A Difficult Decision Indeed ....

~~:Become A Good Leader!!!!!:~~


~:A Lesson Learned:~

I was speaking to a group of mixed ages on the topic of making difficult decisions. My teenage daughter was with me, and I introduced her to the audience while sharing that we were working on making the difficult decision of choosing a college for her to attend in the fall.

While I was fielding questions afterward in the foyer, a young man walked up to me and complimented me on the presentation. He shared that he, too, was working on making a difficult decision. I encouraged him and he, rather sheepishly, asked if I had a business card with my phone number so he could contact me if he had further questions. Eagerly, I handed him my card. Whatever this young man needed, I was sure I could supply. I handed him my card.

He thanked me and walked away, then stopped and turned back to say, “I really appreciate this and I’ve made my decision. I’m going to call your daughter sometime.”

Talk about deflating my ego…and making me stand a little closer to my daughter next time she travels with me!

Healthy leadership always moves along a positive path.!!!!

Forget about those age-old images of the stern, dour-faced manager, cracking the whip and doling out punishments and hard work to embittered employees. In today’s world, great leaders are recognized by the positive effects they have on people. They promote teamwork, encourage excellence, foster growth and even offer criticism in a productive way.

Toastmasters provides many opportunities for members to practice positive leadership skills. Many corporations around the world encourage their current and future managers to join. If you’re looking for a good place to work on your leadership skills, why not give Toastmasters a try?

Laws of Positive Leadership..

How to be a leader others want to follow:-

Examples abound of poor leadership. Who hasn’t had a teacher or boss who invoked feelings of disrespect? A positive leader is someone who inspires, motivates, energizes and unites, while generating loyalty and producing results. In his article for the Toastmaster magazine, Victor Parachin offers 10 rules on how to be that kind of leader:

• Give more than you expect others to give.
• Combine optimism and perseverance.
• See everyone as a diamond in the rough.
• Express appreciation; accept responsibility.
• Keep your ego in check.
• Show respect for the people around you.
• Treat team members as family.
• Be a source of inspiration.
• Stress cooperation, not competition.
• Maintain a sense of humor.

How to Find Leaders:-

Want to find leaders for your organization?


John Maxwell, Ph.D., is an expert on leadership and author of more than 30 books on that topic. In his monthly e-newsletter, Leadership Wired, he answers the question, “How can I be sure to hire the right person?” To accomplish anything of significance, you must have the right people by your side. Finding a great hire often goes hand in hand with identifying potential leaders. Maxwell credits his friend Fred Smith with helping him arrive at these 11 questions to ask when looking for a leader:

• Does the person question existing systems and push for improvements?
• Do they offer practical ideas?
• When they speak, who listens?
• Do others respect them?
• Can they create or catch a vision?
• Do they show a willingness to take responsibility?
• Do they finish the job?
• Are they emotionally strong?
• Do they possess strong people skills?
• Will they lead others with a servant’s heart?
• Can they make things happen?

Requiem for the Heroic Manager :-

Ideas about effective leadership are changing.

In the past, the heroic archetype was the most popular image of corporate leadership. According to this image, a good manager was a rugged, decisive individual, capable of single-handedly driving a business to success and glory. But as Dave Zielinski points out in his article "Requiem for the Heroic Manager," the heroic archetype of leadership is on its deathbed. In its place, leadership research conducted in the past 20 years paints a very different picture. According to recent scholarship, good leaders:

• Focus on the success of the organization rather than their own personal success.
• Enable success in others and share the glory of success with the group.
• Acknowledge personal weaknesses as well as strengths.
• Celebrate the accomplishments of employees and make them feel like heroes.

Speak Like a Leader:~

Communication and leadership skills go hand in hand.


There are many good reasons why Toastmasters teaches both communication and leadership skills. People with good communication skills are more likely to be promoted to leadership positions, and good leaders need communication skills to be effective. In other words, if you want to be a leader, you have to learn to speak like a leader. And Toastmasters is here to help.

Motivational Speech Techniques:-

Five simple strategies to motivate your listeners...
One of the most important elements of leadership is the ability to motivate people. Without motivation, even the most skilled team of seasoned professionals is unlikely to achieve great things. A highly motivated group of talented people, on the other hand, can move mountains. While it’s true that motivating people involves more than just changing the way you speak, there are some simple guidelines you can follow to help build team motivation with only your words and your voice:

• Be enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is contagious! Before you present your ideas, think about the aspects of the subject that you find most interesting, and don’t be afraid to let that interest come through in your voice.
• Use quotes, stories and anecdotes. Along with their obvious entertainment value, quotes and stories can lend authority to your topic and provide concrete examples that people can relate to.
• Speak with confidence. Deliver your message loud and clear. Maintain eye contact with your listeners. Don’t mumble or slouch.
• Say you and we, not I and me. Instead of telling people what you want them to do, present ways for them to work together to achieve their goals. Involve listeners in the success of the group.
• Keep it simple. People aren’t motivated by what you say; they’re motivated by what they understand. The best way to ensure audience understanding is to break down complex ideas into simple components.

The 10 Commandments of Communication:~

How to speak like a leader?:-

1. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Aren’t these two phrases the same? No indeed: “Say what you mean” is about telling the truth, “Mean what you say” is about making a commitment, keeping your promise, honoring your word. Have something meaningful to say. Step to the lectern with the intention of making a difference to your audience.
2. Use the fewest words with the fewest syllables. I run afoul of this one all the time. It’s the main reason I rewrite so often, looking for big, two-dollar words I can swap for a single 10-cent syllable. Delete therefore, insert so. That’s real economy in writing. Remember that the basic unit of communication is not the word but the idea.
3. Align with your audience. We may consider it our task to speak to the audience, but it is sometimes more important to speak for them. Express those thoughts and feelings that you share with them. Even if you think they are wrong and you are the advocate of sweeping change, you must first understand and articulate their feelings. Great leaders know that leadership begins with the pronoun we.
4. Be specific. Use stories, anecdotes, parables and examples rather than generalities and abstractions. This is a tough one for some people. They love to wander through a topic in the abstract, scattering generalities as they go. The great teachers and speakers pepper their talks with vivid, detailed examples. “He seemed upset as he left” is general. “He blew his nose, kicked the dog and slammed the door” is specific.
5. Suit the action to the word, the word to the action. Don’t say “I’m glad to be here” while looking at your wristwatch. Be aware of your non-verbal communication. Your gestures, posture, facial expressions, energy, tone of voice, and a thousand other tiny, unuttered elements actually carry the true and specific meaning of your communication. We can understand the words “I love you” well enough. But their true importance, their actual meaning, is all wrapped up in how they are spoken, and by whom.
6. Structure your speech. One valuable way to make your talk memorable is to speak to a structure and make your listeners aware of it. Share with them the form of your thoughts as well as the content and they will be able to follow more complex ideas. It will be easier for you to remember, too. People appreciate the scenery more with a glance at the road map every now and then.
7. Speak to be understood. Have the courtesy to develop your voice so that all may hear you. You groom your appearance, so why not cultivate your voice? With a little effort it can be strong, crisp, clear and various in texture, color and range. It’s sad when speakers expend their energy to create a vivid, well-constructed talk and then whisper, mutter or mumble.
8. Speak for the benefit of others. Serve your audience well by keeping their interests foremost in your mind. This is the golden rule of speaking. As an audience member you can easily tell when a speaker is self-serving. Nothing communicates more clearly than intention.
9. Speak from your highest self. The highest self is where hope resides. To lead effectively requires a courageous, positive, optimistic view. As any astronaut will tell you, if you get high enough you will be in perpetual sunshine. There must be a caveat attached to this rule, however: Beware of elevating yourself with a high horse. Be humble. Having an opinion is a meager accomplishment. On most occasions a modest demeanor improves communication.

Delegating Authority:~

The best way to wield power is to share it responsibly.
A leader is only one person and can only do the work of one person. In order to best accomplish the team’s goals and objectives, he or she must carefully delegate authority to team members. Why we don’t delegate Some leaders hesitate to delegate authority for the following reasons:

• They think they can do it better themselves.
• They fear others will make mistakes.
• They think team members won’t like them if they give them a lot of work and responsibility.
• They’re afraid the person will perform too well and make them look bad.

Truth is, the careful delegation of authority is one of the most important aspects of team building. When done right, it plays to the team’s strengths and gives team members valuable experience. It also gives people the opportunity to shine while freeing up the leader’s time for more important or appropriate activities.

How to delegate
While delegating authority and responsibility is crucial to team success, there are a few guidelines that should be followed:

• Choose the right person. Select someone who is capable, able and willing to take on the responsibility.
• Make expectations clear. Describe the project or task to be completed, the results expected and the timetable.
• Establish how and when you want feedback on progress. Do you prefer daily reports? A weekly e-mail?
• Give appropriate authority. Don’t give a team member a project that he or she does not have the power to complete! For example, don’t assign someone a task that requires access to a database that they can’t get into.
• Get the person’s agreement. The team member should commit to and be willing to carry out the work.

Turning Team Conflict into Team Harmony:~

How to get people to rally together for a common cause.

Whether it’s in school, at the office or on the playing field, being a “team member” is a challenging role. How do people with diverse backgrounds, aptitudes and belief systems set aside their differences and start “rowing together as one?” Elusive as good teamwork may be, there are steps organizations can take to ensure their work teams are high-performing and well-adjusted. Zielinski cites team-building experts who offer advice on how to be a team leader, leading volunteer-based teams, and what to do when your team isn’t working. For example, Zielinski says a team’s chances of success depends on the leader’s ability to:

• Use “people skills.”
• Set precise and measurable objectives.
• Provide regular and actionable feedback.
• Promote peer pressure as a tool for accountability.
• Offer meaningful rewards for good performance

Learning Leadership:~

The best way to learn how to lead is to become a leader.


Take a quick look at your local bookstore’s shelves and you will likely find hundreds of volumes about leadership. Scan the table of contents of a handful of them and you’ll find that there are many different – even contradictory – theories about what leadership is, and how to be a good leader. No matter how good some of these books might be, there’s no arguing that it’s difficult to advance your leadership skills without actually taking on leadership roles yourself. So if you’re looking for a place to put some of those leadership ideas you’ve been reading about into practice in a safe, supportive environment, give Toastmasters a try.

Leadership Track:~

Learn to lead with practical practice
Members working in the leadership track learn and practice leadership skills by serving in club roles. The Competent Leadership manual is the core of the leadership track. It features 10 projects, which you complete while serving in various club meeting roles. An evaluator will give you feedback on each project, helping you to improve. When you complete the manual, you are eligible for Competent Leader recognition. Complete the CL application in the manual and ask your vice president education to submit it online to World Headquarters. You'll receive a CL certificate and, if you wish, World Headquarters will send your employer a letter about your accomplishment. Advanced Leader Program After earning the CL award you can further refine and develop your leadership skills by working in the advanced leader program. Members working in this program are eligible for Advanced Leader Bronze (ALB) and Advanced Leader Silver (ALS) recognition.

~Leadership Essentials(Imp Topic)~

Leadership is difficult to define. It’s an abstract concept that evokes as many different reactions as there are different kinds of people. Yet most of us know good leadership when we see it, and we can often tell when good leadership is missing by the way a team or organization struggles without it. At Toastmasters, our leadership training program identifies the following areas as essential to quality, effective leadership:

• Mission. A clear mission helps the leader to focus the team so that they can ignore distractions and pay attention to what’s most important.
• Values. When a leader demonstrates values that are in sync with the company’s mission and the team’s goals, everyone benefits.
• Planning and goal-setting. With clear goals and effective planning, leaders make their expectations understood and team members know what to do at all times.
• Delegating authority. The job of leadership is usually too big to handle alone. By sharing responsibilities with the team, a leader instills a sense of purpose and empowerment.
• Team building. Establishing trust, playing to individual strengths, encouraging people to work together – all are important aspects of team building.
• Giving feedback. Constructive, concise and timely feedback is essential to each team member’s success, and to the success of the team as a whole.
• Coaching team members. A good leader must take on the role of trainer now and then, providing expert advice, encouragement and suggestions for improvement.
• Motivating people. By providing a good example, learning each team member’s needs and giving rewards and incentives when appropriate, a leader can inspire people to achieve higher levels of performance.
• Working for the team. Great leaders encourage participation, facilitate communication and provide an environment where team success is more likely to occur.
• Resolving conflict. Conflict between team members is inevitable, and not always a bad thing. A leader’s job is to resolve the conflict in a just and reasonable way so that productivity and morale do not suffer.

Fear Factor~

Fear and loathing on the podium.

Believe it or not, your chances of dying of stage fright are extremely slim. You might feel as if you are dying on the stage, but chances are good your audience won’t even notice your wobbly knees and sweating armpits. Even the best speakers were once terrified novices, feeling the same symptoms as you when facing an audience. Fear no more! This Blog is the best place to learn, to build your confidence, and to push yourself outside your comfort zone. It’s a safe place where there is no penalty for failure!

What You Should Have Said

The value of planned spontaneity.

Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and usually at the worst possible time. Therefore, as a speaker, you need to be prepared, armed with clever lines that prove you are not only in control, but you can think on your feet. As any good comedian would say, be prepared – with some witty lines in case something doesn’t go according to plan. The microphone goes dead:

• “Evidently, someone has heard this speech before.”
• “Let me have a show of hands: How many of you read lips?”
• “This is carrying Silent Night a little far. (Holiday time)”

Feedback from the microphone:

• “If I wanted some feedback, I would have asked for it.”
• Stare cautiously to the left, while listening to the microphone buzz. Then say in a concerned tone, “Whatever it is, it’s getting closer.”

When the lights go out or flicker:

• “I’ve often had people doze off during my talk, but never an entire chandelier.” – Gene Perret
• “I do my best work in the dark.”
• “This lighting really plays tricks on your eyes. I’m actually a lot more handsome and skinnier than I look.”
• “Everyone's a critic.”

Loud noises:

• “Mom, can you be a little more careful?”
• “That concludes the musical portion of the program.”

Fire alarm or bell:

• “Time to take my pill.”
• “So that’s what happened to my wake-up call.”

Slide is upside down:

• “For those of you standing on your heads...”
• “This is the Australian part of the presentation.”

Writing on flipchart and you run out of ink:

• “Obviously, I've come to the dry part of my presentation. “

Participant walks out:

• “Look, my first walking ovation.”
• “It gets better, I promise. I walked out of my first talk.”

The Habit of Courage~

Act confidently, and soon enough you’ll feel confident.

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin Most people come to Toastmasters to overcome their fear of public speaking. So at Toastmasters meetings, what you’ll see – among other things – are demonstrations of courage. Standing in front of a group of attentive listeners makes most people feel vulnerable. It also adds a burden of responsibility, expectation and opportunity. This can be overwhelming and downright scary. In Toastmasters, members acquire the habit of courage through encouragement and support. Just as Outward Bound programs teach the habit of courage by putting people in life-threatening situations, Toastmasters is a sort of “Inward Bound” program. As with sky diving or rock climbing, speaking before an audience becomes easier the more often you do it. He recommends the following four tips to alleviate that internal demon:

• Become “other-conscious.” Don’t focus on yourself and what the audience might think. Instead, replace your self-consciousness with other-consciousness. Try to focus on your audience! Find a single person in the audience and make eye contact with him or her. Stay with that person long enough to deliver a full sentence or complete thought. If you take responsibility for the audience’s understanding of your message, you will soon forget your sweaty palms and knocking knees.
• Anxiety feels worse than it looks. If you can refrain from calling attention to your fears and anxieties, nobody will know about them. “It’s a classic case of fake it 'til you make it,” Landrum says. “Act confidently, and soon enough you’ll feel confident.”
• Make it look easy. The audience wants to hear the speech, not worry about the speaker. Be humble: This is not about you – it’s about your speech! Your ideas and thoughts, and how they benefit the listeners are the most important part. Deliver these with grace, style and enthusiasm, but avoid ego-building enhancements. A speech easily delivered is gladly received.
• Let yourself be encouraged. Don’t be self-effacing or overly modest. Embrace the supportive atmosphere of a Toastmasters club and nourish visions of success! “Learn to give yourself the benefit of the doubt that you so easily would extend to anyone else!” Landrum says. “Persistence is the most useful virtue of the human heart. You are never beaten until you admit it.”

Consider the example of Eleanor Roosevelt, who was by nature timid, introverted and terrified of speaking in public. But because she was married to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, she had to speak in public often. She faced her fear and became one of the great speakers of the 20th Century. Let her words inspire you on your journey:

“You can gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along’… You must do the thing you cannot do.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt

Finding Your Voice~

What to speak about and how to define your message.

Once you manage to stand behind a lectern without fainting, then what? You need something to say, and you want it to be interesting to the audience. The age-old excuse people have for avoiding public speaking is, “I don’t have anything to say. My life is boring.” You don’t have to have a life-and-death experience or be an Olympic champion to have a story to share. You may not think so at the moment, but you do have a message to share. And as Toastmasters’ 2006 World Champion of Public Speaking Lance Miller shares in an article for the Toastmaster magazine, the more personal and passionate your story is, the better.

How to define yourself and your message
Look at who you are. What are your passions and interests, what do you struggle with? What challenges have you overcome? Here is a list of questions to ask yourself:

• What is your philosophy? By what values do you live your life?
• List the defining moments of your life. Any special lessons or experiences that profoundly affected you? For example: learning how to ride a bike, moving to a different city, taking on a new job, becoming a parent.
• What subjects and issues are you certain about? The test of this is, How easily can you be convinced to change your mind? Have you discovered the best way to motivate a child to read? To make flowers grow? To create world peace? Then share your expertise with the world!
• Find the extraordinary in the ordinary. You won’t inspire an audience if you live a negative life. Find the blessings in life and bring them to life for yourself and your audience!
• What makes you laugh? Share your favorite sources of humor.
• What makes you angry? Share how you would change the world for the better if you could.
• What are you struggling with right now? Speak about what captures your attention at the moment. If you have “speaker’s block”, speak about your inability to come up with a speech topic. Don’t have enough time in the day for all your work? Give a speech on that topic! It will help you give a passionate speech and perhaps solve a problem.

So, what do you have to say? Challenge yourself and discover your voice!

Dread Giving a Speech?

You are not alone! Here are time-tested tips on how to overcome your fear of public speaking.

Despite actor George Jessel’s assertion that “The human brain starts working the moment you’re born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public,” there are many things you can do to make your presentations less nerve-wracking. In this article from the Toastmaster magazine, Joanne McCabe shares her own story of getting her butterflies to fly in formation. Here are some of her recommendations:

• Don’t procrastinate!
• Always look for a speech topic
• Choose a topic you care about
• Organize your speech in a logical sequence
• Create an attention-grabbing opening
• Rehearse!
• Visualize success
• Know your equipment needs
• Familiarize yourself with the setting
• Wear comfortable and professional-looking clothes
• Concentrate on the message; not the audience
• No matter how nervous you may feel, don’t tell the audience!
• Use visuals and stories relevant to your topic
• Speak clearly and audibly

When Things Go Wrong~

Dos and don't for when the mike won't.

When things beyond your control go wrong, the only thing you can control is your reaction to them. Just as the sailor at sea is at the mercy of the elements, so is the speaker. The sailors batten down the hatches in rough weather; what does the speaker do in when the microphone won’t work? Or when the lights malfunction? Or when the music in the next room is too loud? Among his dos and don’ts:

• Don’t: Blow your cool.
• Do: Maintain your dignity.
• Don’t: Surrender to the situation.
• Do: Your best under any circumstances.
• Don’t: Continually refer to the problem.
• Do: Keep your sense of humor

10 Tips for Public Speaking~

Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental.

Here are some proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:

1. Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.
2. Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.
3. Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.
4. Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
5. Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. ("One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.
6. Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.
7. Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.
8. Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it.
9. Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.
10. Gain experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you — as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environment.

Mastering the Laugh~

You won’t croak if you tell a joke!

Let’s face it. Humor is hard! Even experienced speakers struggle with knowing how to (appropriately!) tickle their audience’s funny bones. We all enjoy listening to a funny speech –the problem is, we typically don’t think of ourselves as being funny speakers. Members of Toastmasters are no different; that’s why we have assembled a wide range of resource material on this topic. Toastmasters exist to help your audience laugh with you, not at you!

Humor has many benefits. It can:

• Help establish a bond with the audience
• Win over a hostile audience
• Keep the audience interested
• Emphasize or illustrate a point
• Help people remember you

Here are some tips:

• Be yourself. Think about what types of humor you appreciate, then create a library of such items. Don’t like jokes? Try a humorous anecdote or a witty observation from your own life.
• It’s OK to be mildly amusing, rather than eye-dabbingly funny.
• Use humor sparingly, like a spice. At first, try using a humorous opener to your speech. A quote or offhand observation can be a good icebreaker.
• Keep it relevant to your speech topic.
• Avoid retelling jokes found on the Internet. Chances are good others have already heard or seen them.
• Keep it clean! Humor is supposed to make people feel good – not embarrassed, insulted or offended.
• Make it readily identifiable as humor. But in case no one laughs, prepare a comment in advance or just move on.
• Keep it appropriate to the audience and the situation.
• Self-effacing humor is safe –a little of it goes a long way. The audience would rather hear about the time you fell on your face than when you won the race.
• Work on your delivery. Practice using vocal variety and gestures.
• Timing is everything! Pause before the punch line.

10 Biggest Public Speaking Mistakes~

Top executives often fall flat on their faces as speakers.

How come intelligent, business-savvy people end up boring their audiences? They fail to recognize that public speaking is an acquired skill that improves with practice and honest feedback. Speaking for 20 minutes before the right group of people can do more for your career than spending a year behind a desk!

Rob Sherman, an attorney and public speaker in Columbus, Ohio, says in an article in the Toastmaster magazine to avoid these mistakes:

• Starting with a whimper. Don’t start with “Thank you for that kind introduction.” Start with a bang! Give the audience a startling statistic, an interesting quote, a news headline – something powerful that will get their attention immediately.
• Attempting to imitate other speakers. Authenticity is lost when you aren’t yourself.
• Failing to “work” the room. Your audience wants to meet you. If you don’t take time to mingle before the presentation, you lose an opportunity to enhance your credibility with your listeners.
• Failing to use relaxation techniques. Do whatever it takes – listening to music, breathing deeply, shrugging your shoulders – to relieve nervous tension.
• Reading a speech word for word. This will put the audience to sleep. Instead use a “keyword” outline: Look at the keyword to prompt your thoughts. Look into the eyes of the audience, then speak.
• Using someone else’s stories. It’s okay to use brief quotes from other sources, but to connect with the audience, you must illustrate your most profound thoughts from your own life experiences. If you think you don’t have any interesting stories to tell, you are not looking hard enough.
• Speaking without passion. The more passionate you are about your topic, the more likely your audience will act on your suggestions.
• Ending a speech with questions and answers. Instead, tell the audience that you will take questions and then say, “We will move to our closing point.” After the Q and A, tell a story that ties in with your main theme, or summarize your key points. Conclude with a quote or call to action.
• Failing to prepare. Your reputation is at stake every time you face an audience – so rehearse well enough to ensure you’ll leave a good impression!
• Failing to recognize that speaking is an acquired skill. Effective executives learn how to present in the same way they learn to use other tools to operate their businesses.