The last couple weeks has been proper rape for the Nineteen84 team; I applaud them on being able to handle two big events in Gouna all the while juggling their on going accounts.

While running around like chickens with our heads cut off, i got to thinking what makes leaders and followers stand apart from one another. Is it the simple fact that leaders know what they want and go after it? Or that they never give up and do not take no for an answer? It surely can't be that simple, so i got to researching and stumbled upon an article by "TheEliteDaily.com" i wanted to share with you, that includes my own interpretation on the matter.

Here are 10 things Alphas do separate themselves from the pack:

• They are open to advice but not influenced by it:

Advice never is a negative thing, people share their past experiences with you hoping to better help you in your growing process. If i listened to my mother initially and her advice, i would still be a corporate slave, wasting my effort and hours on people who were benefiting from the grunt of my work, all the while climbing the never ending corporate ladder.

Thankfully for me i didn't listen, went on to start my own agency, which is competing with the big boys now, and actually have gotten the seal of approval from my mother that she is proud. Let me tell you in my mom's world that's big; having graduated with a 3.9 GPA from both school and college, i wasn't even then capable of meeting her expectations!

• They know their strengths and put themselves in a position to excel:

Leaders focus on their strengths, always putting themselves in situations where they can excel, rather than dwell on their weaknesses. Play in the playground you create for yourself, do what you know you can succeed in, taking on challenges is one thing, taking on things that are impossible for yourself ends up setting you up for failure and shooting yourself in the foot.

• They know how to exploit a situation when it's presented to them:

Inaction is the greatest cause of failure. Opportunities will always arise — whether or not you have the gumption to cash in on them is another question entirely. There is nothing worse than a great opportunity missed.

Call us opportunists or not, knowing what to chase and how to land it is one of the main keys to being a leader.

• They don't give up:

Giving up is for losers, really it is! The thing is leaders fail as well, but what puts them apart from the rest is the get right back up, alter their method and do it all over again.

Take it from me, if i gave up every time something didn't go my way, or some low life scammed me, i would be sitting at home living off my parents (doesn't sound like too bad of an idea if you ask me ;)

• Take calculated risks, it's crucial:

It is one thing to take unnecessary risks and it is another to take necessary ones. Risks are a part of success; without them there is no chance of turning a profit. Leaders have learned which circumstances they can take a risk and when they are better off not acting upon the opportunity and waiting for the next chance.

Ask yourself this, can you afford the risk? Simply because sometimes you cannot.

• They have the ability to make their presence felt wherever they are:

They walk into a room they command attention, people know their names. They are the leaders or what others may call them the "movers & the shakers"

They have a certain aura around them, which is crucial as they are careful not to offend people. They do not want to seem like they are better than anyone, but they know their personality will dominate those surrounding them.

• Work trumps all, put your vices aside:

Everyone has vices, be it the drug habit you just can't kick, the alcoholism you refuse to admit to, or the shmoozing of men & women (whatever may be your preference) that keeps you from concentrating on your main goal. The difference though between the leaders and the followers is that, although the leader may have the same vices, they know how to control them.

Self control is key, the alphas, work now, play later!

• Curbing one's emotions is key:

Emotions, point blank cloud one's decision making, business needs to be conducted rationally. If every time i wanted to cry or yell and throw a fit and i did; most likely my clients and employees would not and will not have taken me seriously.

In matters of the heart, emotions are great, in matters of business it purely comes down to two things "ethics & profit"

• Don't quit, or someone might just upstage you:

If your not ready to hand over the baton, then never let your hustle die. As a leader, your always a target for everyone who wants to take your seat. Human nature dictates that most of the time people will want to see you fall and crumble.

Do not get caught letting that ball drop, constantly strive to be at the top and make that your goal, and you'll find your productivity will make you shine.

• Be a leader not a boss:

I've spoken about this before, and i reiterate "A leader is not afraid to surround themselves with people who are smarter than they are. They do not feel threatened as they know that they must surround themselves with great people if they want to do great things."

Most Managers and business owners usually forget to include their employees in their business planing strategies. What they seem to forget is that it is these very people who help make the company move forward, the mere oil that keeps the wheels moving.

Employees are involved in every daily happenings when it comes to dealing with clients, and their internal management, so wouldn't you think that it is these people who have a better insight on how that same company should grow? Possibly bringing in an opinion and vision that upper management don't necessarily see?

After sitting with and contemplating with my business partners, we found four steps, courtesy of Entrepreneur.com, on how to involve your employees in the business planning process:

1. Ask for their feedback.
Ask each of your employees to identify the three things they think are working best and the three things that are least effective in your business. Brainstorm with them to figure out how your company can do more of what's working, and fix -- or simply stop doing -- what's not serving your business.

2. Have them set goals for the business.
Have your employees establish specific goals for each functional area of your business they are involved in. For example, within marketing, do they have specific goals for the number of leads generated during the year? Does your manufacturing staff have goals for the number of products produced?

3. Build a plan off their ideas.
Develop the business plan using your employees' input. Once completed, have employees read the plan. Make sure they understand and agree with your strategy. Be open to modifying it if they don't.

4. Meet and update your goals monthly.
Annual goals are impossible to accomplish unless they are broken down into smaller goals. For example, an annual goal of acquiring 1,200 new customers is overwhelming. But when you break it down to 100 new customers per month or 25 new customers per week, it's more attainable.

Set goals with your team each month so that when they are accomplished, your company is on track to meet yearly targets. As needed, revise your annual goals up or down based on monthly results.

Great companies have a leader who involves employees in developing their strategy, plans and goals. Do this and your business will thrive.

I have been fighting an internal battle lately; How to be a fun boss but yet a good boss that does the right thing for the company? I have been seesawing between being super strict (which is a side of me i hate) to being lenient and understanding.

The understanding boss face has been taken advantage of, while the strict side makes me hate myself as this was never the work place i wanted to create for my employees or for myself.

So here are 10 ways to be a good boss:

1. Motivate

Managers have seen different presentations and heard many speeches about how to motivate their staff. Unfortunately, in most cases it seems that they either did not pay attention or did not agree with the concept. Some take it literary and slightly raise the pay of their employees, but very few realize that motivation is not only about money. There is so much more…

2. Learn  

The bare fact that one is occupying managerial position does not mean that he/she knows it all and should not continue developing. Bosses have to be smarter than their employees, because otherwise employees will have advantage in terms of knowledge and no respect.

3. Be true leader

This one is the hardest. I still cannot tell whether being a leader is something, which is possible to learn or it’s something you are born with?

Leaders are those whom people are willing and wishing to follow. Unfortunately being a manager not always means being a leader.

4. Delegate and trust

Some managers prefer having control over absolutely everything and that makes them get involved in all processes and decide upon every small detail. That makes them extremely busy, it consumes their time and as result the work itself suffers. Besides that by acting so managers overpay their employees, because all they do in this situation is implement – no analysis, no decision-making and as a result no need for their expertise.

5. Take responsibility

There are bosses who throw the responsibility on their employees’ shoulders when things get hot.

What many managers don’t realize is that they are paid the big figures because of the high responsibility they bear.

6. Create a team

Hiring bunch of intelligent people, who fit the position is not enough. Putting them in the same room and calling to the same meetings, is not enough either. Traditional team buildings once a year don’t always work. Building a team is a long process, which should be addressed on daily basis.

7. Become team player

Once the team is created managers have to become part of that team. Managers are not there only to watch over the working team. They are there to work together with the team.

8. Credit efforts

Although managers are responsible for the team, they are not supposed to get the whole credit for team’s or team member’s work. People need to be acknowledged and the CEO needs to know that besides the manager there are other people who work hard, make sacrifices and make things happen.

9. Be fair

People cannot be totally objective and there are always some we like more than the others. It is not easy to judge employees fairly, because it may be difficult to be harsh with someone you like or to encourage someone you don’t. But it’s all about judging based on the work done, completed project and quality of performance rather than who is behind those.

10. Think about the future

Bosses are not bosses forever. Same goes for their employees. Time comes, when people are no longer connected by the professional relationship. Thinking about the future managers have to make sure that when they meet their x employee in the street it won’t be unpleasant meeting.

I have to be honest, when it comes to time management I'm probably the worst person to take advice from. I spend 90% of the day running from meeting to meeting and in the middle trying to get whatever work i haven't been able to delegate done. I manage, i don't know how to meet those deadlines, but luck has been on my side; but that doesn't mean i won't burn out sooner or later if can't get my time in order.

After insane research, asking around, i have come to the conclusion here are the 10 best tips in order to better manage your time, hence making us all more productive (hopefully!)

1. Carry a schedule and record all your thoughts, conversations and activities for a week. This will help you understand how much you can get done during the course of a day and where your precious moments are going. You'll see how much time is actually spent producing results and how much time is wasted on unproductive thoughts, conversations and actions. After walking around with a notebook, i have definitely become way more organized and realistic with my time.
2. Any activity or conversation that's important to your success should have a time assigned to it. To-do lists get longer and longer to the point where they're unworkable. Appointment books work. Schedule appointments with yourself and create time blocks for high-priority thoughts, conversations, and actions. Schedule when they will begin and end. Have the discipline to keep these appointments. I know you think i'm crazy, but sometimes scheduling time with yourself for yourself helps you break through the clutter.
3. Plan to spend at least 50 percent of your time engaged in the thoughts, activities and conversations that produce most of your results.
4. Schedule time for interruptions. Plan time to be pulled away from what you're doing. Take, for instance, the concept of having "office hours." Isn't "office hours" another way of saying "planned interruptions?"
5. Take the first 30 minutes of every day to plan your day. Don't start your day until you complete your time plan. The most important time of your day is the time you schedule to schedule time.
6. Take five minutes before every call and task to decide what result you want to attain. This will help you know what success looks like before you start. And it will also slow time down. Take five minutes after each call and activity to determine whether your desired result was achieved. If not, what was missing? How do you put what's missing in your next call or activity?
7. Put up a "Do not disturb" sign when you absolutely have to get work done.
8. Practice not answering the phone just because it's ringing and e-mails just because they show up. Disconnect instant messaging. Don't instantly give people your attention unless it's absolutely crucial in your business to offer an immediate human response. Instead, schedule a time to answer email and return phone calls. I'm still working on this and although it's hard it's true, you should not always be readily available and one must systemize themselves and those they work with about the concept of "Working Hours"
9. Block out other distractions like Facebook and other forms of social media unless you use these tools to generate business.
10. Remember that it's impossible to get everything done. Also remember that odds are good that 20 percent of your thoughts, conversations and activities produce 80 percent of your results.

Want to become an Entrepreneur? Let me give you the cold hard facts everyone avoids mentioning, the ugly truth they usually don't tell you. Because let’s be honest, starting your own company is a lot like jumping from the top of a building without a parachute. And no one likes to go splat.

1) Your star employees probably make more than you do

Those who don’t like hard work need not apply. Or rather, those who like stability or live paycheck to paycheck should stick to their regular 9-5 job with a steady income. Because being an entrepreneur often means working with a fluctuating paycheck or no paycheck at all!

Yes, lots of long thankless hours and no green to show for it – similar to being a new Mom. This company is now your new baby. So bank on making sacrifices. You may need to dip into your savings, take out loans, cut living expenses, and survive on Ramen Noodles for awhile. The average start up doesn’t see a profit for 2 years. And many entrepreneurs (including myself) often go months, if not a year or two, without paying themselves! Being an entrepreneur doesn’t make you fancy. It makes you humble. And usually your star employees make more than you do!

2) You work ungodly hours

Oh how i envy my friends who leave at 5 pm and go about their lives, our meetings usually run until 10 pm and that's on a good day! Why if we're lucky maybe grab lunch while on the go in the car running around from meeting to meeting and client to client! Not so glamorous when your day starts at 7 am and ends at 2 am!

3) Social & Love Life Take A Backseat

I don't remember what my best friends look like, no really! Ex's well that's another story, but you pretty much become married to your job, all your blood, sweat and tears get put into making sure your newest baby can learn to walk on its own.

4) Being in Charge not always so FUN

Sometimes i just don't want to make a decision, why can't you tell me what to do!? What if i take the wrong decision? Sometimes you just want to be part of the ride instead of the one who is steering.

5) Grow Slow, Fire quick

Some people think a successful company is in the amount of people the have in their office or how many employees they have. If anything sometimes that is a sure fire way to your failure, one should grow slow, see what your future trends look like. But definitely do not keep around dead weight, micro managing and having to keep your team afloat will only take you anywhere but down.

6) You Will Give More Than You Get

The average entrepreneur works a bare minimum of 60 hours a week. Many work closer to 80 hours a week. You will give until it hurts and then give some more. You will give so much that you will question what more you possibly have to give. Then, you’ll give again. You’ll slave and you’ll sacrifice. And you’ll do it for one reason. Because this is your baby. And you love selflessly like any good parent would.

Most people consider book smart to be better than street smart. "Oh my god they graduated with a 4.0, they must be geniuses!" (I'm not hating, i graduated with a 4.0) but i also happen to be good at hustling, and being a people's person i know how to navigate my way around all types of people.

Throw me in any kind of group of people, I'll find something to talk about and I'll know what i'm saying, the thing is i was able to mix my street smarts, with my book smarts and actually learn and invest in my education which led to me having something to talk about with people on personal and professional levels.

Here are my 5 reasons why being street smart is better than book smart for your business:

1. The Survival instinct:In a turbulent economy such as today's, book smarts just don't do it any more. Student loans to pay off, mortgages and so much more, leave people caving under the pressure of a stellar education, but then what? Being street smart brings out the survival instinct in people, pushes them to hustle, want more, and in some rare cases achieve it (that is when you put your minds to it).
2. Character Skills: Being street smart like i said usually means you deal with and come across all sorts of people, thus letting you develop the ability to differentiate between the hustlers out there, or the con artists, and those who can actually further your career.
3. Find the silver lining: Shit sometimes hits the fan, it happens in all businesses, it takes street sense and the ability to jump back on one's feet to move forward from whatever hit that just incurred. With just your general education and no real life experiences most would probably have a hard time find the silver lining and taking advantage of the situation.
4. Deal with people. People do business with your people, not your company. Finely tuned people skills make you more likeable, warm, friendly, open, and effective. Put yourself in their heads to see things from their perspective. Have patience, and listen actively before speaking. Street smart entrepreneurs practice this discipline until it is not work.
5. Experience: It all boils down to experience, the more of it you have the more likely your capable of navigating your business and even your personal life in the right direction. Don't shelter yourself, get out there and put yourself on the line, what's the worst that can happen?**

**Please do not take that in a literal manner and hold us accountable for your millions lost ;)

There is one thing as an employee i never had to deal with, the interviewing process. I never fully grasped how big of a hassle it was until I myself was the one who had to interview people.

Like with any company that is growing, the need for new employees arises and in a sea of unemployed civilians your always looking for that one person that sticks out and may just have what it takes to fill the spot.

One job announcement usually returns dozens upon dozens of CVs (may i add irrelevant), but for those of you out there who are applying for jobs and want to be recognized, HERE IS WHAT NOT TO DO:

1. Off the bat, if your CV was sent with some weird nickname like, SHIKO AHMED, or Ana Crazy Boy it will immediately be discarded. Ask me why? I will automatically assume your still in preschool and you are not serious about the position. In the ABC's of trying to get a job the more professional you are, the more likely you will be recognized. Remember you are not the only person applying for the position, so you super cute nickname does not bode well for you.
2. Do not send any employer a 4 page CV. Most employers and HR managers do not want to know about the time you went horseback riding and it improved your self awareness. What they do want to know is what previous job experiences you've had, how it may be beneficial for this current opening and move on. It's not an essay and this case more definitely does not mean better. Keep it concise and to the point.
3. Do not send your CV with nothing in the body of the email. That just makes you lazy and indifferent, that is the first impression you leave with the person. If you just write "find attached my CV" most likely your CV will go to the trashcan.
4. If you're applying for a job that needs visual references attach it with your CV. Do not make the employer look through your CV think "hey this person may be eligible" and then not find any references. Thus, taking time out of their probably busy schedule to email you back for references, in which you will probably answer back in two days, already having lost a chance at the job.
5. If the job is asking for marketing managers and you happen to have worked all your life as an electrician and have no experience or even training, DO NOT APPLY. Most likely the employer is looking for someone who has worked in the field, hence the title and requirements that were listed. If anything you look like you have not read why the job description is asking for and made it irrelevant.
6. Simply do NOT LIE. Lying about your job experience and overselling yourself or your education may get you the job, but you'll quickly be exposed once you are working in the establishment and can not meet your employers deadlines or expectations. Hello unemployment again!

We Said This: Happy job hunting, follow these tips and you'll have a healthier chance at actually landing the interview!