fast that it makes it rather elaborate to process many times. Now, you additionally need to be taught a enormous amount about being a dad or mum like, for example, how you can costume your baby.(Laughter) This used to be new to me. That is an precise outfit, I inspiration this used to be a just right inspiration. And even Lela knows that it is not a excellent suggestion. (Laughter) So there may be a lot to be taught and a lot craziness all at once. And to add to the craziness, Kelsey and i each work from residence, we’re entrepreneurs, we run our own firms. So, Kelsey develops courses on-line for yoga academics. I am an creator. And so, i’m working from residence, Kelsey’s working from home. We now have an little one and we’re trying to be certain that everything will get executed that needs performed. And lifestyles is fairly, relatively busy. And a couple of weeks into this strong experience, when the sleep deprivation fairly kicked in, like round week eight, I had this notion, and it was once the same idea that parents across the a while, internationally, every body has had this idea, which is: i am under no circumstances going to have free time ever again.(Laughter) a person mentioned it’s real. It is not precisely proper, but it feels rather, relatively actual in that moment. And this was once really disconcerning to me, seeing that some of the matters that I revel in greater than some thing else is learning new matters. Getting eager about whatever and diving in and fiddling around and finding out by way of trial and blunder. And eventually fitting beautiful just right at something. And with out this free time, I did not know the way I was ever going to do that ever once more. And so, i am a huge geek, I want to preserve studying things, I need to maintain growing. And so what I’ve determined to do used to be, go to the library, and go to the bookstore, and seem at what study says about how we learn and the way we be trained speedily. And that i learn a bunch of books, I read a bunch of websites. And tried to reply this query, how lengthy does it take to acquire a new ability? What I determined? 10,000 hours! Someone ever heard this? It takes 10,000 hours. If you wish to learn some thing new, if you wish to be just right at it, it will take 10,000 hours to get there.And i read this in e-book after booklet, in internet site after internet site. And my mental experience of studying all of these things used to be like: No!! I would not have time! I shouldn’t have 10,000 hours. I am not ever going to be equipped to be trained anything new. Ever once more. (Laughter) but that is not actual. So, 10,000 hours, just to provide you with a rough order of magnitude, 10,000 hours is a full-time job for five years.That’s a very long time. And we have now all had the experience of studying anything new, and it failed to take us anywhere just about that period of time, right? So, what’s up? There may be some thing kinda funky going on here. What the study says and what we assume, and have experiences, they do not healthy up. And what I observed, this is the wrinkle: the ten,000 hour rule came out of studies of knowledgeable-stage performance. There’s a professor at Florida State school, his name is ok. Anders Ericsson. He is the originator of the 10,00 hour rule. And the place that got here from is, he studied official athletes, world class musicians, chess grand masters. All of this ultra aggressive individuals in ultra-excessive performing fields. And he tried to figure out how lengthy does it take to get to the top of those forms of fields. And what he located is, the extra deliberate observe, the more time that those members spend working towards the elements of whatever it’s that they do, the more time you spend, the easier you get.And the humans on the tippy top of their fields put in around 10,000 hours of follow. Now, we had been talking about the game of mobile a bit of bit earlier. Here’s what occurred: an creator through the identify of Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book in 2007 called "Outliers: The Story of Success", and the vital piece of that book was the ten,000 hour rule. Apply a lot, apply good, and you’re going to do extremely good, you’re going to attain the top of your field. So, the message, what Dr. Ericsson was once truly announcing is, it takes 10,000 hours to get on the top of an ultra competitive discipline in a very slender area, that’s what that implies. But this is what happened: ever due to the fact that Outliers got here out, right away came out, reached the highest of great vendor lists, stayed there for 3 stable months.All of the sudden the 10,000 hour rule was once in all places. And a society-vast sport of cellphone began to be performed. So this message, it takes 10,000 hours to arrive the top of an extremely competitive discipline, grew to become, it takes 10,000 hours to become an proficient at whatever, which grew to be, it takes 10,000 hours to come to be just right at anything, which became, it takes 10,000 hours to gain knowledge of anything. But that final declaration, it takes 10,000 hours to be trained anything, isn’t genuine. It’s now not proper. So, what the research truly says — I spent quite a few time here on the CSU library in the cognitive psychology stacks ‘purpose i am a geek. And whilst you in reality appear at the experiences of talent acquisition, you see again and again a graph like this. Now, researchers, whether they may be studying a motor talent, anything you do physically or a intellectual ability, they wish to be taught matters that they are able to time. ‘reason you can quantify that, proper? So, they will supply research members slightly mission, anything that requires bodily arrangement, or some thing that requires finding out a bit mental trick, and they’re going to time how long a participant takes to whole the skill.And here is what this graph says, while you — so when researchers gave contributors a challenge, it took them a fairly very long time, ‘reason it used to be new and so they were horrible. With somewhat bit of practice, they get better and higher and better. And that early a part of practice is relatively, quite effective. Folks get just right at matters with just a bit bit of apply. Now, what’s exciting to note is that, for competencies that we need to learn for ourselves, we don’t care a lot about time, correct? We just care about how good we’re, something just right occurs to intend. So if we relabel performance time to how excellent you are, the graph flips, and you get his noted and widely known, that is the learning curve.And the story of the learning curve is while you start, you are grossly incompetent and you are aware of it, right? (Laughter) With a little bit bit of observe, you get fairly good, really quick. In order that early level of improvement is particularly speedy. After which at a distinct point you attain a plateau, and the subsequent games become a lot more difficult to get, they take more time to get.Now, my query is, i want that, correct? How lengthy does it take from beginning anything and being grossly incompetent and realizing it to being reasonably just right? In confidently, as brief a interval of time as possible. So, how lengthy does that take? Here’s what my study says: 20 hours. That is it. You can go from understanding nothing about any talent that you may believe of. Want to learn a language? Wish to learn how to draw? Wish to learn easy methods to juggle flaming chainsaws? (Laughter) should you put 20 hours of centered deliberate follow into that factor, you’ll be astounded. Astounded at how excellent you might be. 20 hours is plausible, that’s about forty five minutes a day for about a month. Even skipping a pair days, right here and there. 20 hours isn’t that difficult to build up. Now, there may be a approach to doing this. Due to the fact it’s not like that you can just begin fiddling around for about 20 hours and assume these massive improvements. There may be a option to follow intelligently.There may be a approach to practice successfully, with a view to be certain that you make investments these 20 hours in probably the most strong method that you just in all probability can. And here’s the method, it applies to something: the first is to deconstruct the skill. Make a decision exactly what you want to be in a position to do when you are achieved, and then appear into the skill and smash it down into smaller portions. Lots of the matters that we believe of as talents are truely huge bundles of competencies that require all types of extraordinary things.The extra you can break apart the ability, the extra you’re capable to come to a decision, what are the parts of this skill that may virtually help me get to what i want? After which that you would be able to practice these first. And when you observe the most important things first, you can be capable to toughen your performance in the slightest degree period of time viable. The second is, be taught enough to self right. So, get three to five resources about what it is you’re trying to study. Could be e-book, would be DVDs, might be courses, might be some thing. However don’t use these so that you can procrastinate on observe. I know I do this, proper? Get like 20 books concerning the topic, like, "i will begin finding out the best way to application a pc when I entire these 20 books". No. That is procrastination. What you want to do is study just sufficient which you could absolutely follow and self correct or self edit as you observe. So the educational turns into a method of getting better at noticing when you are making a mistake and then doing something a bit of one of a kind. The third is to take away boundaries to apply. Distractions, television, internet. All of these matters that get in the way of you truly sitting down and doing the work.And the more you’re equipped to make use of just a bit little bit of self-control to take away the distractions which are maintaining you from practising, the more likely you’re to truly sit down and practice, correct? And the fourth is to observe for a minimum of 20 hours. Now, most abilities have what I call a frustration barrier. You understand, the grossly-incompetent- and-realizing-it section? That’s really, rather frustrating. We don’t wish to believe silly. And feeling stupid is a barrier to us simply sitting down and doing the work. So, by means of pre-committing to practicing something it’s that you need to do for at least 20 hours, you’ll be able to beat that initial frustration barrier and keep on with the practice long adequate to actually reap the rewards.That’s it! It can be not rocket science. 4 quite simple steps that you should use to be trained some thing. Now, that is convenient to talk about in idea, but it’s more enjoyable to speak about in observe. So one of the vital things that I’ve desired to gain knowledge of the best way to do for a long time is play the ukulele. Has someone noticeable Jake Shimabukuro’s TEDTalk the place he performs the ukulele and makes it sound like — he is like a ukulele god. It is potent.I noticed it, I was like, "that is so cool!" it’s the sort of neat instrument. I’d relatively prefer to be trained the best way to play. And so I determined that to test this concept I wanted to put 20 hours into working towards ukulele and spot where it obtained. And so the first thing about playing the ukulele is, so as to practice, you have to have one, proper? So, I obtained an ukulele and — My lovely assistant? (Laughter) thank you sir. I think i need the chord right here. It is not simply an ukulele, it can be an electric ukulele. (Laughter) Yeah. So, the primary couple hours are similar to the first couple hours of whatever.You have to get the tools that you’re making use of to apply. You have to make sure they’re on hand. My ukulele failed to come with strings connected. I had to figure out how you can put those on. Like, that is type of most important, right? And learning how you can tune, finding out how one can ensure that the entire things that have to be finished so as to training get finished, right? Now, some of the things once I was once competent to absolutely begin working towards used to be I appeared in on-line databases and songbooks for find out how to play songs. And so they say, okay, ukuleles, which you can play multiple string at a time, so that you would be able to play chords, that’s cool, you are accompanying yourself, yay you. (Laughter) And after I started looking at songs, I had an ukulele chord guide that had like hundreds and hundreds of chords.Looking at this and "Wow, that is intimidating". However while you look on the exact songs, you see the equal chords over and over, right? As it seems, taking part in the ukulele is form of like doing some thing, there’s a very small set of things which are relatively primary and systems that you’ll use all the time. And in most songs you can use 4, perhaps five chords, and that’s it, that is the tune. You don’t have to comprehend hundreds and hundreds, so long as you understand the four or the 5. So, whilst I was doing my research, I found a extraordinary little medley of pop songs by using a band known as Axis of extraordinary. (Whistles) — an individual knows it. — And what Axis of fantastic says is that you would be able to gain knowledge of, or you could play usually any pop tune of the previous five decades, if you understand four chords, and those chords are G, D, Em and C.Four chords pump out each pop track ever, correct? So I thought, this is cool! I wish to play each pop song ever. (Laughter) So, that was once the first song I made up our minds to gain knowledge of, and that i wish to definitely share it with you. Competent? (Applause) very well. (track) (Singing) just a small city lady, living in a lonely world, she took the midnight educate going anywhere. I heard that you simply settled down, (Laughter) that you observed a lady, that you’re married now.Every night in my goals (Laughter) I see you, I feel you, that’s how i know you go on. (Laughter) I will not hesitate no extra, no more. It cannot wait, i am yours. ’cause you have been amazing, we did effective matters. If I might, then i would, i’d go anywhere you’re going to — can you think the love tonight. (Laughter) I can’t are living with or without you. After I find myself — after I find myself in occasions of problem, mom Mary comes to me, many times I feel like I should not have associate. No woman, no cry.Yeah mama, this without doubt is a dream. I come from a land down below. (Laughter) as soon as a jolly swagman camped via a billabong. Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, (Laughter) but this is my quantity, so name me hey sexy woman, op, op, op, op, oppan gangnam style. (Laughter) it’s time to say goodbye. Closing time, every new establishing comes from every other beginning’s end. (Singing and music ends) (Applause) thank you, thank you. I like that song. (Laughter) And i’ve a secret to share with you. So, via taking part in that track for you, I just hit my twentieth hour of working towards the ukulele. (Applause) thank you. And so it’s powerful, quite often some thing that you would be able to consider of, what do you want to do. The most important barrier to be taught some thing new shouldn’t be mental, it can be now not the procedure of you learning a bunch of little tips or tips or matters. The most important barrier’s emotional. We’re scared. Feeling silly would not believe excellent, within the commencing of learning anything new you suppose quite stupid. So the main barrier’s now not intellectual, it can be emotional.However put 20 hours into some thing. It isn’t important. What do you wish to have to gain knowledge of? Do you wish to have to be trained a language? Want to be trained how to cook? Want to learn how to attract? What turns you on? What lights you up? Go out and do that factor. It most effective takes 20 hours. Have enjoyable. (Applause) .

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airoasis · 5 years ago

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The first 20 hours -- how to learn anything | Josh Kaufman | TEDxCSU

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/the-first-20-hours-how-to-learn-anything-josh-kaufman-tedxcsu-14/

The first 20 hours -- how to learn anything | Josh Kaufman | TEDxCSU

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twelvesignsrp · 7 years ago

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congratulations logan, aries is now dane ducios with the faceclaim santiago segura

APPLICATION

Character Sign: Aries

Character name: Dane Duclos Birthday: 04/01/1997 Sexuality: Straight-Curious Gender: Male Moon Sign: Capricorn Faceclaim: 1) Santiago Segura or 2) Alexander Koch Power: Combustion Inducement: Users can increase the kinetic of atoms and molecules causing them to ignite. This process creates heat, that user can use. Personally I see Dane’s ability as a hindrance than something he has mastered or something the others seem to be gifted with. I like the idea of tying his aggressive and passionate side into his power. As much as him controlling flames seemed cool, that didn’t seem volatile enough—aka why I liked the idea that his anger could stem multiple minor explosions through the air or an object around him causing fires or miniature explosions (like a firework). His ability SHOULD NOT be confused with controlling flames, causing massive explosions, or something along the lines of thermodynamics/control. His ability is simple able to cause atoms to spontaneously spark to the point of causing friction, heat, flames, or a volatile mixture of both. I want him to use this ability a lot in the beginning as signs that he’s pissed off…since I wanted him to come across as passionate and headstrong but has a killer facade. Like can you imagine him getting into an argument and he just accidentally causing a candle to burst into flames but then can put it out? I just find that funny.

If that power seem too over powered or less controlled—since I know you wanted balance, so I had a back power or secondary if you don’t like the first.

Fire Absorption: The ability to absorb fire and utilize it in some way. It’s fairly straight forward, like fire negation, but I like the idea of his sign being under the house of fire that instead of destroying or dismissing fire—he could instead absorb it. I imagine him quench accidental fires, magical explosions, or generally take fire in a way to enhance him. Personally the only enhancement I’d want is when he absorbs fire he has a stamina boost. Like a extra shot of espresso or something. I know most absorption powers can be too wonky making the person invinicble the more than can absorb but for me… I just want it to be a leveling ability that can minor cancel problems while being minorly effective or influential for Dane.

What do they study: Architecture, I like the idea of him being in the department or school of design at Durham. For him architecture is this unlimited space to create something long lasting, to have a physical imprint on history. In high school is when he learned that creating homes to bridges, to the newest or most advance buildings gave him this passion he never expected to have. Before that his family assumed he’d go into law or politics, but the way he spoke about design made them lenient on letting him explore that.

Biography: (TW: Abortion, TW: Pregnancy )

Etched from the finest marble, details were in the hands of your master on that day since you would become their perfect creation. Son of a diplomat and a lawyer, he was shoved into a light he had to learn to soak up. For Dane, every moment from the age of nine until now has had a plan, a certain design to be finished out. His schooling, his friends, down to his extracurricular choices would pave the way to what he thought was his goals. His parents weren’t that overbearing as most would think, they were firm but supportive yet in the eyes of their son they were two of the hardest people to make proud. His mind clouded love as a test to pass. He took strides in everything he did to be the best—to climb the rankings as the one to look at. In his heart he believed he could do anything, that all the compliments and congratulations as a child were fabricated into the crown he wears on his head this day. He’d be royalty, he’d be the golden ichor that the gods spoke of.

He’d be unstoppable.

However one thing almost derailed that for him, the outlier to his future—the one girl that would have halted it all. Lillian Alcott was the one thing that he never expected. She was an angel with a vixen’s heart, she spoke in riddles, and caused every minute that Dane was with her to be complicated but intriguing. The straight forward, overachiever had met the one that didn’t fit into his world—which then became the one thing that couldn’t be unhinged from it either. For three years they dated, loved, and spent every moment working a way to have her in his life forever. Days would become months and Dane’s design for himself grew into a design for them. However The Fates were always fickle women, as it seemed he was destined for something else, as a choice; no a forced decision would cause the two to break. It was four months before graduation, before Dane would head to Durham on early scholarship and Lilian would attend a university close to him, when they found out she was pregnant. The news was tough at first but he grew to love the idea—as such Lilian grew on him. Once again he began to edit his plans for the future, until his parents got hold of what was happening. “How could you? Were you even thinking? You are too young!”; They’d argue and try to berate him onto their view points, yet Dane stood his ground. He wanted the child, wanted her, and didn’t give a damn about how he’d do it all—but he would. Disappointingly though, his parents with their wealth and connections would make that reality into a fantasy.

Graduation rolled around and Dane found himself alone across the stage. Months before Lilian would have found herself up state, losing the only reason that would tether their lives together any longer, and a promise to never come back at the price of his father’s bank account. Broken, confused, and bitter he tried to live out his last few weeks in his home town. with his family acting like nothing happened, until he could escape to college. To a fresh start. That was when he promised himself that nothing—no one—would cause him to give up everything he wanted ever again. His parents were distant from him, he continued to excel at what he did with pride and hard work, yet as every superficial accomplishment he gained his heart grew harder and harder. He began to replace dates with screwing others, replacing committed to casual, and focused on a life he thought he needed….a life solely about him and his ambitions. An empty one at that….

Five interesting facts about your character:

Dane is multilingual as he knows Canadian-French, Arabic, English, and Spanish

At a young age he was the youngest fencer to be nationally ranked in the top five in over 30 years. He was fourth in Canada before the age of sixteen, and won several championships.

Thanks to his father’s possession he has a clean record, not even a speeding ticket. Thanks to the little more than a decade of diplomatic immunity he and his family received. Dane is very much like a golden boy or boy-scout, cause he only pushes the envelope just enough to not break it but get what he wants.

He’s allergic to pears and white chocolate. Something he hated as a kid but now barely affects him. Though at times have asked girls to not where certain perfumes cause even the scent of pears makes him sneeze

Is an only child but swear that Kelly James may have been his long-lost-sister, since they are so eerily alike but different that when he first began to hang out he was taken back by it.

Character Quote: “Got hands like an ocean, push you out, pull you back in”

If your character had a patronus what would it be? and why?: Probably would be a hawk. Hawks are clever creatures but their precision to detail and focus is what makes me feel like Dane would inevitably muster up this corporal sign. Focused, executing plan lethally and effectively….yeah, reminds me of my boy a lot.

WRITING SAMPLE

“God damn it Imogen can you just shut up!” he screamed, causing his magic to lunge behind the girl—igniting, torching the lamp post. It was a long night and being forced with the girl caused his blood to finally boil over. At first spark, the fire caused her to jump on her heels and away from the accident.

“What the fuck Dane, control yourself.” she replied, like a viper, while her eyes cut deeply into him.

Seeing her judge him like that almost caused him to scorch another object around them, yet he took a breath instead. Almost as hot as he felt he exhaled while turning away. You’d think both signs, both ruled under their elemental house would have had a stronger bond—yet it was opposite. Their hearts and soul might burn with the same passion fueled by fire, but their minds were too differential.Sporadic, popular, care free…a child through and through, while Dane’s was fabricated, steely focused on the next task, aggressive. They were frankly oil and water, hell even gasoline and an open flame. Combustible, volatile, the two’s presence could cause others around them to feel the pressure and heat from the fire and vigor they could muster. Dane’s glances were still out and away from her, but with another breath he turned to look at her—more calculated and reserved. “I am under control, but I don’t think you understand how important it is to realize what’s happening to us; to all of us.” he started, her smug grin only making him want to smear it across her features. “This isn’t just ooooh we are witches or some shit, this isn’t fucking Harry Potter…what we have, what we can do!” his hand pointing behind her as the post was barely smoldering at that point. “We are dangerous….so fucking grow up.”

Would his words change her? Would they form chains of reason that would bind her to their world and not whatever world she vacationed to? Probably not but since the twelve had met things have been escalating, their powers were magnificent yet deeply strong. Some were more passive than the others but like Dane’s they were active,aggressive and made him worry. Was he the only one taking things seriously? Since most have been acting like they were still college students, still going to Frat parties, and cramming for studies. However his mind was clouded, his plans were altered, and this architect needed things to go as he envisioned them.

“Dane seriously, you need to stop worrying. All you do is bitch, brood, or suck any fun out of everything. This is a gift not some responsibility, so worry about that than all of us. You aren’t our babysitter.” she responded with such an air that it teetered or the truth and arrogance, “Even so, I think you are the one that needs more control.” smiling before she walked passed him and back into the party.

#accepted #aries

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florrickandassociates · 8 years ago

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TGF Thoughts: 1x05-- Stoppable: Requiem for an Airdate

1x05 thoughts under the cut.

This is big, guys: the first five word title in The Good history.

Did I accidentally press play on an episode of Law & Order? Obviously I didn’t, but TGF isn’t even trying to disguise the inspiration for this week’s case. It’s very clearly about Unstoppable, an unaired episode of SVU starring Gary Cole (yes, Kurt McVeigh) as a Trump-like figure. It’s so clearly about L&O that they’ve used the same font and titled the TGF episode “Stoppable: Requiem for an Airdate.”

In this episode, the COTW explores what it would be like if there were a suit brought against an episode’s writer who leaked the full episode online when the network refused to air it. Julius Cain sees this as confirmation the firm is “anti-Trump.” Adrian believes this is a first amendment issue because, he believes, political pressure is the reason the episode has been postponed. I believe that argument (though I think it would be hard to prove) but I’m not sure how applicable it is to the network suing a writer for distributing copyright material.

“Simple matter of fact, you voted for the man,” Adrian retorts when Julius tries to argue against him. Adrian, you’re going to need a stronger argument than that for court. Also, didn’t you promise Julius you would not treat him differently because of how he voted, and that you wouldn’t tell others? I’m sure word’s gotten around, but a little discretion, Adrian?

Diane walks in late and Lucca explains the case to her. The writer is an acquaintance of hers, and he works on “one of those Chicago shows.” They’re deciding if they want to take it.

Ugh Julius.

“Have you listened to anything the man said?” Adrian asks when Julius tries to defend 45 on the particulars. Thank you, Adrian.

Julius tries the “if it was Obama or Clinton…” retort. Nah, DON’T EVEN. This devolves into overlapping political rants as Barbara tries to get the men to calm down and Lucca quietly explains the case to Diane.

The lawyers have trouble coming up with an actual argument to use against the network. Diane suggests fair use, which seems weird to me because, in my very limited knowledge of legal things relating to copyright law, that’s what people talk about when they make gifsets and fan videos, not when they upload full length episodes. But I will set this aside, because 1) I don’t actually know anything about the law, and 2) The important thing here is that Diane is contributing to the conversation, reminding us all that she’s a good lawyer.

Barbara calls Adrian outside. “Adrian. Why are we doing this?” she wants to know. This is yet another one of those moments where Adrian’s leadership style rubs me the wrong way. He always seems to be making decisions without Barbara, and then catching her up to speed as though none of her concerns are valid and she needs to have everything explained to her. Barbara shouldn’t have to ask the question “Why are we doing this?” as frequently as she does. If they’re partners, she shouldn’t ever be asking that question in this context.

Adrian’s explanation is that he wants to get his foot in the door with all the Chicago TV productions (of which TGF, of course, is not one). I don’t like that he has to explain it to Barbara, but I like this explanation… and for once, it actually feels like the show is kinda sorta tuned in to things happening in Chicago.

Barbara accepts this explanation and changes the topic to Diane’s capital contribution, which they still haven’t received. “Hey, can that wait a week?” Adrian asks. You mean a week on top of the several weeks real time it’s already been? “Not if we want to be consistent,” Barbara replies.

“Okay, I need you to do it,” Adrian says. Oh? “How come I always have to do all the dirty work and you get to go and have fun in court?” Barbara wonders. Good question. Also, how come Adrian gets to assign tasks? “’Cause you’re so good at the dirty work,” Adrian answers. “I hate when you disguise curses as compliments,” Barbara says. I like that line. I don’t like that she’s still saddled with having to do what Adrian says, especially since every discussion between these two tends to end this way.

Kresteva arrives at RBK. He’s looking for Maia, and he wants to discuss the fake news. Yesha is there, which means either Kresteva waited around long enough for Yesha to get to RBK or Yesha was already there talking to Maia. If it’s the latter, again, I ask: DOES MAIA EVER ACTUALLY HAVE WORK TO DO?

“This article is completely false. It is untrue,” Maia insists. Kresteva won’t believe that it’s false, because someone in the article said they sold her jewelry. “Did you try calling the store?” Maia wants to know. This is logical. Who cares what someone said? Wouldn’t there be, you know, a receipt? Some kind of record? Surveillance footage? Kresteva makes me so mad.

“I just don’t understand how this article could get so much wrong,” Kresteva says. Yes, Mike, and I don’t understand how the novel I’m reading right now is about people who never actually existed. It boggles the mind.

“It makes up stories to encourage clickbait,” Yesha says of Fake News, which seems like a weird use of the word clickbait. The stories are made up to encourage clicks, not to encourage clickbait.

Kresteva has more evidence: the story is on 12 other sites, some of which are well-respected. “How do you account for that?” Kresteva asks. Ooh! Pick me! I know! I know! It’s one of two answers: 1) The legit news sources offered proper context for the allegations and said they could not confirm them or 2) The legit news sources only reported on this because the writers needed to say they did (Fake News is a real problem, but to my knowledge, Real News outlets reporting Fake News as fact is not as much of a problem). I guess there’s always a third option, that Maia did go on a spending spree, but I doubt that.

Like, I really don’t think a legit news source would think a fake story is fun and then run it without a disclaimer that it’s probably fake? The main problem with legit news sources in this day and age seems to be how they frame facts and what makes the front page (THE EMAILS, YOU GUYS, THE EMAILS) and what doesn’t.

But even Kresteva knows the jewelry story is fake: once Maia’s agitated enough, he asks her about a different story: one about her visiting her father in prison. Yesha chimes in to say she was there for that meeting; nothing happened. But Kresteva’s ahead of her, somehow (he shouldn’t be, since we know Yesha has a Maia Chumhum Alert!), and he means the other two visits. Yesha denies it, but Maia has to stop her, and Kresteva knows he has something.

And, as much as I hate Kresteva and his smirk and his lies, this was entirely predictable. You don’t have to be a Kresteva-level super villain to question Maia about something risky and likely illegal that she did without covering her tracks well. Hell, there’s probably security camera footage of Maia with the Schtup List! Sorry, Maia. I hate to let Kresteva be right, but… yeah.

Diane observes Kresteva leaving his meeting with Maia, and Marissa observes Diane observing Kresteva. “What’s wrong?” Marissa asks. She also says that “Mrs. Kolstad wants to see you now.” And, yes, Marissa said “Mrs.” Did Sarah slip up, or is Barbara married?!

“Are we in trouble?” Marissa asks. “Because I need this job.” Before I can even think anything snarky about how Marissa could probably charm/network her way into a different assistant job pretty easily, Diane sarcastically replies, “Oh, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“We’ve had to make a difficult decision here,” Barbara begins. “Uh oh,” Diane says. “That’s what we tell associates when we release them.” You’re on the right track, Diane.

Barbara levels with Diane about the capital contribution, and Diane says she understands. If they don’t get the contribution in a week, Diane will have to be “of counsel” which means (I had to look it up because, shockingly, seven seasons of TGW didn’t teach me everything I could ever need to know about the law!) that she’d be affiliated with the firm but not an associate or a partner.

Diane accepts this too, and then warns Barbara they should get a lawyer for the firm because Kresteva’s questioning Maia.

Yesha asks Maia why she went to see her father. GOOD QUESTION. Maia explains the Schtup List.

“So you do know, by doing this, by helping your father, you’ve implicated yourself in wrongdoing?” Yesha asks. I FUCKING HOPE MAIA DOES, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT AND I AM NOT A LAWYER.

“He’s my father. What could I do?” Maia asks. I am sympathetic. But you could, like, not implicate yourself. Why would your dad ask you to implicate yourself for his benefit? Why would he need Maia to get the information? Why wouldn’t his own attorney’s investigator be looking into this?

“You can keep yourself out of jail,” Yesha says, which is more of a warning than an answer. The stakes have changed. Maia’s not looking at bad publicity that makes her look like a spoiled rich girl. She’s looking at jail time now.

I’m starting to have a Maia problem, show! I like the idea of Maia—a privileged young woman who’s gone through life without ever having to worry about making big choices or being able to provide for herself who’s suddenly faced with a scandal that destroys everything she thought she knew about the world, her parents, and the things she’s taken for granted. I like the way Rose Leslie plays Maia. I like Maia’s relationship with Amy (a lot, and I need it to come back on screen soon). What I don’t like is the execution of Maia’s plots. Outside of the first two episodes, where she had scenes with Amy (again, #BringAmyBack), Maia doesn’t seem to have an interior life. She doesn’t like being harassed—okay, but who does? That thread needs to be pushed farther. What is the harassment doing to her? Are her friends calling her up, wondering if all the bad things are true? Is the harassment feeding into the self-doubt she’s experiencing as a result of having her world turned upside-down? Is it making it hard for her to concentrate at work? There are so, so many ways the show could go deeper here.

Instead, we just see the surface. We see that there’s a lot of harassment and fake news, but not how Maia takes it. We see that she’s not working (no, I’m not letting go of this) but we don’t see any plots about why someone in her situation might, understandably, have trouble focusing. We see her getting involved in conspiracy drama a lot, but we rarely see her questioning her parents (y’all, we shouldn’t need to see Lenore fucking her brother-in-law and Henry implicating Maia in the scandal to understand why Maia might mistrust them). We see her sitting in the office, but we don’t see anything about what it’s like to be a 25 year old who’s been in school for as long as she can remember finally entering the workplace in her first job. We see that she and Diane work in the same place, but, outside of Inauguration and that scene in The Schtup List where Diane encourages Maia to talk to her mom, we don’t see Diane mentoring her and we don’t see how they interact.

The writing for Maia is just not there. And that makes me sad, because it’s like the writers aren’t even trying. There are no botched attempts at deepening her character—no, the attempts we’ve seen are actually quite good! The problem is there are very few attempts at all! How can a show that’s so good at characterizations so consistently miss the mark with Maia, and during the episodes where it counts the most?! Maia is always off in her own world, involved in a conspiracy I’ve known about for less than a month and am already tired of, and… why?

(I think I said this last week, but omg, PLEASE PUT MAIA ON A CASE ALREADY. COTWs are wonderful things, structurally, because they necessitate character interactions. Have Maia do some research for Lucca. Or have her in court, observing and offering her recommendations when appropriate. Literally anything that gets her feeling like part of the show and not like a girl who’s never faced consequences continuing to behave like she will never face consequences.)

(I don’t believe that’s necessarily how they’re trying to portray Maia. That’s just what I think the writers run the risk of by having Maia never actually working.)

Kresteva meets with Henry Rindell. Boy, that police brutality task force sure has a wide scope.

The woman representing the network in the COTW is someone that I suspect will become a recurring character if this show runs for longer than these first ten episodes. She feels both pleasant and aggressive. Her name is Amber Wood Lutz.

And the judge is someone who has apparently been in four episodes of TGW, but aside from thinking he looks vaguely familiar, I don’t have any impression of him.

Diane is considering downsizing her apartment again in order to get her capital contribution together. (Doesn’t she only have a week? She can’t sell her apartment in a week, can she?)

Someone’s there to see Diane: It’s Kurt!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Marissa offers to stay and take notes. Heh.

“She’s… chatty,” Kurt remarks after Marissa leaves. “She is that, “Diane replies. Diane doesn’t quite know what to say to Kurt, but she looks happy to see him. I really hope these two can work it out, because they’re so good together.

“You called?” Kurt reminds her. Diane denies it, but Kurt saw the call “last night.” Wait, that call towards the end of 1x04 was the day before 1x05? (I’m really bad at not nitpicking the timeline.)

Diane calls it an accidental dial, but we know the truth. (Last week, I wondered why Diane hung up after only letting it ring once. Guess that was intentional after all!)

Kurt’s there to ask a favor: he’s giving a speech to the police association and wants Diane to take a look at it. Couples revising speeches/pieces of writing is apparently something I am very, very into so this request makes me happy.

Kurt leaves Diane a gift, which she opens, curiously. It’s a gun, and I think she likes it.

Case stuff happens. Amber makes the point about fair use being about brief excerpts. Thanks, Amber!

Now they have a co-exec producer on the stand and there must be some inside jokes going on here. It somehow devolves into writer dude and co-exec producer dude screaming at each other about Yale and Princeton. I’m amused. Especially by the fact that the judge agrees that he hates Yale. For a second, I thought he must be the Harvard judge from 4x02, but he’s not.

Fair use doesn’t work, but Adrian isn’t ready to give up.

The next scene is simply bizarre. Adrian, Barbara, Diane, and Lucca (I guess because they’re ones Kresteva is targeting) interview a lawyer. It’s some white dude who rambles a lot, and then begins to rap??? I’m not sure what’s going on or why it is happening or what the hand gestures accompanying it are, but I’m here for the confused/stunned/trying not to laugh reactions it receives.

It’s Lucca who decides they should call Elsbeth. This is weird, as Lucca has not (as far as I can recall) ever dealt with Elsbeth and Diane has used Elsbeth to help several times. But, whatever.

At the restaurant where the interview takes place (which they’ve filmed at several times), Diane runs into Neil Gross. He calls her over. She asks how he’s doing. “Harried, angry, worried,” he replies. Diane tries to make conversation, but Neil keeps cutting her off—he likes the sound of his own voice; he likes seeming like a friendly guy but ultimately just talking about himself. He is interested in Diane’s firm because it’s all African-American.

Neil whispers to Diane that he’s looking for a “fighter” and wants to come to her firm. This feels very planned out, no? He happens to know where she works and happens to show up at the same restaurant?

Elsbeth is working on her own again, and now she’s rented office space in a children’s dentist’s office. We don’t know it’s Elsbeth at this point, but it couldn’t be anyone else.

Elsbeth still has the same laptop with the foam flower stickers that she’s had since season 1. Does that thing still work? Adrian finds this incredibly weird, which, fair.

And then Elsbeth appears! She greets Lucca like they’ve met before, which I’m 99% sure they haven’t. Elsbeth mentions that she’s been in the hospital, and that there was disagreement over whether or not she was sick. I just rewatched her first scene in 7x15 (skimming through for Elsbeth/Lucca scenes) and she mentions high blood pressure there—a connection?

Then she remembers to greet Adrian, and by greet I mean she says, “God, you’re tall” and while looking surprised.

I love Elsbeth.

“Our firm needs a lawyer, and Alicia once gave me a piece of advice,” Lucca begins. Elsbeth looks so delighted to hear Alicia’s name that it makes me smile even more than hearing Alicia mentioned usually does. Though Lucca is offering Elsbeth a compliment—Alicia’s advice is to hire Elsbeth when you’re in trouble—Elsbeth doesn’t respond to the compliment and instead responds to the mention of Alicia. “Alicia Florrick? I like Alicia. How is she?” Elsbeth asks.

But, TGF is determined to withhold that information. To that point: At the mention of Alicia, Elsbeth’s Alexa-like robot, Ada, begins to play Alicia Keys, interrupting our shot at hearing more about Alicia Florrick.

This moment made me cry when I watched it this morning. Yes—it made me cry. I knew TGF wasn’t going to give us updates on how/what Alicia’s doing, and I also know that’s exactly the approach I want it to take. But what I didn’t anticipate was that Alicia would be referenced multiple times in almost every episode and alluded to frequently. And I certainly didn’t realize that every time there’s a suggestion of an Alicia reference, I would move just a little closer to the screen, clinging to the hope that I’d find out just a little more about my all-time fave.

That’s why this scene hit me as hard as it did: when Elsbeth asked how Alicia was doing, I wanted to know, too. I was even a little hopeful we’d get something and nervous it wouldn’t be an answer I wanted. But before I could fully process my excitement, Ada began to play Alicia Keys. It was unexpected and funny, but it also took me out of the show. On the one hand, it’s Elsbeth quirk. On the other hand, it’s the show clearly maneuvering so that it doesn’t have to answer questions about Alicia. Ada playing Alicia Keys is reminiscent of the car horn that blares just as a witness is about to swear on the stand or the title credits in 5x10 coming in before Robyn can finish saying “holy shit.” It’s censorship on a show that’s uncensored. And it’s entirely self-imposed. Maybe I’ll be wrong about this, but my takeaway from this gag was that nudity’s fine now, the f-bomb can be dropped freely, and cases can be more overtly political: the only thing forbidden is sharing more of Alicia Florrick’s story.

And that’s why I cried, just a little. Because the set-up of this joke made me want more and then the punchline reminded me I can’t have it. And even though I know that’s for the best, I’m still sad.

I may also have cried from laughing at the absurdity.

Fantasia is still Elsbeth’s assistant—yay! I would love to meet Fantasia.

Elsbeth makes me happy.

Maia heads home; her dad’s been released on bail following his meeting with Kresteva. Maia asks why they changed their mind on bail. Henry replies with a lie—that he doesn’t know. Yeah, right.

I don’t know why Lenore is dressed the way she is, but alrighty then.

Henry says it feels like nothing’s happened now that he’s back home. Sure?

Maia says she can’t stay for pizza, she has to get back to Amy. This made think we would get to see Amy in this episode. Sadly, no.

Lenore steps away to answer a call, and Maia seizes the opportunity to tell her dad about her mom’s affair with Jax. Henry doesn’t seem to mind/understand fully. I would love to know what Maia’s relationship with her parents was like before the scandal. Did she always take her dad’s side?

Diane is looking at her lovely house in France again, and at the 1.5 million euro price tag. She then switches over to browsing cheap apartments in Chicago, and Diane, girl, whatever your search terms are, if that’s all you can find, THEY ARE THE WRONG ONES. There is a studio that doesn’t have a full kitchen for $1,500 a month, a room in a cluttered apartment with no furniture that’s $1,800 a month, a black and white picture of an apartment that boasts that it has “freshly painted walls” for $2,000 a month, and other options that are even worse. “Not happening,” Diane says. No, of course it’s not. I don’t know what kind of budget she’d be on after selling her apartment (I assume she owns) but I can’t imagine it would be so strict she’d need to live in a shitty studio that’s $2,000 a month. Try a different neighborhood, maybe?

Diane remembers she has to look at Kurt’s speech. It only takes a few lines before she realizes they’re going to need to talk this through. By the time Kurt arrives, the speech is covered in red marks, most of which say some variation of “SIMPLIFY!”

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Diane reassures Kurt as she pours him a glass of wine. Diane explains her changes are all focused on one point: that the speech is too technical. She reminds him he’s able to explain himself well on the stand. What I love about this scene is its specificity. Not only is it a wonderful display of how Kurt and Diane interact—Diane is comfortable challenging Kurt’s opinions; Kurt is a bit obstinate but ultimately able to incorporate Diane’s feedback because he trusts her—but it’s also written in a way that makes sense given the strengths of the characters. Kurt knows how to describe the specifics with the precision required of a ballistics expert. Diane knows how to identify the main theme of a document, simplify it, and spin it into a story—because that’s what she does as a lawyer. And, not only does she know how to rewrite it, she knows how to work with Kurt, like she would if he were a witness, to get him to be the one to rewrite it. It’s collaborative, reminds the audience where both of the characters strengths lie, feels true to the personalities of both characters as well as the relationship they have, and we get to hear enough of the speech that it’s convincing—and apparent—that Diane and Kurt have significantly improved it by working together.

Case stuff happens. Network lawyer Amber ends up saying “fuck you” as she leaves a “settlement talk.” How professional.

Case stuff happens.

Elsbeth is creeping on Kresteva in a diner. Have I mentioned yet that I love Elsbeth? Whatever issues I had with overuse of Elsbeth or the shtick getting tired in the last few seasons have totally disappeared. I! LOVE! ELSBETH!

Case stuff happens and they go after someone important. Also, Colin appears to watch Lucca and he makes silly faces at her. Lucca gives him the finger behind her back, which makes me wonder if anyone sitting in the gallery behind her noticed.

After court, Amber warns Adrian that his strategy about going into entertainment won’t work if he’s going to embarrass important people in the business.

Meanwhile, Colin compliments Lucca and advises her not to be sarcastic in court. “This is so helpful, being graded, thank you,” she says sarcastically. “I think we have a sarcasm problem here,” he replies. Heh.

Colin tells Lucca he tried to get Kresteva not to go after her firm. Lucca just walks away. Colin calls her out on not thanking him, but Lucca explains that things have gotten worse and Kresteva’s still coming after them. Colin is not happy about this.

The TV writer is really pleased that Lucca was awesome in court, the kind of awesome you only see on lawyer shows. Not that we’re watching a lawyer show, or anything.

Adrian’s thinking about settling now, even though everything’s going well. He’s worried about what Amber said.

Meanwhile, Diane spots Marissa chatting with Neil Gross. Of course Marissa is chatting with Neil Gross. If Marissa was comfortable making small talk with Colin Sweeney, of course she’d be comfortable talking to Neil Gross.

“Look at this place! A real African-American law firm,” Neil Gross observes, sounding like he’s looking at a museum exhibit or something. LOOK AT ALL THE CUTE LITTLE MINORITIES, HERE FOR ME THE RICH WHITE MAN TO APPRECIATE! Ugh.

“Everywhere you look,” he adds. Um, just because you’re rich doesn’t mean you can talk about people like that. Marissa unhelpfully but hilariously points out that everyone involved in the current conversation is white. Funny, that. Gross reaches out to the one white lawyer (okay, the one white lawyer who actually does work, NOPE NOT LETTING THIS GO UNTIL THE WRITERS GIVE MAIA WORK TO DO) at the firm when what he’s looking for is diversity. How about that.

Gross likes Marissa and wants her to stay and take notes. I bet he doesn’t meet many people that act like that around him.

Neil Gross uses the word fight five times in this scene—and once in the earlier scene at the restaurant. He says it so many times I was wondering if he’d say “Keep on fighting the good fight” at some point. Anyway, he likes that RBK is fighting against the network in court. So, turns out they weren’t auditioning for the entertainment biz after all. Unfortunately for Diane, Neil is saying this just as Lucca and Adrian are advising the client to stop fighting the network. Diane rushes to stop that conversation.

Elsbeth sits down with Yesha and Maia. Yesha insists that some of Maia’s issues are only Maia’s, to which Elsbeth says, “then she should quit the firm, because her issues are hurting the firm’s interests.” Thanks, Elsbeth! I don’t think Maia quitting would get the firm out of this mess—from what I can tell, Kresteva’s strategy is “go after RBK for anything under the sun until they stop taking police brutality cases and word gets out what the DOJ can do to you if try to go into that business”—but I’m a little surprised Maia hasn’t offered to quit. Maia’s scandal is bringing all sorts of trouble to the people who were kind enough to take her on and it’s jeopardizing the business they’ve put their lives into developing. I don’t know how badly she needs this job (for financial reasons or for her mental health—hey show, if you showed her working you could show that it was a constructive escape for her, just a thought) but it’s almost weird to me she doesn’t feel guilty about the position she’s putting others in. Maybe that’ll come later? Or maybe she’s just having trouble believing she could be that much of a liability? Or maybe that kind of obliviousness is part of her entitlement.

Alternatively, what does it say about me that my first thought in this situation would probably be, “I need to offer to quit immediately”? Maybe I’m the strange one here.

“Why is your dad out on bail?” Elsbeth asks Maia. Maia doesn’t know. Maia tells Elsbeth about the Schtup List. Elsbeth’s next question is if any of the names are connected to the firm. They’re not—Maia already looked them all up (smart! Credit where credit is due—Maia’s first thought was to look up the names and that’s also where Elsbeth’s mind went. If you’re on the same page as Elsbeth that has to be a good thing).

Elsbeth compliments Maia’s lipstick in the middle of a sentence. It really is a nice lipstick. That color looks fantastic on Maia, and it’s just bright enough that I can understand why Elsbeth likes it so much.

As Maia explains that her lipstick is either Dior or Chanel, Elsbeth pieces it together: the names on the list aren’t the connection to RBK—Maia is. She downloaded the list and implicated herself. The only catch, Elsbeth reasons, is that that would “require your father turning on you, and wouldn’t turn on you, would he?” Maia isn’t sure. Arrrrgh. As I said before, I hate that Maia is in the wrong here, because she’s just trying to deal with family drama and it’s unfortunate that these very normal trust issues are playing out in the public and with lawyers involved… but she is in the wrong and did make her choices.

After Elsbeth leaves—after cautioning Maia to be suspicious of her dad—Maia looks upset and Yesha looks like she wants to say something. She decides against it.

It’s time for Kurt’s speech! He has, indeed, taken Diane’s advice. And, even better—Diane shows up to support him! He does a good job and his delivery is great. Diane looks on from backstage, proud. Once the speech is over, Diane compliments Kurt. He kisses her; she kisses back.

Fortunately for Maia, her dad has not turned on her. He still asked her to implicate herself, but he hasn’t given up her name to Kresteva. How do I know this? Because Kresteva says so in a vague, blink-and-you miss it line as he arrives home for the day. “Rindell’s still reluctant to give up her name.” And then, after a response we can’t hear: “No, just a more aggressive posture.” So, sounds like Kresteva cares about the Schtup List and causing panic at RBK than actually getting Henry to turn on Maia. But it also sounds like he strongly suspects that Maia is how Henry got his hands on the list.

So, fun fact about Kresteva’s house: It was once Jonas Stern’s house. I doubt it’s supposed to be that way in-universe, but it’s definitely the same one When Alicia, Will, and Diane went to after Stern died. I recognize the Frank Lloyd Wright inspired décor. (This also makes the show feel more like Chicago than usual.)

Kresteva arrives home to find his wife drinking and chatting with Elsbeth. They just happened to hit it off at Trader Joe’s when Elsbeth introduced herself as a “friend from work.” And now Elsbeth has all sorts of access to Kresteva’s personal life. But access isn’t the point: Elsbeth is showing Kresteva she’s not afraid, that she can make things personal too, and that she’s a step ahead of him.

Well, access might be the point too, since she’s been in Kresteva’s study.

And she left her business card on his desk (she calls her place of work “The Tascioni Firm”) so there’s no way he could possibly miss that she could have had access.

“Stay for dinner,” insists Deirdre Kresteva, who is currently drinking wine and eating ice cream out of the carton. You mean to tell me they haven’t eaten yet?

Mike walks Elsbeth out and threatens to have her disbarred. But Elsbeth doesn’t take uncalculated risks like that: she has something on him.

And, if you need proof that Elsbeth is the best ever (and that she’s perfectly suited to go up against Kresteva), she got an audio recording of Kresteva threatening her, which means he can’t lie about it! FINALLY. I wish everyone could say, “Yes, you did” and whip out an audio recording when Kresteva starts with his bullshit.

Kresteva calls it an illegal recording, and Elsbeth says it’s not because it’s used to contradict a lie. I’m pretty sure that of the three times we’ve seen Elsbeth make recordings, she’s cited three different reasons why it’s legal, but I don’t really care because I’m so excited about someone being able to refute Kresteva’s bullshit alternative facts.

In court, Adrian is now clearly auditioning for Neil Gross. This involves some hyperbolic comparisons that don’t impress the judge.

But the speech doesn’t matter. 45 tweeted about the case, and now it’s a First Amendment case. This is an important case for the show to have its characters win. It sends a clear message: it’s possible to fight back and win. (And the show is practicing what it preaches by being overtly political.)

Amber is pissed about her loss and tells Adrian it won’t help his business. Lucca wonders if that’s accurate—seems Adrian hasn’t looped her in on the Chumhum thing.

Lucca and Colin are having milkshakes, as promised. Colin asks Lucca to tell him about herself. He says he’s shared everything about himself and his family, but knows very little about Lucca. “There is nothing about me,” she replies. Nope, no way that’s true.

“Are your parents happy that you’re a lawyer?” Colin asks. “I guess,” Lucca replies. Colin complains that the conversation feels like a cross-examination. He has to ask if her parents are still alive, she’s that reluctant to share! (They are.)

He asks who her best friend is. Her reply is curiously phrased: “I don’t have a friend.” She doesn’t say she doesn’t have a best friend, and she doesn’t say that she doesn’t have friends (which would be the responses I’d expect). She says she doesn’t have “a friend.” I don’t know where I’m going with this; I just found her use of the singular “friend” weird.

And she repeats it, because Colin doesn’t believe her and makes her say it again!

Colin doesn’t believe her, and starts staring at her oddly. “What? Please don’t say you’re gonna save me,” Lucca teases. “No, I’m gonna kiss you,” Colin replies. “Okay,” she says as he leans in.

“Then I’m gonna save you,” he jokes. Heh. I can’t say I’m interested in Colin or learning more about him, but I don’t dislike him. My only fear about his character is that he’ll share the bulk of Lucca’s non-work related screentime, but that has very little to do with Colin as a character. And, I like that he has a personality outside of “Lucca’s love interest.”

They end up making out against a car, and the alarm goes off. They don’t care.

Cut to a really creepy shot of Lucca kissing Colin in bed. It took me a second to figure out what this was an image of (I must’ve had my screen on low brightness).

She decides to share some information about her life. To be more specific, she decides to share her feelings about her friendship with Alicia. “I had a best friend,” she begins. “Who?” Colin asks. “A co-worker,” Lucca replies. “He or she?” “She.” “Had? She’s not a friend anymore?”

“I think she is,” Lucca states. An odd thing happened when I watched this scene: I realized that the only part of TGF that’s actively harmed by Alicia’s absence is Lucca’s personal life. That’s not to say that Alicia needs to come back in order for Lucca to be complete or that this isn’t the right strategy—I trust that as Lucca and the show both get distance from Alicia, this will become much less of a problem, and it’s not a big enough issue to warrant an appearance from Alicia.

But, seeing how important to Lucca her friendship with Alicia was confirms something that many doubted in season 7: that Lucca didn’t just exist to be Alicia’s new friend without any interior life or problems of her own. Most of the discussion I saw about Lucca last year revolved around whether or not she was the “New Kalinda,” and it drove me crazy. Yes, Lucca was added to the cast because the show needed Alicia to have a female friend to talk to, and yes, she joined the show right after Archie left. But that was never all there was to Lucca. It’s just what dominated the discussion about her.

Watching Lucca in TGF feels like a counterpoint to those arguments. I’ve always thought Lucca’s friendship with Alicia was as much about Lucca as it was about Alicia (my 7x13 discussion of the laundry room breakdown scene makes this point), and I’m happy to see that TGF is embracing that aspect of the relationship. Nothing Lucca’s saying here feels new to me, and that’s fantastic. She’s mentioned before that she doesn’t have friends (she specifically says this in 7x13), and her loyalty to Alicia in season 7 suggested that she doesn’t take friendship lightly. It would be weird if Alicia’s absence didn’t affect Lucca, so I’m happy to give the show a little bit of leeway here. If the show has to be vague about Alicia’s whereabouts in order to develop Lucca without reopening The Education of Alicia Florrick, fine. I get why the writers would want to take that approach.

“I don’t make friends easily,” Lucca explains. “Why not?” Colin asks. “I don’t like to get hurt,” Lucca says. Lucca’s answer explains something I’ve been wondering about. Lucca is a friendly, nice person. She’ll stick up for others and offer her help. She has a social circle. She’s comfortable talking to people she doesn’t know, and she’s good at banter and small talk. Why, I wondered, doesn’t she have friends? It’s only after watching this scene that it clicked: being friendly and having friends are different things. And there’s a difference between being someone people would want to be friends with and actually being friends with people. I was missing the fact that Lucca intentionally maintains distance. (I know I keep going back to that 7x13 scene, but really: the certainty with which Lucca insists Alicia commit to their friendship is important. “I mean, do you have a ring or anything? I’ll commit,” she says. How fucking huge was that, for both Alicia and Lucca?!)

I don’t know what to make of “I don’t like to get hurt.” I don’t take that line to be about Alicia, since Lucca does say she thinks they’re still friends (maybe Alicia’s traveling and hard to reach?) and since Lucca’s reluctance to form friendships predates her first meeting with Alicia, so what’s she referring to? Is this a fear or did something bad happen? If so, what was it? Actually—I care less about what it was and more about when it was. Middle school? High school? College? After that? Did a friend actively hurt her, or was it a different type of pain? Some sort of loss? A best friend who moved? A friend who drifted away just when Lucca needed her to be there the most?

“You afraid I’m gonna hurt you?” Colin wonders. “No, I don’t get hurt by boys,” Lucca explains.

If we do have to sit through most of Lucca’s personal life screentime being shared by Colin, at least they’re using it to develop other elements of Lucca’s character, too.

Diane is looking at more real estate postings, and I feel the need to share that her search terms are even worse than I thought, since one of the places she’s looking at is in UPSTATE NEW YORK. It says it’s a 1.5 hour commute to the city, but I don’t think that means Chicago…

Kurt spent the night at Diane’s! He notices the moving boxes. Diane tells him she’s looking for a change. She doesn’t explain the financial constraints she’s under, but he can sense that she’s not packing up because she just decided to. He offers to let her move in with him.

She declines the offer. “It’s my problem,” she explains. Kurt accepts that answer and kisses her goodbye. As much as I’d love for Diane and Kurt to make it work, I’m glad they’re not moving in together out of desperation. They need to keep working through their issues, and I’m pleased (but not surprised) to see that Diane doesn’t want to rely on anyone to get her out of her current situation.

Diane shows up at work with an update on Chumhum. They’re going to get Neil Gross and his $58 million a year. Adrian wants to know if there’s a caveat, and there is. With a smile on her face, Diane explains that there’s a small one. “I like this firm a lot. I think it’s got a great future. But in good conscience, I can’t encourage Neil Gross to come here if I’m only of counsel.” I’m 100% with Diane on this one. Adrian, Julius, and Barbara want to postpone that discussion, but this makes complete sense to me. Why should Diane bother to bring in a $58 million/year client if she’s not going to have any equity in the firm? Out of the goodness of her heart?

It’s Diane’s next request I’m more skeptical of. She asks to be made a name partner. I have three very contradictory thoughts about this. The first is that Diane is not being unreasonable; she is a huge name, she’s landed a gigantic account, and shouldn’t be a junior partner in the first place. The second is that despite this, Diane makes this power play with little concern for the culture of the firm that took her in when no one else would. It’s the lack of awareness that concerns me more than the request. I take no issue with her wanting her old status back and wanting a seat at the table. I just wonder what kind of tone this will set for the firm, going forward, now that Diane’s suddenly gone from a junior partner with a moderate amount of influence to a name partner. As a junior partner, she’s already hired two white people without giving that a second thought; what kinds of decisions will she make as a name partner? Is she aware of how her presence on the masthead will change public perception of the firm? Does she care? The third thought is just that this is so fast. I was hoping to see more than five episodes’ worth of Diane fighting to stay afloat and adjusting to that lack of power. I was particularly hoping to see more plots about her interactions with Barbara, and while those plots won’t go away if she becomes a name partner, they’ll be different than what I was hoping for.

Adrian says they’ll have to check with the full partnership, but the answer is yes. I’ll believe this is really happening and there’s no last minute catch when I see Diane’s name on the wall and not a second earlier. Tbh, with this show’s track record, I might not even believe it then.

“She’s gonna be trouble,” Barbara says as Diane exits. Indeed.

#The Good Fight

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selfemployedideas · 6 years ago

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What is Entrepreneurship

Successful entrepreneurs remain focussed on the change they want to create. With the upcoming change to its news feed, this becomes very complex. Entrepreneurs and small businesses often lack the budget needed for employing a sales professional. Your goals, decisions and actions are your road map to sales success. Organizations are endeavoring to get lean and mean by streamlining their business capacities. To read about what is entrepreneurship go to the website.

Can you recall the best experience that you have had with your business? It is to give eye-openings to people to remember to always have clean hands. The course aims to give students a better understanding of what it takes to run a successful enterprise while improving their English language skills and becoming familiar with the culture of British business. Entrepreneurship is the act of creating a business or businesses while building and scaling it to generate a profit. Enhancing the lives of others by helping others along the way is often the most rewarding aspect of building a business within the home-based business industry.

Entrepreneurship

They focus on building something big, lasting, and profitable. However, it’s not that the entire community of small and medium businesses suffer such problems. Celebrate every one no matter how large or small. I use the phrase 'fighting with' because no one is fighting with you except you. After consulting with eBay’s chief executive officer (CEO), Cypher assembled a team of engineers to find ways to use technology to enhance physical stores. You learn to work well as the member of a team and on your own,” he explains. Some work has to be done in order to attain the results by means ofthrough effective free advertising. Are you prepared to benefit from the difficulties that you need to overcome in order to succeed? When you invest your energy, time, and money in a venture, you want a good return and therefore need to make sure that you have what it takes. But, after I have indulged myself in business, I started to shop less and sell more.

Even more critical, other costs like training costs especially in countries where there is inadequate skilled manpower will force the manufacture to invest in staff training and this will make offshore manufacturing unviable. I believe by indulging yourself in business, you will be happy. As we build our business, we have an opportunity to take others with us, build cohesiveness and assist them in achieving personal and financial goals. Not be adaptable. They have a firm idea of how things should be, not what they really are. Industry founded ILM and Pixar have raised movie animation to an art medium with functions that imitate natural textures, facial expressions, and movement. You can even see this quality in young children. Any sort of business will clearly advantage in the event that they can fundamentally bring down their power bills. Next year will bring big changes and new opportunities for sharp, forward-thinking entrepreneurs. For details about marketing your business go to.

As far as you can you should keep company with a fellow entrepreneur. No doubt there are many successful entrepreneurs all around the globes who started this way and once they complete their target, they expand their business with funds they collect. A businessman when he starts off, tends to take lesser risks, hence goes the franchise way. Take a gander at all the accomplishment in innovation that man has made today. Remember when I said that you should take risks? The entrepreneur does not ask questions about whether they can succeed or whether they are worthy of success. Through the identification of a problem, an aspiring entrepreneur is able to build a business around solving that problem. Then hear from some key business partners and find out what services they offer and on what terms. It is expected to address the greater part of the focal segments to beginning your home based business ideas.

Sometimes the most difficult part of cloning recipes is technique. As you can see, entrepreneurship is becoming popular because it comes with a whole new lifestyle for those who are willing to seize it. Of course, entrepreneurship isn't all sunshine and freedom. Ultimately, they become attracted to entrepreneurship to succeed on their own terms. Dealing with this unpredicted competition can be tough. Study management techniques, learn from great leaders, review where you're succeeding and failing so you can help others improve. Offer them a free trial and deliver a great product. What do you want it for? How long does the Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa UK last? Please note that applications for the Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) scheme 2019 are now being accepted. Be passionate about what you do, and being an entrepreneur gets just a little bit easier. Nicole Martins Ferreira is a content marketer at Oberlo and experienced ecommerce entrepreneur.

Marketing Skills, a Must-Have to get a Budding Entrepreneur

Over the years, I've been pleasantly surprised about the number of entrepreneurs visit our think tank with strategic business plans for nifty new innovative and ecologically sound businesses. You see, considering that the government is throwing around money, many small business owners, being opportunists, are searching for approaches to collect those funds. Therefore they may be picking out schemes which has a green motif, and compelling strategic plans to match. Still, I have a problem with all of this, and I'd like to explain why am disturbed by what is being conducted, and what I see out there in real life.

We'll tackle space issues here. First, as well as perhaps most of all, is usually to go with a designated space through which you'll work. Your specific circumstances will dictate how large or small this space may be. If you need a laptop, you may sit within your favorite chair which has a laptop pad. If you'll make conference calls, processing paper, and off 3 computers, a dedicated office would be a better option. The point is, choose a specific location.

You might wonder why I've made such a strong statement. Here's why... we have been placed on this earth to get a short time. If we have the belief (plus a belief is merely something we keep saying to ourselves) that people must be accomplished in most aspect of our life, that usually me like a considerable time 'attaining' but not a considerable time 'enjoying'.

Now then, some might state that I blowing this beyond proportion, but I'm letting you know what I see as I look through the strategic plans for first time business startups. I'm talking from experience, and looking from a different perspective, probably the one which you haven't seen. Far too many individuals have joined about the environmentalism bandwagon, and in many cases adopted global warming theory like a religion without really knowing the full facts behind everything. They then go overboard marching in step in this new eco-army and complain regarding the inefficiencies of capitalism, which that army has established because of the manipulations for the flow of resources, production, capital, money, and labor.

Learn to adapt and evolve - If you spoken with a group of successful entrepreneurs who had been operational for over 5 or 6 years, many may likely explain how their legitimate online business opportunities today is different in some manner from what you started with. People change, markets change, demands change, prices change, marketing consultants move on and your needs will forever evolve... you need to be able to go using the flow to make adjustments where appropriate should you be going to enjoy long-term success.

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#Entrepreneur

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royal-red-asks · 6 years ago

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The 7 Secrets That You Shouldn't Know About SEO 2019

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From narrowing lower target markets to changing the particular way content is written, AI and voice search will have got a continuous effect on SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION moving forward. One aspect of SEO is usually link building, which we may discuss slightly below, which frequently leads to thin content. Applications for typically the 2018-2019 cycle of the SEO Progress programme are now closed and even will re-open again in Planting season 2019. SEO could be difficult because search engines are usually reevaluating and changing how these people prioritize search engine results. Moreover, it will help SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION by gaining backlinks, likes, feedback or shares. Selecting the most appropriate key phrases is critical for successful SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and it is easy in order to choose the wrong ones through falling into the trap associated with optimization. Lookup engine optimisation, or SEO, is the procedure of enhancing your site's position in search results. Web Marketing SEO, and in specific, Google SEO is the essential. Get into your competitor's URL into the particular SEMRush search bar and you will become provided with a list associated with SEO keywords, with their ranks and traffic. About: Brighton SEO is made up of courses and a one-day search marketing conference. Before this change, the greatest practice was to avoid concealed content at any cost because it wasn't as effective intended for SEO (it was either as well much to crawl for the particular bot in some instances or even given less important by Search engines in others). This is due to the particular fact that you will require contents to be submitted in order to the websites for whom a person are working as an SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, when you build the hyperlinks, you will need to supply the profile information, and a person will also have to produce articles for submissions as properly as numerous other types associated with written work. If you've actually searched for something online (and most of us have), a person already know read more regarding SEO than you think a person do. All of us already see this trend within several places, like extremely exact targeting of social ads : some brands still approach SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and content creation with the one-size-fits all attitude. The number one particular reason for using video upon your site to improve SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is to increase the quantity of time users remain upon your site. Search engine optimization has been but still is fascinating in order to me. The SEO placement regarding any size business begins along with proper web site optimization, a good excellent link building strategy plus a well planned online marketing and advertising plan. One section of focus for better marketing and SEO performance within 2018 is the confluence associated with content, influence, and social. This can be helpful for SEO, as it helps avoid search engine crawlers from becoming confused by syntax or approval errors, and leads to even more accurate indexing. Stop thinking in terms associated with SEO vs. content marketing” plus start exploring how well they will perform together. (Give it a try tone of voice search using OK Google through your cell phone and enquire "What Is BlowFish SEO" ) In the event that all remains as it is usually, Google will read out loud almost all about my company in the short to the point method, These cards are formatted in order to fit the screen of your own cell with no scrolling upward or down. Although SEO is really the time-consuming process but believes myself, if you work well along with dedication and trendy techniques, the particular combined results of on-page plus off-page SEO holds you upon the top with rank #1 for a specific search outcome. Fairly lately, I've seen a resurgence associated with on-page SEO factors making the difference searching engine rankings. Getting SEO right may influence your business hugely since you start to build natural and organic traffic to your site which usually will naturally grow without typically the need for any underhanded SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION tactics or even spending plenty of money on perfectly powerful but pricey solutions such because Pay Per Click or lavish ads. Searchmetrics is very pleased to have this partnership along with Elephate, a leading content plus SEO agency with years associated with invaluable experience. However, the particular webmasters can grasp search motor optimization SEO through websites. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION offers incredible opportunity and accessibility (it's an inherently free advertising channel) to inbound traffic, yet it can be hard in order to know where to start plus what advice to follow. Video can end up being an important contributor to your own overall SEO and digital advertising strategy, but it's important in order to be superior on how movie is going to help a person achieve your marketing and SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION goals. If you have got ever been into black-hat SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, spam, and un-natural links, Search engines will never forgive you plus you will be penalized by google at any time. As mentioned earlier, SEO companies are usually the most certified in working with various verticals of online marketing, mainly owing to the nature of their own work. Monitoring: Often overlooked, but one associated with the most important areas associated with successful SEO, this section strolls through how you can monitor your success and tie your own efforts back to real visitors and business, which gives a person the chance to future modify and optimize your programs. An SEO on-line marketing strategy is a extensive plan to get more individuals to your website through lookup engines. Several search optimizers try to key Google by using aggressive strategies that go beyond the simple SEO techniques. Subscribe to the particular Single Grain blog now with regard to the latest content on SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, PPC, paid social, and the particular future of internet marketing. SEO can furthermore stand for search engine optimizer. Like the rest of the particular digital landscape, SEO marketing will be continuously evolving. Search Engine Book — Read information right after Moz's guide to solidify knowing regarding it of the basic parts of SEO. If a person do not have the period or have insufficient training upon web design or SEO, Appear for web design experts plus hire a professional SEO services agency to keep your internet site and your good reputation normally you business may depend upon it. I ended with the website number 1, 228, 570, 060. This particular generates SEO anchor text, which usually helps you in improving your own search engine rankings. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION marketing is focused on the keyword choice that will attract a excellent deal of unique visitors in order to your website. Perhaps you have question what will be the brand new changes and updates that we all can experience in SEO inbound links sphere in 2019? A Cisco research found that by 2019, eighty percent of all consumer Web traffic will be from Web video traffic. If you might have spent time online recently, you might have probably look at the term "SEO, inch or "Search Engine Optimization. Search Motor Optimization (SEO) is the technique to campaign your products on the internet towards the right clientele intended for increasing ROI. There are many tools upon the web to assist along with basic keyword research (including the particular Google Keyword Planner tool and there are even more useful third party SEO tools to help you perform this). The biggest change that will we'll see in 2019 (and that's already happening) is the particular fact that keywords are getting less important. Once you've discovered your keywords, use another SEMrush tool, the SEO Content Design template, which is part of their own Content Marketing Toolkit, to function out the best way in order to optimize your content. If a company is providing you all these services below one roof, climbing up the particular SEO ranking will not become an uphill task for your own business any more. Local SEO companies allows a person to position your business upon search engines like google plus other digital marketing platforms therefore you're seen by potential clients — on their terms. YouTube adds the particular nofollow” tag to their hyperlinks, so they don't really assist with SEO. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION isn't just about building lookup engine-friendly websites. The sooner you understand exactly why Google is sending you much less traffic than it did this past year, the sooner you can clear it up and focus upon proactive SEO that starts to influence your rankings in a good way. The trending SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION technique or strategy now plus in 2019 will be Lookup Enterprise Optimization It has already been coined by myself since 2015. Dave Gregory, Content Marketing Supervisor from the UK based efficiency marketing agency, SiteVisibility, predicts that will 2019, and not 2018, is definitely going to be the actual year of voice. If we consider Google's Guide then there are almost 200+ factors that lead a web site in ranking, which we possess researched and clustered in twenty one On Page SEO Factors, that will needs your attention in 2019. SEO Wise Links can automatically link crucial terms in your posts plus comments with corresponding posts, web pages, categories and tags on your own blog. 41. An effective interpersonal media strategy needs a strong SEO plan. Google does make a few of this data obtainable in their particular free Webmaster Tools interface (if you haven't set up a merchant account, this is a very important SEO tool both for unearthing search query data and regarding diagnosing various technical SEO issues). AI and Tone of voice Search Impact SEO, Lets notice Why You Must Experience SEO 2019 At Least Once In Your Lifetime how voice search analytics Impact's SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and can impact in the particular coming time. A great many businesses choose to hire external help to be able to get the full benefits associated with SEO, so a large portion of our audience is mastering how to convince their clientele that search is an excellent investment (and then prove it! ). Nevertheless, SEOs tend in order to prefer links higher on the page. Because your site, because of to the nature of the business is going to always be more image orientated than textual content heavy, you will end up at a moderate disadvantage when it comes for you to employing SEO techniques such since keywords, backlinking and so up. Based on SEO software program company Moz's bi-yearly survey upon search engine ranking factors, the particular titles on your page are usually one of the nine almost all important considerations a search motor makes. Having an SEO technique that effectively promotes your picture taking business, driving new traffic and even taking into consideration the requires of the site visitors although you concentrate on perfecting your own art is a really effective tool. SEO is Research Engine Optimization and it is definitely required for make a internet site view-able. And you may see the section on exactly where to use keywords for even more information on integrating these key phrases into your SEO content technique. 22. Use social media in order to boost local SEO. SEO is the acronym for Seo. Even though certain techniques of SEO content material remain the same, like not really compromising on quality; there are usually definitely techniques which have advanced from the past and a person should find out whether your own SEO articles writing services are usually very well aware of that will or not. SEO service suppliers are specialized in increasing the particular traffic to your site simply by increasing your position in the particular search engine ranking positions. Entice international people to your sites with these SEO tips. The top challenges within organic SEO are link developing (easy-to-get links no more have got much value) and keyword analysis (the low-hanging fruit is lengthy gone). For instance, the phrase ‘SEO tips' is furthermore included inside the less aggressive phrase ‘SEO tips 2019', which usually is searched for too.

SEO specialists started in order to abuse PageRank in order in order to boost the rankings. Now could be a great time to take a nearer take a look at SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION marketing information because search is getting even worse for many types of B2B plus B2C businesses. SEO marketers plus writers typically come up along with different kinds of content in order to place the necessary keywords within. These are some of the particular most used types, and every one helps to give rise to the level of variety in conditions of website content. Certain black hat SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION techniques, such as keyword filling, are believed to be the SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION equivalent of spamming, and research engines will penalize them. Internet marketing is exclusively driven by SEO or lookup engine optimization. Others are usually simply traditional PR firms which have learned SEO as nicely as the value of hyperlinks. Here's a cliche among electronic marketers: Search engine optimization (SEO) isn't what used to become. Google announced that will they released several minor enhancements over the period of the particular time of about a 7 days and after analysis, experts inside the SEO industry concluded that will the updates were the outcome of keyword permutations and web site using doorway pages. SEO, or Search Motor Optimization, means setting up your own website and content to show up through online search results. People that want to take their company to some new height plus generally and mostly believe within the way of SEO advertising.

An extensive dental marketing plus dental SEO campaign can become attained by the enterprise just if the web address associated with a dental practice contains straight into all the promotional materials with regard to the business. This shows the importance of focussing voice search engine results within order to grow your company, marketing, and Search Engine Optimization(SEO) strategies. They attain this by increasing their internet site rank through a method known as SEO or even search engine optimization. Just like just about all other SEO approaches, be certain your links are appropriate, plus be careful to not cross the particular line into excessive linking : you don't want your guests to obtain annoyed. Bryan Yeager, Research Director at Gartner, will certainly share 9 Key Insights through Gartner's Marketing Technology Survey in order to Help You Prepare for 2019 and Beyond. SEO is a combination associated with digital marketing efforts all functioning Blog9T together to increase a website's value to users and presence in search. On-page SEO (also recognized as "on-site" SEO) may be the work of optimizing different parts associated with your site that affect your own search engine rankings. In 2019, we'll have to optimize voice research answers with CTAs that Google's algorithms don't pick up upon, but humans do. Dan Mallette, Lead SEO Strategist at each InVue Digital & HearstDMS, forecasts that SEOs will need in order to optimize for voice search and locate new avenues as SERP real-estate shrinks. Obviously, a social media marketing webpage that has more interaction will bring bigger SEO benefits to be able to some business than one the fact that has less interaction, but basically having a social presence is definitely a good start.

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