Clinton benefitted from email double-standard, says former US ambassador

A former ambassador to Kenya who was fired when Hillary Clinton was in charge of the State Department on Sunday accused Clinton of benefitting from a double-standard when it came to using personal email for official business.
Scott Gration, a former air force general who flew hundreds of sorties over Iraq, spoke to CNN from Kenya about his disappointment at losing his “dream job” as ambassador, saying: “As I look back, it does seem a bit unfair.
“It does appear that there was a different standard that was used in my case and was used in hers,” Gration said.

Gration’s remarks came as the conversation over Clinton’s use of personal email while secretary of state expanded to pull in top senators, a former secretary of state and even Bill Clinton, Hillary’s husband.
“I’m not the one to judge that. I have an opinion, but I have a bias,” Bill Clinton said in remarks reported on CNN’s website. “I shouldn’t be making news on this.”
In remarks parallel to the former president’s, Senator Dianne Feinstein, a fellow Democrat, said Hillary Clinton “needs to step up and come out and say exactly what the situation was”, adding that from “this point on, the silence is going to hurt her”. From the opposite side of the political aisle, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said on CBS that he was “a little bit worried about the security of those emails. They could have been prime targets for a cyber-attack.”
Former secretary of state Colin Powell, speaking on ABC, said he had used a personal email account sparingly in the job, but that it wasn’t his main account and there had never been a request that he turn anything over.
“I did not keep a cache of them,” Powell told CBS. “I did not print them off.”
Clinton’s use of a personal email account while she led the State Department has drawn accusations of a failure of transparency. Clinton supporters have said she had nothing to hide and the practice was not unusual.
Clinton herself has remained silent, apart from tweeting: “I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible.”
The State Department has said Clinton turned over “55,000 pages” of emails for review. It is unknown how many emails Clinton held back, if any.
Gration, as head of the US embassy in Kenya, chafed at rules barring him from using his Google email account, according to an internal State report which listed his “lack of adherence” to the ban as one of multiple reasons for his firing.
“I wasn’t flouting [the rule] … but I did raise some serious questions about the use of commercial accounts, because I thought they were helpful to me in my duties as ambassador to Kenya,” Gration said.
The State report makes it clear that Gration’s personal email was one small piece of larger problems with his leadership of the Nairobi embassy. The report also called Gration “divisive and ineffective” and said: “The ambassador has lost the respect and confidence of the staff to lead the mission.”
On Sunday, Gration’s displeasure at losing his job three years ago was palpable.
“For me this was a dream job,” he said. “It was a job where I felt I was making a significant difference … and to have that be terminated over some allegations that at the end were proven to be false … and to see this dream job of mine come to an end was very disappointing to me.
“And to now find out that, in reality, other people in the department, including my supervisor, were doing things differently and looking the other way – that’s hard.
“I don’t think I did anything wrong. I can’t speak for Secretary Clinton.”

About The Cooperative Business

Naturally, achieving success is more like staying alive. It is as much about bonding with your good friends, neighbours, spouse and relations as it is about growing and reproducing. The Creator of nature had already set these natural models to demonstrate why cooperation is vital for our success. However, unlike other organisms, human beings should seek success through symbiotic cooperation where an atmosphere of peace and trust is created.

This alliance enables flowering plants to reproduce successfully. After being pollinated, flowers ceased producing food for the bee and other insects by losing their scent, drop their petal or change their orientation or color. To us this might look mischievous but it is said to be an act of courtesy to the bee and other insects that can now focused their efforts on other plants that are still open for business. It is paramount to take into consideration the benefits of such cooperation to others especially the consumers or end users. This is where and how true success through cooperation can be attained and sustained.

In sharp contrast, the Cooperative Business Model offers their Representatives the ability to purchase paying Customers that have seen Television Interviews and decided to become a Customer. But if a community of home gardeners formed a cooperative, agreed on what niche products to grow, and agreed to trade their excess products with each other, or even sell them through a cooperative market together. The result of this cooperation between bar owners resulted in the usually busy Town disco being empty, whilst faltering bars in the area saw their earnings increase three fold in one night.

Ten struggling specialist stores could compete against a large Global Supermarket on equal terms by forming a cooperative, but rarely alone. One fact that could see the growth in a reinvented idea of old, that may mean the difference between survival or closure for many smaller scale businesses. Recently, some scholars have gotten together and noted that the Olympic Games have not stopped humans from having wars, and while that may be true, we don't know for sure how many wars have been prevented due to the mutual benefit and coming together of humans across the planet in these Olympic Games over the years.

Business Negotiation Is Really Important In Your Business

When someone pictures a businessman, they usually see a well-dressed person who is confident, daring, and personable. While all of these character traits are desirable within a good business owner, the art of negotiation is often overlooked in favor of creative passion or number-crunching skills.

Being a well-rounded business owner or operator necessitates the development and cultivation of competent person-to-person and person-to-business negotiating skills. Luckily, effective negotiating does not have to be a secret art, as learning business negotiation can and will benefit your growing business immensely.

Why Negotiate?

More often than not, you don't have a choice in choosing whether to negotiate or not. Whether your task is to secure financing from prospective investors or to arrange a supplier's drop off schedule, you will be forced to deal with other people all the time.

In order to effectively interact with your business partners and auxiliary helpers, you must be an effective listener, communicator, and persuader if you want to get the most out of your resources. Thus, learning to effectively negotiate over a wide range of topics will help you throughout the course of your business dealings.

Learn to Listen

One of the most difficult things is to be a good listener. While many of us think that we're pretty good listeners, the fact is that many people have difficulty retaining the information conveyed to us by the other party. Being a good listener grants you a number of advantages. First, you concentrate your full attention towards the other party, giving you a better sense of their thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

Next, you show the other party that you care and that you're sincere in your business dealings. Perhaps the most important benefit to being a good listener is that you decrease the chance of missing or forgetting crucial information that you may have otherwise missed if you had not been listening carefully.

Master Your Use of Nonverbal Cues

It has often been said that the majority of the communication that takes place during negotiations is entirely nonverbal. Indeed, the role that body language plays in both normal communication and business negotiations is a large one. Learn to read body language to see if what they are saying matches up with what their body is telling you.

In addition, you can use the power of body language to alter the course of a negotation. For example, surprised or advere body cues can signal the other party that their initial price is too high. Whether or not they choose to verbally address it will most likely be affected by their recognition that their price is probably out of your league. Never underestimate the power of body language and nonverbal cues.

Knowledge is Power

Preparing for an important negotiation is often more important than your performance during the actual performance. Information is crucial in the context of a person-to-person as well as a person-to-business exchange.

Arming yourself with everything there is to know about the opposing party is critical. You can utilize this information throughout the course of the negotiation in various ways, from deducing an attractive price that both parties can quickly agree on and even more. The possibilities are nearly endless when you’ve adequately prepared for your important negotiation.

Don't underestimate the power of good listening skills, reading body language, and research. While the three of these alone won't be enough to transform you into a master of negotiations, they are good steps to begin with when first setting out in the world of business negotiations.

These Tips Will Help You Become Into A Good Business Consultant

Professionals seeking increased work-schedule flexibility and more professional autonomy are often drawn to consulting. With so many business consultants in the marketplace, it can be hard to narrow down a specific niche. One specialty area that is growing in demand is business analysis. Being able to interpret current business trends into strategic company goals is a powerful skill to utilize amid a constantly changing and ever-expanding global economy. If you are considering a career move into the area of business consulting, consider the following:

1. Skills and Education

While consultants often have a diversified background, identifying a niche and setting yourself apart from competitors is a popular way to gain word-of-mouth referrals and build brand recognition. For professionals with a four-year baccalaureate degree in a business-related field, professional mentoring in a specific area of expertise can augment other professional experience and/or internships.

There are a number of reputable professional organizations that offer a variety of career development opportunities. In addition to networking, busy professionals can also build an area of expertise through rigorous online business analyst training. Respectable online courses are often taught by industry leaders who bring their own experiences and practical knowledge to the virtual classroom. The go-at-your-own pace of online education makes it a popular choice among working professionals with busy family lives.

2. Soft Skills

In order to be a successful and popular consultant, clients need to like you, trust your services and be willing to refer you to others. Mastering a wide range of successful communication skills goes beyond just writing effective business letters. Understanding the needs and expectations of clients also involves anticipating the amount of communication necessary, as well as understanding when to pick up a phone vs. sending an email. Personality and tone of inter-personal interactions make a big difference in consulting relationships.

3. Understanding a Company's Basic Need

An executive or company is going to bring a consultant on board anticipating a positive ROI. Consultants who bring a creative problem-solving style to the table can leverage team cooperation. Consultants trained in business analysis understand that streamlining processes, improving inter-department communication and strengthening the IT tools that track profitability all play a key role in securing an aggressive success strategy. Setting goals and bringing all key stakeholders together in the day-to-day shift that needs to happen to secure the ROI takes knowledge, skill, experience and patience. For this reason, the top business analysts are generally well-seasoned professionals who continually invest in professional development to maintain the competitive edge.

4. Other Considerations

Business analyst training is one way to secure the knowledge needed to become a successful business consultant. Seeking professional mentoring through a formal career-related organization is another popular way to gain the nuances of the field. For young professionals who know that consulting is their ultimate career goal, seeking internships while in college at larger consulting firms may open the door to an entry-level job where shadowing the best of the best becomes one of the most rewarding perks of the job.

Many mid-career business managers are enticed into consulting for greater flexibility and enjoy the process of establishing a niche or specialty area through additional education in areas like business analysis. Seeking partnership with another consultant with complementary skills may also be a great strategy to increase initial client pool. With the growing demands on business to do more with less while increasing triple bottom-line effectiveness, consultants with expertise in business analysis are well aligned to meet the current needs of businesses across industry. Corporate leaders seek top consultants to offer the skills, guidance and strategies to secure the competitive edge in today’s global marketplace; being well-prepared with a success strategy of your own is the best way to secure notoriety in your niche.

Know More About Cooper Company Management

Cooper Company Management New York, specialists in business brokerage and mergers & acquisitions for small and middle market companies. We work with buyers to help them find businesses that meet their criteria, and we help business owners develop achievable exit strategies - wherever they are in the ownership cycle.
CCM is a group of highly experienced professionals based in New York, USA and offering a wide range of services to small and middle market business owners and buyers.
Each of our professionals has worked extensively with clients ranging from small businesses to large corporations. We understand what it takes to make a business successful, and we offer services targeting your specific business aquisition or exit strategy.

Cooper Company Management provide skilled advice and expert assistance on the purchase and sale of companies. Our seller-side clients are scattered throughout the United States. They share a desire to make the most of their M&A project or opportunity.
We represent clients for whom sound strategy and superior execution can produce best fit or strategic fit. CCM works extensively with each client to clearly define personal and corporate objectives. We also provide assistance with the investment process, custodial issues, and administrative items of importance to the client.
We have all the knowledge, education, experience and toughness to get the deal done and get you every penny you deserve.
CCM offers full acquisition search or acquisition assistance. We develop a tailored acquisition strategy that considers the strategic fit and ideal profile of companies that you should acquire. And, we also manage the due diligence process, execute purchase agreements and complete the deal, including post-closing adjustments.

When Is The Best Time To Choose Your Best Business Partner

All the business can not go on without the partners, a partnership is also the best ways to expand your company, as it allows two businesses to share risk and ideas together. But looking for the best and suitable business partner is also need some skills.

Looking for a business partner is a strategic move that can be either 'offensive' or 'defensive'. The difference is your level of bargaining power; this will influence the pressure that will inform your strategy. In an offensive partnership, you are able to negotiate the terms on a fair level. So when exactly should you form an offensive partnership?

 If you have marketing strength, then you can partner with a company that has production strength. You contribute a pool of resources to the partnership and negotiate the terms. This will equip you to attract only the best because you are doing so well. This can be a strategy for growth, but you must show your partner you have the potential to grow.

You want to combine forces to compete against an industry player. It is possible to partner with a similar business to ensure you can compete against big industry players. It not only saves you money, but it ensures you have significant market share that will give you sufficient industry presence to control market trends.

Sometimes, businesses enter into defensive partnerships, which can be costly as they often do not have sufficient bargaining power. In other words the other partner has more say in the partnership. A wise man knows when to swallow their pride to save a legacy. If you are approaching the decline stage of the business, and you realise that you are losing more money, forming a partnership with a stronger alliance can offer a healthy alternative to shutting down operations. The secret in such a partnership is that you may set the time the partnership agreement will end.

Keep A Long-Lasting Business Relationship In Mind And Attempt To Achieve It

A long-lasting business relationship is imperative for any business to succeed. Repeat business must outpace customer turnover to sustain business growth. Clues to establishing successful long-lasting business relationships can be seen in everyday relationships (think friendships, a spouse etc), but is unique and should be treated differently.

A great business relationship often begins with a combination of attraction and communication. This form of attraction is the compelling reason someone should work with you. In sales 101, it is called your “Benefits Statement.” If benefits are equal, be the better relationship option, people buy from those they like, or like the most. The life cycle to a mature, long-lasting business relationship follows these tips:

Long Term Goals

Our long-term goal is to expand our service achieving a 10% market penetration and operate ten mobile car wash trucks in our exclusive territory.

We also plan to renew our Franchise Agreement for two terms. At the end of five years we plan to operate these trucks without physically doing the labor. We will occasionally wash cars, attend community events and fundraisers. We will at that point be providing more of a managerial role. After the second renewal in ten years, we plan to have a general manager running our company, go into semi-retirement and possibly do a little traveling.

Be a real person

Have a personality, a good hand shake and eye contact in person, or be great on the phone. Humor is like fire, a tremendous tool if used correctly.

Be discoverable with positive results – Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Googleable.

When appropriate, share a bit about your life. Maybe your kids are your passion, maybe you’re both avid golfers - people enjoy working with people who are real.

Be engaging

Ask great questions.

Be a consultant, not just a “yes or no” person & help prevent hurdles they haven’t considered yet.

Help them to feel comfortable, provide references who also think the world of you

Applaud them when they’re doing something great, guide them when they are not.

Build Your Credibility & Trust

Clients like to do business with people they believe are credible and with whom they trust. Did you know that credibility follows credential in the dictionary? This is ironic because an effective way of presenting yourself as a credible person is to talk about your credentials. However, most people feel uneasy about “tooting their horn” because we’ve all learned not to brag. This is usually true, except when it comes to establishing your personal credibility when meeting new people, tooting you own horn is necessary. If you have 10 years of industry experience, let your clients and prospects know. If you’ve been a top salesperson or a member of an important account support team, find ways to share these honors. Do your clients and prospects know about your credentials?

No matter how good your product/service is, customers still won’t buy if they don’t trust you. If your product/service is at all innovative (eg if it involves technology), then new customers will perceive risk in doing business with you. You can reduce the customers’ perception of risk by using the market networks: whom do the customers go to for advice, when coming to their purchase decisions? If you can identify the networks and engage with the opinion-leaders, you can strongly reduce the risks perceived by customers, and get automatic, free-of-charge, business advantage for yourself.

Don’t try to please everybody all the time. That way, you risk ending up being everybody’s second choice. Recognise that different customers may want different things, so choose the types of customers that you can serve best and can reach most easily. Also, different customers use different networks of influence, so you should take this into account as well: which parts of the market can you reach effectively and economically?