I have a story to tell. It's the story of me, where I'm at, where I'm going and a new chapter is unfolding that I can't wait to share with you.
Life is full of tough decisions, ones that pull us in many directions and involve our heads and hearts and all the parts in between, I believe you know when you have made the right choice when thinking about the path you have chosen makes you smile. Today I am grinning from ear-to-ear and couldn't be happier at the direction I'm taking and have been itching to tell everyone all about it.
For the past five months I have been working with the very lovely and capable Krystle Evans, a Ballarat based artist. She has been learning the ropes at the gallery, working with artists and being that friendly face in the shop several days a week. In fact, Krystle has been pretty much running the show! Very shortly my time at the gallery will be over, come September this year the gallery that I have poured my heart and soul into will become Krystle's baby, so she can give it the love and affection it deserves and make it even more awesome!
I'm so excited that Krystle has the passion and drive to keep the gallery thriving and couldn't think of a better person to hand the baton to. Knowing our dream of a friendly and fun artistic space in Ballarat will continue and grow is all I could wish for. I believe in Krystle, and admire her for her dedication and fresh enthusiasm, and know that the gallery space will flourish in her hands.
I have taught her everything I have learnt and can't wait to see how the gallery grows.
The gallery will remain in the same space and I got the secret-squirrel lowdown today on the gallery's new name! It's going to be AWESOME! We will keep you up-dated on all the gossip as it unfolds via our Facebook page.
So why am I leaving? For those of you who know me, and those running their own business you will know how much a project like that consumes your life. It's a passion that keeps you awake at night thinking of amazing ideas, solving problems, and plotting and planning. It's an amazing experience and it's all consuming! I'm so proud of everything that Marcia King and I built, and even prouder of the role it plays in our community now, but I am ready for new challenges and experiences, and want to make space in my life for them to happen.
So what am I up to next? Running the gallery these past two and half years has been the most incredible experience, it has very quickly allowed me to immerse myself in this awesome town and I have recently been offered an amazing opportunity to have a much wider impact on the community via a role with Leadership Ballarat and Western Region (LBWR).
I'm so excited, this is a bit of a dream job for me right now and will allow me to build my skills, as well as use everything I have learnt from my time at the gallery to do something awesome.
So what about 'Red Brick'? Well, you will still see me on Facebook and the website and the blog (now I have more time!) as well as with my involvement in the Pop-Up Co. To be honest Red Brick is ME and I couldn't break the two apart if I wanted to! Red Brick will still be the face of my own adventures and I can't wait to take you along on my journey.


— King Plastic Corporation began as a small, family enterprise. Now with more than 120 employees manufacturing polymer products around the clock for worldwide distribution, it hardly qualifies as a ôsmall business. However, the King family maintains independent ownership and control. The same values that made the company so successful in the past still prevail today.
King's recognized products include materials such as StarBoard®, StarLite®, ColorBoard®, ColorCore®, HyPact®, MicroShield® and PlastiBal®. Professional Plastics offers a full-range of products offered by King Plastics and delivers them through our 15 warehouse distribution centers in the USA and SE Asia.


With the wide-spread of AI (Artificial Intelligence) use, we have got some virtual assistants on our iPhone. Among them, Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant are three most popular ones. They could help you to reach some information and functions on phone just by telling them your request, for example, you could ask them to offer you the weather information, to play music, or to reach some detail information on Internet, etc. So what are the differences and similarities between them, especially on music service?
As we known, Siri owns by Apple, Google Assistant owns by Google, Alexa owns by Amazon Music. None of them have access to all the music services.
Siri would be the least, which means that it could only work with Apple Music. Siri would sometimes provide users with the equivocal answer when they are trying to ask it to play a song only because the users have not subscribed for Apple Music Membership.
Google Assistant would be much better. When you ask Google Assistant to play a song, it may also provide you with the access to YouTube. Google Assistant have access to Google Play Music (read also: Use Google Play Music on iPhone Freely), Spotify as well as Apple Music. Ask it to play a song with certain music program, it would send you the music directly.
Alexa would default to Amazon's new Music Unlimited service. And it even lets you make Spotify your default player as well.
When you ask the virtual assistants to play some new music, different situations would occur. Among the three, Alexa would do the best.
When you ask Siri to play new music, it would merely shuffle your Apple Music Library. As for Google Assistant, it would more like to provide you with the album named "NEW".
But when you ask Alexa to play new music, Alexa would give you the latest song you add to Amazon Music Library instead of giving you a whole new album.
If you try to ask Siri, Alexa, or Google Music to identify a song, Siri could do the best. When you play a song to Siri and ask it for the title of the song, Siri would give you the answer according to the tune and send the link of the music on Shazam since it uses this tech to detect the song.
However, when you ask Alexa and Google Assistant, Alexa would be limited because it would more probably to detect the tune which is played from the speaker itself. This function could be done on the main Google app, but Google Assistant could still identify the one playing on the speaker. But for detecting the tune playing out of phone, it would be hard to identify.
As for the music service in Alex, Siri, and Google Assistant, you would find that they have advantages in doing different things. Just as we mention about, Google Assistant has wider music program connection, and it could provide a song more accurate. Although Siri only have access to Apple Music, but it could identify a song by its tune the best. As for Alexa, playing new music is its strength. As a result, you need to find out which one is suitable to you and could help you enjoy music service the best.


The opposition coalition's presidential candidate, Hinnavaru MP Ibrahim "Ibu" Mohamed Solih, has declared that should he succeed in the upcoming election, his government would not halt any lawful development projects currently ongoing in the Maldives.
MP Ibu made the remark during the "Get to Know Ibu" panel discussion on Thursday night, which was organised by main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)'s Youth Wing.
Responding to one of the questions, Ibu stated that national development was also an objective of the opposition. He assured that an opposition government would always welcome foreign investors, and vowed there would be no obstructions to any investments undertaken within the legal framework of the Maldives.
"A contract made under one government would not be annulled over an administration change, as long as the agreement was legitimate," said Ibu as he proclaimed that the ongoing mega projects would proceed in his regime.
"Will repeal foreign land ownership amendment"
Responding to another inquiry, MP Ibu revealed that his administration would repeal the amendment made to the Constitution in 2015, which allows foreign entities to own land in Maldives.
Regarding the amendment which was submitted to the parliament by ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)'s parliamentary group leader and Villimale MP Ahmed Nihan, Ibu declared that foreign land ownership in Maldives was unacceptable.
MP Ibu stated that MDP had issued a free line whip prior to the parliament vote on that bill. Acknowledging that some MPs of MDP had also voted in favour of the prickly amendment, Ibu declared that he will take responsibility as the party's parliamentary group leader.
During the panel discussion, the opposition candidate went on to criticise the current administration, stating that the national debt had been at MVR 25 billion when President Abdulla Yameen came to power, but was now estimated to reach MVR 50 billion by the end of this year. Ibu claimed that the debt increased due to the government taking commercial loans to finance mega projects, further alleging that the expenditures of the projects were higher than should be.
He vowed that his government would ensure security of foreign investments to maintain investors' trust, and to bring foreign direct investments to the country. Ibu also announced that he would expand the nation's tax base in order to repay the debts.
Shedding further light on the promised opposition regime, Ibu further assured that the government would function as per the agreement of all four opposition coalition leaders, and not merely the wishes of MDP.
"Before us is the Constitution. We will proceed with accordance to our agreement, to the Constitution," he said, adding that details of the coalition's agreement would be divulged in the future.


Petra MAX delivers rapid and precise sulfur testing with a limit of detection as low as 0.0006% - well below the new International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulatory limit. To ensure lab quality results and compliance with methods approved for marine fuel testing (covered under ISO 8217), Petra MAX is fully compliant with ISO 8754, ASTM D4294 and IP 336. The analyzer can also measure calcium, zinc, and phosphorus at best-in-class LOD which can indicate the presence of used lubricant oils, as well as vanadium which can build up in valves and corrode metal surfaces.
Download our brochure to learn about how Petra MAX is the ideal solution for onboard sulfur testing in marine fuel.


Just download over 20, ee games Download from Brothersoft games, mobile games for free download play. Join us and play all of the LEGO games for free. When all the villains in Arkham Asylum team up break loose only the dynamic duo is bold enough to take them on to save Gotham City. ) with any PC game.
Interactive Entertainment. This open- world LEGO adventure allows fans and newcomers to explore the EE GOG PC GAMES PRESENTS. Looking for online LEGO® Games?
It' s preconfigured for most game titles and controllers. Info: Title: Watch Dogs TORRENT – FREE DOWNLOAD – CRACKED – Repack Watch Dogs is an open world action- adventure third- person shooter video PC game. LEGO® Web Games has moved to LEGO Kids.
Pinnacle Game Profiler enables the use of virtually any game controller ( gamepad joystick etc. Lego city my city game free download for pc. LEGO Batman: The Videogame ( c) Traveller' s Tales / Warner Bros.
Product Description. LEGO® City comes to life, only on the Wii U™ system! The popular LEGO City vehicles and play sets come to life for the first time in the vast, open world of the LEGO® City: Undercover LEGO City Undercover [ Online Game Code] and play today.
In one of the most expansive LEGO videogames to date, players become Chase McCain, a police officer who goes undercover to hunt down the notorious – and recently escaped – criminal, Rex Fury, to put an end to his city- wide crime wave. This open- world LEGO adventure allows fans and newcomers to explore the sprawling LEGO® CITY Undercover, players become Chase McCain, a police officer who goes undercover to hunt down the notorious – and recently escaped – criminal, Rex Fury, to put an end to his city- wide crime wave.


Top achiever, top achiever, top achiever alert!!!!
So we, here at Irene Dairy Farm have decided to try something brand moo to reward our TOP achievers!
If you have been chosen as the employee of the month, you get a flight in a Micro Light with company director, Adrian van der Byl.
"This was a great experience" said Stanley Sibisi one of the waiters at The Barn Restaurant and our TOP Achiever for last month. Moooweee! Go Stanley!
So I'd love to stay and chat but I have to get back to work now – need to make employee of the month. It's like I can already feel the wind blowing through my hair, oh yeah!


How to Make Fondant Shiny. On its own, fondant generally has a matte appearance. There are several techniques you can use to make fondant decorations and fondant-covered cakes shiny, though. The degree of gloss varies depending on the...... Create a new document (Ctrl+N) in Adobe Photoshop CS5 with the size 768px by 1024px (RGB color mode) at a resolution of 72 pixels/inch. Use the Paint Bucket Tool (G) to fill with black color the new background layer .
One of the most useful types of effects that you can create in Photoshop is the matte effect. Matte effects are highly versatile and will look great with a large selection of photos, and they are also pretty easy to accomplish.
7/01/2012�� Hello, I am very inexperienced with photoshop, and I'm working on my first project. I edited the picture below using a video tutorial, and now I want to try and make the ring stand out more.
Photoshop, as the prime software in the industry meant for digital photography post-production, has several tools we can adapt to our benefit if the aim is to smooth skin and hide blemishes while giving a glamour look to a photo.


text:
es un futbolista japonés que juega como defensa en el Nagoya Grampus de la J1 League.

Trayectoria

Clubes

Referencias

Personas de la prefectura de Mie
Futbolistas de Japón
Futbolistas del Nagoya Grampus
Futbolistas del Kashima Antlers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


2007 Pt Cruiser Fuse Box For A 2nd - i have a touring model 2008 pt cruiser the rear hatch or lift gate stopped working a couple of months ago and stays locked i ve been told it might be fuse but have been unable to locate it all other doors are functioning nornally hi i m no mechanic but i can tell you this there are two view and download chrysler pt cruiser 2008 owner s manual online chrysler 2008 300 srt8automobile owner s manual pt cruiser 2008 automobile pdf manual download also for we strive to provide the most efficient customer service possible by hiring representatives that have extensive experience and possess specific knowledge my 99 sebring was low on trans fluid and i put a half quart of the wrong fluid in my trans went into limp mode stuck in 2nd gear i did a plete trans flush and this did not fix the problem the transmission is still stuck in 2nd can somebody please give me a solution that will not require replacing.
the trans 4 answers my car was shifting hard into third gear and i checked the trans add your ships crew advert please read this page is kept up by busy volunteers if you cannot follow these simple instructions than you are no use on a ship do not use all capitals do not post your full resume replace the in your e mail address with a capital at i e crew crewing agency nit be es crewatcrewing ageny nit do not forget to put your contact details anyone not wel e to weber brothers auto parts find and buy auto parts view images and video obtain shipping costs for help call now 800 222 2528 or try our faq delegation strategies for the nclex prioritization for the nclex infection control for the nclex free resources for the nclex free nclex quizzes for the nclex free nclex exams for the nclex failed the nclex help is here search over 1 5 million quality used auto parts online and buy from.
chrysler pt cruiser questions where is the fuse box located on ptlooking for a used pt cruiser in your area?


text:
Accueil » Preview : X-Men – Messiah Complex
CatégorieCOMMUNIQUES NEWS [english]
Preview : X-Men – Messiah Complex
5 octobre 2007	Non	Par Comic Box
[ENGLISH] Marvel tells us: Since the events of M-Day, the mutant population has been reduced to a mere handful and no new mutants have been born. But all that changes in the highly-anticipated, extra-sized X-Men: Messiah CompleX One-Shot, from Eisner and Harvey winning "Best Writer" Ed Brubaker and superstar artist Marc Silvestri, when the X-Men discover a new mutant has arrived.But this cause for celebration is tainted by the early arrival of the Marauders and the Purifiers—and with those two groups involved, the X-Men may not find this mutant! But if they do, will this new player prove to be their savior or a harbinger of doom for mutantkind?
A perfect jumping on point for new readers, this special one-shot sets the stage for the jaw-dropping changes to come! This issue features NINE extra pages of hints of what's to come, drawn by someof the hottest talents today while red-hot artists David Finch and Silvestri provide two stunning covers, with the latter available as the X-Men: Messiah CompleX Poster.
"I cannot wait to get this book into the fans hands," says editor Nick Lowe. "We've been planning this event for so long and I've been rejoicing behind the lines as each script and page of art came in. It's a simple story with knock-out art that is going to remind the comics world that X-Men is the hottest ticket in town."
Continuing weekly through the X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor and New X-Men, Messiah Complex marks the first major X-Men event in over ten years! New alliances will be forged; new leaders will be chosen; friends will become enemies and no one will ever be the same.
"We are dying to get our hands on 'Messiah Complex,'" gushed Richard George of IGN.Com in their look at can't miss fall events.
This October, the hunt is on…and the prize is the fate of mutantkind! You can't afford to miss what will become known as the most crucial chapter in mutant history and it all begins in X-Men: Messiah CompleX One-Shot!
MESSIAH COMPLEX – PART 1 of 13
X-MEN: MESSIAH COMPLEX ONE-SHOT (AUG072258)
Penciled by MARC SILVESTRI
50/50 Cover by DAVID FINCH
50/50 Variant Cover by MARC SILVESTRI
Rated T+ …$3.99
FOC—10/11/07, On-Sale—10/31/07
UNCANNY X-MEN #492 (SEP072232)
Penciled by BILLY TAN
Cover by DAVID FINCH
Variant Cover by MARC SILVESTRI
X-FACTOR #25 (SEP072234)
Written by PETER DAVID
Penciled by SCOT EATON
Variant Cover by J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
MESSIAH COMLPEX – PART 4 of 13
NEW X-MEN #44 (SEP072236)
Written by CHRISTOPHER YOST & CRAIG KYLE
Penciled by HUMBERTO RAMOS
Variant Cover by J.SCOTT CAMPBELL
X-MEN #205 (SEP072238)
Written by MIKE CAREY
Penciled by CHRIS BACHALO
Rated A …$2.99
X-MEN MESSIAH COMPLEX POSTER
24×36 Color Poster…$6.99
On-Sale—10/17/07
Mots-cléscomics Marvel Messiah Complex Mutants X-Men
Preview : Comic Box #49 (Oct. 2007) [UPDATE]
Avant-goût VO: Review Drafted #2

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


just source code with codes description in each part.
Hi! i used to develop app with nfc for a bank which intent to release an app for paying thought mobile.
I can make this project immediately if you accept. I am experienced on microcontroller for example arduino pic and msp.


text:
Rome View tours
Vatican View tours
Florence View tours
Venice View tours
Pompeii / Amalfi / Sorrento
SEE OUR OTHER DESTINATIONS
On TakeWalks.com
Paris View tours
Barcelona View tours
London View tours
Madrid View tours
Pristine Sistine™ Tour 1778 reviews
Legendary Venice with St. Mark's Basilica 285 reviews
Best of Florence: David & Duomo 532 reviews
VIP Colosseum Underground Tour 1204 reviews
Castel Gandolfo Is The Roman Day Trip You Didn't Know You Needed View all
Rome posts
The Strange but True Story Behind Valentine's Day View all
The 8 Best Souvenirs from Italy and Where to Buy Them View all
All around Italy posts
4 Reasons to Take This Day Trip From Florence View all
Day trips posts
7 Things You Didn't Know About The Incredible Florence Duomo View all
Florence posts
7 Things You'll Love About this Venice Day Trip View all
Art & culture posts
Aperitivo in Italy: What it is and How to Enjoy One View all
Food & Wine posts
The 16 Most Iconic Foods to Eat in Italy View all
How to Travel Italy with Kids View all
Where to Stay in Milan: How to Choose the Right Neighborhood For Your Visit View all
Milan posts
By Walks of Italy Florence, Tuscany May 19, 2011
Home » All Articles » Florence » The Top Ten Towns of Tuscany, Round II
The Top Ten Towns of Tuscany, Round II
A few days ago, we published the first half of our list of Tuscany's ten best towns. And we just know you've been waiting with bated breath to find out what the last five top towns will be!
And so, without further ado: Here they are.
One of Pisa's more famous sights
Yes, Pisa's got the Leaning Tower — but that's not the only reason to go. The city, a half-hour's drive southwest of Lucca, reached the height of its dominance in the 11th to 13th centuries. Thanks to the stunning churches, palaces, streets and squares of the era, Pisa still feels like a medieval powerhouse today. Come on the last Sunday of June to see the Gioco del Ponte, a series of battles staged in medieval costume every year since at least the 16th century. And, okay, the Leaning Tower is pretty cool, too. Our tip: Come in the evening, as the sun's just setting and after the tour buses have gone, and you'll have the tower almost to yourself.
Montepulciano… and its wine.
A wine-lover? Add this to the list. Not a wine-lover? After visiting, you will be. Montepulciano's biggest claim to fame is its Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, a DOCG-rated wine that's been consumed since the Middle Ages and is considered one of Italy's best. You could spend a whole afternoon here wandering the small town's medieval streets and taking advantage of the free wine, meat and cheese samples offered in the stores, but don't miss the town's smattering of lovely palaces and churches, either. Then again, if you do spend your whole time in a wine shop, you're in good company: After Henry James left Montepulciano, he said he struggled to recall the details of the town… because he'd spent all his time drinking!
Montalcino, Tuscany
Smaller than Montepulciano (at some 5,000, its population is about a third of Montepulciano's), Montalcino also is less touristy, even though its claim to fame is similar: It produces Brunello di Montalcino, often considered to be Italy's best wine. Other than that, the town's top boast is its Museo Civico e Diocesano d'Arte Sacra, with a wealth of medieval and Renaissance works surprising for the town's size. There's also a majestic 14th-century castle, still complete with a public park and walk along the ramparts.
Piazza Grande, the main square in Arezzo
This town served as the backdrop for scenes from Life is Beautiful, and when you come here, you see why: The historic center of Arezzo is lovely and unspoiled. Its tranquillity belies a powerful past that included being one of the 12 Etruscan capitals and then, in the Middle Ages, a wealthy independent republic. Now home to nearly 100,000, it's a hot spot for art and culture lovers. Arezzo's Church of San Francesco boasts a great cycle of frescoes by 15th-century master Piero della Francesca, Vasari's frescoes in the Casa Vasari depict an artist's life journey, and the Archaeological Museum displays numerous ancient finds. Perhaps it's not surprising that Petrarch, the "father of humanism," was born here in 1304.
You can't beat the views from Cortona
After Frances Mayes wrote about living here in Under the Tuscan Sun, Cortona, home to some 22,000, wound up indelibly on the tourist map. That means day-trippers aplenty. Still, we think this town, located smack in the middle of Italy, remains well worth a stop for a day or an afternoon. The views alone are gorgeous, spreading from this dramatic hilltop town over the rolling countryside and Lake Trasimeno. And there are lots of worthwhile sites, like the Museo dell'Accademia Etrusca, chock-full of ancient Etruscan gems from the nearby area.
And towns aside… don't miss our video of Tuscany's gorgeous countryside, below!
day tripsFlorenceItalyoff the beaten pathTuscany
Walks of Italy
We offer small-group and private walking tours in Rome & Italy's greatest destinations. We've received glowing recommendations on Rick Steves and the New York Times because of our: -Group size: 12 or fewer; -"Add-ons" that personalize private tours; -Fluent English-speaking, expert guides; - Tour operator accreditation in Italy and the Vatican, meaning privileges like special Sistine Chapel entrances; -"Off-the-beaten-path" itineraries, like our Tales from the Crypts underground Rome tour, visiting the most intriguing catacombs and crypts in the city.
Latest Posts By Walks of Italy
How to Enjoy the Best Italian Wines in Rome, Venice, and Florence
Colosseum Underground Tours Extend Opening Dates & Allows Independent Visits
New (and Delicious) Italy Food Tours and Cooking Classes!
Previous articleHow to Take a Taxi in Italy… Without Getting Ripped Off
Next article10 Top Photo Ops: Where to Find the Best Views of Italy
4 Reasons to Take This Day Trip From Florence
7 Things You Didn't Know About The Incredible Florence Duomo
The 8 Best Souvenirs from Italy and Where to Buy Them
Pingback: Preserving "The Genius of a Place" in Tuscany's Cortona
Malcolm Rendle says:
Yes truly beautiful places, though we were a bit disappointed with Pisa. We were fortunate enough to visit Arezzo on the day of it's annual jousting festival and this was fabulous with marches through the town by great crowds in medieval costume, the most moving part was when one "faction" of drums and trumpets gathered in a Piazza and played the Grand March from Aida, really made the hairs on the neck stand on end. We stayed just outside Montepoluciano (?spelling) and would stroll through the streets in the evening of this beautiful hill town Tuscany is certainly to be recommended and one of our favourite Italian regions
Croushay says:
I have been to Pisa now twice. Both times I felt like the most important thing for the people of Pisa was to extract the most money they could get from me and give back the least value.
My suggestion is to see the tower, leave and go for a ride around Lucca.
Anne Bidez Schumann says:
Finding the village Baccana was perhaps one of the most surprising and important events in my life.
D. Conroy says:
Can you please explain why it was surprising and important for you? Sounds incredibly intriguing. Thank you!
Sandra Lavender says:
Am travelling in Italy for a month or so next June and will be travelling with my husband and two kids (13 &10). Will be doing the backpack thing on trains most of the time, but is it easier to see Tuscany with a car?? Would love to wander from town to town.
Walks of Italy says:
Ciao Sandra, visiting smaller towns in Tuscany can be a bit difficult by train as many of the towns have limited public transportation. Have you considered reserving a private guided tour by car to discover Tuscany? You can find more information about our full and half day tours here!
Sanjana @ Green Global Travel says:
Great list! Would love to visit Pisa and Cortona one day!
Thank you, your sign-up request was successful! Please provide a valid email address. Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later.
Best of Florence: David Duomo
From 536 reviews More Info from €59
Tuscany Day Trip from Rome
From 66 reviews More Info from €149
Tuscany from Florence Tour
1 Walks of Italy The Best Amalfi Coast Towns for Every Type of Traveler
Hi Javeed, We're happy to hear you enjoyed the post. Choose a town based on the things you like that you found in this blog post: all the towns are…
2 Walks of Italy Introducing La Befana: An Italian Christmas Tradition (with Video!)
Hi Lina, Thank you for pointing that out to us, we'll get right on it! In the meantime, you can watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meR3gMhtfPE
3 Walks of Italy The Biggest Mistake People Make When Planning A Trip to Italy (And How To Avoid It)
Hi Rashi, This article on Where to stay in Florence might help you. We also have one on where to stay in Milan! Have a great trip!
Walks' 2017 Pop Up Tours are here! Book now in Italy, Paris and NYC.
Christmas in Venice: Markets, Midnight Mass and Murano Glass
Christmas in Venice? Cold, uncrowded… and magical! With Venice's already-gorgeous canals, piazzas and ornate architecture lit up with Christmas decorations, the streets less crowded…
email: info@walksofitaly.com U.S. Toll-Free Phone Number: +1-888-683-8670 U.S. Phone Number: +1-202-684-6916 Italian Phone Number: +39-069-480-4888
© Copyright 2019 Walks of Italy, 5323 Levander Loop, Austin, TX 78702


text:
Home > Insights > Leadership > How to Identify & Stop the Destructive Cycle of Micromanaging on Team Performance
How to Identify & Stop the Destructive Cycle of Micromanaging on Team Performance
November 12, 2018 Kris FanninLeadership & Team Development
Stop the Destructive Cycle of a Toxic Leadership
Background – Trust as the Core of Influence
The Birth of Toxic Leadership & the Micromanager: Meet Steve
1. Micromanagement Begins with a Leader's Lack of Trust in the Team
2. The Micromanager Increases Control
3. Leadership Effectiveness Diminishes
4. Micromanaging Causes Lack of Team Self-Sufficiency
5. Continued Micromanaging Decreases Team Performance
The Death of Team Performance Begins
6. Toxic Cycle Continues – Team Loses Trust in Leadership
7. Continued Cycle -Team Performance Symptoms of Toxic Leadership
The Repeating Cycle of Toxic Leadership and Micromanagement
Strategy for Stopping the Micromanaging Cycle & Team Performance Impacts
How to Prevent the Cycle of Toxic Leadership
Related Solutions to Help You With Leadership and Team Performance.
Nobody wakes up and says, "I want to be a micromanager." The cycle of a toxic leader is slow and destructive to team performance.
You'll learn how and why the micromanagement leadership cycle starts, how to identify how far in the cycle a team is, and actionable steps of reversing the toxic cycle (and how to prevent it from starting).
I've led thousands of teams and executives, and the micromanager is one of the most toxic leadership to team performance. It's a slow cycle that creeps into the organizational culture and performance.
Micromanaging is costly in many ways. It can destroy a business if it is not identified and controlled. The Harvard Business Review wrote a great piece on the costs of disengagement caused by micromanagers. This statistic made my jaw drop:
…absenteeism caused by disengagement costs a typical 10,000-person company $600,000 a year in salary for days where no work was performed, and that "disengagement-driven turnover costs most sizable businesses millions every year."
What is the core cause micromanaging and toxic leadership? Trust and control issues are almost always present. Many times the trust issues with micromanagers are with themselves and their confidence to lead.
Therefore, to accurately identify and 'treat' this toxic cycle of leadership, you must first understand the relation of trust as it relates to the primary function of a leader – influence. I'll quickly walk you through this relationship.
We have many resources on leadership and trust. I will recap some of the critical components of trust here as they relate to the cycle of toxic leadership.
Understanding the basics of trust can prevent you from getting into the cycle of toxic leadership and micromanagement.
Trust is Dimensional
You can trust someone in one area but not another. Additionally, there are areas of your work and life that are easier for you to give trust.
Consistency & Trust Have a Direct Relationship
We build trust when we see in others what we deem as desired behaviors and attitudes. They think and act in the desired way, and that 'way' is individually defined.
Even in our personal lives, we build trust with others when we experience a pattern of consistent and desired behaviors and attitudes in others. As soon as we stop seeing that consistency, trust diminishes.
If we never experience that consistency, we never build that trust. Once trust is built, it grows to empowerment and eventually inspiration, with the latter being rare.
Trust & Control Have an Inverse Relationship
A lack of trust results in the desire to control or 'micromanage.' There is an inverse relationship between the need to control and trust.
An extreme lack of trust leads to fear, especially in leadership roles. My father was a USAF pilot for huge aircraft. He practically squeezed my hand off as a kid when we would be rolling down the runway for takeoff as passengers.
He needed to be in control – even when he wasn't the leader.
RELATED: Developing 20 Core Leader Competencies with Trust
I've seen the cycle countless times. When leaders lack trust, they will often work to control. This irrational need to control eventually leads to diminished team performance and lack of trust in the leader.
Let's use the story of Steve, a call-center supervisor. Steve has a fantastic record as a leader and a great leadership following. Due to recent business change and transformation initiatives, Steve's team performance suffered. Steve's approach style was participative leadership until he met with his manager and was given a warning.
Steve – once a great leader – fell into a slow cycle of micromanagement and toxic leadership.
Here's how it happened.
The individual and team performance components of the cycle of toxic leadership.
A stern warning about his team performance crushed Steve. He was the star leader. Steve developed a short-term plan to become more hands-on with his team. For this time, Steve felt a desire to take more functional control to quickly increase team performance.
Steve was quickly forgetting the difference between leadership and management.
What we don't know we often fear. What we fear, we work to avoid or control. Suddenly, Steve felt he no longer knew how his team was doing work. Steve became more involved in each of his colleagues' work, and he realized each of them could do it in a better way.
Because of the time-pressure to raise team performance, Steve found it easier to take some of the work himself. It was easier for him than explaining how it should be done.
At first, Steve felt a sense of calm and accomplishment as team performance quickly improved. Although his tightly-controlled plan was designed for the short-term, he kept the approach. Instead of showing people how to do the work and helping them understand the reasons why Steve told them how to do their work.
In reality, Steve was taking much of the work for himself. He was no longer growing his team members for the long-run. Steve was micromanaging them for immediate team performance gains.
One of the results of effective leadership is developing self-sufficient people and teams. The first result of toxic leadership is teams losing self-sufficiency.
Steve put into place a regimented twice-a-day inspection of each team member. He would review their work and then tell them exactly what to focus on and how to do the work until the next meeting. This worked in the short-term to raise team performance.
Steve's team was normally self-sufficient so they used his feedback as a guide as opposed to a checklist. Some of them were reprimanded publicly by Steve to 'just do what he tells them to do.' Over time and as they encountered more communication barriers with Steve, his team stopped giving him as much feedback.
As this process continued, team members stopped seeking solutions themselves. They waited for Steve to tell them exactly what to do and how to do it. Steve's control moved his team from self-sufficiency to being entirely dependent on Steve's lists and direction.
What happened next absolutely perplexed Steve.
Up to this point, Steve's plan was successful. His team performance quickly improved. Eventually, the opposite began to happen – team performance diminished.
Steve couldn't understand why this was happening. His plan was working up to this point. He was in a reactionary mode and couldn't see past what was actually happening.
His team was no longer self-sufficient. They waited and depended on him for everything.
Steve was no longer teaching them which builds team growth. He was telling them.
Steve's daily capacity of his key resources – time, energy, talent, and patience – were over-allocated.
As the business demands grew, he could no longer meet those demands.
RELATED: Ditch the Seminar! 10 Effective Leadership Lessons Taught By Children
Once this point is reached in the cycle of toxic leadership, two critical things occur:
The leader – Steve – begins to lose trust in himself as a leader. Trust in yourself is one of the vital team leadership characteristics.
The team begins to lose trust in Steve's leadership.
Unless both are identified and corrected, the micromanager cycle of destruction continues. Each cycle amplifies the results of the previous cycle.
Steve received pressure to increase team performance again. He was losing confidence in his own ability to lead. He strengthened his original plan and brought tighter control to his team. Steve once had confidence that his team would pull through for him. He was quickly losing trust in his team.
His team felt the pressure.
We do everything you say as our leader, yet we still aren't successful.
Steve's team lost faith in him as a leader. More destructive is they lost faith in themselves as a team. Both sides will have a difficult time rebuilding trust at this point.
As team performance continued to diminish, people became fearful of their positions, careers, and future. We avoid or control those things we fear.
The team became more dependent on Steve and terrified of making mistakes. During this phase of the toxic leadership cycle, you'll see more absences, more tardiness, more attrition, decreased engagement and employee satisfaction.
What do I see business do to correct the trends? They implement processes and programs that address the symptoms as opposed to the core issue – micromanagement.
Steve's once great and proud team stood by watching other teams become more successful. The other teams were confident and trusting of their leaders so they were willing to take the risk needed to grow the business.
The morale and once positive culture that Steve's team experienced plummeted. Decreased morale, combined with the other effects of micromanagement, further decreased team performance. Resentment built in both directions.
Steve never caught the cycle of his micromanaging to stop it, so it continued. With the last team performance dip, he trusted his team less and they trusted Steve less as their leader.
The next cycle was even more detrimental to both Steve and the team. Steve was demoted and moved to another department. Eventually, he left the organization.
Nobody helped him and he never helped himself.
Changing of the Leadership Guard – Choose Your Own Adventure
Change the impacts on team performance of toxic leadership. Choose your own adventure.
Sara is a superstar who was on Steve's team and is replacing him as the leader. I see the Sara's in these situations choose one of a few paths:
Sara will replicate the toxic leadership cycle because that's the only leadership style she has been exposed to during her career.
Sara will take the 180-approach and immediately stop the tight control because she saw the destruction. However, the team is dependent on the control and an immediate withdrawal of it could add more harm.
Sara will take a breath, take the time to evaluate the situation and then develop an individual approach to stop the cycle of micromanaging.
Sara decides on door #3, calls me to help her build an executive coaching and leadership development plan to put her new team on the right path to success.
RELATED: 14 Awful Habits of Incredibly Bad Leaders that Destroy Team Performance
From a high-level, here is the plan that Sara and I developed. It's the same plan I would give Steve to help him get out of the toxic leadership cycle.
1. Assess the team together.
Do a couple of roundtable exercises and gauge team dynamics.
The goal of the first roundtable is getting the team open and comfortable to the leadership change. There are numerous ways to do this based on the situation. For Sara, it's a fluid outline of to open up discussion.
The goal of the second roundtable is to identify team issues and where they think the priorities as a team should be to get back on track.
2. Assess each individual team member.
Sara has meetings with each team member. There are thousands of questions she could ask.
The main question is,
If you were in my role and situation, what would you do?
The answers Sara receives indicate the biggest fears that her colleagues have now. Sara looks for trends of both the team meetings and individual meetings and prioritizes those. She quickly shows small change by doing something with the feedback.
3. Build team confidence.
Sara's team lacks confidence and morale.
The WORST thing she could do is to immediately relinquish all control – they now depend on that control. That's like immediately ripping off the training wheels with absolutely no other support.
You'll immediately fall and be less likely to try again. Based on individual assessments, Sara slowly builds confidence while providing more autonomy. They must be done together to repair the impacts of toxic leadership.
4. Meet with peers to discuss a plan, get feedback and incorporate into the plan.
Many leaders miss this one.
Sara must regain the confidence of her peers in her team. She'll use this as a 'PR' move, gather valuable feedback, incorporate parts into her plan and demonstrate the use of the feedback. The last part promotes team success and builds confidence in her peers that Sara used their valuable feedback.
It better to prevent becoming a micromanager than to fix the cycle. Here are some quick points to keep in mind.
Check yourself and approach periodically to ensure you aren't trying to control:
People through processes. This starts the cycle of micromanaging and builds bureaucracy. Don't standardize behavior, rather work to make behaviors consistent.
Areas that should be influenced. In other words, focus on leadership, not control as it relates to your team members. As soon as you try and control every outcome of every team member, you become Steve – the toxic micromanager – and a bad leader.
Areas beyond your direct influence. Keep your scope clear and don't go too broad. You'll stretch yourself too thin.
Tasks managed by others. Let your team do their work. Guide and coach them, but don't start doing the work for them.
Indications of micromanagement are also indications of a lack of trust. Lack of trust builds a need to control.
Build Consistency to Build Trust.
Given the priorities of trust (fears) received from the team and individual meetings, periodically ask yourself these questions:
In what areas should I become more consistent?
What haven't I been consistent in these areas?
How should I make those behaviors more consistent?
The WHY is especially important for sustainable change – and to avoid becoming another toxic, micromanaging Steve.
Are you dealing with a micromanager or getting into the cycle of toxic leadership? If you have any questions or want any additional pointers, I'd love to hear from you on Twitter or Facebook.
Was this article helpful? If so, subscribe to get our best advice and discussions delivered right to your inbox!
Keep Reading: Why You Need to Stop Using Incentives as Motivators and How to Use Each Effectively →
> Career Solutions
> Leadership & Employee Development Programs
> Business Consulting, Strategy & Process Solutions
: Corporate Environment and Culture, Leadership Strategy, Popular, Team Performance
The Differences Between Leadership and Management and Knowing When to Lead
13 Things Leaders Want to Say but Can't
April 29, 2018 Kris Fannin
Change Management Plan: Build Success in 5 Stages of Change
June 4, 2018 Kris Fannin


text:
For example, we had three families on a Embraer Legacy, which is a 13-seat aircraft, for February half term. Because it's three of them grouping up, it's costing them about £7,000 for two families of four and one family of five. If you divide that up, it's not as expensive as people think [£538 per person]. We're seeing that more and more people are grouping up, putting more bums on seats and making it more affordable.
Originating from the 1962 de Havilland DH.125 medium-sized corporate jet, the Hawker Beechcraft 750 is a light-to-midsize jet based on the 800 model. The Hawker 750 has more baggage space and a larger cabin than its predecessor, even claimed as the largest cabin in the class by Hawker. Like the entire Hawker family, the aircraft upholds the company's high reliability and performance standards. Deliveries of the Hawker 750 began in 2008.
For those who don't mind mingling with strangers, companies like Tradewind offer shuttles between places like New York and Boston, Stowe, and Nantucket, as well as Caribbean Islands like St. Barth's and Anguilla. (Flights begin at $250 plus tax each way.) The bonus? On a route from from San Juan to St. Barth's, a Tradewind rep will meet you at your terminal and help shuttle you through. JetSuiteX, affiliated with JetBlue, sells seats on planes between Burbank and Las Vegas.
Depending on who you believe 30-to-50% of all private jet flights are ferry flights. However, that doesn't mean they are necessarily dirt cheap. Magellan Jets, which sells jet cards and on-demand charter also offers empty legs, and while you have to contact the company for pricing, it says rates start at $3,000 per hour. Airstream Jets enables visitors to its website to download a list of active empty legs and while most of the 13 listings were for the next two weeks, there were flights posted through mid-November, one an empty leg in September on a Gulfstream G-IVSP from New York to London for $49,900. Another broker quoted the same date and route at $92,000. Even more attractive was a G500 charter this weekend from Palermo, Italy to New York for $35,000. Quotes for a non-empty leg charter that I received from another broker for random dates in August started at $111,000.
Customs and immigration procedures must be complied with for all private jet flights. Private jet customers are often not aware of any checks as in most cases these can be completed prior to the flight. At larger airports the private jet terminal will have dedicated customs and immigration staff. At smaller airports it is rare to see Customs and Immigration officials although they will be aware of your flight and can occasionally make special visits to the airport to meet a flight.
Stuart Jenner's job is high stress, high stakes, and everything he's strived for. So why, when the apex of his career is within reach, does he stumble? At his doctor's insistence, he books a privately chartered yacht to sail around the tropics for two weeks of sun, surf, and sex. When his friend-with-benefits bails on him at the last minute, Stuart decides to go alone.
Joel and Stratos are amazing! He made sure our flight was tailored perfectly and was very responsive and always available for contact. They catered specifically to our needs with late notice. The pilots were fantastic and patient, especially considering we had three animals and arrived 10 minutes before take-off. They provided the smoothest flight in the Hawker we've ever taken. Stratos offered transportation to and from; the boarding process was welcoming and convenient. We will only fly privately with Stratos Jets through Joel and his team. Thank you guys for everything!


text:
19-Year-Old KY Man Dies Sunday While Fleeing AR State Troopers
Jim Weaver Published: July 25, 2022
Arkansas State Police - Canva
Arkansas State Police have announced they are conducting an internal review and full investigation into the death of a 19-year-old Kentucky man who fled from an Arkansas State Trooper on Sunday, July 24th.
According to the report, the pursuit of the driver began in Forrest City, Arkansas, and reached speeds over 100 miles per hour.
John Bomar, 19, was the driver of that vehicle being pursued. Legal intervention by an Arkansas state trooper was used to end the pursuit and stop the vehicle which was being operated recklessly and endangered other motorists.
The pursuit began at approximately 4:35 PM when a traffic violation led the trooper to initiate a traffic stop, that is when Bomar exited the eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 at Forrest City and turned left to drive north onto Arkansas Highway 1, that is when the speeds increased to more than 100 miles per hour, according to the report.
The state trooper was forced to execute a precision intervention maneuver near the St. Francis and Cross County line, that intervention led to Bomar's vehicle exiting the highway in an easterly direction into a farm field.
State troopers and other law enforcement officers upon arriving on the scene administered life-saving measures to Bomar who was the only occupant of the vehicle. Bomar was transported by ambulance to a Wynne hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.
An investigation of the incident will be submitted to a prosecuting attorney of that jurisdiction who will decide whether the use of deadly force by the Arkansas State Police was consistent with Arkansas laws.
Ghost Town of Rush Arkansas
Tour of the Arkansas Ghost Town of Rush
El Arroyo - The Greatest Sign In Texas
These are just a few of the many hilarious signs you will find at El Arroyo Tex-Mex Restaurant in Austin, Texas. Look them up next time you go there, we hear the food is great too.
Source: 19-Year-Old KY Man Dies Sunday While Fleeing AR State Troopers
Filed Under: 2022, Arkansas State Police, Death, internal review, investigation, July 24, Kentucky, Man, sunday
Texas-Side Officers Show Off New TXK150 Commemorative Badges
What's It Like Being A Cop? Find Out In TAPD 'Citizens Police Academy'
Governor Abbott Announces Tech Education Grants Include Texarkana College
Texarkana New Year Reminder – Fireworks Are Dangerous And Illegal
38 Arrested Christmas Week – Your Bowie County Sheriff's Report
Texarkana Police Seeking Christmas Day Murder Suspect – Can You Help?
Texarkana Water Utilities Reminder – Turn Off Your Water
61 Arrests In Weekly Bowie County Sheriff's Report for December 12
Our 'Salute to Service' Features Two Of The Best From The Ark-La-Tex


Click on any of the products below to place your secure order. Remember - Our portion of all sales through our association with Barnes & Noble go directly to helping us achieve our Mission.
NOTE: All products with a photo icon are available for purchase now by clicking the image. All other products are coming soon.


As many of you will already know, there was a small workshop on the theme of accelerationism at Goldsmith's earlier this month, at which myself and a few others spoke. Despite two out of five speakers having to pull out on short notice due to illness, the workshop went very well, and I was rather pleased with the talks and the discussion that ensued after them. However, given the absence of those speakers, we didn't really come close to defining 'accelerationism', which is still a nebulous term, even if it connects many things that we were all interested in. For this and other reasons, not everyone was happy having the talks and discussion recorded and put online.
However, I'm quite happy to make my own talk available, as it does a good job of connecting various things I've discussed on this blog over the last couple years, most importantly my concerns with the concepts of Freedom, Beauty, and Justice, and the connections between them. The talk also contains some quick remarks on the critique of liberalism, but I didn't have the time to develop these in the depth I'd like. Hopefully I'll get the chance to work all this up into a more coherent and detailed piece at some point. For now, you'll just have to listen to this.


On October 8, 2015, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released a report that analyzed data regarding the safety performance of interstate motor carriers, confirming that the data used in its Safety Measurement System (SMS) is clearly sufficient for the identification of high-risk trucking and bus companies. The agency concluded that SMS effectively identifies truck companies involved in 90% of the crashes that occur every year. Those identified through SMS as high-risk carriers have crash rates that are about twice the national average.
The report considered carriers of various sizes, as directed by Congress. The report concluded there was no significant difference in actual crash rates between small carriers and those with 20 or more roadside inspections.
SMS is a tool for prioritizing high-risk truck and bus companies for possible enforcement interventions.