How Freelance Writers Can Get Paid Every Time

Youve decided freelance writing is for you. Great. Now comes the hard part – finding a freelance writing job and getting paid. Many new writers fear that there arent any legit freelance writing jobs out there and are stuck trying to find work. Did you know that theres a way always to get great online gigs and still get paid all the time? When I first started freelance writing I had no idea how to find freelance writing gigs, how to invoice clients, how to pitch effectively and so much more. I had to make a ton of mistakes to figure it all out. While Ive never had a client NOT pay me, I have, in the past, forgotten to invoice a client! I get emails from some writers telling me they do the work, they submit their project and then they dont hear anything from the client. No email, no payment. While I cant tell you that wont ever happen (there are bad freelance writing jobs out there), what I can share with you is a framework to ensure youll get paid for your freelance writing work. Free Course on Getting Paid to Write Online How Freelance Writers Can Get Paid Every Time If youve been trying to be a freelance writer without any luck, it may be the way you are marketing yourself online. Businesses know credible writers from hobby writers. They know the writers that have a stellar portfolio are the ones that turn in stellar work. To help you achieve this status as a new freelance writer, make sure you adopt this framework. 1. Attract the Right Clients Do you know what type of freelance writing client you want? For many new writers, deciding on a freelance writing niche is all they think about. But, there is more to that equation – understanding your ideal client. Do you want to write for: Entrepreneurs Big brands Startups Solopreneurs Authors Moms etc.. Once you figure that out, you can start attracting that type of client. I suggest you pick a client that has the budget for your type of service. For example, new mom bloggers may hire out some content, but they may not have a big budget in the beginning. If you are looking for a profitable freelance writing job, then mom bloggers shouldnt be your ideal client. But, parenting magazines might work instead (and they have the budget for content writers). So, once you find that right client, you need to start attracting them. One easy way is to find out what blogs they may read and guest post on those blogs. For example, my ideal clients are small business owners and digital marketers. They may read Tweak Your Biz. This blog is a contributor blog, and I have guest posted on this blog. I also know my ideal client hangs out on LinkedIn, so having content on their publishing platform is essential to get more eyes on me. 2. Create a Writer Platform Ive talked about creating a writer platform on another post, but I want to talk about it again as this is essential to getting high-paying (and regular) clients. Your writer platform is also a module in my Write Your Way to Your First $1k Course. Essentially, your writer platform is how you market yourself online. Its your: Writer website Your blog Your guest posts Your portfolio Your brand Your social media profiles Your unique selling point Your online personality/copy Its how you present yourself online. If your writer platform shows your credibility as a writer, then clients will value your service and pay your worth. Ive had no problem in getting paid every time I submit work to clients. Ive shown through my writer website that I create valuable content for my clients and that my clients value my work with their testimonials on my service. Your brand also helps create your writer platform. This is where you can show your personality through your images, blog theme, blog colors, and copy. When I first started freelance writing, I branded myself as more of a colorful writer. Now? I market my experience in the digital marketing niche. When starting your writer website, consider those elements to show prospects who you are and what your brand stands for. 3. Have a Strong Portfolio Your portfolio is what can make or break you as a new freelance writer. If a prospect doesnt know much about you, then they will look to your body of work to see if youre the right fit for them. Its a good idea to only show your best writing on your portfolio, instead of all your samples. Its also a good idea to niche down your portfolio for your ideal client. While I target small businesses in the digital marketing niche, I do have other portfolio items outside that niche. This is okay – you can market more than one freelance writing niche, just make sure your portfolio is coherent and organized. Another way to show a strong portfolio is by having your content on popular blogs. If you can secure guest posting on top blogs, then prospects will trust you faster than if your samples are just from your blog. Of course, anything is better than nothing. I dont want you to feel that you have to WAIT to have that BEST guest post before you create your portfolio. No – dont do that. Instead, have mock samples or use blog posts of yours to show prospects you can write. Later you can optimize your portfolio with those types of samples as a way to attract better clients. 4. Network With Writers Remember – youre not doing this alone! And other freelance writers arent your competition! We work together! As a new freelance writer, you should be connecting with other writers you look up to or in your niche. By connecting with them, you can get feedback, ask questions and learn new strategies. You also may get work from other freelance writers. One thing I do for my course students is hand off work to them if I cant take a gig. I want to help other writers and other writers feel the same way! So, start following other writers on Twitter and leave a comment on their blog post as a way to start connecting. Over time you can email them and ask a question and let them know your story. Maybe you two can relate to each other and help each other out! 5. Know If A Freelance Writing Job is a Scam Sometimes its hard to tell if a freelance writing job is a scam or not. I know for me, if Im looking at a job board and find some freelance writing jobs, I make sure to investigate the company/blog. Is this blog brand new or established? Who is the owner and have I heard of him before? I also Google the business to see if its been associated with a scam. Doing this quick research can help me decide if the gig is legit and worth pitching to. So, as a new freelance writer, if a gig doesnt seem right, do your due diligence on finding out. 6. Be Available To the Client One thing I found out early on as a freelance writer is that its essential to always be available to your clients. This one thing helped me get an extra $1k of work! Now, this doesnt mean answering the phone call at 3 am or having to check your email every hour; It means be prompt with your communication and to always respond to clients emails. Your client may view you as a reliable writer and give you more work. This happens to me all the time (which makes me think that many freelance writers are hard to get a hold of!). So, take it from me – always be available, and youll get consistent work! 7. Go Above and Beyond I like to treat my freelance writing clients well. They are paying me a lot of money to give them words! Just think about. Someone is paying me for my words on a page. So, I feel indebted to go above and beyond with each of my clients. For a long-time client, I recently created a video tutorial for his article, and he loved it. I now showcase that post on my portfolio to tell prospects that I have valuable content. Its Time to Get Paid As a Freelance Writer There is no shortage of freelance writing work. I know you may think that because you havent landed a freelance writing job yet, but trust me, more and more businesses get online and need content for their site. They arent proficient writers, and they look to us as the credible and professional writer we are! So make sure your online presence shows that to them! When it does, youll get high-paying work and paid all the time.

Cyber Security Threat Posed by a Terrorist Group

Cyber Security Threat Posed by a Terrorist Group Summary Cyber terrorism refers to terrorist attacks that are aimed at computer systems. It is similar to the traditional physical terrorism in its aim of distraction with the difference that it targets computer systems and not human beings and other physical property.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Cyber Security Threat Posed by a Terrorist Group specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This paper highlights possible cyber terror threats in Australia in government agencies and the commercial sector. Possible options over terrorism is then highlighted which include international efforts to curb the vice. The paper recommends independent efforts by institutions, governments and the international community in the war against the vice. Background The history of cyber terrorism spans back to the development of application of internet services that was introduced in the 1970s. The introductory use of the internet was centrally op erated throughout the globe but this was changed with decentralization that resulted from the cold war conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. The initially restricted use of internet was also liberated towards the year 1990 that allowed private individuals to freely use the internet. The availability of internet together with its terms of usage which are associated with high degree of freedom has been identified as the main reason why it has been transformed by some individuals and groups as a weapon for assault. One of the realized features of the internet usage that makes it a weapon is its accessibility and â€Å"little or no regulation, censorship, or other forms of government control† (Pladna, n.d., p. 3) that offers an unregulated practice. The internet is similarly identified to be affordable and at the same time anonymous that offers opportunities for undertaking activities in the background. These among other features of the internet have been ident ified to form the basis of the cyber terrorism attacks (Pladna, n.d., p. 3). Particularly identified attacks of this nature have included hacking of data in other entity’s accounts that are normally aimed at causing harm to the systems and even a subsequent damage to the parties. An example of such attacks would include gaining an unauthorized access to a country’s security system with the aim of compromising the system.Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It can also take the form of compromising information of an institution with the motive of causing harm. An attack can, for instance, be made with respect to the information system of a health service institution. This takes the form of altering information about patients with a subsequent effect of causing an inappropriate medication that can cause harm to the institution’s patients. The examples illustrate the two categories of cyber terrorism, â€Å"effect based and internet based† (Pladna, n.d., p. 4). Cyber terrorism attacks are said to be effect based if they are primarily meant to cause fear among individuals. Though the attacks are based on computer systems, their effects are normally similar to those of physical terrorism. Internet based cyber terrorism are on the other hand intended to cause damage rather that fear. This form of attack is associated with compromising systems of an entity so as to cause loses due to system malfunctioning. Cyber terrorism can thus be associated with intentions to establish â€Å"loss of integrity, loss of availability, loss of confidentiality and physical damage† (Pladna, n.d., p. 4). Application and subsequent development of cyber attacks have similarly been associated with development of technology and the globalization effect that has stemmed up efforts to curb the traditional physical terrorism. Factors such as high security along country boarders that has for instance restricted the activities of terrorists in the international concept has seen terrorists resort to the use of the internet to attain their objective of causing destruction. Contrary to the restricted across boarder physical movements due to security, the internet does not have any form of geographical limitation thus allowing access to any country.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Cyber Security Threat Posed by a Terrorist Group specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This has particularly lured terrorists to the cyber attacks. Engagements in illegal activities that have also been significantly associated with terrorist groups such as drug trafficking and even smuggling of illegal arms have witnessed a corporation between the terrorists and other parties such as computer specialists among others to help in ensuring the success of these illegal activities. Accessing syst ems of other parties such as a country’s security system for example reveal loopholes which can then be used to smuggle the commodities past security forces. Cyber attacks can in this manner be used to disrupt systems by causing inefficiencies which then allows for the illegal intentions of the groups. Reports have also indicated the use of cyber attacks to defraud individuals of money through credit cards. Intelligence has also revealed that the internet has been converted into a hub for terrorist group as a centre through which they â€Å"communicate, conduct operational planning, proselytize, recruit and train to obtain logistical and financial support† (Pladna, n.d., p. 5). Developments and increased level of cyber terrorism has adequately extended to the dependence of technocrats with individual groups either hiring computer specialists or training ones for their operations. The developments have also led to transformations of targets to make government institutio ns and corporate entities as the main targets of the terrorist attacks (Pladna, n.d., p. 5). Possible threats facing Australia due to cyber terrorism Cyber attacks have been significantly identified in Australia to be majorly attached to political motives in addition to the creation of â€Å"harm and the spread of fear to people† (Beggs and Warren, 2009, p. 2) with the aim of influencing either domestic or global activities. Example of access to official data from an institution or an agency that is then used to launch an attack by altering system operations which would then lead to an accident such as an explosion are for example highlighted in Australia as a possible cyber terrorism. This would be due to the expected level of harm and fear together with destruction that such moves would create. The supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is for example identified as the potential target for cyber attacks. The system is used to manage distribution of commodities in the country, some of which are primarily essential.Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This involves the distribution of materials such as â€Å"water, gas and electricity† as well as the transportation of waste materials for disposal (Beggs and Warren, 2009, p. 2). The SCADA system has at the same time been transformed to depend on modern technology for its operations. Integration of modern software as well as hardware has been the characteristics of operations of the system. There is therefore a possibility of security breach with respect to the system that can be used to launch attacks on the operations of the system. This is actually an imminent threat owing to the fact that such attacks have been realized in Australia in the past few years. Cases such as attacks on â€Å"the polish tram system in 2008, Estonia in 2007, SQL Slammer in 2003, Queensland in 2000 and Gazprom in 1999† (Beggs and Warren, 2009, p. 2) are illustrations that brings the possibility of similar actions. The application of technology to operate the systems makes it liable for man ipulation that can then lead to harmful incidents. An individual who gains access into the system can for example greatly increase the pressure with which the fluids such as water, gas and even waste materials are transported in order to cause explosive busts of the transporting vessels. This would for example lead to immediate harm of individuals at the explosion site as well as the curtailed delivery of services that will be interrupted. There will also be the impression of incompetence of the system that will be created in public opinion as well as extended fear of possible breaches in other services that can be very dangerous (Beggs and Warren, 2009, p. 4). Another possible cyber terrorism threat to Australia is its corporate system. The level of vulnerability that has been realized in a variety of institution has raised alarm over the safety of the business sector in the country. Experience of attacks that have been realized with respect to the country’s infrastructure h as a possibility of shifting to commercial organizations. The breach in the commercial sector can take two forms, attacks on organization as the main target or attacks on systems in financial institutions with the aim of extracting money from people’s accounts. An attack on an organization can take the form of paralyzing the information system of the organization which can at the same time be accompanied by subsequent harmful activities by the terrorist. In either way, a disruption, financial loss and fear with respect to security will have been realized. Attacks which are aimed at accessing people’s accounts for transferring money from such accounts will on the other hand have effects on both the institutions as well as the individual customers. Similar impacts such as instilled sense of insecurity and fear as well as lost trust will be realized due to the attacks. Fears of such cyber attacks on the country’s security systems such as the armed forces have also been raised. This would however be more serious with possibility of subsequent physical terrorism attacks. Though the short term effects of the different attacks may vary, there is a long term impact that such cyber attacks impose to Australia and any other country that is faced with threats of cyber attacks. There is the issue of economic instability that may result from the fear that is occasionally induced by the cyber attacks. Individual account holders whose accounts are hacked and misappropriated will for example suffer from economic instability that might be spilled over to the country’s economy especially if a significant number of accounts are compromised and the funds diverted outside the country. Attacks on corporate institutions and government agencies are also characterized with an increased level of insecurity that can scare away investors to the disadvantage of the country’s economy (McDonald, 2010, p. 1). Such threats have similarly been realized in oth er countries such as Britain. Though Britain never took a drastic measure following an attack which it realized in association with cyber terrorism in the year 2005, it was recognized as a possible future threat that is worth consideration. Cyber attack threats have also been identified in the United States though no significant countermeasures have been publicly outlined (McDonald, 2010, p. 1). Options against cyber terrorism The extensiveness of the use of computers that provides room for international attacks from any part of the globe offers restrictions over independency of states and nations in the war against cyber terror. One of the options that can be employed to curb the attacks is the combined effort of the international community against the vice. Use of conventions such as the one that was established in Europe in the year 2004 is thus an alternative. Under these provisions, standards can be outlined that can then be universally used to regulate the use of the internet for harmful purposes (Rollins and Wilson, 2007, p. 21). A comprehensive international collaboration among investigators and prosecution teams in cases of cyber attacks have also been identified as an option to controlling the practice. The need to control the use of the internet due to the attacks is however countered by the fact that the wide use of the internet is identified to be of importance (Escorial, 2009, p. 4). Recommendations Following the global threat over cyber attacks, a globally established body is required to ensure appropriate regulation and prosecution with respect to the terrorists. Individual countries are also supposed to take measures to protect their institutions from such attacks by ensuring standards for safer systems. Individual institutions are also supposed to strengthen their system and immediately report any identified attacks. References Beggs, C and Warren, M. (2009) Safeguarding Australia from cyber- terrorism: a proposed cyber terrorism SCADA risk f ramework for industry adoption. [Online] Available from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004context=iswsei-redir=1#search=%22cyber%20terrorism%20threats%20australia%22 Escorial, San. (2009) CoE- OAS/CICTE Conference on terrorism and cyber security, conclusions. [Online] Available from: coe.int/t/dlapil/codexter/3_CODEXTER/Working_Documents/Conclusions%20CoE%20OAS-CICTE%20Conference.pdf McDonald, T. (2010) Governments on alert for cyber terror threat. [Online] Available from: abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/19/3042762.htm. Pladna, B. (n.d.) Cyber terrorism and information security. [Online] Available from: infosecwriters.com/text_resources/pdf/BPladna_Cyber_Terrorism.pdf. Rollins, J and Wilson, C. (2007) Terrorists capabilities for cyber attack: overview and policy issues. [Online] Available from: fas.org/sgp/crs/terror/RL33123.pdf

Book War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Book War - Essay Example The fact that her hair and shoulders were covered with frost, Ping concluded that she must have been there all night. This shows one of the effects the ban to reading had on young people. At first Ping thought that she was reading one of Mao’s books but later realizes that it was the story of Little Mermaid. He had wanted to read the book but only when he was able to read a book on his own, the revolution began and booked were termed as poisonous weed. The fact that the girl had disguised the book with a cover of Mao’s works shows how eager people were to read. She had felt the need to read the book but could not do that openly in fear of the government. This is one instance that shows how cruel the government’s decision was on those that really wanted to read. Ping and his neighbor decided to carry out a secret book exchange program. This emphasizes their determination to keep reading despite threats form the government. Ping later discovers a box of books that his mother had hidden. Whenever his mother discovered a book he was reading, she would order him to tear it and burn the pages. Then she would explain that it was for their safety with tears in her eyes. The author says that their hearts were turned into ashes. This can be taken to imply desperation and safe pity. All they could do was stick to the instructions from the government or risk their lives. In his last stanza, when the last of the books was burnt, he sat in the chicken coop. It was here that all the stories became alive in him as tears flowed freely. He then started telling stories to friends, siblings, and neighbors. These were stories he had read from the forbidden books and some that he had made up. From this experience, the author concludes that even if books are banned and burnt, hope and stories are still alive. The experience from this story emphasizes the importance of stories to people, even to children. Books carry stories that

Application of Microscopy in Biomedical Sciences Lab Report - 1

Application of Microscopy in Biomedical Sciences - Lab Report Example New applications are used to find the path of the unexpected discoveries (Suhling, French and Pillips 2004). Atomic Force Microscopy is the most important technique used in the biomedical applications, but it cannot compete with the traditional electron microscopy and confocal microscopy because of speeds at which later techniques capture the images (Haupt, Pelling and Horton, 2006). Some other scholars also emphasized on the importance of confocal microscopy used for the observation of living cells. Use of the confocal microscopy is now common as non-ionizing radiations are employed, which are also used for the tissue preparation and study of the living cells. TGFÃŽ ² stands for the transforming growth factor ÃŽ ², a family of the secreted factors, which are involved in the growth regulation, migration, differentiation, apoptosis, adhesion in the multistep processes for the wound healing, and angiogenesis. For the epithelial cells, the most important factor of family TGFÃŽ ² is the TGFÃŽ ² 1. It also acts as the growth inhibitor and expresses the early gene JunB. TGFÃŽ ² 1 also plays an important role for the morphology and transcriptional programme of cells. Endothelial cells differ from the epithelial cells, and show the additional features in order to achieve the specific functions. In these cells, the TGFÃŽ ² 1 also controls the process of angiogenesis (Var on et al., 2008). TGFÃŽ ² performs the dual role as metastasis promoter and tumour suppressor and keeps the balance between Smad3 and Smad2. Smad2 is found to be deleted or mutated in human cancers. ROCK Inhibitor such as Y27632 is used for inhibition of the GFP expression (Stuelten et al., 2007). Anti-Endo180 and B3/25 used as the anti-transferring receptor were taken from the Medical College in New York. American Diagnostic Inc. provided the Mouse anti-human LDLR and Mouse anti Human Upar. The wild type known as the Endo 180 was

Le Corbusier, Cubism and Social Connections to Picasso and Gertrude Research Paper

Le Corbusier, Cubism and Social Connections to Picasso and Gertrude Stein - Research Paper Example Like all complex works of art, his life too is seemingly contradicting and open to multiple interpretations. If Picasso shocked the world of painting by departing from the practice of imitating nature, Le Corbusier took the revolution a step ahead with his ideal notions about the advent of machine age and his stark depiction of the precision and sharpness which the machine age represented. It comes as no surprise that these two icons of the artistic world met and were influenced by each other’s ideas. On the contrary, the interactions between Le Corbusier and the American writer, Gertrude Stein were not all too pleasant thanks to their differences of opinion. However, despite their personal differences, it remains undisputable that these interactions influenced Le Corbusier in more ways than one. The first encounter of Corbusier with Picasso probably happened in the early 1920s before he bought Picasso’s The Bottle of Rum in a sale held in Paris. His view of this work a s an arrangement of planes supported by verticals was probably the first architectural interpretation of the work. During later phases of his life as an architect, Corbusier also translated and extended the depiction of volumes in Picasso’s cubist works into buildings displaying his respect for Picasso. However, much before Corbusier bought The Bottle of Rum, he had written to Picasso on numerous occasions. Apparently, Picasso too had shown some interest towards the maverick architect thanks to his occasional ventures into the architectural domain. Following Picasso’s success in using the void to represent a solid, Corbusier added the spatial element to modern architecture using elements such as a half-transparent, curved wall. This was the time when the cultural preferences of artists underwent a drastic change thanks to the widespread impact of the First World War. Picasso, along with his fellow supporters of Cubism like Braque, abandoned the art form to return to th e more traditional practices of neoclassicism. Futurism, which was used as a medium to adulate the machinery, violence and the war, was rejected by the strongest of its supporters. Corbusier, on the other hand was spending the wartime away from Paris in the seclusion of the La-Chaux-de-Fonds Art school. While teaching in this school, he also worked on employing the modernist techniques in architecture. During this period, he also completed designing the ‘Domino’ House project. The open floor plan comprising of slender, reinforced concrete columns and the interconnecting stairways would be a permanent feature of all his future works (Moos 2009). Having considered himself as primarily being a painter before being an architect, Le Corbusier understood the relationship between architecture, painting and sculpture. Since he believed that architecture should be used to signify the increasing industrialization and resolve social problems, he experimented on new ways of unifyin g painting and sculpture with architecture. However, in doing so, he did not compromise on the autonomous statuses of each of these forms (Cohen 2005). Now, being a painter himself, he was heavily influenced by Cubism which rejected the age old practices of imitating nature and was being used by painters such as Picasso and Braque for portraying multiple perspectives in their paintings and adding a realistic spirit to the paintings. Having begun among a group of painters, Cubism had also spread to different mediums such as literature and sculpture. Gertrude Stein, the celebrated American author had incorporated Cubist techniques in several of her works such as ‘

Leadership Style Of A Band Six Nurse

Leadership Style Of A Band Six Nurse The essay aims at giving the reader a clear definition of leadership and the relative merits and demerits of a variety of approaches to leadership from different perspectives. In the first instance it may be prudent to provide a definition of the concept of leadership and to distinguish leadership from the concept of management. Although management and leadership are often considered in the same turn of phrase and may both be requisites of a management level role, the two are quite different. On one hand, management may be seen as the activity of organisational processes, policies and physical resources to achieve a given outcome (Mullins 2009, Landy and Conte 2010), on the other, leadership considers how an individual chooses to inspire and motivate others to achieve goals and objectives (Robbins and Judge, 2007). It is important to consider the effects of leadership; the literature (Hardy 1999; Huczynski and Buchanan, 2007) does not seem to indicate that any single form of leadership or management style produces superior results in all situations and circumstances. Rather, different styles of leadership have the ability to generate differing levels of performance depending on a number of variables including: the manager, those being managed and the general environment (Northouse 2004). The NHS Leadership Council is responsible for overseeing leadership matters across healthcare (NICE 2010). To create the necessary leadership environment, Leadership Council needs to display set behaviours that break down thinking and adopt new ideas (NICE 2010). Due to organisational changes within the healthcare system, every nurse will require leadership skills as well as an understanding of the roles that these skills play in delivering good quality care to the patients. In this essay I will discuss the leadership style of a band six nurse within the ward of a local hospital trust. I will then analyse the impact the nurses style has upon the team working and multi-professional collaboration related to client care. Finally, I will discuss how my observation may influence my future management style. Throughout my essay I will refer to the nurse as Ms A to maintain confidentiality, in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council Code of Conduct (NMC 2008). Ms As role was to act as a team leader/ sister within the oncology ward. She has worked within her current post for one year. She had decided that oncology was her field of choice when she first started her nurse training. Her role modelling attribute was her inner passion within the oncology profession; she believed in providing her patients with the best possible care, to achieve the best possible outcome. Ms A would engage her nurses in the decision making processes and let them carry out their work in an independent manner. However, she would delegate the work according to the experience of her staff. New members of staff were given support and supervision. On arrival for handover, Ms A would be relaxed, yet professional. She would appear to focus on the abilities and commitment of her staff and this seemed to help in developing patient-nurse relationships. Although Ms A would appear to be relaxed, her knowledge, judgement, energy and motivation within the hand over of the patients would be outstanding. She discussed each patients total holistic needs, whilst empowering her staff by encouraging staff contributions within the decisions of care. Marquis and Huston (2009) suggested that by giving staff a sense of belonging and making them feel valued increases their self esteem, which are all characteristics of a democratic leader. - SECTION ONE One of the important factors in deciding the leadership style to be employed in a given circumstance may depend on the personal attitude of the manager. Macgregors X and Y theory (Hardy 1999) states that managers generally fall into two categories with regard to their beliefs about the attitudes of those who work for them: Theory X managers, who have a tendency to believe that employees would exhibit the behaviour of minimising the level of input and effort required in the workplace, and Theory Y managers, who believe that workers generally exhibit higher levels of motivation, which are only held back by poor organisational processes and practices. Ms A can be categorised as a Theory Y manager. Her predominant leadership style was democratic; as a characteristic of her style was that she focused on the growth and development of her staff, which appeared to exhibit higher levels of staff motivation (Grohar-Murray and Langan 2010). She ran her shift allowing her team members to come forth with their ideas, which appeared to give them equal say in the process of decision making (Marquis and Huston 2009). Ms A assessed the requirements of her team and developed a form of leadership that best suited them as a whole helping her to gauge the personality in every member of the staff and their level of intelligence, whilst taking into consideration the task to be completed within the group (Grohar-Murray and Langan 2010). The basic premise behind the concept of the democratic and consultative style of leadership is that individuals within the organisation all have distinct and specialist levels of knowledge (Northouse 2004). By Ms As consulting a broader range of individuals with different levels of knowledge in chemotherapy, she was well informed, was able to make better decisions and indeed empowered her workforce to make better decisions (Adair 1989). The democratic leadership style sees leaders frequently engaging their workforce both to consult for information and opinions in decision making processes (Northouse 2004). For the leader to be able to consult her employees for information she needs to have good communication skills, this is a key characteristic to maintain the democratic style of leadership. Grohar-Murray and DiCroce (2003) suggest that a democratic style is not punitive and therefore, treats staff with dignity, openness and fairness. Ms A was very considerate to the choices of her team member and adapted her communication skills to each individual member creating a sense of job satisfaction and greater levels of motivation. The democratic approaches to leadership are not without disadvantages. One of the major issues in the democratic style is that decision making can often become more time consuming (Bratton and Gold 2007). Another problem is that by the time a decision is made through the consultative process, a key opportunity within the environment may have been missed. An example of this issue in practice was one of the afternoon updates with Ms A. At 5pm, every afternoon, she would ask all her nursing staff to gather their patients files and do a ward round with her. It was a consultative process where Ms A would want to know what had happened throughout the day with the respective patients of the staff members, and then decisions would be made as to what needed to be done before the end of the shift. The key problem was that all qualified nurses would be on this round and there was only one health care assistant to meet the needs of all the patients during this hour long process. In such circumst ances, an autocratic manager would be more suited; simply by making a decision without resorting to a democratic process (Omolayo 2007). As, Schmidt and Tannenbaum continuum (Dean 1976) allows the leader to adapt their style of leadership to meet the needs of a given set of specific circumstances, Ms A assumed autocratic characteristics when it came to hygiene of the nurses entering patients rooms. ====================================================================== A consideration in the democratic approach to leadership was the classical concept that Ms As team was simply motivated by extrinsic rewards (Hardy 1999). The democratic or consultative approach to leadership is also based upon the premise that employees actually derive a benefit or reward simply from being a wider part of an organisation. Nurses within the oncology profession seem to very dedicated and motivated within their speciality and appear personally rewarded within their work. Such increasing levels of motivation are often linked to well known intrinsic theories of motivation such as Maslow (1970), who indicated that increasing levels of motivation came not from money but from fulfilling employees higher needs, such as a sense of belonging that is achieved through teamwork. From a negative viewpoint, an issue with the democratic style leadership is that it can often be difficult to build a consensus on a given issue. Where such circumstances arise, the leader will be forced to make a decision based upon a split team consensus, thus risking the belief in the minds of some that their personal opinions have been ignored. Such actions can lead to poorer levels of motivation and a general detraction from the benefits of the democratic leadership style in the first instance. An autocratic stance in such circumstances might prove to be beneficial. As Adair (1989) indicates, consultation is only beneficial from a motivation perspective, where those who are engaged in the consultation process have genuine belief that their views and opinions are being taken into account. Where, such consultations are considered to be merely a check box exercise, there is a risk that this can harm motivation and morale, rather than aiding such considerations. POWER Positive and Negative effects The democratic approach promotes autonomy within the team, which has an implication on the team, making the staff feel powerful within their positions (Daft 2007). By valuing her teams opinions, Ms A would take on board their individual viewpoints and delegate the staffs workload in a fair manner. As Ms A delegated her staffs patients according to their skill mix, there appeared to be equal job satisfaction at the end of the shift. Ward (2002) suggests that delegation is a necessary skill and argues that staff not given any responsibility through delegation, may become discouraged. However, within the practice environment some staff would work more effectively individually but others will postpone completing their tasks, which sometimes lead to negative outcomes. On the other hand, from a positive viewpoint, if your team achieves participation from the whole group, it will lead to more productive work when utilising democratic practice (Rigolosi 2005). Within practice, you can identify the members of the staff that excel from been given this increased responsibility, as they present, by wanting to give the best possible care to their patients whilst appearing satisfied, empowered and confident within their role. When the team is highly motivated and committed to the goals of the organisation, the team will deliver more effective care to their patients (Kuokkanen and Leiono-Kilpi 2000). On analysis, this highlighted how essential the implication of the leaders style has on good patient care. JOB SATISFACTION positive and negative effects At the beginning of each shift Ms A would ask all staff to come to the wipe board, where the action plan of what needed to be done for each patient was updated each morning. All the members of ward were involved including the ward clerk, who appeared to have a quite an active role within this specific task. Ms A crafted her message and was clear about her goal for each patient; however she still appeared to want other staffs constructive criticism. The characteristic of the democratic approach that Ms A was exhibiting was the involvement of the whole team within the decision making of each patients needs. The communication flowed up and down discussing each member of staffs views, whilst Ms As emphasis was on we rather than I. Each member of staffs cooperation was positive, however, another effect this process had on each individual nurse was the time it took, as every member was consulted. This, in turn, delayed the medication round and morning washes. It is the responsibility of ev ery leader, irrespective of the leadership style, to delegate work effectively to the subordinates, and at the same time take good care of them and motivate them by involving them (Omolayo 2007). Democratic type leadership is concerned with human relationships and teamwork (Omolayo 2007). Ms A valued her team members opinions that impacted within the team in a spirit of collaboration. The effect of this collective collaboration impacted on each team member resulting in increased motivation and job satisfaction. SECTION TWO Multi professional collaboration In multi-professional collaboration, the healthcare professionals look at the original goals for each patient, and with open and honest communication, work together toward fulfilling that common goal (Marquis and Huston, 2009). All members of the team will then accept mutual responsibility for achieving this goal. True collaboration requires honest communication and all decision making should be shared at all stages of the patients journey of care. It is important for the individuals in organisations to work in cohesive teams. Daft (2007) has defined team cohesiveness as the extent to which the teams members stick to each other in pursuit of a common objective. Members belonging to cohesive groups report feeling more involved in the activities; are highly committed to the goal and objectives; are happy working in a group and take joy in success of the team. The important aspect of a successful team is a potent leader. Leadership styles can govern the satisfaction of the workers and their productivity as individuals. Omolayo (2007) has enthused that teams under democratic leadership experience a better sense of community than autocratic. However, Daft (2007) has pointed out that managing teams may become difficult and the leaders may need to get out of their comfort zone and adapt to the given circumstances. Positive impact of Democratic Leadership Within the collaboration of the multi-disciplinary team the democratic approach provides a spirit of joint effort and good team work, as long as the team accept your opinion you have as an active part of the discussion (Marquis and Huston, 2009). This gives staff members autonomy to make actual decisions in the best interests of their patients. In general terms, the effect of such a democratic style of leadership on the multi disciplinary team has brought great benefits to the staff and wider organisation (Daft 2007). Principally, the benefits have been those of better decision making, based upon a wider level of knowledge obtained in the first instance. Secondly, general levels of motivation have been seen to have improved when compared to the motivation and morale of those working for managers with a more autocratic style within the organisation. Again, this has a real benefit to the organisation as a whole, such as reduced levels of absenteeism, higher rates of staff retention and generally a better performing team. What is bad about this style? Whilst the research acknowledges the superior performance of the democratic leadership style, it is worth pointing out that the style is not without its limitations and can require considerable efforts on behalf of the leader to maintain such a style effectively. A negative view of the democratic leadership style is that it appears less productive, as decisions take time. The authoritarian leaders appear more productive (Omolayo 2007), which is effective in a critical life threatening situation. Due to the fact that democratic leader always consult their teams for their views on each given situation, it can appear that these leaders are not sure about themselves and lack confidence. Mahoney (2001) suggests that leaders should give clear direction to their teams to maintain their group effectiveness. On analysis, in an ideal world these characteristics could be demonstrated, however, by asking their followers opinions, the leaders have motivational influence on their staff. We need to be aware that motivational influence is a powerful tool, as it inspires creative thinking and individual growth (Ward 2002). Indik (1965) suggests that the democratic style of leadership impacts the team members as the group sizes increase, the groups become less cohesive and the members are less satisfied (Indik 1965). Mullen (1989) discusses further that as the size of the group increases, the team members may also become less satisfied with the actual leader. This evidence suggests that leadership styles have conflicting evidence and the effect of team satisfaction within democratic style leadership may be a product of the size of the group. Within practice, I noticed that not every member of the nursing team could perform their tasks at the same level and did not respond to stress in the same way. Some staff could nurse four sick patients with ease; however, some staff was showing evidence of stress at nursing two sick patients. Ms A would notice these different levels of performance and adapted different leadership strategies appropriate to each member of staff. The effect of her democratic style helped reduce their stress and helped them achieve their goals. This exhibited Ms As democratic leadership style as she was concerned about the feelings of her staff, so shared the responsibility. - FUTURE MANAGEMENT STYLE It is important that the style of leadership taken up in healthcare should respond to the needs of the organisations consistency (Rigolosi 2005). Eagly and Johannesen-Schmidt (2001) have stated that women should use transformational style and supplement it with contingent reward to enhance organisational effectiveness. I observed that no single form or type of leadership can be deemed to be perfect or the most effective. In the field of nursing, democratic leadership style seems to be very appropriate keeping in mind the small number of nurses on every team. Ms. As use of democratic leadership was very effective in creating a feeling of work culture in the team and motivating them to work the best. But, sometimes, consulting everyone in the group becomes time consuming and may disrupt the normal flow of things and eats away from the time, which can effectively be utilised for other important things. Therefore, I personally would like to follow a more situational and environmental approach to leadership to obtain the best from my team and to achieve the best I can for the patients. This will mean that different situations will require different style of leadership. Both democratic and autocratic leadership styles will be maintained to keep a balance between humanitarian and organisational needs. The situational approach assumes that in order to achieve organisational goals, all the people can be helped and educated, and the styles of leadership should be directed towards achieving the best for the organisational needs (Rigolosi 2005). This approach will allow me to interact with the team that I am working with, and will help me to delegate the work efficiently. I can gauge the personality characteristics of all the people and occasionally indulge in team discussions and consensus over issues. This will help me create a reputation with the team and motivate them to work better without making it a routine. I would like to inculcate the sensitivity of the democratic leadership style with the effectiveness of autocratic leadership to delegate and regulate work efficiently. It is important for the leaders to provide vigilant guidance to the subordinates or the team members to keep the focus on the organisational goals and efficacy of work (Omolayo 2007). Conclusion For a leader, it is the most important to delegate responsibilities efficiently to get the work done properly and in time. Any single type of leadership styles may not be successful in achieving so in the variable situation. Therefore, it is a viable move to adopt a situational/environmental approach that lets the leader choose a leadership style according to a given situation. The case of Ms. A clearly shows the importance of democratic indulgence and at the same time, the drawbacks in the form of wastage of time. Therefore, the human element of the democratic leadership needs to be concocted with the strictness of autocratic leadership to govern a team effectively towards organisational success.

Bull Fighting Essay -- essays research papers

Bull Fighting   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The immediate reaction of many non-Spanish people to bull fighting is that it is sick, animal killing, unmoral entertainment. To many others around the world, though, bull fighting is a sport which involves courage, skill, and power, in a struggle between man and beast. This purpose of this paper is not to discuss the moralities of bullfighting though, it is to give some information on a sport which is loved by many throughout the world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A bull fight, or corrida de toros, consists of three matadors, and six matches, which each take about 20 minutes to complete. These fights take place in a bull fighting arena, or plaza de toros. The least experienced matador will take the first and fourh matches, and the best matador will fight in the third and last matches.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The matadors are not alone. They are accompanied by three banderilleros and two picadores. The matador wears a brightly colored costume known as the suit of lights. His assistants wear less flashy costumes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The movement from act to act in the bull-fight is divided by a trumpet blast. The first trumpet signals the paseo, or march of the bull-fighters. The second trumpet proclaims the entrance of the bull. The matador first watches his chief assistant perform some passes with the yellow and magenta cape, in order to determine the bull's qualities and mood, before taking over himself. Du...