Schuetz

Increasingly our work with our key clients is shining a spotlight on the importance of knowing our Values in lives work and careers.

So what are values? Where do they come from and how do they impact on behaviours and results?

First of all, our values exist at a subconscious level, so we often dont even realize we have a certain value until asked directly about it or until an event or behaviour challenges a core value.

For example I have a core personal value around honesty and integrity... Some years ago I worked in a junior management position for a national company. I became increasingly stressed, to the extent that at one point I was physically ill. Eventually I resigned. A number of years later when exposed to the concept of core values I reviewed my stressed experience and realized that my immediate manager had a completely different value set to me. He demonstrated these values through his behaviours. (My relative youth, ambition and aggressive certainty and belief in black and white probably exacerbated his behaviours.)

Each time I feel stressed, and I examine the events in my life with my coach, to date every time there has been a challenge to my values.

So core values are unconscious, but powerful enough to cause illness, stress and resignation. I have since discovered through coaching others and through my research that my reactions and responses to having my values trampled on were entirely normal.

Values generally come from lessons learnt and examples provided at an early age from key role models and influencers. We unconsciously model ourselves on those who had the strongest influence. I note that many of the values I live and espouse as an adult were those I gained from my father.

Because values are a part of our deep structure and remain unconscious, they impact on our behaviours in ways that are not always easily or logically explained. E.g. Illness and stress.

Countries have gone to war for their values. Couples have divorced, and Business partnerships have split.

When you are feeling stressed it may be useful to have a values centered reflection on the current events in your life.

So how to uncover values? Often when we simply ask someone directly to list their values they will give fairly predictable middle of the road answers.

However, when we really listen to what others are saying including what they dont stay, we can ask pointed values based questions...

Another way is the to listen to the throwaway unconscious comments and unconscious behaviours demonstrated by others, their values are easy to identify. Unfortunately this can be a much slower process.

For example a person who drives without a valid drivers licence is unlike to have a value around honesty or integrity. Similarly a staff member who helps himself to the companys property in small way e.g. stationery, will likely carry the same honesty and trust value to larger and more valuable situations

Organisational values are built over time and are generally developed and communicated in a top down approach.

The deep unconscious nature of personal values is such that we are unlikely to discover them during a recruitment interview. So new staff may not have personal values which support or are aligned with the organisations. This can (and does) lead to behaviour and morale issues especially when new staff are in management /leadership positions. One organisation which has a high value of respect for others, suffered a localized bullying and harassment issue when inductions stopped being run by Head Office. Interventions then focus both on behaviours and also on the core values being espoused.

So far I have covered situation when values have been challenged. On the positive side, often when we bring values to the surface; situations, past behaviours and choices become clear and decision making becomes simple (but not easy).

E.g. a man being encouraged by his friends to end a relationship because his partner did not fit in reviewed his core values and committed to a loving relationship with his special lady he doesnt see much of his friends any more.

Knowing your core values gives you immense freedom of choice. You are no longer bound by unknown stressors. Living your values creates a sense of ease in decision making.

At an organisation level when the organisations values are espoused during the recruitment stage, candidates can decide to opt out (or in). The self selection process then makes aligning staff and organisational values much simpler. When values are promoted during inductions and the leadership behaviour clearly demonstrates walking the talk, the problems I have previously described are rare. (Always supposing that ethics, integrity, and respect for others are including in the organisations values).

A coach can assist you at an individual level to go through the process of eliciting your values and facilitate you to make key decisions based on these. This simple - but in depth - process takes a few hours of private one-one coaching time.

Today's man hair style can be either long and textured or super short and tight and still be considered trendy and at the height of fashion. Some men's hair styles require gel, mousse or pomade while others don't even need to be combed. The truth is that now more than ever there are numerous ways to achieve a stylish and trendy man hair cut. That means that there are a lot of different styles for men who are looking for the perfect man hair style to choose from.

While the man's hair style is less rigid than it was in the 80s and requires a lot less goo to accomplish, the modern man hair cut is still best served by a little styling. No, you do not need to spend hours in front of the mirror coaxing every strand into place, but a little gel never hurt any man's hair style that I know of.

Here are just a few of the latest trends in men's hair styles and how to style them:

Super short man's hair style. High and Tight, Fade, Spike, Clipper Cut and Crew Cut are just a few of the names given to the short man's hair cut. By far the most popular man's hair style is the High and Tight or Fade. Characterized by a closely cropped clipper cut around the sides and back of the head with just enough hair on top of the head to comb, this man's hair style with its many variations accounts for about 75 percent of all popular styles today. With just a little bit of gel to spike up the top, mess it up a little or finger into place, this man's hair style will only take you seconds to achieve. While you may have to get it cut more often, about every three weeks or so, the ease of styling this man hair cut is what makes it a favorite among busy men today.

Medium length, textured men's hair style. Today's styles for men have a lot of texture and the same is true for medium-length styles (about 3 to 4 inches). These styles resemble the classic man hair cut of the past, but step it up a notch by using extreme texture and color to bring it all together. Most styles use a great deal of razoring and texturizing with notching scissors. To style this man's hair style pomade usually works best. Work product through dry hair and finger into place.

Long man's hair style. While most men do not wear their hair down their back anymore, the long man's hair style has made a somewhat shorter comeback. Perhaps the most recognizable example that I can give of this men's hair style is Ashton Kutcher. Long, textured and disheveled, this man hair cut is gaining widespread popularity. Again, this man's hair cut requires a lot of texture and works best with pomade.

As you can see from these few examples, the man's hair style is far from boring. Gone are the days of cookie-cutter barber shop man hair cut. Here to stay is the trendy and styled cuts of today.

For further information on different types of men's hairstyles and how to find the right hairstyle for your face shape, read my article at http://www.great-hairstyles.com/hair-style-article7.html

A Joint Tenancy is where you and another person co-own or cohabitate the same property. Joint Tenancy also refers to where a married couple owns a home or property together. You might also want to know that a Joint Tenancy can have more than two people who own the property. The only stipulation to this is that no matter how many people own the property, they all own equal parts. To keep this legal and fair, all owners must share all responsibilities and time in the property. Also, if one of the owners of the Joint Property pass away, the other owners spilt the property evenly. This cannot change even if a will states otherwise.

One major flaw in this concept is that one of the owners, even a spouse, can sell their part of the property without anyones knowledge. This means he/she can sell his/her part to who ever he/she chooses and you won't find out about it until after the deed is done. Another draw back to Joint Tenancy is that if one spouse has poor credit and debtors are trying to collect, using the property, it can leak over onto the other person's share. However, you can get a Homestead Exemption to protect this from happening, but must be filed before hand.

To those who think of using Joint Tenancy to avoid Probate Courts, dont think you can end up owning the property at all if the person you now co-own it with decides to sell. He/she will have to give you your half of the sale proceeds. However, you will still be without that property. If there is a bank account involved and it is two children who share the property and the bank account, one can withdraw the money from the account, leaving the bank with out any liability, and the other child without the funds.

A joint tenancy can overrule a will, and you need to be careful when drawing yours up. The property will revert to who ever is still alive or both if it is passed down to the children.

Do not use Joint Tenancy to avoid the probate courts you can and have alternative means. One way is to set up a Totten Trust with your bank. Doing this, you give the owner of the account the trustee status and in turn they have all control until the pass on. Once the current owner passes on it then goes to the beneficiary.

You can use this type of trust for your home as well. However, you need to make sure you have your attorney draw up this and go through all the steps to make it legal.

After discussing all of this, I think we need to discuss the rights and responsibilities of the Joint Tenancy once more. Each co-owner or tenant has the right to all of the property. If you are excluded from the other part of the property, you can file an Ouster with the courts requesting that all the property reverts to you. Each tenant has the rights to all accounting and profits made from the property. Each tenant is responsible for the cost of the property including general maintenance, taxes and mortgages. However, all co-owners are not responsible for any upgrades or improvements of the property.

You might want to know, though, that if you make the upgrades and it increases the profits made, the co-owner or Joint Tenant is entitled to the profits. Now if the other person improves the property but the profits from the property fall, you are still allowed your original share. Also, if one of the Joint Tenants gets a mortgage on the property, it is only for their share and if the loan falls through, the first person has the right to purchase the loan amount.

So.... you want to buy jewellery over the internet?

You can get some really great deals by purchasing jewellery online. Gold and precious stones are very expensive to purchase in New Zealand (and indeed many countries), and you'll find there are some great wholesale stores online, where the jewels are a fraction of the retail cost.

If you are looking to buy check out our directory for a good range (www.grizzlynut.co.nz). There are some fantastic shops that ship to New Zealand. I can assure you - once you find the right ones, you will never go back to shopping offline again - the selection and prices are fantastic.

But.... there are also some really awful buys online as well.

I was looking to buy some products to resell earlier this year and thought I would try an auction site & look for some Gold rings.

And WOW - the auction sites have some cheap rings - the pictures looked awesome, they were real gems, real gold - and they were only going to cost me $30 each ring to bring in to New Zealand (and that included shipping, customs & tax). I thought - "wohooo I'm on to a gold-mine here! I can sell these things for hundreds of dollars!!", and straight away I bought 3 rings from the one supplier. I mean - what could go wrong (after all the seller had a fantastic trader rating)?!?!?

WELL - when I got the rings (and the shipping was great - the rings arrived within 2 weeks), but when I opened the package the smug grin I'd been wearing for the last couple of weeks vanished - the gold was so thin you could have only worn them twice, the jewels were real - but they looked fake, were very badly cut & certainly didn't glisten in the sunlight! (Needless to say I did not make my millions from that venture).

Now - don't get me wrong - I'm not saying don't buy off auction sites (I've bought some stunning pieces of jewellery since then for fantastic prices) - just be careful (and use any pictures that they have as a guidance - the actual product may look completely different). Don't rush into a purchase and buy a bulk load of goods. Purchase 1 ring - take note of how it is described, and do a full inspection when you get it. If it's a good buy - purchase in bulk. If not - you haven't wasted too much money.

And... this rule doesn't apply only to online auctions. It also applies to online stores. You don't know whom is running the stores, and you can't visually see the goods (pictures may lie). Don't take up the "buy in bulk & save loads of money" offer, or you may be kissing your hard earned moola away. Buy small - check out the goods, then go back for more.

My second piece of advice - Don't always go for the cheapest jewellery on the internet (but certainly don't go for the most expensive). Generally the cheaper the jewellery, the lower the quality of the product. Even if you are purchasing for resale, you want to be able to sell the product with honesty and integrity (I mean - if you think the ring is junk, you really shouldn't be selling it for a high price).

My third piece of advice - check out the jewellery store onine. Do a search on google, and see if anything bad comes up. Believe it or not I got scammed out of $US650 recently when I bought some bulk nappies for resale off an auction site and they didn't show - I did a search on the manufacturer afterwards to find 269,000 results which showed other people had been scammed) - if only I'd done that before wasting my money (which I still haven't got back by the way - so I'm not talking about that!!). The one thing to remember during your search, is that some of the people giving the bad reports may be competitors (but I can assure you if you get 269,000 hits - SOMETHING IS WRONG!!)

There are some really good jewellery stores online that have fantastic prices, will ship to New Zealand, and are just overall great shops.

Some jewellery shops with great prices:

www.pugster.com - This is an international store. They have really great pricing (and a fantastic range) of italian charms I have ever seen. They do have free shipping if you spend over $US45 (but... remember my rules - just because I like them, they may not be to your liking)

www.bargainsforyouall.co.uk - This is another international store. They offer wholesale prices on jewellery and they Dropship if required!!

www.ringsandthings.co.nz - This is a New Zealand Store which I had to mention because the jewellery looks so stunning! If you are looking for gorgeous, and unusual jewellery that not everyone owns check this shop out - the prices are not wholesale but they are really good for what you are getting, and the items are unique.

www.echinastone.com - This is an international store. Are you looking to buy gemstones? Look no further! Very well priced, very nice - and free shipping if you sepnd over $US100 (I'm not going to repeat the shipping rule here...)

www.jgoodin.com - An international store with unbelievably low priced jewellery ...

That's it for this week.... Check back soon..

Don't get ripped off like me!!

Shirlene
www.grizzlynut.co.nz