Philip Green wrote, “I am brave, but I take a view. It is an educated view. I am careful. I am not reckless.” How does an educated view differ from the regular every day points of view and opinions people have, and what importance does an educated point of view have on effective leadership? We have all heard the adage about opinions and what they are like, and the fact that everyone has one, so why is any type of individual viewpoint relevant to being an amazing leader?The usual opinions that people express are often based on little more than either their own biases or prejudices, misconceptions, or something someone else told them about someone or something. If someone in leadership merely follows an uneducated opinion without doing due diligence and research, he often risks making ill conceived decisions. On the other hand using educated opinions is an effective leadership technique and tool.1. An educated opinion is based on fact. It is not a “rush to judgement.” If a leader is to effective, he must be both able and willing to make decisions, and follow up those decisions with action.2. A leader must have an opinion, or he is unable to create his vision. Without a vision, it is impossible to truly be a leader. Therefore, it is inherent on leaders that they use educated opinions, where they decide upon a viable course of action based on research and available facts.3. Many leadership issues are not “black and white,” and require true leaders to determine the relative pros and cons of various alternatives, to eventually come up with a course of action.4. Individuals in leadership positions who refuse to act based on an opinion, and only act as a “last resort,” are often guilty of procrastination. Perhaps the single biggest deficiency that any leader can have is lacking either the ability or willingness to take action, and delaying action for as long as possible. In my over thirty years of training leaders, I have observed how foolish, expensive and wasteful, this procrastination is.5. Successful organizations understand the significance and importance of educated opinions. They therefore effectively train their leaders, and give them the necessary skills to form an educated opinion based on a decision making process. It is remarkable how few individuals in leadership positions appear either capable or willing to make a decision, and perhaps if they understood that nobody is ever always correct, but that there is far more peril in procrastinating, we would have more effective leaders.For over three decades, I have preached to organizations the importance of educating and training their leadership. The reality is that only an educated leader can ever be an effective one!

Property broking profession lacks credibility and is always looked at with suspicion. However, the credibility of this profession can be enhanced through real estate education. A thoroughly planned system of property education can not only improve the credibility of property professionals by inculcating numerous changes in the profession but also enhance the business volume of educated and certified professionals. Suitably planned courses can teach property professionals the better, profitable and convenient way of doing real estate business. Few of the key changes that education system can bring into property market are as follows:Transparency in transaction and business professionalism: Knowledge enhances transparency and professionalism and this is true for real estate market also. Today, several property brokers are active in the market without any structured knowledge of property sales and transaction process and therefore they are forced to provide wrong and partial information to their clients. They are not able to close the deal properly, mostly at the cost of prospective home buyers, because they have not studied how property ownership is verified, acquired, transferred and leased. In the Indian property market, there is a sub set of property advisors, who want to upgrade their knowledge and skill but are unable to do so in the absence of a system of real estate education in which they can study as well as run their business.In this scenario, a proper system of property education and training, consisting of a network of real estate institutes offering full time, part time, evening, week end, distance and online real estate courses, could have improved the subject knowledge of professionals and in turn would have improved transparency in property transactions and professionalism in the business, especially property consulting business. A point to be mentioned here is the initiative of EduMark realty education services which offers courses for those looking for real estate jobs as well as for existing property professionals looking for professional development. EduMark is the first and only institute in India that offers full time, part time, week end, evening, distance and online courses.Customer Service Efficiency: A knowledgeable and informed property advisor can serve his clients effectively and efficiently which in turn increases his demands in the market. Such demands increase his overall volume of business because one satisfied customer can create ten new customers. However, structured knowledge and information come only through a properly established process of education.Subject knowledge and business volume: It is an established fact that buyers tend to prefer a knowledgeable advisor (knowledge displayed through his educational qualification) more than that of an advisor who is not well informed and knowledgeable. However, in the absence of property education system, courses and institutes, property brokers can’t display their knowledge because they can’t acquire any suitable real estate qualification and therefore potential home buyers can’t identify the best suited advisor.Business ethics and business volume: By offering fraudulent advice, one can derive benefits in short term but it is a net loss in long term. This is very true for property brokers also. This is because, as mentioned above, one satisfied customer can create ten new customers but one dis-satisfied customer can dissuade hundreds of potential clients, so the losses are many folds. However, this fact can be explained to these property consultants only if they are inclined towards learning and there is sufficient opportunity for such learning.Real estate jobs and cost of recruitment and training: One of the most important impacts of education in this business is on property jobs; While real estate courses offer a platform to potential candidates to start their career in real estate by taking up suitable property related jobs, it reduces the cost that employers make on the training of new employees. Those candidates who have done a property related course are already trained and ready for real estate jobs and therefore employers do not need to arrange fresh training of the such employees, which saves time and money both.Overall, a proper devised system of education for Indian property market can enhance not only the transparency in transaction and business professionalism but also the business volume of the market players. Another advantage is the reduction in training and employee orientation cost.

Caring for children in their early years is easily one of the most rewarding aspects and elements of being a parent. It can also be a richly rewarding career especially when you consider families where both of the parents are working. These parents not only need their child to be safe and secure when they are away from them, they need to know that the childcare provider is qualified and trustworthy where the care of their children is concerned.Interestingly enough, in many cases, one of the working parents may be financially able to leave their careers to become childcare providers. The dual benefit with this is that the child has one of the parents with them all day long and that parent can make a career out of being a childcare provider and realize a good income in the process. Surprisingly, you can obtain the childcare training you need in a short period of time.How to obtain childcare trainingAnytime you are considering changing careers, you are always going to have to do some soul searching. This is also true where preparing for and getting childcare training is concerned. You never want to make this type of a decision lightly nor do you want to enter the childcare industry blindly or untrained. Granted, there are numerous liabilities involved. However, as important as education and training is, having the personality to handle a career in this field is just as critical as an other.First and foremost, preliminary childcare training can be acquired by working for a childcare facility or provider that is accredited and licensed to do so. The primary entities are day care facilities, family daycare that is home-based, and nursery schools.Prepare yourself to attend childcare training classes and earn your Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate. You can typically find these 6 to 12-class courses at your local community college, some of which are electives while others are required or what are referred to as core classes. Many of these classes can be taken so you don’t have to adjust your career work schedule. After all, you probably won’t want your work associates and bosses training for a new career.You will have to be licensed by your city, county, or state governments – maybe as many as all of these. If your local community college does not offer childcare training, they may have information that is useful. Otherwise, consider contacting your state Department of Education for direction and information.If possible, don’t stop with obtaining your CDA (see above) and considering attending college courses to further your education and training. Childcare continues to evolve into a highly personalized career field. As a result, responsible jobs in this field involve greater educational requirements and there only going to keep getting more intense as time passes. The bottom line is that you start your career as well educated, informed, and trained as is humanly possible. With the uncertainty of our economy, this could be your “Plan B”.