Many years ago, in the distant past, even before Willie Nelson had a pony tail, I was working for an advertising agency and had a client who wanted to publish a book. His book was called It’s Your Money, Earn or Burn. Actually, I wrote the title, but that is beside the point. The information in the book is way out of date now, but at the time was cutting edge.

He, my client, and a partner had a business finding and promoting tax sheltered investments. Since then congress has closed most shelters and left many tax payers high and dry. The rules surrounding  acceptable tax shelters from those disallowed were somewhat discombobulated and difficult to decipher. Imagine that–tax regulations being difficult to understand–who wodda thought?

Willie Nelson

For example there was the famous case of country singer Willie Nelson who followed the advice of Price Waterhouse, one of the top 10 accounting firms in the country. The government disallowed his sheltered investments and the unpaid taxes and fines forced Willie Nelson into bankruptcy.

Get this, the government wouldn’t tell you in advance if a shelter would be allowed or not. You had to assume it would be, then wait for their audit, which could take years. If you guessed wrong–WHAM you paid dearly.

My client’s idea was to write a book simplifying tax shelters for people and leading them away from uncertain ones into those proven. It was an excellent idea, but marketing and distribution became a problem. The Internet didn’t exist in those days so it was difficult to connect with the very small percentage of Americans who were potential targets for his message, but that didn’t really matter.

Why, you might ask.

The very day books were delivered; he extracted a copy, proudly marched down the hall to the offices of another firm, and gave the book to the owner. The owner looked at the cover, turned it over and saw my client’s photo and bio on the back. Volia, instant credibility.

As a direct result of using his book as a calling card, my client secured a contract that paid him more than all of the costs of producing the book. All actual book sales were gravy.

Ask yourself if instant credibility would benefit you. Are there doors currently closed that might open if you used a book to jimmy the lock (metaphorically speaking, that is)? How do you crash through the glass ceiling? Try throwing your book at it. A book can give you more status than any other factor. These people would definitely improve their chances for advancement, better name recognition, and higher earnings if they had a book:

• Public Speakers
• Corporate Trainers
• Presenters
• Sales Representatives
• Teachers
• Executives

Note: Remember that writing a book is only the first step. At that point you aren’t even half-way done. To decide how you will market your book check into The Author Platform. It’s a comprehensive program to teach you how to use the Internet effectively.

I’m not just talking through my hat, I was on a conference call with other Toastmaster District Officers last night . The subject of leadership was broached and I was surprised to learn that even in Toastmasters, good leaders are hard to find. I was surprised. Why? Because the purpose of Toastmasters is to create masterful public speakers and train dynamic leaders. He who would be a great leader and doesn’t possess persuasive speaking skills is doomed to fail, and vice versa, one with awesome  speaking skills and little leadership ability finds himself talking to an empty house. It is both or nothing.

Willingness, the Missing Element

So why would Toastmasters be concerned with finding good leaders when that is what they are all about? The missing element is willingness.

Where are the Good Candidates?

Every four years I hear the same thing over and over again, “Why can’t we have better choices? Can’t the Republicans and Democrats come up with good candidates? I’d vote if there was a real difference.”

Gaffes Enough to Fill a Book

I look at the hell that political candidates have to traverse to get elected and I wonder what makes them do it. Who in their right minds would want to be President of the United States? Think about it. If every word you utter is recorded, examined and held up to scrutiny, how well would you do? I don’t know about you, but if someone was recording everything I said twenty-four seven, it wouldn’t take long to fill a book with Ruesch gaffes, maybe two books.

Respect the Office

I could be wrong, but in the past weren’t our leaders given at least a little respect? I know for a fact that my father did not vote for John Kennedy, and yet when the President came to town he put all of us in the car and took us to wave at him as he passed by in his black convertible limo.  What was it my father used to say, oh yeah, “You may not like the man, and you may not like his politics, but you have to respect the office.”

Right Leader at the Right Time?

Why do I even bring this up? I found myself in front of the television set last week listening to the press conference our new President, Barack Obama, held to encourage congress to get behind his $800 billion dollar economic recovery plan. I was rooting for him. I’m praying that with his leadership the country will band together and solve this mess we are in. I truly hope that he is the right leader, at the right time, to make it happen. My logical-self says that the problems are too big, too ingrained, and the system too corrupted, but my emotional-self says let’s look on the bright side, be positive, and keep digging our way out, day-by-day.

He is Willing

Say what you will about the President, he was at least willing to do the job, and in this day and age,  that is really saying something.