Our good friend speaker and author, Ty Bennett is hosting a great series next week. He has had great success as an entrepreneur, a speaker, and an author. According to Ty, “In all of my experience I have found that business is all about relationships.”

With that in mind – he has titled the week of Valentines Day – Relationship Week and has invited you to listen in as he interviews a leading expert every day on an area of relationship building. These experts include bestselling authors Stephen M. R. Covey, Bob Burg, Mike Robbins, and Kevin Hall. I will also interview social and new media leaders David Riklan and Gilbert Melott, radio talk show host Laura Kennedy and CEO Dave Blanchard.

So take advantage of the great opportunity to join me, Ty and all of the other participants next week. It should be enlightening and help us all get to the root of all business – relationships.

Check out the LINK BELOW to register:

https://leadershipinc.infusionsoft.com/go/Relationship/gilbertmelott/

and join…

Bob Burg

Bob Burg, coauthor (with John David Mann) of the Wall Street Journal and
BusinessWeek Bestseller, The Go-Giver and the just-about-to-be-released
“Go-Givers Sell More” will discuss how the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success
can accelerate your sales success.” Best-known for his business classic,
Endless Referrals, Bob will show you how five seemingly counterproductive
Laws are actually the keys to becoming the success you desire to be.

Kevin Hall

Kevin Hall is the author of the newly released book Aspire! Discovering Your Purpose
Through The Power of Words. Kevin is a highly sought after business consultant,
speaker and coach. He has been recognized for his groundbreaking
approach to uncovering the hidden, and often secret, meanings of words.
Kevin will share unique insights into the language of relationships.

Stephen M. R. Covey

Stephen M. R. Covey is co-founder and CEO of CoveyLink Worldwide.
He is the author of The SPEED of Trust, a groundbreaking and
paradigm-shifting book that challenges our age-old assumption
that trust is merely a soft, social virtue and instead demonstrates that
trust is a hard-edged, economic driver—a learnable and measurable
skill that makes organizations more profitable, people more promotable,
and relationships more energizing.

Dave Blanchard

Dave Blanchard is the Chairman and CEO of The Og Group. In the last three
years alone, Dave has debriefed well over one thousand, five hundred
6 Advisor Assessment Reports (3,000+ hours), coached over
five hundred clients (7,000+ hours) and delivered well over 200 speeches.
He has acquired through vast experience a wealth of information regarding
how people think and the impact this can have on an organization. Dave’s
seven principles to connect with people are life changing.

David Riklan

David Riklan is the founder of the largest website of it’s kind www.selfgrowth.com.
As a recognized authority on social media and internet marketing
David has successfully built an email distribution list of more than 1 Million people.
He is also the founder of www.selfgrowthmarketing.com where
David teaches social media and internet marketing.

Gilbert Melott

Gilbert Melott is the Founder and CEO of Nextvoice247. Nextvoice247
integrates social media to build business, create product and events,
and develop the talent of emerging leaders and entrepreneurs.

Mike Robbins

Mike Robbins is an expert in teamwork, communication, and
the power of appreciation and authenticity. Mike is the bestselling author of
Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken and Focus on The Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciation. Mike’s lessons on authenticity are refreshing and
impact both business and personal relationships.

Laura Kennedy

Laura Kennedy has lived a life of adventure and trailblazing. She uses those experiences to motivate others to reach for and obtain the gold ring. As a highly sought after business coach and radio talk show host, Laura impacts individuals and organizations with her wit and wisdom. Laura’s networking tips will have you networking like a pro.

listen. learn. share. repeat. ™

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emerging leader interview: John Heaven, CEO of Yangaroo from John Exley on Vimeo.

May I have your attention, please! In a new emerging leader interview, I was given an opportunity I simply could not pass up: to interview the very experienced and successful entrepreneur John Heaven (thanks so much to Matt Caldecutt! Follow him http://twitter.com/mcaldecutt).  John is the President and CEO of Yangaroo, a technology company based in Canada that provides customers with its patented Digital Media Distribution System (DMDS).  Yangaroo has been making headlines recently as they were named to the Canadian Business Top 100 Tech Firms and landed a deal with The Grammy Awards!

John has quite the background too. He has started 3 successful companies and played an instrumental role in successfully taking two companies public; including the $10MM Telepanel Systems Inc. where he served as the CFO.

In the interview, John talks about the exciting evolution of Yangaroo and their awesome story, the geographic and core business expansion of his company, and the re-branding of a young start-up into an industry leading company with patented technology and The Grammy Awards as a client. I also asked John about the advantages of being involved in the Canadian start-up scene. At the end of the interview, John gives his best advice to aspiring leaders, young entrepreneurs, and Generation Y as a whole.

Many thanks to John Heaven and I hope you enjoy the interview!

John Heaven

AUDIO INTERVIEW with President and CEO of Yangaroo, John Heaven.

LISTEN HERE:

http://www.whistletree.com/public/play/4774UBZT6RTALFEV

View John’s bio here:

http://yangaroo.com/AboutUs/OurTeam/ExecutiveTeam.aspx

Company website:

http://yangaroo.com/Home.aspx

emerging leader interview with Danny Bocanegra from John Exley on Vimeo.

My first emerging leader interview ever! My good friend the young entrepreneur Danny Bocanegra is a former all-star Wide Receiver at the University of Albany who has founded the company Selfless Tees. Selfless Tees is a lifestyle brand and clothing company on a social mission. The company crowd-sources its designs and gives a percentage of profits to partners, which are charities and nonprofits. Danny is a grad student and he spent the summer volunteering in Africa, which accelerated his dream to launch his venture.

In my interview, Danny talks about his awesome experience in Africa and how he sold t-shirts to fund the trip and donate mosquito nets to people in need. Finally, Danny talks about the reward and advantages he sees from starting a company in college. The way he has grown from and applied his leadership experience in Africa and as a successful football player to his entrepreneurial pursuits has positioned him as an emerging leader.

Danny Bocanegra, Founder Selfless Tees (Galatomi) in Africa

Audio interview with founder of social entrepreneur Danny Bocangera.
http://www.whistletree.com/public/play/4774UBI8T14N8G8Q

Danny Bocanegra, Founder of Selfless Tees (formerly Galatomi).

Follow him: http://twitter.com/DannyBoc

Email him: dan.bocanegra@gmail.com

In the last 100 years, human civilization has rocketed through the Industrial Age, past the Information Age, and into the unknown digital mystery of the future. We now live in a constant state of change. Everyday computers get faster, smaller, and cheaper. Everyday we wake up and the Earth is a little bit warmer. The only thing that is certain is that nothing is certain.

History of Modern Man.

Modern Man is the latest iteration of humanity. Modern Man has been around for 150,000. That is 3,000 lifetimes. All of civilization has been created in the last 10,00 years or 200 lifetimes. The Industrial Age is 300 years old or 6 lifetimes, and the Information Age has lasted for 30 years or one lifetime. We are now entering the Shift Age.

Nextvoice247 is happy to bring to you David Houle. David writes and curates the highly regarded futurist blog, www.evolutionshift.com. He has been speaking about the future for a number of years and his first book The Shift Age has just been published.

David Houle has always been slightly ahead the curve. He spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment and was part of the senior executive team that launched MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1 and CNN Headline News. He is the recipient of two Emmys, the Heartland award, the prestigious George Foster Peabody award and has been nominated for an Oscar.

If you would like to get a copy of The Shift Age Trend Report with a special Nextvoice247 premium [ENTER TalentRev2 --- it is case sensitive --- so make the right 'key shifts...'] when you click order report NOW!

We know you will find it very insightful – so subscribe to the future – today. Make it a great one.

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listen. learn. share. repeat.™

russell simmons & hip-hop change the world from VoiceBox | Nextvoice247 on Vimeo.



Courtesy

Global Grind

Russell Simmons has long been a hero of mine for what he has  accomplished on multiple business fronts. As an entrepreneur, it has been about nailing the things that would make a business successful. We are glad to bring you this post from blogger Sarah van Schagen.

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons is the co-founder of Def Jam Records, a sometime reality star, and an entrepreneur who’s launched a number of successful ventures including clothing lines Phat Farm and Baby Phat. He’s also a yoga-practicing vegan who’s hoping to use his resources to make change in the world of hip-hop—and the world at large.

Describing himself as “hip-hop to the bone,” Simmons is quick to hail the power of that community in influencing politics, pointing to a recent change in drug policy in New York State. “That was because Jay-Z and Puffy and Rev Run and LL Cool J and many other people came out to rally,” he says. “A lot of politicians joined them, but the artists made the noise and created the energy and made the change.”

Simmons has high hopes for rallying that same energy in the fight against climate change—an issue, he admits, the community has yet to truly embrace. But he’s harnessing more than the power of lyrics and videos to get the message out. He’s recently given birth to a new-media company called Global Grind—a hip-hop HuffPo, if you will—featuring news stories, video clips, and celeb blog posts on topics ranging from music and entertainment to “politricks.”

Simmons has also taken on the role of spokesperson for the America’s Greenest Campus campaign, an effort to get college students (a key hip-hop demographic) to reduce their carbon footprint. The contest ran through October and offered prizes to the school with the most participants, the school with the largest percentage of carbon emissions reduced, and the creator of an online ad for sponsor SmartPower.

During a recent phone call—and between bites of a Gardenburger-topped salad garnished with both salad dressing and ketchup (a combination his staff poked fun at, he says)—Simmons talked about his commitment to reducing his own footprint, the brand power of hip-hop, and the importance of well-informed consumers.

Q. Tell me about the America’s Greenest Campus contest. Why have you signed on to help publicize this campaign?

A. The hip-hop community has not been as concerned about the environment as they could be, so if I can loan my voice and my resources … into growing it very quickly, then I believe that companies can create more awareness on this subject. It’s something that I’m very committed to, so I want to tie this educational vehicle, Global Grind, directly to this “America’s Greenest Campus” idea, and I want to see how I can help others to lighten their footprint.

Q. What role can young people play in helping change the way we think about climate change in this country?

A. [This campaign] is an educational tool and an empowerment vehicle. People don’t understand what it is to lighten their footprint, what steps to take. So if we give them the simple steps and we tell them exactly how much it affects the environment if they make certain changes—being a vegetarian, doing other things that make a dramatic difference in how much weight they carry in the world—people want to know that. When they realize that by changing simple things they can make a difference, it’s an empowerment vehicle.

Q. You’ve said that you used to live a life of overconsumption and abundance—how have your priorities changed over time?

A. One thing is that I’m an animal activist. I felt very disturbed about the way humanity treats its species on this planet. It was a spiritual matter, and it was not connected, at first, to the environment. And then when I found out that your footprint is so much heavier because you eat animals—that’s [a bigger] cause of global warming … than all forms of transportation put together—it became a part of my discussion when I was trying to get people to stop eating animals and abusing themselves by eating them. I didn’t realize how much they were abusing the planet as well.

Q. Hip-hop culture definitely trumpets a life of luxury and overconsumption, and that message is going straight to the youth, so it feels a little bit contradictory to say “hey, green your campus, lessen your footprint” but also be telling them “have the pimpest car and the blingiest bling”—

A. I’m going to interrupt you. First of all, the abuse comes from the top down. The president’s flying around in a private plane. Stop playin’! Everybody’s abusive and every channel’s abusing us … All the people pointing the finger at hip-hop need to point at themselves.

If hip-hop decides to buy something that’s popular in culture and talk about it, that certainly doesn’t make them more abusive. They’re more conscious, not less. They’re less homophobic, not more. They’re less violent, not more. They’re less racist, not more. But it’s wrong [to say that] in general, they’re less concerned.

I will say that it is a community that needs to be enlightened more. But that’s not the issue—their mission of getting ahead. That’s a mission America sends on every network, in every promotion, on every channel, and every commercial.

Because they sing about the things that people buy? I think that’s a reflection of us. They are reflections of us, and our dirt is coming right out of their mouths …

Q. Do you think the hip-hop community can lead the charge to help shepherd these changes?

A. You’ve gotta hope so, because the biz is depending on hip-hop to pick which color diamond is popular. The only way [the Maybach] beats Phantom Rolls Royce is to get rappers to choose it. Tommy Hilfiger’s praying that hip-hop discovers him again. So is Coca-Cola; [they’re] worried what hip-hop says versus Pepsi.

We need them; they’re the best brand-building community in the world. If we can get a large number of hip-hoppers to take this on, then they will have a greater impact in lots of forms of media.

Q. Are there any artists in particular who have taken on this cause?

A. I don’t have a rapper that I can point to the way I can point to Leonardo DiCaprio. But I’m going to work now as an individual, and I’m trying to find some leaders in the community who can make a huge difference.

Q. Have you done any work to move along environmental changes in the music industry—or have you seen any promising changes in the way the industry is run?

A. I don’t know that they’ve done a lot of work yet. The reason I signed on [to this campaign] is because I felt they were not serving this initiative. They work on many things that are social and political, but this has not been one. It’s not been on the forefront in their minds, and that’s why I’m trying to make a difference now by joining on. I’m not joining on because they have a lot of hip-hoppers involved in the environmental movement. I’m joining on because they don’t, and I think that we can put it in their face and they’re conscious people and a lot of them will join.

Q. What about your clothing lines? Have you made moves to ensure they have minimal impact on the earth?

A. Not as much as I should. It’s something we’ve talked about a lot. In fact, we had a discussion about making a lot of organic cotton for Wal-Mart yesterday.

Q. What’s holding you back on that front? What needs to happen so that it makes sense from a business point of view?

A. You have to get customers to value it. Some of these choices we want to make—in order for us to be competitive and still make a difference, we have to be profitable. There is a resistance on the part of some consumers that is making it more difficult. We have to promote the value of organic choices to the consumers … We’re working on it. It’s a marketing exercise.

Q. Do you feel it’s your role as a public figure to use your status to promote change?

A. I try to go to work every day and make sure my businesses have a light footprint in every area. I stopped my licensees a long time ago from making fur; my new companies are not making leather. I’m trying, you know? I try to every day do a little better, but that’s for me to sleep at night. If you live by example, if you speak in a way that people can digest it and see the value in it, then you can get people to join in. I know that as [people] learn to do better, they do better, they feel better, and they sleep better as a result of making a good choice.

This article is brought to you from the Seattle Editor of The Grist.

by Sarah van Schagen

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

the power of asking intelligent questions from john exley | Nextvoice247 on Vimeo.

It’s 9:15 in the morning and I’m sitting in my Public Speaking class in pure disbelief. My attention has suddenly left my professor and concentrated solely on my laptop. I had just loaded my TweetDeck and there it was: Kat Cole [http://www.twitter.com/katcoleatl, http://www.linkedin.com/in/katcole], the Vice President of Training & Development for Hooters Restaurants USA

Kat Cole, emerging leader

(whom I had just started following on Twitter a few hours before amidst a near all-nighter) had replied to me on Twitter.

It’s the moment of truth: in the face of opportunity, what do I ask a person of such notable success?

Why Asking Intelligent Questions is Important

It’s simple. Have you ever dreamed of talking to your idol? Someone you really look up to, or someone whose level of success you desire to reach? If you had the chance to talk to her or him for just a few minutes, what question would you ask? Such a scenario demonstrates the importance of intelligent questions.

If I am to learn, how will I unless I ask intelligent questions?  Once you are able to develop some go-to questions to ask, simply caring and showing your genuine curiosity can be the foundation to building a relationship.

The Moment of Truth

What an inspiring background. At only 26, Ms. Cole was promoted to the corporate executive level for Hooters Restaurants. Additionally serving as a public speaker, consultant, President of the Georgia Restaurant Association, and MBA student, I was intrigued to know what advice she might have concerning my plans for after graduation.

In the face of opportunity, I responded to her message on Twitter. I asked her, “What’s your advice regarding gaining 3 years of experience after graduating vs. going right to grad school?”

That afternoon, she sent me her number and said that she would make time for me the very next day. I called her and we ended up chatting for 45 minutes, as she gave me some really thought–provoking, open–ended advice and told me gripping stories of building restaurant chains in Australia at 19 years old. I took four pages of notes. It was motivating.

Fine–Tune Your Skills

Study. Asking intelligent questions is an art, and you must master it. To master an art, you must become a student of the ‘game’. Make lists of insightful questions you come across or think of. If they turn into a disorganized laundry list, categorize them. Here are a couple of good resources that I have learned a great deal from; the founders of each ask terrific questions and host strong interviews:

Mixergy [http://www.mixergy.com], founded by Andrew Warner [http://www.twitter.com/andrewwarner]

Learn From My Life [http://www.learnfrommylife.com]
 founded by Moe Abdou [http://www.twitter.com/moeabdou]

Putting The Intelligent Question To Use

Have you ever met someone who gives you the impression that they are unzipping their head and dumping their brain on your lap? Unloading on you with their knowledge and continual onslaught of near-unsolicited information? Such behavior is the exact opposite of the characteristics you want to embody as a genuine ‘asker’ of intelligent questions. Further, such is the impression most have of the typical salesman. Contrast that with a person who asks thoughtful, intelligent questions. The latter is the sign of a person of good character who is interested in you.

The Sandler System of Sales [http://www.sandler.com/] is one of the most successful, worldwide sales systems and it builds its entire program on salesmen speaking 25% of the time and listening 75% of the time. When conversing, the only way you can achieve such a ratio is through the art of asking pointed, inquisitive questions.

If you are in the business of sales (even if you are simply selling yourself to recruiters), it is important to put the intelligent questions that you have developed to use. It will help you immensely to understand your customer and provide the perfect solution to their needs.

A Challenge for YOU

No matter what your age or level of success, I challenge you to interview someone whom you admire. First, do your best to research the person in–depth. Become highly knowledgeable of their area of expertise; whether it is an industry that they have excelled in, a sport, a specific course at school, or a particular niche in life that they are most interested in. The key is that you are genuinely interested in the person’s passions. Develop 5-10 intelligent questions that you are most curious about. Then, call or email the person and ask if they can spare twenty minutes for you to interview her/him.

Ideas? Use Skype [http://www.skype.com] to conduct the interview and (if it is okay with the person you interviewed) record it and post it on your blog, YouTube, or send it to the person. Don’t forget: always, always say thank you!

The Finale

What’s the purpose of asking a question if you don’t listen thoroughly to the answer?

Listen.

Practice listening. And listen some more. Whether you are meeting with a customer, talking to a potential mentor (or mentee), in an interview, or simply trying to build a relationship with someone you care about, asking intelligent questions can have a powerful impact. It can also go a long way in developing your personal and professional persona – but you must listen. The power of asking intelligent questions is that you can establish credibility and build a relationship with just about anyone; even your idol.

I encourage all of you to dedicate yourselves to helping others, especially those who have helped guide you along your journey in life. Return the favor! Listen always – look for opportunities to learn – share your experiences – and repeat.

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

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Many thanks to Ms. Kat Cole for her mentorship and for inspiring me to write this article.

1. Can you very briefly describe yourself and list your contact information?

My name is Francis Dayamba and I am a junior civil engineer at Clarkson University. Despite my technical background, I have created a club that will allow me to cultivate my social engineering mindset and to express my concern about the lack of development in my continent of origin, Africa. The characteristics that I feel define me as a person are: well-roundedness, patriotism, enthusiasm and confidence.

Contact Information: dayambfo@clarkson.edu, Founder of D’AMUGE FUND Club.

2. Can you describe the organization that you started/helped to start?

The D’AMUGE Fund targets educational institutions, particularly primary schools, in an attempt to impact the dynamics of destitute communities in Benin. Education is becoming increasingly essential to one’s success in life. So, the logic behind this initiative is the more accessible education is the more of a chance students will have to succeed in life and the more they will be able sustainably help their country.

We intend to establish multi-faceted grass root level projects, in an attempt to address the causes rather than the effects of poverty. While these projects have been primarily established to increase educational accessibility, they also target entrepreneurship, infrastructure and health of the community.

An example of such a project is an initiative that builds a water tap in a school. While the water tap will be managed by both the staff and the students, water will be sold to the local community. Not only will this provide accessible clean water to the community but it will generate profit for the school. This profit is then to be saved until enough money is collected to build another water tap. This money would then be donated to another school to allow them to benefit from the same privileges and so the cycle would continues.

3. What was the process you followed to start your organization?

To begin with, I observed that in Benin there are industrious and honest people that are in  need of sustainable resources but do not know how to access them. Likewise, at Clarkson there is an interest amongst students to assist but lack the knowledge on how to do so. With that being said, the first step in the process of creating the club was to realize that both of these extremes existed. The club is merely a medium by which these two parties can benefit from one another.

The second step is to convert an idea into a reality by making your group officially recognized by an established authority, which in my case is the student senate. Before the D’Amuge Fund can be recognized by the student senate, a constitution has to be created which will be scrutinized. If it is approved the club is then officially recognized.

Thirdly, you must be willing to advertise your club in an effort to recruit members in order to build man power. At the same time, it is important to establish core members of your group that are dedicated to the cause.

This is currently the stage at which the club is at, but the next steps that the club anticipates to cover are:

Have a successful first meeting in which we will establish the direction of the club

Hold elections to determine officers throughout the year,

Build awareness on campus while following the mission.

At the end of the year, execute the plan that was designed in the beginning of the club.

4. Can you tell me the story of how you raised $650 and donated it to schools in Africa in person?

In order to build awareness of Africa, the club decided to sell West African bracelets to the Clarkson community while informing students, professors and faculty of the conditions that the average person faces in Benin. We created a brochure and a poster which we used at table in our student center between rush-hour times (12-1 and during the intermission of hockey games) and advertised for a total of 10 hours.  Out of curiosity, charity and concern the Clarkson community bought the bracelets and donated money. Overall, we were able to raise approximately 650 dollars.

The delivery of the donations to the school was the most rewarding aspect of the whole process.   We chose the School of Avossa because of the desolate conditions and its resilient and hard-working staff. The most challenging aspect was determining how we could distribute the funds in order for the money to be used as efficiently as possible. With much consultation with the director of the school district, an educational specialist and the director of a Non-governmental Organization (NGO), the money was distributed as follows.

The funds were used to purchase the cloth required to sew school uniforms, which were provided to all of the students of the primary school. We gave the cloth to the student’s so that the families do not become dependent on our help and are forced to contribute towards the expense of getting the cloth sewn. This will also help the local tailor, who will get an influx of clients from the school. We rewarded the top 10 students with merit-based scholarships and the poorest 20 students with need based scholarships. In addition they all received kits that consisted of a notebook, a pen and a pencil.

We decided to help the 20 poorest students because in this primary school it was found that there is a correlation between higher family income and success of children at school.

In addition to that, we donated Christmas presents to the school in the form of soccer and tennis balls, candy and cookies and various board games.

Along with that, the NGO called IFESH- Benin donated a variety of things from French work books to teaching manuals.

5. What is your ultimate goal for this fall?

Despite the impact that was made, more work is needed. So this year, we are going to set a goal to fundraise more than $2000 by seeking help from external sources such as NGO’s and co-operations interested in helping our cause. Once the money is raised, we would like to think of creative ways in which we can help schools whilst bolstering the economy of the local community. We would also like to build the cultural awareness of West Africa amongst the club and the Clarkson community.

6. What leadership qualities do you think you are honing from establishing and working with your organization?

Before I make any comments about my leadership abilities, I would like to mention that the group with which I am working is very laborious and consists of connoisseurs at particular tasks that they are doing to help the club. The most important quality that I bring to the group as a leader is my knowledge of the Beninese educational system and my interest in development. Both of these allow me to give a unique perspective on how the club should be run and what particular problems we should address. In a sense, I have an emotional attachment to both the club and the problems that we are trying to solve. The goal is to have this emotional drive resonate throughout the whole group.

7. How might people outside of Clarkson University help your organization?

At this stage, there are two ways in which people outside of Clarkson can assist in the clubs endeavors. Firstly, I would like people to brainstorm and find innovative ways to help the education facilities in small communities while positively affecting the economy of the community. Secondly, donations are always solicited and deeply appreciated. As the club develops out of its infancy stage, there will be a lot more tasks that can be accomplished by students outside of Clarkson. Hopefully, one day we can have the club grow to the point that we have more chapters all around the nation and they can help in their own way.

8. Can you tell me about any noteworthy accomplishments your club has had?

So far, the most noteworthy accomplishment has been the donated money to the school at Avossa. My father kept in contact with the school and apparently the following semester more students enrolled into primary school. This news in itself motivated me to continue the work that I am doing.

One of the main functions of this club is to change the mind-set of the people in these local communities. They must understand that they should not be content with their current quality of life. They must battle for better living conditions, better jobs and a better life. This fight begins with education, acquiring the knowledge to understand the circumstances of their situation and use this knowledge to improve their lives. When people in these communities are thinking along these lines, only then will I consider that the D’Amuge Fund has made noteworthy accomplishments

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

This interview was conducted by Clarkson University Junior, John Exley, contributing blogger and emerging leader interviewer for Nextvoice247.

John Exley | Netxvoice247 Blogging & Emerging Leader Contributor

THE SITUATION

Corruption. Greed. The global economy in disarray. The world we know today needs leaders, perhaps more than ever before. For the young and ambitious who aspire to careers of leadership in business, it is critical to develop leadership in college.

An article featured on Entrepreneur.com titled: “Developing leadership skills in college and early career positions” http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/186785392.html offered the great advice that “College students and early career workers can benefit from continual leadership development in order to prepare for the business world and their first foray into the challenging world of leading others.”

THE OPTION

There are two approaches to developing your leadership in college, in my opinion: join an existing club that interests you and take on a leadership position, or defy the status quo entirely and start your own club.

If you are in college, I am about to urge you to pursue the second approach and cultivate your own leadership. Whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student, this approach can accelerate your journey towards becoming the leader we need you to be.

THE REASONS WHY

Starting a new organization can give you some great visibility with faculty and staff at your school. And, if you start a club around something that you’re passionate about, it presents the opportunity to not only connect with students who share the same passions as you, but to lead them towards accomplishing the vision of your new club.

The skills you will hone (including delegation, communication, sales, and creating value) from starting your own club have many parallels to entrepreneurship and the fundamentals of business, and you will undoubtedly draw upon them as you enter a position of leadership in your professional career.

The lessons you learn (from how to deal with the inevitable conflict that will arise periodically, to persevering through the obstacles that face you as you attempt to build your new club, to how to motivate others) will be highly applicable in just about every career path you may choose.

HOW…? GETTING STARTED

Find a niche, preferably one that you love. What are you passionate about? It could be working out, or perhaps you are captivated by current events. It might be basketball shoes or surfing or beautiful jewelry. What isn’t represented on your campus? Start a club that fills the void.

Or, take another route. Think creatively about a difference you could make in society with the help of others. Maybe you could start a ‘volunteering club’ whose sole mission is to organize weekly community service events.

THE EXAMPLE

Meet Francis Dayamba. Francis is a civil engineering major at Clarkson University. He is a close friend of mine who created a club this year that enables him to nurture his social engineering mindset and to express his concern about the lack of development in his continent of origin, Africa.

He is the Founder of The D’AMUGE Fund, a student-run organization that targets educational institutions, particularly primary schools, in an attempt to impact the dynamics of destitute communities in Benin. During a brief two week period this past spring, his club raised $650, which Francis donated in person in the form of school supplies, merit-based scholarships, and Christmas presents to students at the School of Avossa.

Check back here tomorrow for a full interview with this emerging leader – where you can find out more about Francis, his new club, and how you can get involved in making a positive impact on communities in dire need.

THE PROCESS

It’s time to create a vision. Start recruiting a few friends with similar interests and complementary skills and offer them the opportunity to be on the founding team of your new club. Brainstorm together and determine your mission, the purpose of starting of your club. Write out your goals and what you believe it can accomplish.

Think big.

Think of a name for your club. Talk to your school’s administration to determine what you need to complete to officially establish your new club. Formalize a 1-page action plan (with your mission and vision statements, about us section, and goals) and include by-laws if your school requires you to do so. Research your school’s student government, as there may be funding opportunities for your club.

Now, the fun part.

You’re official, so start creating a buzz on campus! Get the word out. Seek out students with similar interests and sell them on your vision, convince them of the opportunities your group provides and the potential for growth and improvement your group would have if they brought their value to your club. Once you have established a core group of members, engage them by discussing your formal organizational structure. How will you organize your new club? What leadership positions? What skills and talents will you need to attract to grow? Then, elect officers and revisit your initial goals for the semester; this time, with all members brainstorming.

THE SEMESTER PLAN

Think of a cool event you could organize, a conference related to your club that you might attend, or a contest you could hold on campus to generate awareness of and interest in your new organization. Think of ways you might involve the community as well, perhaps by offering sponsorship opportunities to local businesses.

Invite a local expert or someone well known in your club’s ‘industry’ to speak. Invite faculty and staff. Create flyers and brainstorm creative ways of marketing your event and your club. Hold an event that informs, entertains, and generates buzz about the value that your group adds to the campus

This could increase your membership! Engage your new members by asking for their ideas, and empower them to lead new projects. There is so much value in taking a project from start to finish. Ask any recruiter.

THE IDEAS

Build a website for your new organization. Research if there are similar clubs at your school that you might hold events with together. Comb the Internet for similar organizations (whom you might learn from) at other colleges. Contact them! There are so many opportunities to network. Organize a community service outreach to make a difference and to further enhance your club’s brand.

Engage with people online who share your passions. Begin branding yourself as an expert in the field that you are passionate about, on the collegiate level and based on the relevant club you started at school.

THE REALITY CHECK

Worried about failure as a young leader? Don’t be. In his blog post “A Wish For Leaders” http://leadershipinc.com/a-wish-for-leaders/520, the renowned author Ty Bennett says that he wishes all aspiring leaders “could know how it feels “to run” with all your heart and lose – horribly” as he believes this to be an important element in the “experience of leadership.”

THE SUCCESSION PLAN

Don’t forget: you’re graduating sooner rather than later, right? Better plan for the future! Who will take your place of leadership? How will you transition leadership? How often? How will you ensure that the club not only survives, but prospers and continues to grow?  Remain involved as an advisor during your last semester at college and help the club transition.

After graduating, stay in touch. As the group’s founder, establish a network of alumni and reach back to the club to help out when needed. Hold networking events. Be a door to career opportunity for student members of your club. Help the group continue to live on after your departure and you will have established a legacy.

More importantly, you will have left an impact on your school, and created value and made meaning for your student body. And in the process, you will have cultivated leadership opportunities, both for yourself and for those who joined your organization.

THE LAST TIP

Are you an unemployed college student or recent graduate without a job? Check out the blog article “Graduate school for unemployed college students” http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/06/graduate-school-for-unemployed-college-students.html by one of the world’s most famous marketers, Seth Godin, for the secret to your future success as a leader.

YOUR HELP

What tips do you have for starting a club while on college and cultivating leadership? What critical steps did I leave out of the process for starting an organization?

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

This post was written by guest writer Bradley Will.

Bradley is an entrepreneur, Social Media Strategist and the Online Social Community Evangelist for Nextvoice247. He is an active leader in the Gen-Y entrepreneurial community.

The possibilities and connections that can manifest through Twitter are tremendous. Though your fingertips, you have access to a variety of celebrities, authors, thought leaders, athletes, musicians and business leaders. Here, we are going to focus on the people who help us grow. Below is a list of 100+ great Authors who are active in the Twittersphere. These Authors have not only written excellent books, they continuously provide value to their friends and followers through their Twitter stream.

We have also linked up their blogs/websites and books they have written which are great resources for emerging leaders and young entrepreneurs, or anyone for that matter. Don’t forget to follow Bradley on Twitter or to register and join the Nextvoice247 community. Please share and enjoy!

If any information is incorrect or you have a recommendation for the list, please leave a comment below.

Career (9 authors)

Anne Brown | @GradtoGreat | Follower Count: 1,500+

Author of: Grad to Great

Why you should follow: Anne is a former journalist who became
involved in writing about career development and success strategies.
Anne has worked for universities, non-profits, start-ups, and large
corporations before becoming the full-time editor of GradtoGreat.com.

Dan Schawbel | @danschawbel | Follower Count: 25,000+

Author of: Me 2.0

Why you should follow: Dan Schawbel is the leading personal
branding expert for Gen-Y as well as the publisher of both the award
winning Personal Branding Blog and Personal Branding Magazine.

Daniel Pink | @danielpink | Follower Count: 6,900+

Author of: The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need

Why you should follow: Dan recently wrote the first American
business book in the Japanese comic format known. His last job was in
the White House serving as chief speechwriter to Vice President Al
Gore. Now Dan’s articles on business and technology appear in many
publications, including the New York Times, Fast Company, and Wired, where he is a contributing editor.

Jonathan Fields | @jonathanfields | Follower Count: 14,600+

Author of: Career Renegade

Why you should follow: Jonathan is a mega-firm lawyer turned
successful lifestyle entrepreneur, blogger and writer who shows you how
to turn your passion-whether it’s cooking or copy-writing, teaching or
playing video games-into a better payday and a richly satisfying life.

Kirsten Dixson | @kirstendixson | Follower Count: 1,200+

Author of: Career Distinction

Why you should follow: Kirsten helps people leverage web
technologies to increase their career success. Sheís a forward-thinking
career strategist who truly gets that personal Googling and online
social networking now impact how we are perceived professionally, and
she gives us the practical knowledge and resources to build our own
online identities.

Lindsey Pollak | @lindseypollak | Follower Count: 3,200+

Author of: Getting From College to Career

Why you should follow: Lindsey is a bestselling author, speaker
and consultant specializing in Generation Y career and workplace
issues. She has a decade of experience teaching young professionals how
to build successful careers and advising organizations on how to
maximize the potential of the new workforce.

Penelope Trunk | @penelopetrunk | Follower Count: 15,500+

Author of: Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success

Why you should follow: Penelope is the founder of 3 startups –
most recently, Brazen Careerist, a web service to help companies find
candidates. Her career advice appears in more than 200 newspapers and
magazines including Time magazine, San Francisco Chronicle and Boston
Globe.

Stanley Bing | @stanbing | Follower Count: 100+

Author of: Crazy Bosses: Spotting Them, Serving Them, Surviving Them

Why you should follow: Stanley is a columnist for Fortune
magazine and the bestselling author. By day, he is an haute executive
in a gigantic multinational corporation whose identity is probably
known to you.

William Arruda | @williamarruda | Follower Count: 600+

Author of: Career Distinction

Why you should follow: William has twenty years’ experience in
corporate branding and his clients have dubbed William the ‘Personal
Branding Guru.’ As a thought-leader, William is a sought after
spokesperson on personal branding, on-line identity and career
management. He has a passion for human potential and is driven by an
avid pursuit of innovation.

Entrepreneurship/General Business (8 authors)

Dondi Scumaci | @dondiscumaci | Follower Count: 1,500+

Author of: Designed For Success

Why you should follow: Dondi is frequently requested for
strategic design sessions, management retreats, professional
conferences, executive coaching, and keynote presentations. Her
presentations are designed to deliver solid, actionable disciplines and
her seminars and keynotes have made a positive, lasting impact on
corporations worldwide.

Donna Fenn | @donnafenn | Follower Count: 2,000+

Author of: Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack

Why you should follow: Donna is a contributing editor at Inc.,
The Daily Resource for Entrepreneurs. She is currently working on a new
book about Generation Y entrepreneurs for. Her work has appeared in Inc., The New York Times, Newsweek, The Associated Press, Pink, The Washington Monthly, Working Woman, Working Mother, CFO, and Corporate Finance.

Donny Deutsch | @Donny_Deutsch | Follower Count: 3,600+

Author of: The Big Idea

Why you should follow: Donny is the host of The Entrepreneurs,
a primetime special on CNBC profiling the success stories of America’s
entrepreneurs. Donny has interviewed everyone from budding
entrepreneurs to Billionaires, discovering their secrets to success and
showing YOU how to turn your idea into a BIG IDEA.

Jack Covert | @jackcovert | Follower Count: 400+

Author of: The 100 Best Business Books of All Time

Why you should follow: Jack is the founder of and chief mentor
for 800-CEO-READ, now an independent company, but longtime partner of
the Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops. Hired twenty-five years ago by the
late David Schwartz to promote business and computer books to the
Milwaukee business community, Jack used his considerable sales skills
and innate business acumen to grow that 3-shelf business section into a
7 million dollar specialty business book retailer.

Mike Michalowicz | @TPEntrepreneur | Follower Count: 6,500+

Author of: The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Why you should follow: Mike helps aspiring entrepreneurs become
industry leaders. He is the host of the brand new business reality
show, Bailout! and a guest lecturer for collegiate entrepreneurial
programs such as Boston College, Columbia, Harvard, Penn State,
Pepperdine and Princeton.

Richard Branson | @richardbranson | Follower Count: 124,000+

Author of: Losing My Virginity and Business Stripped Bare

Why you should follow:: Richard is a flamboyant British
entrepreneur with a seemingly insatiable appetite for starting new
businesses. His internationally recognized brand “Virgin” is splashed
across everything from credit cards, to airlines and music
“megastores”. Branson is continuously seeking new business
opportunities and loves a good challenge, especially when he enters a
market that is dominated by a few major players.

Tim Ferriss | @tferriss | Follower Count: 45,800+

Author of: The 4-Hour Workweek

Why you should follow: Tim is an angel investor nominated as one
of Fast Company’s ‘Most Innovative Business People of 2007.’ Once
called the “Indiana Jones for the digital age,” he speaks six languages
and runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide. He
speaks internationally about using entrepreneurship as a tool for ideal
lifestyle design and world change.

Tina Seelig | @tseelig | Follower Count: 350+

Author of: What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20

Why you should follow: Tina
is the Executive Director for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program,
the entrepreneurship center at Stanford University’s School of
Engineering.She teaches courses on creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship and was recently awarded the 2009 Gordon Prize from the National Academy of Engineering.

Finance/Wealth Building (10 authors)

David Bach | @AuthorDavidBach | Follower Count: 2,000+

Author of: Automatic Millionaire

Why you should follow: David is the author of eight consecutive
national bestsellers and has helped millions of people around the world
take action to live and finish rich. He also is the creator of the
FinishRich Seminar series, which teaches quick and easy-to-follow
financial strategies that have helped more than half a million people
take financial action.

James Arthur Ray | @JamesARay | Follower Count: 5,000+
Author of:
Harmonic Wealth and The Science of Success

Why you should follow: James is transforming the way the world
thinks. Called “The Rock Star of Personal Transformation” by the press,
James is a “World Thought Leader” who has traveled the globe devoting
over two decades to studying the thoughts, actions, and habits of those
who create true wealth in every area of their life.

Joe Vitale | @mrfire | Follower Count: 10,500+

Author of: The Attraction Factor

Why you should follow: Joe is a certified Metaphysical
practitioner, a certified Chi Kung healer, a certified hypnotherapist,
Law of Attraction expert, Life Coach and creator of Joe Vitale Miracles
Coaching. He was also featured in the hit DVD, The Secret.

Loral Langemeier | @loral | Follower Count: 4,200+

Author of: The Millionaire Maker

Why you should follow: Loral is known as an expert, visionary,
and passionate advocate of women and families. She has built her career
around helping people master money management and achieve financial
stability and independence.

Marc Warnke | @marcwarnke | Follower Count: 29,700+

Author of: Options Not Obligations

Why you should follow: Marc is a “Family First Entrepreneur” who
helps people balance relationships and family while creating wealth
within a business system.

Mark Victor Hansen | @MarkVHansen | Follower Count: 10,800+

Author of: The One Minute Millionaire

Why you should follow: Mark captures his audience’s attention as
well as their hearts. With his one-of-a-kind technique and masterful
authority of his work, time and again he continues to receive high
accolades from his audiences as one of the most dynamic and compelling
speakers of our time. He is also the co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series.

Robert G. Allen | @BestSellerBob | Follower Count: 25,100+

Author of: Multiple Streams of Income

Why you should follow: Robert is known as one of the most
influential investment advisors of all time. He is popular talk-show
guest and has appeared on hundreds of programs, including “Good Morning
America” and “Larry King Live.”

Robert Kiyosaki | @theRealKiyosaki | Follower Count: 9,300+

Author of: Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Cashflow Quadrant

Why you should follow: Robert has risen to fame as a
motivational author and speaker in the areas of personal finance, real
estate, investing and business. His Rich Dad Poor Dad series of books
have sold millions of copies worldwide and through his education
programs he is reaching thousands of students with his financial
messages.

Suze Orman | @SuzeOrmanShow | Follower Count: 72,000+

Author of: Women & Money

Why you should follow: Suze is a financial advisor, and
television personality who has given thousands of speeches and talks
both on and off television on the subject of credit, investments and
banking. She has amassed a large following due to her own investment
success and easy-to-follow financial strategies designed for average
individuals.

T. Harv Eker | @T_Harv_Eker | Follower Count: 2,700+

Author of: Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

Why you should follow: T. Harv went from zero to millionaire in
only 2 1/2 years. He combines a unique brand of ’street-smarts with
heart’. He is the founder and president of Peak Potentials Training,
the fastest growing personal development company in North America.

Leadership/Management (18 authors)

Aubrey Daniels | @AubreyDaniels | Follower Count: 150+

Author of: Bringing Out the Best in People

Why you should follow: Aubrey is the world’s foremost authority on applying the scientifically-proven laws of human behavior to the workplace. He is passionate thought leader and an internationally recognized expert on management, leadership, and workplace issues. His mission is to help people and organizations apply these principles to optimize performance and sustain success.

Brian Tracy | @BrianTracy | Follower Count: 2,700+

Author of: Maximum Achievement and Eat That Frog

Why you should follow: Brian has studied, researched, written
and spoken for 30 years in the fields of economics, history, business,
philosophy and psychology. He has consulted for more than 1,000
companies and addressed more than 4,000,000 people in 4,000 talks and
seminars throughout the US, Canada and 40 other countries worldwide

Chris Brady | @bradymachine | Follower Count: 9,700+

Author of: Launching a Leadership Revolution

Why you should follow: Chris is a businessman,
author, speaker, humorist, father, and mentor. Combining passion and
clean humor, his entertaining communication style has won him fans
across age groups and genres. He has appeared on stages around the
world teaching leadership principles and success.

Dave Lakhani | @davelakhani | Follower Count: 13,700+

Author of: Persuasion: The Art of Getting What You Want

Why you should follow: Dave has been described as a “Marketing
Genius”,”Business Acceleration Strategist” and “Multipreneur” by his
peers and the media. He has been responsible for developing dynamic
strategies driving record breaking growth and increases in sales in
more than 500 businesses in the past 10 years.

Harvey Mackay | @HarveyMackay | Follower Count: 150+

Author of: Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive

Why you should follow: Harvey is a nationally syndicated
columnist for United Feature Syndicate, whose weekly articles appear in
52 newspapers around the United States. He is the chairman of
MackayMitchell Envelope Company, which is one of the nation’s major
envelope manufacturers, producing 25 million envelopes a day

Jack Welch | @jack_welch | Follower Count: 257,000+

Author of: Winning

Why you should follow: Jack is a business writer of a weekly column The Welch Way, which appears in BusinessWeek,
reaching more than 8 million readers. He is a contributor on a variety
of television network business shows and teaches a leadership course at
MIT.

Jeff Jarvis | @jeffjarvis | Follower Count: 19,000+

Author of: What Would Google Do?

Why you should follow: Jeff blogs about media and news at
Buzzmachine.com. He is associate professor and director of the
interactive journalism program at the City University of New York’s new
Graduate School of Journalism.

John Di Lemme | @John_Di_Lemme | Follower Count: 8,500+

Author of: Champions Are Born, Losers Are Made

Why you should follow: John has changed lives around the globe as an international motivational speaker. He
founded Di Lemme Development Group, Inc., a company known worldwide for
its role in expanding the personal development industry. He truly believes that everyone needs personal development to reach their full potential in life.

John C. Maxwell | @johncmaxwell | Follower Count: 23,800+

Author of: 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Why you should follow: John is an internationally recognized
leadership expert, speaker, and author selling over 16 million books
and named a top 25 authors/artists named on Amazon.com’s 10th
Anniversary Hall of Fame . His organizations have trained more than 2
million leaders worldwide

Ken Blanchard | @kenblanchard | Follower Count: 500+

Author of: The One-Minute Manager

Why you should follow: Ken is one of the most influential
leadership experts in the world and is respected for his years of
groundbreaking work in the fields of leadership and management.

Leo Babauta | @zen_habits | Follower Count: 20,300+

Author of: The Power of Less

Why you should follow: Leo is a family-man and authors Zen
Habits, one of the Top 100 blogs on the internet. He writes about
achieving goals, productivity, being organized, motivation, eliminating
debt, getting a flat stomach, eating healthy, simplifying, living
frugal, happiness, and successfully implementing good habits.

Mike Myatt | @mikemyatt | Follower Count: 300+

Author of: Leadership Matters…The CEO Survival Manual

Why you should follow: Mike runs an advisory practice which
focuses on personal branding, coaching and mentoring for CEO’s,
entrepreneurs and other public figures. He is also a syndicated
columnist and contributing editor on topics of business, leadership and
branding,

Neil Ducoff | @nducoff | Follower Count: 2,600+

Author of: No-Compromise Leadership

Why you should follow: Neil has epitomized the ‘no-compromise’
mantra throughout his career as a business trainer, keynote speaker and
author, as he’s coached business leaders and entrepreneurs to achieve
the highest levels of success and profitability, while creating a
positive, rewarding workplace.

Nick Tasler | @nicktasler | Follower Count: 250+

Author of: The Impulse Factor

Why you should follow: Nick is the director of research and
development for think tank and consultancy TalentSmart, a company which
builds talent and skills for many Fortune 500 companies.

Orrin Woodward | @Orrin_Woodward | Follower Count: 50,500+

Author of: Launching a Leadership Revolution

Why you should follow: Orrin speaks on leadership and personal
growth across the globe. His highly popular leadership blog has
received international acclaim as an Alltop Leadership Selection, HR’s
Top 100 Blogs for Management and Leadership.

Rajeev Dewan | @rajeevdewan | Follower Count: 200+

Author of: Be.Do.Live.

Why you should follow: Rajeev served 14 years in senior roles at
Accenture, a Global Management Consulting firm. He currently focuses on
helping individuals and organizations achieve and sustain peak
performance in his roles as a Leadership Consultant and Executive Coach
to CEOs and Senior Executives and Facilitator with the international
FranklinCovey Group.

Roxanne Emmerich | @RoxanneEmmerich | Follower Count: 300+

Author of: Thank God It’s Monday

Why you should follow: Roxanne is a three-time Entrepreneur of
the Year and is listed by Sales and Marketing Management magazine as
one of the 12 most requested speakers in the country for her ability to
transform negative workplace performance and environments into “bring
it on” results-oriented cultures.

Stephen R. Covey | @StephenRCovey | Follower Count: 9,100+

Author of: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and First Things First.

Why you should follow: Steven Covey is recognized as one of Time
magazine’s 25 most influential Americans. As an internationally
respected leadership authority, family expert, teacher, organizational
consultant, and author, his advice has given insight to millions. Dr.
Covey’s books have sold an impressive 20 million+ copies.

Personal/Spiritual Growth (23 authors)

Andy Andrews | @AndyAndrews | Follower Count: 3,200+

Author of: The Noticer

Why you should follow: Andy Andrews is an internationally known
speaker and novelist whose combined works have sold millions of copies
worldwide. He has been received at the White House and has spoken at
the request of four different United States presidents.

Claire Shipman | @ClaireShipman | Follower Count: 1,100+

Author of: Womenomics

Why you should follow: Claire Shipman is Good Morning America’s
Senior National Correspondent. She covers everything from politics to
international affairs to family issues.

David Allen | @gtdguy | Follower Count: 550,000+

Author of: Getting Things Done

Why you should follow: David has developed and implemented
productivity improvement programs for over a million professionals in
hundreds of organizations worldwide, including many Fortune 500
corporations and U.S. Government agencies.

Deepak Chopra | @Deepak_Chopra | Follower Count: 39,000+

Author of: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and The Book of Secrets

Why you should follow: Deepak is the author of more than fifty
books. He is the Adjunct Professor at Kellogg School of Management and
Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization. He is a co-founder and
President of the Alliance for a New Humanity. Time magazine heralds
Deepak as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century.

Don Hutson | @DonHutsonLive | Follower Count: 1,500+

Author of: The Contented Achiever

Why you should follow: Don has been in the business of making
people believe they can do better and giving them the skills to do it.
He energizes audiences into action and is known for delivering real
solutions for business professionals.

Frank McKinney | @FrankMcKinney | Follower Count: 150+

Author of: The Tap

Why you should follow: Frank is a Maverick Daredevil Real Estate
“artist”; super hero meets Robin Hood, 5-time international
best-selling author; philanthropist, risk taker and visionary who sees
opportunities and creates markets where none existed before.

Jack Canfield | @J_Canfield | Follower Count: 7,600+

Author of: The Success Principals

Why you should follow: Jack is best known as the co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul
book series, which currently has nearly 200 titles and 112 million
copies in print. He also founded The Transformational Leadership
Council, a group of thought leaders, speakers, authors, coaches and
other leaders in the fields of personal and professional development.
His passion is teaching people to love themselves and to pursue their
dreams with passion.

Jack M. Zufelt | @JackMZufelt | Follower Count: 1,500+

Author of: The DNA of Success

Why you should follow: Jack was honored by the United States Senate
for teaching Americans how to achieve better results in their personal
lives and careers. He is a successful speaker and business consultant
who conducts seminars and customized training programs as well as

life-changing weekend retreats all over the world.

Joanna Garzilli | @joannagarzilli | Follower Count: 4,500+

Author of: Unleash the Psychic In You

Why you should follow: Joanna went from a failed relationship,
that resulted in tremendous financial hardship and low self esteem to a
happily married, highly sought after psychic medium, TV personality,
author and motivational speaker; helping people worldwide to tune in
and trust their intuition.

John Assaraf | @JohnAssaraf | Follower Count: 4,300+

Author of: Having It All and The Answer

Why you should follow: John risked the consequences of a
turbulent lifestyle that could have easily led to jail or to the
morgue. Today John shares the passion to live a purposeful and
meaningful life with audiences worldwide. He is one of the experts
featured in the worldwide phenomenon hit film and book The Secret.

Julie Morgenstern | @JulieMorganizer | Follower Count: 2,100+

Author of: Organizing From the Inside Out

Why you should follow: Julie is dubbed the “queen of putting people’s lives in order” by USA Today,
is an organizing and time management expert, productivity consultant,
and speaker. She is dedicated to using her philosophies and methods to
provide practical solutions that transform the way people and companies
function.

Keith Ferrazzi | @keithferrazzi | Follower Count: 4,300+

Author of: Never Eat Alone

Why you should follow: Keith counsels the world’s top
enterprises on how to dramatically accelerate the development of
business relationships to drive sales, spark innovation, and create
team cohesion. As a thought leader and advocate for corporate
citizenship, he has rallied executives around initiatives to improve
healthcare and education nationwide.

Keith Harrell | @keithharrell | Follower Count: 100+

Author of: Attitude is Everything

Why you should follow: Keith is known across corporate America
for his energetic, innovative presentations. His unique style of
delivery, solid content, and practical application, spiced with the
right amount of humor, leaves his audiences ready to take action! Keith
speaks from his own leadership experience and what he has gleaned
through his interaction with some of the world’s most respected
business leaders.

Kevin Hall | @KevinHall_words | Follower Count: 4,300+

Author of: Aspire! Discovering Your Purpose Through the Power of Words

Why you should follow: Kevin Hall has a groundbreaking approach
to uncovering the hidden and often secret meanings of words and their
effects on our personal and professional lives. He has come to be one
of the most successful executive coaches and consultants to some of the
world’s leading businesses.

Les Brown | @MRLESBROWN | Follower Count: 170+

Author of: Live Your Dreams

Why you should follow: Les has a mission to help people become
uncomfortable with their mediocrity and to be the catalyst that enables
them to see themselves having more and achieving more. His
straight-from-the-heart, high-energy, passionate message motivates and
engages all audiences to step into their greatness.

Libby Gill | @libbygill | Follower Count: 1,000+

Author of: Traveling Hopefully

Why you should follow: Libby Gill spent fifteen years heading
public relations and corporate communications at Universal Studios,
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Turner Broadcasting. She was also the
branding brain behind the launch of the Dr. Phil Show. Libby is now an
internationally respected executive coach and speaker.

Lisa Nichols | @2motivate | Follower Count: 7,500+

Author of: No Matter What

Why you should follow: Lisa is one of the featured teachers of
The Secret. Her powerful message of personal empowerment has helped
thousands of people make significant, positive changes in their lives.

Marianne Williamson | @marwilliamson | Follower Count: 7,300+

Author of: Imagine: What American Could Be in the 21st Century

Why you should follow: Marianne is an internationally acclaimed
spiritual teacher. She does a daily podcast on Oprah.com called
MiracleThought and hosts a weekly radio show on Oprah and Friends. In
2006, a Newsweek magazine poll named Marianne one of the fifty most
influential baby boomers.

Paulo Coelho | @paulocoelho | Follower Count: 39,000+

Author of: The Alchemist

Why you should follow: Paulo is not only one of the most widely read, but also one of the most influential authors writing today. The Alchemist was
one of the most important literary phenomena of the 20th century. It
reaches the first place in bestselling lists in 74 countries, and so
far has sold 35 million copies. This book also brought the author in
2008 the Guinness World Record for most translated book in the world
(67 languages). He is a Messenger of Peace for the UN.

Steve Pavlina | @stevepavlina | Follower Count: 7,500+

Author of: Personal Development for Smart People

Why you should follow: Steve Pavlina is a successful personal
development bloggers, attracting more than two million monthly readers
to his website. He has written 700+ articles on a broad range of
self-help topics, including productivity, relationships, and
spirituality.

Suzy Welch | @SuzyWelch | Follower Count: 6,900+

Author of: 10-10-10: A Transforming Idea

Why you should follow: Suzy is a commentator, and business
journalist. She writes a weekly column, The Welch Way, which appears in
BusinessWeek and is a columnist for O – The Oprah Magazine, where she
writes frequently about balancing work and life, as well as the
delicate art of managing career challenges.

Tony Robbins | @tonyrobbins | Follower Count: 750,000+

Author of: Awaken the Giant Within and Unlimited Power

Why you should follow: Tony is a recognized authority on the
psychology of leadership, negotiations, organizational turnaround, and
peak performance, he has been honored consistently for his strategic
intellect and humanitarian endeavors. He has been honored by Accenture
as one of the ‘Top 50 Business Intellectuals in the World’.

Wayne Dyer | @DrWayneWDyer | Follower Count: 2,000+

Author of: Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life

Why you should follow: Wayne is affectionately called the ‘father of motivation’ by his fans. He is an internationally renowned
author and speaker in the field of self-development. He’s written over
30 books, has created many audio programs and videos, and has appeared
on thousands of television and radio shows.

Sales/Marketing (19 authors)

Al Lautenslag | @GMarketingGuy | Follower Count: 5,000+

Author of: Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days

Why you should follow: Andy is a marketing guru who founded the
Word of Mouth Marketing Association. He teaches Word of Mouth Marketing
at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Andy Sernovitz | @sernovitz | Follower Count: 10,000+

Author of: Word of Mouth Marketing

Why you should follow: Andy is a marketing guru who founded the
Word of Mouth Marketing Association. He teaches Word of Mouth Marketing
at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Bob Burg | @BobBurg | Follower Count: 4,800+

Author of: Endless Referrals and The Go-Giver

Why you should follow: Bob Burg is a highly sought-after
speaker at corporate, financial services and direct sales conventions.
Combining humor and entertainment with easily applied, proven systems
for personal marketing, audiences come away ready to immediately profit
from Bobís instruction and coaching.

Bruce Turkel | @BruceTurkel | Follower Count: 1,400+

Author of: Building Brand Value

Why you should follow: Bruce Turkel believes that marketing
should be well-designed, simple, and should make a clientís products
and services more valuable. Using this straightforward approach, Bruce
has helped hundreds of clients, written thousands of headlines, and
designed even more print ads, television spots, websites, and campaigns.

C. J. Hayden | @CJHayden | Follower Count: 1,200+

Author of: Get Clients Now!

Why you should follow: C.J. is a business coach, consultant, and
trusted advisor for entrepreneurs and professionals. She specializes in
helping social entrepreneurs, activists, and community leaders launch
and sustain successful ventures to effect social change.

Chris Anderson | @chr1sa | Follower Count: 9,700+

Author of: The Long Tail

Why you should follow: Chris Anderson is a college dropout turned editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine. He coined the phrase The Long Tail in an acclaimed Wired article, which he expanded upon in the book The Long Tail. He is the chairman of a new startup, BookTour.com.

Guy Kawasaki | @GuyKawasaki | Follower Count: 135,000+

Author of: Reality Check and The Art of the Start

Why you should follow: Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop, an early-stage venture capital firm, and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine.
He was one of the Apple employees originally responsible for marketing
the Macintosh in 1984 and is noted for bringing the concept of
evangelism to the high-tech business, focusing on creating passionate user-advocates for the Apple brand.

Hugh MacLeod | @gapingvoid | Follower Count: 16,700+

Author of: Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity

Why you should follow: Hugh is a cartoonist, who makes his
living publishing fine art prints via the internet. After a decade of
working as an advertising copywriter, he has become well known for his
ideas about how “Web 2.0″ affects advertising and marketing.

Jeffrey Gitomer | @gitomer | Follower Count: 6,400+

Author of: Little Red Book of Selling

Why you should follow: Jeffrey is a creative, on-the-edge,
writer and speaker whose expertise on sales, customer loyalty, and
personal development is world renowned. He is known for presentations,
seminars and keynote addresses that are funny, insightful, and in your
face.

John Gerzema | @johngerzema | Follower Count: 1,100+

Author of: The Brand Bubble

Why you should follow: John oversees brand strategy including
its planning departments worldwide and its proprietary brand study,
Brand Asset Valuator. He is recognized as one of America’s early
founders of Account Planning. John had led the global brand strategy of
many great companies including Holiday Inn Express.

John Jantsch | @ducttape | Follower Count: 17,400+

Author of: Duct Tape Marketing

Why you should follow: John has been called the World’s Most
Practical Small Business Expert for delivering real-world, proven small
business marketing ideas and strategies. He is a marketing and digital
technology coach and an award winning social media publisher. His blog
was chosen as “Best Small Business Marketing Blog” from 2004-06 by the
readers of Marketing Sherpa.

John David Mann | @johndavidmann | Follower Count: 900+

Author of: The Go-Giver and The Zen of MLM

Why you should follow: John is a former concert cellist,
prize-winning composer, editor and journalist,
multimillion-dollar-earning network marketer, bestselling author and
serial entrepreneur. He has been writing about leadership and the laws
of success for twenty years.

Keith Rosen | @KeithRosen | Follower Count: 2,000+

Author of: Coaching Salespeople Into Sales Champions

Why you should follow: Keith is an Executive Sales Coach that
top salespeople and managers call first to develop a team of top
selling sales champions. Over the last twenty years, he has
successfully coached more salespeople and managers than any other coach
on the planet and is one of the foremost authorities on coaching people
to achieve positive, measurable change.

Malcolm Gladwell | @Gladwell | Follower Count: 22,000+

Author of: Outliers and The Tipping Point

Why you should follow: Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer
with The New Yorker magazine since 1996. His 1999 profile of Ron Popeil
won a National Magazine Award, and in 2005 he was named one of Time
Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People.

Marc A. Pitman | @marcapitman | Follower Count: 4,200+

Author of: Book Yourself Solid

Why you should follow: Marc helps individuals and organizations
raise more money than they ever thought possible. He is Internationally
recognized by such organizations as Reuters, the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and the American Marketing
Association as a thought leader.

Mark Simmons & Richard Laermer | @laermer| Follower Count: 5600+

Author of: Punk Marketing: Get off Your Ass and Join the Revolution

Why you should follow: Richard is an expert in marketing and
media and a former magazine and newspaper journalist. Mark is the
leading authority on Punk Marketing. Over an
18-year career on both sides of the Atlantic, he helped make Coca-Cola
a household name.

Michael Port | @michaelport | Follower Count: 3,500+

Author of: Think Big Manifesto

Why you should follow: Michael began as an actor on Sex and the
City, All My Children, Guiding Light, The Pelican Brief and turned into
what The Wall Street Journal call, a ìmarketing guru.î He now operates
a well respected coaching programs for small business owners.

Randy Gage | @Randy_Gage | Follower Count: 11,300+

Author of: Why Your Dumb, Sick & Broke

Why you should follow: Randy Gage is a former high school
dropout who is now know as “The Millionaire Messiah,” because he
believes that you are meant to be rich, and it is a sin to be poor! For
20+ years, he has been helping people transform self-limiting beliefs
into self-fulfilling breakthroughs to achieve their dreams.

Rohit Bhargava | @RohitBhargava | Follower Count: 9,600+

Author of: Personality Not Included

Why you should follow: Rohit is a founding member of the 360
Digital Influence group at Ogilvy and publishes the Influential
Marketing blog, ranked among the top 50 marketing blogs in the world.

Social Media Marketing/Online Business (14 authors)

Charlene Li | @charleneli | Follower Count: 17,000+

Author of: Groundswell

Why you should follow: Carlene is an independent thought
leader and blogger on emerging technologies, with a specific focus on
social technologies, interactive media, and marketing. She is a
much-sought after public speaker and has presented frequently at top
technology conferences such as Web 2.0 Expo, SXSW, and adTech.

Darren Rowse | @problogger | Follower Count: 66,000+

Author of: Problogger

Why you should follow: Darren is the founded ProBlogger-a
site is dedicated to helping other bloggers learn the skills of
blogging, share their own experiences and add income streams to their
blogs.

Dave Evans | @evansdave | Follower Count: 4,500+

Author of: Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day

Why you should follow: Dave is the co-founder of HearThis.com, a
podcasting service firm focused on social media and marketing. Working
alongside his clients, Dave develops an effective, measured approach to
using social media and achieving organizational and business goals.

David Meerman Scott | @dmscott | Follower Count: 18,600+

Author of: The New Rules of Marketing and PR

Why you should follow: David is a recovering VP of marketing for
two publicly traded technology companies turned author, marketing
strategist, keynote speaker and seminar leader.

Don Tapscott | @dtapscott | Follower Count: 5,500+

Author of: Wikinomics: How Collaboration Changes Everything

Why you should follow: Don is one of the worldís leading
authorities on business strategy, with emphasis on how information
technology changes business, government and society.

Howard Rheingold | @hrheingold | Follower Count: 11,600+

Author of: Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution

Why you should follow: Howard is internationally syndicated
author of the weekly Tomorrow column and editor of best-seller The
Millennium Whole Earth Catalog, takes audiences on a journey through
the human side of the technology-shaped future. He shows his audiences
a real-time, real-life, uncensored glimpse of the new cultures and

societies emerging online and on the street.

Jeff Howe | @Crowdsourcing | Follower Count: 2,500+

Author of: Crowdsourcing

Why you should follow: Jeff Howe is a contributing editor at
Wired Magazine, where he covers the media and entertainment industry,
among other subjects. He also blogs about why the crowd is driving the
future of business.

Joel Comm | @joelcomm | Follower Count: 66,500+

Author of: Twitter Power and The Adsense Code

Why you should follow: Joel is an Internet entrepreneur and a
leading voice in Social Media who has been online for over 20 years.
Joel is the co-creator of ClassicGames.com, which was acquired by
Yahoo! in 1997, and now goes by the name Yahoo! Games.

Josh Bernoff | @jbernoff | Follower Count: 6,300+

Author of: Groundswell

Why you should follow: Josh is senior vice president, idea
development at Forrester Research, and is responsible for identifying,
developing, and promoting some of the company’s most influential and
forward-looking ideas. Hiss research, analysis, and opinions appear
frequently in publications like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Ken McArthur | @KenMcArthur | Follower Count: 6,200+

Author of: Impact

Why you should follow: Ken has built an Internet marketing
career on the philosophy that partnerships and collaboration build
value for everyone. By creating websites and events that foster joint
ventures and cooperative efforts, he has brought a tremendous amount
people together for profit and growth.

Lewis Howes | @LewisHowes | Follower Count: 6,100+

Author of: LinkedWorking

Why you should follow: Lewis is an accomplished college athlete
turned public speaker, author and a LinkedIn expert. He is the founder
of SportsNetworker.com and provide useful sports industry networking,
sports marketing, and sports sponsorship concepts.

Liz Lynch | @liz_lynch | Follower Count: 13,800+

Author of: Smart Networking

Why you should follow: Liz Lynch is the founder of the Center
for Networking Excellence, a company that develops products, programs
and seminars to help entrepreneurs and professionals get clients, build
their businesses, and accelerate their careers through networking.

Scott Allen | @ScottAllen | Follower Count: 25,500+

Author of: The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online

Why you should follow: Scott Allen helps people transform
virtual relationships into real business. He believes technology, but
not for its own sake, can transform people’s businesses, lives and
communities when used effectively.

Warren Whitlock | @WarrenWhitlock | Follower Count: 36,000+

Author of: Twitter Revolution

Why you should follow: Warren Whitlock is a Book Marketing
Strategist, helping authors and publishers improve the results of their
online and offline marketing programs.

listen. learn. share. repeat.™

Want an easy way to follow up to 100 of these authors at once? Just copy the
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FrankMcKinney, J_Canfield, JackMZufelt, joannagarzilli, JohnAssaraf, JulieMorganizer, keithferrazzi, keithharrell, KevinHall_words, MRLESBROWN, libbygill, 2motivate, marwilliamson, paulocoelho, stevepavlina, SuzyWelch, tonyrobbins, DrWayneWDyer, GMarketingGuy, sernovitz, tseelig, danielpink, rajeevdewan, BobBurg, BruceTurkel, CJHayden, chr1sa, GuyKawasaki, gapingvoid, gitomer, johngerzema, ducttape, johndavidmann, KeithRosen, Gladwell, marcapitman, punkmarketing, michaelport, Randy_Gage, RohitBhargava, charleneli, problogger, evansdave, dmscott, dtapscott, hrheingold, Crowdsourcing, joelcomm, jbernoff, KenMcArthur, LewisHowes, liz_lynch, ScottAllen, WarrenWhitlock, nextvoice247

One of of my missions is to teach people things I wasn’t taught when I was 26 years old. But you know as we close in on graduation season and I have talked to some of my friends and some of their kids, I started thinking there are a few things the missed in high school.

Here are some classes high schoolers should have to take (or at least have the option):

g.