Greek Crisis: Quick Review

176% GDP to Dept Ratio.

Reduction in Bank Deposit, no body is putting money into Greek Banks.

GDP falling again.

Unemployment increasing again

Investors lack confidence to Greece being able to pay back the dept.


Great part is the rest of the European Government holds 62% of the dept and take the largest hit, followed by private sectors holding 17%. (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-25/greece-s-debt-crisis-explained)

There are recommendations out there like, cut spending, raise taxes, drop the idea of using euro, and liquidate their possession.

Of course default may be the case and if that happens good luck with the damage to the other countries holding dept for Greece. It will bring down chunk of Europe with them.

Well, due to Greece not using its own currency and lack the control of its own money (European Central Bank that controls majority of the world bank has it) they are facing current consequences.

The tension of fear is raising, sell for investors in the European market is becoming prominent, just hold onto until the fear becomes large and re-invest into the European market.

The Championship Team: The team that makes anything happen.

Thank you for Blair Singer (www.blairsinger.com) of kicking our you know what to have an experience of being on a championship team.

I had an experience going to a training in Phoenix, AZ for 5 days really getting to know the power of the team and the energy inside yourself.




Quick summary of what we accomplished in 5 days:

1. We as a group of 48 members raised $24 million US dollars.
2. In average lost 5lbs (about 2.5kg) of fat in 5 days.
3. Fed 26,000 kids food for a weekend.
4. Made $5,628 for orphans in Tanzania.

So what made it possible?

What is the key for awesome team?


3 things:

1) Have an agreement on a rule or code of honor (we made sure we agreed on the rule to be on the team).

2) Trust you teammate 100%. If you can then do what ever it takes to do so.

3) Be accountable of each other. (i.e., call on each other's Bull $h!t)


The result was an awesome championship team that feel great to work with.
It is difficult to even explain how it is unless you have the experience of being on such a team. 

Business Crisis Made Easy into 3 Components: MOPS

It is crazy for me not to write about the business crisis management model when that is what I do.

Business has three basic components in order to operate and a crisis related to each:

M- Marketing > Financial Crisis

O- Operation > Organizational Crisis

P/S- Product/Service > Stagnant Crisis

Each has a 3 basic solutions, what all employee must do, and the psychological fear that they need to overcome.


Marketing
Solutions:

1. Public Relations
2. Branding/Marketing
3. Sales

Employee Mindset

"Everybody must sale."

Fear:

• Rejection

Because we hate our idea, product, or services to be rejected we tend to under play the marketing/sales piece.  Although, if you do not do a good job in this area you will be broke and not help anybody, still there is a psychology that stops us from taking action to encounter others and sell/educate them.

Organizational

Solutions:

1. Systems (i.e., logistics, company rules, etc.)
2. Team Building
3. Expertise (i.e., law, tax)

Employee Mindset

"Must agree and follow the rule and system."

Fear

• Insignificance/Vulnerability

Because of the need to be individualistic and significance there is something that stops us from following the law, rule, asking for help or just simply modeling what works. The weird misconception of rule will restrict us, asking others means your weak and other subconscious ideas, people can't just follow the system.

Product/Service

Solutions:

1. Innovation
2. Rapport
3. Research/Analysis

Employee Mindset

"Higher standard than the day before, constant change and growth."

Fear

• Unknown

Because the greatest fear is the unknown and our brain is geared to stay in the comfort zone, finding and exploring the new is not on top of the list.  Yet, everything in the universe is either growing or dying, so a stagnation in the organization or product most likely lead to the competition smoking them away or just naturally disappearing.

Finally, once the company/organization goes through all three crisis, they just begins from the beginning and it is a cycle.

I will make sure that I make a training video related to this topic soon. Keep eyes on www.crucing.com. 

Please leave a comment or question I will highly appreciate and get back to you ASAP.

Is it going to be a failure? Starbuck's #Race Together: Comments on managing this crisis.

Well the fact that they stop writing "Race Together" on the cup anymore in one-week, we can say it was a failure. (http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2015/03/23/starbucks-baristas-stop-writing-race-together-on-cups/)

However, negative popularity is still a popularity so I guess they did ignite the talk some how about race. Well, should Starbucks be the one to talk about alone?  Probably not.  There is too much lack of integrity to their brand as Tai Tran says (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/racetogether-3-reasons-behind-starbucks-failure-tai-tran).

It is a relatively expensive store where their target population not necessary covers all race or socioeconomic status. 

What they should have done:

1) Joint venture or do the Campaign on behalf of another organization that supports race equality like with the King Center (http://www.thekingcenter.org/) that support Martin Luther King Jr's vision; RaceEquality.org (http://www.racialequity.org/); Operation Understanding DC (http://www.oudc.org/), etc. etc.

2) Market research what cause Starbucks should support and ask the customers on FB or Twitter or so:

"We, Starbucks, are thinking of supporting a good cause, we thought of the following three topics, please tweet which one you like, and if you have an idea please tweet that too."

1) Supporting Veterans Mental Health
2) Racial Equality
3) Health Care Accessability

Or so and get ideas.

Thomas Edison said “I find out what the world needs. Then, I go ahead and invent it."

Where did marketing strategies go for Starbucks? Did they become arrogant once they are world known company?


What they should do now:

1) Open apology from CEO and/or the owner, no Justification, denial, or blaming.

2) Regain the permission to do the campaign if you want to continue.

3) Give another plan for fixing and never doing the same thing in the future.

Stock Strike Down, Sign of a Crisis... Oh its the company I used to work for.

American Addiction Centers (AAC) has been the giant of the addiction treatment industry. For profit, and even provides stocks now. 

But interesting when they get news like:

American Addiction Centers: Addicted To Fraudulent Drug Testing? (Mar. 3, 2015,  http://seekingalpha.com/article/2967976-american-addiction-centers-addicted-to-fraudulent-drug-testing)

Then,

IPO Lockup Expiration: AAC Holdings (Mar. 31, 2015,  http://seekingalpha.com/article/3011226-ipo-lockup-expiration-aac-holdings)

I did not know but their stock was locked up for 180-day until Mar. 31, 2015.

Well the crisis of FBI raiding Florida's addiction centers for fraudulent activity of over using drug test and Blue Cross Blue Shield suing AAC for fraud probably will not help the stock price from dropping.

I sent e-mails to the owner, president, and business development head as if the stock price has shattered and they need a crisis management from us.

The e-mail is as if it already happened but hopefully they get the picture.  Since they haven't done much informing shareholders and customers about the suing and moreover there are multiple cases of errors (http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/american-addiction-center/west-palm-beach-florida-33407/american-addiction-center-aka-singer-island-facility-abruptly-closing-of-out-patient-faci-1064005) and is a scary position to be.

I will respect the confidentiality and not state specifically what I've seen inside, but lets say the morale of the staff were very low.  It began high, but it just became low over time (http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/American-Addiction-Centers-Reviews-E656512.htm).  I don't even know if job situation is great for the chief executive positions which are getting paid more.  Usually, the abusiveness are seen in lower paid staff, but I never saw the "cheifs" to be happy, fulfilled, or confident really in AAC. I guess it is true that money makes you not dissatisfied but doesn't make you satisfied.

The following will be what I will recommend for as they get closer to the expiration of the lock-up.

1) Individuals in higher position be honest about the mistakes they made to the public, shareholders, and customers and give specific plans to correct it.

2) Review the crisis management plan and the team who will be responsible for it. Follow up with quality management group after the crisis is resolved.

3) Communicate with all staffs about the current condition of the company, honestly and remove doubts. Make sure the company states about the value they provide to quantity of individuals which is true for having so many beds.

AAC stock price currently is $28.79 lets see what happens.  It may not go down immediately if they force the current shareholders not to sell it.  I don't know even if that is possible.

It is either they go below $23.94 where there support were or have a way to go beyond about $31.57 which was their resistance.  The challenge is faced for AAC as their chart is currently at neutral, you can say its up, you can say its down. Will see what happens on March 31st, 2015.

Cliff note on: "The Tobacco Training: Why People Smoke and Non-Traditional Alternatives to Stop Smoking for Good!"

I thought I posted something about stop smoking and surprising I did not!!! Wow, it is interesting when that is one of my specialties. Talking about avoidable life crisis and stress.  This is a big one. A month ago or so I was interviewed by Mr. Marc Brajak about:

"The Tobacco Training: Why People Smoke and Non-Traditional Alternatives to Stop Smoking for Good!"

see he is from Canada and you never know what makes people want to ask different things to me.

You can watch the whole video which is about 47 minutes long. Actually in-depth information are in there.

But I can summarize for you in few bullet points:

• Health issues from tobacco are caused by 250 harmful toxins in the tobacco.
• Mainly damage to lung, heart, and DNA
• People can't stop because their brain short circuited on the pleasure cycle of the brain.
• People have low or no pleasure unless you smoke. Everything becomes painful.
• The negative cycle of 1) wanting to stop, and starts, 2) but fails, 3) feels bad about themselves and smokes.
• Smokers will maintain poverty or live under their mean. 
• Reasons: 1) it is an expensive habit, 2) health cost later in life, 3) time wasted on the activity (essentially you waste about 1 month smoking if you are a pack a day smoker).
• With careful screening and support I can help 80% of smokers, who are the ones that want to stop smoking stop smoking.
• Rest of the 20%? Not ready yet or I will see them later in their life.
• People will eventually stop, due to brain or the body giving up or enough pain occurs in the person's life and they will stop.
• I just fasten the process with having a short intense pain just enough for the procedure so the person doesn't need to suffer for the rest of their life.
• Always try your local community and your insurance. They tend to have free stop smoking treatments or guide.

15-Point Customer's Checklist to Assess Competent and INCOMPETENT Yoga Instructors

15-Point Customer's Checklist to Assess 

Competent and INCOMPETENT Yoga Instructors

Would you like to have a better yoga practice?

Would you like to know the difference between an awesome and not so awesome yoga instructors?

You came to the right place.

If you were learning martial arts there will be significant difference between learning from a 10 degree black belt grand master and a usual black belt master right?

If you were learning in college there is a difference between learning from a world class international speaker/ researcher/ trainer professor versus "I am here just to read" kind of professor, right?

As having an experience to work with yoga trainers as part of psychological treatment; myself being a trainer of how to "teach" and "sell" for the yoga instructors in Japan (http://www.japanyogasportsfederation.org/), and practicing yoga, I realized what separates those who are competent and incompetent.

BE AWARE INCOMPETENT YOGA INSTRUCTOR may = to DEATH or PERMANENT DAMAGE (*1)

Bikram Choudhury, founder of Bikram Yoga, once was interviewed and questioned "if yoga is so good for your body and mind, why do some people get injured?"  He answered by saying "would you allow a regular person or even a nurse to operate a surgery? No, that is why a professional and competent yoga instructors are needed. The individual who got injured must have done yoga by themselves or without an appropriate yoga instructor." (paraphrased).

So the following is a checklist for the customers and also for the instructors to keep everybody safe and also have the maximum benefit from yoga.

Awareness:

1. Did the instructor engage with the beginners/1st timers and gave some orientation? Y/Maybe/N 

2. Did the instructor question the students before the class if there is anyone who are pregnant or have medical injuries? Y/Maybe/N 

3. Does the instructor warn individuals who are in dangerous postures (i.e., not locking the knee, getting into difficult postures forcefully)? Y/Maybe/N

Attitude:

4. Do you feel a positive strong energy (attitude) from the instructor? Y/Maybe/N

5. Do you feel that the instructor loves yoga and cares about the students? Y/Maybe/N

6. Does the instructor see the importance of following structured lessons (i.e., if there is a dialog they follow the dialog; the practice has some level of structure and is not chaotic)? Y/Maybe/N

7. Does the instructor positively encourage the students during class (i.e., "That's right!" "Beautiful!" "Amazing Job!" etc.)? Y/Maybe/N

8. Does the instructor put effort in learning each students' name? Y/Maybe/N

Ability:

9. Does the instructor have all ability to safely instruct yoga (i.e., they are not sick, can communicate, they seem to be able and do continue to practice yoga, etc.)? Y/Maybe/N

Skills:

10. Does the instructor have the skill to demonstrate and does demonstrate the postures? Y/Maybe/N

11. Does the instructor maintain the integrity of the environment (i.e., if it is Bikram yoga maintain 40C/104F and 40% humidity in the room; rules are clearly stated and enforced in the room and the studio; warn or dismiss disruptive students)? Y/Maybe/N

12. Do you know when to go in and out of posture with the instructor's instruction (does more than 80% of the room harmoniously move at the same time)? Y/Maybe/N

13. Does the instructor instruct to the whole class rather than to the individual during class majority of the time and other than in an emergency? (i.e., if one person is making a mistake, the instructor shares the correction with the whole class so the whole class learns, this may happen after correcting that one-person). Y/Maybe/N

Knowledge:

14. Does the instructor poses the knowledge to answer your question, willing to answer, and willing to accept that they don't know and get back to you? Y/Maybe/N

15. Does the instructor know the danger of touching the student during the postures and only do so in emergencies or the instructor and the student are in agreement? Y/Maybe/N

Give 2 points for each "Y"s; 1 point for each "Maybe"; and 0 point for "N"s

(For better accuracy score one instructor with 2 or more people and get the average)

Minimally safe yoga instructor should have 15 points.

If you have encountered yoga instructors with less than 15 points, take their class with caution,

Less than 10 points, take the class with your own risk.

Less than 5 points..... (no comment).

As you get closer to 30 points you are lucky, you have an outstandingly competent yoga instructor, you are getting 120% of the benefits!!!!

Hopefully, this helps. If you have a question leave comments and I'll get back to you!

Also, let me know if you scored some of your instructors, I would love to know what the average scores are in the world.

*1 Cramer, H., Krucoff, C., & Dobos, G. (2013). Adverse Events Associated with Yoga: A Systematic Review of Published Case Reports and Case Series. PLOS ONE, 8(10), 1-8. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0075515