The Tao of Leadership, Business and Networking

The Tao Te Ching is a very short book written more than 2500 years ago, purportedly by a mysterious character that went by the name of Lao Tzu. This book is a great read. It is frequently obtuse, but it also provides some really unusual perspectives on life, success, and leadership.

One of the verses that I come back to frequently and try to hold in my mind as a business leader and school teacher is verse 17 where it says:

    When the Master governs, the people are hardly aware that he exists. Next best is a leader who is loved. Next, one that is feared. The worst is one who is despised.
    If you don't trust the people, you make them untrustworthy.
    The Master doesn't talk, he acts. When his work is done, the people say "Amazing: we did it, all by ourselves."
    This is incredible insight. So often we try to be either the kind of leader who is loved, or feared.

When we go out of our way to the kind of leader who is feared, we are hoping to inspire our charges to do exactly what we say. We use negative consequences to keep our people "in line." I have even met this kind of leader who I believe had the best interests of their people in mind. Unfortunately, the result of this is people who are afraid to do anything outside of the specific things that they are told. Who are uncreative, tentative, and uncommitted. At worst, the very people that we count on to build our business become our enemies and look for chances to leave, or thwart our efforts to build and grow.

Build a Small Business at Home - Easy and Rewarding

Have you ever wondered about starting your own home business? Are you sick and tired of putting your best talents to work just to enrich someone else? Do you like what you do on a day-to-day basis? Is it possible for you do what you do to earn your paycheck today for yourself? Do you have a hobby that you would not mind spending more time on and making money at the same time? Are you satisfied with your pay? If you think deeply about these and your answer is in the affirmative then perhaps it is time to start thinking seriously about a home based business.

Usually, when people think about operating their own business from home they become overwhelmed by the very idea of managing resources and products, producing a widget, shipping, handling, inventory, employees, expertise, taxes, accounting, human resources and the list goes on and on every possible barrier that would prevent them from exploring their dreams. But, really it does not have to be this way. A little soul searching, digging deeper, challenging our core beliefs and pushing ourselves to do something outside of our comfort zones, thinking outside the box, surrounding ourselves with people who are good at what we are dreaming of doing may all be avenues to explore to help our thought process. Although none of these may easy, taking the first steps towards moving us closer to our own home business can be very rewarding.

It is interesting to note that the statistics show that the number of self-employed who work exclusively from home increased from 3.47 million in 1999 to 4.34 million in 2005 (the latest available from the Census). The total population of working from home at least some of the time increased from 9.48 million to 11.33 million in the same period. Today, these statistics are growing at a much higher rate in the same direction. Today, there are many more opportunities to work from home than before. The evolution of the computers and the tremendous advancements that have been made in technology make owning a home based business much easier. Access to the internet literally gives businesses access to clients all over the world. Also the opportunity to have businesses that do not operate on or have to maintain traditional business hours give us the flexibility to beat the competition. Some challenges may be bigger but operating a home based business could be much easier and very rewarding.