Technology oriented careers have been making a comeback. Accordingly, talented technology managers are necessary in every area of the field – from Web design and development, to database-driven e-commerce, to software engineering, to technical service and support. Technology positions, from programmer to CIO, are also critically important in organizations from all industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, education, government and service firms. Technology professionals often seek career advancement but need the leadership skills necessary to advance their careers. In response to these industry demands, adult-learning and distance learning schools now offer technology degrees at the bachelor’s and master’s degree levels, often in accelerated formats.However, other necessary characteristics of successful technology managers cannot be found on a silicon microchip or in a line of CSS markup code. Some of these characteristics include a talent for leadership; the ability to communicate ideas and directions, and the ability to motivate and mentor staff. These skills are not taught in all technology curricula of the 21st century. However, some information technology and computer science academic curriculum designers are beginning to recognize the importance of teaching soft skills in the classroom. Accordingly, some programs of study now emphasize specialized leadership training for would-be technology managers.The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states that computer and information systems professionals typically require advanced-level training (namely, a master’s degree) in order to be considered for leadership positions in technology. The BLS also points to the need for technology job applicants to have diverse experience in technology systems and applications. This experience will allow them to lead staff who work in different departments and who have different types of technology skills. An additional benefit to pursuing training for technology management careers is the bright future outlook of this field. These careers are expected to grow 16 percent through the year 2016.Technology leadership training programs at the master’s degree level will typically have two or three core academic components. The first core component, obviously, is technology. Students who pursue this type of master’s degree typically begin the program with knowledge of at least one higher-level programming language; and are comfortable with database management or development, as well as computer networking systems administration. The master’s in leadership and information technology course of study will build on students’ foundations in information science and systems, enabling students to approach these disciplines from a leadership and management perspective.Students will learn to lead employees as well as communicate with all levels of the organization and customers.In CIO Magazine’s 2007 State of the CIO survey of more than 500 IT professionals, the three skills “most pivotal for success in your role” were: the ability to communicate effectively, strategic thinking and planning, and ability to lead/motivate staff. In other words, leadership skills. The primary characteristics that all technology managers must have are leadership skills. These attributes enable technology leaders to motivate staff; to direct projects or business activities in a way that maximizes profits, and to ensure that staff on hand are competent and contribute to strong worker retention. According to career advice site Monster.com, the best managers and leaders in technology are those men and women who are directly involved in project management and task delegation, rather than those who give orders from afar.In the tech industry, there exists a decades-old stereotype about the social inclinations of technology workers. Unfairly or not, they have been historically pegged as lacking in leadership skills and strong communication abilities. Industry efforts to disassemble this stereotype is one primary reason why students interested in technology management are able to enroll in master’s-level programs of study that combine technology skills with interpersonal and leadership skills.The other reason more and more master’s-level technology programs of study focus on business and leadership skills is because technology manager careers have become more specialized and decisions-driven. Managers in tech fields must be able to assess the technology systems in place at their companies, and make system implementation and upgrade decisions that will be positive for their employees and clients. Technology must support and align with organizational goals. Making the right technology decisions requires developed leadership skills, strong soft skills, and polished business acumen.As technology continues to change and develop rapidly, technology leadership master’s degree programs will continue to develop targeted curricula, integrating technology with the business world to produce strong leaders.

One of the key factors to mastering your life, is to master your communication. It is the great communicators in the world that get all that they want.The reason why most people have unsatisfactory results in their life, is because they have poor communication skills. People get frustrated when they don’t get what they want,and often times don’t realize it is because they did not communicate clearly, what it is they wanted.Poor results come from poor communication, not only in personal communication, but also in metaphysical communication. One of the main reasons why many people do not get what they want in life is because their way of communicating what they want is unclear.You must be very clear on exactly what it is you want when communicating with another person, The Universe, or yourself.I know you may be thinking, what do I mean with yourself. A lot of times we are wishy washy with what we want. We tell ourselves “I kind of want this,but I also kind of want that.” or “I guess that would be alright.”. We need to be very specific with ourselves of exactly what it is we want. We cannot express clearly, to someone else, what we want if we are unclear, about what we want, ourselves.First we will discuss how to communicate with your Higher Power to get what you want, then we will discuss how to communicate with other people. I am using the term “Higher Power” or “Universe” because I do not want to offend any one’s religious beliefs. You can replace the term Higher Power with God or whatever name you believe the creative source to be called. The principles for communication will be the same.To manifest what you want in life, from a metaphysical standpoint, I would highly encourage you to sit quietly with a pen and paper, and write exactly what it is that you want to create in your life. Write what you want in great detail. The more detailed you are, the better. Remember, this is about being extremely clear about what it is that you want.After you have written what it is that you want, I would highly suggest that you read what you wrote one to three times a day out loud. This will benefit you in two ways. First, it will help your mind get extremely clear and focused on exactly what you want. Your mind being clear will help you stay focused, take proper action and communicate to others in a more clear, concise and effective manner. The second benefit is, the two most powerful ways to communicate with the Universe, to manifest, is through writing and speaking. Writing creates the most energy, with speaking creating the second most energy. Writing and speaking to the Universe are your two most powerful ways to create what you want.Now let’s talk about our everyday communication with other people. There are many elements that go into positive effective communication. There is verbal and nonverbal communication.The words that we use only make up 7% of our communication. The other 93% is voice tone and body language. What that means is, before you have even said a word, you have already said a lot.It is very important to practice paying attention to your body language and voice tone. Let’s talk about voice tone, for a moment. Have you ever had someone ask you for something in a whiny sounding voice; or how about in a very demanding tone of voice? Think back to when someone has approached you with either of these voice tones. Did you really want to give them what they were asking for? Probably not, you were probably pretty turned off by their approach. Having a friendly confident tone can be very effective.Body language is huge! So many people are giving the wrong signals and they don’t even realize it. Your words and voice tone may be saying one thing, but your body is saying something very different. The non verbal speaks louder than the verbal, always. The person that you are communicating with will most often not even realize that they are being effected by your body language, however they are, it happens on a subconscious level.Pay attention to your body language. First of all make sure you are standing up straight with your shoulders back. Good posture communicates confidence. Everyone is attracted to a person who is truly confident. People are much more likely to say yes to a person that exudes confidence, rather than someone who does not. Another tip is to avoid standing with your arms folded in front of you. Arms folded communicates that you are stand offish and blocking the other person from getting through to you. It also communicates disinterest.Eye contact is so important, because of so many reasons. I will just cover a few reasons here. For one thing, it shows strong self confidence. It also allows you to have a strong connection with the person you are communicating with. A lot of people do not trust a person that avoids eye contact and building trust is the number one component to effective communication. Eye contact can be hard for some people. If you are someone who has difficulty with maintaining eye contact, begin practicing now. It begins with awareness, then practice, then mastery. One of the most important skills that you can practice and master is maintaining good eye contact.Next comes the words that we use. Even though words are only 7% of our communication, they are still extremely important and require conscious awareness to use them effectively. There is so much to cover, when it comes to the words we use. I will share some resources for you to study on your own, that will help you with everything that we just covered. First let’s cover what I believe to be one of the most important things to be aware of when it comes to the words you use.Most people’s main focus when they communicate is on themselves. They use the word “I” over and over again. Understanding that most people’s main interest is themselves can be a very valuable tool for you. One of your greatest tools to be a great communicator is to stop using the word “I”, “Me” and “My” so often and start using the word “You”, “Your” and “Yours” much more often. People love to talk about themselves, and if you let them do it, you will be their most favorite person in the whole world, because most of the people they talk to are talking about themselves most of the time.Another important thing to realize is that people love the sound of their own name. Use a persons name often during a conversation with them. They will be putty in your hands.Remember, God gave us two ears and one mouth so talk less and listen more. And really listen, a lot of times when another person is speaking we are caught up in our head thinking about how we are going to respond or just waiting for our turn to speak. Listen with you complete focus and attention on what they are saying then trust that you will be able to respond organically. The best communicators are the best listeners, not the best talkers.To really master these skills and take your communication to a whole new level, I would highly recommend that you begin to study NLP. NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming. By mastering NLP, you will become a master of influence. NLP will cover the best way to use your words, how to build powerful rapport, how to read other people and so much more.Here are a couple of tips on how to build powerful rapport. Match the speaking style of the person you are talking with, whether it is in person or over the phone. It is a good idea to match the voice tone and speaking speed of the person that you are talking to.Another powerful tool is to mirror the body language of the person you are communicating with. Don’t mimic them, just subtly mirror them. When you do this you are sending them a subliminal message that you are just like them.Remember, no matter where your communication skills currently are, you can always be better. To be a better communicator it just takes self awareness, the desire to be better and practice.

Don’t Let Your Home Equity “Rust” Away! Use Your Home Equity To Invest In Real Estate! Equity Wasted & Unused Is Leaving Money At The Table! One mistake many make is that because they don’t have cash to invest, in real estate or any other investment, they won’t be able to invest properly in their future.By Sean MartinMany Canadians who have owned a home for a number of years have seen the value of their home rise at the same time that they have been chipping away at their mortgage. The result of this is many Canadians who may be cash poor, but equity rich. One mistake many make is that because they don’t have cash to invest (in real estate, especially after recent changes in Canada upping the minimum down payment for a rental to 20%), they won’t be able to purchase a property. However, if you own a home and have equity in it you may be pleased to find out that you can access funds to invest.You just need to utilize the power of leverage better. So how do you do that? You already have!When you purchased your home, you more than likely had a deposit of 5%-10% and had a mortgage for the balance. You used “OPM”, Other People’s Money, and started to build value in that investment. Keep in mind, your investment did not appreciate based on just what was borrowed, but on the value of your home (i.e.: $ 5000.00 down on a $ 100 000.00 home you are going to realize roughly 5% appreciation on that $ 100 000.00, not just the down payment.) That’s leverage. And you get to live there.Realize the gains which you are being kept from realizing in your present situation.Access the Equity In Your Property…This is the first step to use your home equity to invest in. If you own your own home and owe less than 80% of the value on your current mortgage, you have access to additional funds by refinancing. Although you can get a regular mortgage, many investors opt for a HELOC mortgage which allows them to re-borrow and principal they pay down on their mortgage. This is an important feature for investors, especially as they grow their portfolio, as eventually with 5 or 10 rentals, they are able to pay down their mortgage very aggressively using the positive cash flow from their properties. It’s a snowball effect: the more cash flow, the more you can pay down your mortgage, the more you can pull out of the equity, the more property you can buy, earning more cash flow… and so on.Once you have a mortgage or HELOC, here are some of the ways you can use it to invest in:Use it to Borrow / Leverage 100% of the Value of Any Rental Purchase- Using your HELOC, you can borrow the 20 – 25% down payment for the rental, and get 75% – 80% financing (if qualified) for a standard mortgage on the rental property itself. There are some properties that when financed strategically (rate is no longer the most important variable) properly will give positive cash flow even when you borrow the entire value. Those properties you may want to leap on!
Stay liquid for the unforeseen:- As you grow your portfolio, liquidity becomes more and more important. The more property you own, the more risk you are at for a number of issues to come up at once (i.e. vacancies for 2 properties, new roof needed for another, renovations needed on another). Having a HELOC with available equity will ensure that if you do have a “cash call”, you will be better equipped to handle it.But I Don’t Want To Be A Landlord but I Still Want to Invest in Real Estate…You can use your funds that you have borrowed inexpensively ( HELOC 3.25%-4% or a variable rate at 2.10%) and lend the funds to others through second mortgages. Yes, you can become the bank. Most people think of mortgage Brokers as someone to arrange a mortgage for a purchase. A mortgage Broker can also arrange for you to lend your funds to other individuals. Often this is facilitated through a second mortgage which you hold on a property. To do this alone can be intimidating and there is risk, but the reward is an interest rate of 12%-14%. Often a lawyer or accountant can also help find avenues to invest like this as well. To ensure the safety of your money, consider using an experienced Broker with access to an mortgage investment network specializing in 2nd mortgage loans. These Brokers will have their own underwriters and the proper tools in place to protect investors (you) should defaults occur. One channel I work with diversifies your funds into 3-4-5 different 2nd mortgages, syndicated with other investors like yourself. This offers protection from investing in 1 bad 2nd mortgage. Your exposure to risk is reduced in this manner. At the same time, should default occur they are in a position to pay the arrears on any 1st mortgage holder and purchase the property outright. This allows for sale to recoup what could have been potential losses. Should this type of action occur, your interest payments continue until the matter is resolved and your funds made available again for investing once again.TFSA / SELF DIRECTED RSP…If you are in a position where you have a self-directed RSP with your bank or financial institution can you use these funds to invest in mortgages?Most institutions will still not allow you to use the funds in your “Self-Directed” RSP to invest as your wish. Again, an experienced mortgage Broker can offer advice and show you how to continue to shelter your profits within a RSP, but invest in these products. There are financial institutions that will allow these profitable investments and a mortgage Broker can show you the options.A TFSA again has limiting rules with most banks and financial institutions. An experienced mortgage Broker will be able to guide you to helpThings to think about:- When you borrow for investment purposes, you are able to write off the interest portion of the payments. Make sure you speak with an accountant to ensure this works for your situation.
- Investing the funds from a TFSA, RRSP or RESP protect you from paying taxes on the income.- Even if you have a self-directed RRSP you financial institution will have policies prohibiting you from investing in second mortgage products. Ask me where to relocate your funds to maximize profits.- Release the equity in your house to invest, but divert it through your RRSP or TFSA 1st, especially if you have unused allocations from previous years available. Again, this should be done with the assistance of your accountant to ensure that it is done correctly for you and to keep the CRA happy. Always keep the CRA happy.- Most HELOC’s offered right now are Prime +.5%, or 3.5% today. Fixed rate refinance mortgages are available for as low as 2.54% and variable rate mortgages as low as 2.05%.- HELOC’s usually have interest only payments available to better your cash flow, while standard fixed rate/variable rate mortgages do not.- Make sure your HELOC is re-advance able! Not all are.