Do you manage a community comprised of second homes?  Do you have a timeshare or condo you only frequent seasonally?  Here are some tips to keep a home safe for those who are away for extended periods.  Do you have additional tips for your homeowners?  Write them in the comments below.

1. To minimize damage caused by mold and mildew, air conditioners should be set at 70 degrees with the humidistat at 55 percent. Be sure the control remains on the “Cool” setting.
2. Water damage is a major concern, and main water valves should be shut. Open all water faucets to relieve pressure in the lines.
3. Unplug all electrical appliances.
4. If you have an alarm, let your alarm company know that you are going to be away and give them your very nice friend’s contact information.
5. Make sure the smoke detector batteries are in good condition.
6. Check all faucets and make sure they are not dripping.
7. Either put a vacation stop on your mail delivery or notify the post office for mail forwarding.  This includes your newspaper and magazine subscriptions.
8. If you have storm shutters, put them in place, unless your association does not allow them to be in place if a storm is not approaching.
9. Remove all items from porches and patios.
10. Remove hidden keys from under the mat, rock or planter near the door.
11. Be careful of what you post on your social networking sites. Tweeting about packing your house for two months is not the brightest thing you should do. If your children are old enough to be online and they are going with you, set some rules about what not to post online.
12. Set up automatic payments or pay your bills in advance.
13. Open closet doors, cabinet doors and furniture drawers to allow for air circulation.
14. Keep appliance doors open. This means you will have to toss food in the refrigerator and freezer.
15. Close drapes and blinds.

It takes guts for a leader to admit when he or she is wrong, and even more so in front of an underling because it implicates the boss is part of the problem.

But it is a necessary step when seeking to improve a failing situation. It reinforces the leader’s character. In this video, John Baldoni presents two questions that leaders need to ask themselves when things have gone wrong.

Resolve Failure

Are you hiring? Astrong employee benefits package is a powerful tool for attracting and retaining the best workers. In a 2011 Harvard Business Review Analytic Services survey of human resource leaders, 60 percent said an attractive benefits package is “very important” in recruiting and retaining quality employees, vs. only 38 percent who said a high base salary is very important.

Benefits play an integral role in employee satisfaction. In its most recent annual trends survey, MetLife found that roughly 49 percent of employees polled said benefits were an important reason they came to work for a company, while 60 percent said benefits are an important reason for staying.

While the cost and compliance of crafting benefits packages may seem daunting for small-business owners, experts agree they pay dividends in terms of long-term success. There are no easy formulas, because each entrepreneur needs a program tailored to his or her company and employees. But there are some universal guidelines.

Getting Started  — Christopher Delorey, senior vice president at employee benefits consultancy Bostonian Group, says employers typically start looking to round out a basic compensation package with benefits when they have six to 10 employees they wish to retain, as well as when they want to attract new ones. “You don’t necessarily have to have health insurance the minute you open your doors,” he says.

Medical insurance tops the list of employee demands. According to The Principal Financial Group’s benefits study for fourth-quarter 2011, health insurance is deemed the most important benefit by 90 percent of employees.

Medical and retirement plans can take many shapes and sizes to meet the goals of any company, according to Lisa Wintersheimer Michel, a partner specializing in employee benefits at law firm Keating Muething & Klekamp in Cincinnati. “From a fully insured health product to a flexible spending account to a 401(k) to a simplified employee pension plan, there are many different options and levels depending on what you’re interested in providing, what you can pay and the size of your group,” Michel says.

Once the major benefits components are in place, it’s fairly easy and cost-effective to include other popular programs such as vision insurance, life insurance and long- or short-term disability.

One benefit that’s growing in popularity, in part because it is so well-suited to small businesses and startups, is flexibility. “With so many personal demands on workers today, a flexible work schedule is a big plus in a benefits package,” Delorey says.

In fact, a study by the New York-based Families and Work Institute found that the majority of professional and nonprofessional employees–87 percent–say having the flexibility they need to manage their work and personal lives would be “extremely” or “very” important if they were looking for a new job.

Affordable Alternatives — While some benefits may be out of reach for small businesses, a little creativity can lead to similar, less expensive options that can have just as big an impact on employee morale and loyalty.

If you can’t offer: tuition reimbursement Try: a compressed, four-day workweek that gives employees time to pursue a degree on their own

If you can’t offer: paid vacation Try: job sharing, in which two part-time employees share the same full-time position, or wellness programs that include sleep breaks and massages

If you can’t offer: on-site child care Try: negotiating with a nearby child-care center for a discounted group rate

If you can’t offer: an on-site fitness facility Try: a lunch-hour walking club or discounted local gym memberships

If you can’t offer: free parking or transportation reimbursement Try: allowing regular telecommuting days

If you can’t offer: counseling services Try: allowing employees to bring their pets to work, which has been shown to reduce stress

Outside Help —  No matter what benefits you want to offer, there are many resources for small-business owners to educate themselves. While valuable information can be found at websites such as the National Association of Health Underwriters and SCORE, most businesses enlist the aid of an insurance broker or employee benefits consultant to help them understand and evaluate various products, particularly as regulations and possibilities vary from state to state.

These professionals can help you compare different products and understand the costs as well as determine what makes sense for your organization.  To make sure you find the best options and providers, ask questions about each product’s cost, what it covers and how the benefit is delivered.

What other suggestions do you have to attract and retain staff?  Read more about this issue at Entrepreneur. 

Hundreds of record high temperatures have baked the United States this week.  Temperatures will continue to reach dangerous levels in cities such as Chicago, St. Louis, Washington D.C., Indianapolis, Houston, Philadelphia and many more.

Look for highs to climb into the mid- to upper 90s and even triple digits. Plus, there’s still no relief for the scorching West and Plains states. With this dangerous heat in the forecast, here are some safety tips from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Red Cross to keep cool:

1. Slow down. Reduce, eliminate or reschedule strenuous activities until the coolest time of the day. Children, seniors and anyone with health problems should stay in the coolest available place, not necessarily indoors.
2. Dress for summer. Wear lightweight, light-colored clothing to reflect heat and sunlight.
3. Put less fuel on your inner fires. Foods, like meat and other proteins that increase metabolic heat production, also increase water loss. Include vegetable salads and whole grains in your meals and eat small meals at regular intervals. This will keep your body cool
4. Drink plenty of water, non-alcoholic and decaffeinated fluids. Your body needs water to keep cool. Drink plenty of fluids even if you don’t feel thirsty. 10-15 glasses of water will help you stay hydrated throughout the day.
5. During excessive heat periods, spend more time in air-conditioned places. Air conditioning in homes and other buildings markedly reduces danger from the heat. If you cannot afford an air conditioner, go to a library, store or other location with air conditioning for part of the day.
6. Don’t get too much sun. Sunburn reduces your body’s ability to dissipate heat.
7. Use CFLs.  When at home avoid switching on bulbs as they increase the heat inside. Go for Compact Flourescent Light bulbs – they reduce the heat and save electricity too.
8. Know what a Heat Index Is. The heat index is the temperature the body feels when the effects of heat and humidity are combined. Exposure to direct sunlight can increase the heat index by as much as 15° F.
9. Ensure that your animals’ needs for water and shade are met. Check on your animals frequently to ensure that they are not suffering from the heat.

Remember those over age 65, children, and those with chronic medical conditions are more susceptible to heat-related illness. The best place to be during extreme heat is in an air-conditioned place indoors.  Share these tips with your residents and add more in the comments section. 

One of the hardest things we all deal with is how to get everything done to be successful and productive, said Jane Applegate, producer of the Applegate Group, at the opening of a panel at The New York Times Small Business Summit on how to get more done.

But “don’t mistake being busy with being productive. They’re two different things,” warned author, speaker and consultant Barry Moltz.

Applegate, Moltz and other panelists offered up several smart strategies for being more productive in the finite time we’re given, including:

Do less — “Multitasking fries your brain,” said Moltz. Instead, you need to do less and focus on the things that are really going to make a difference toward accomplishing your primary goals.

It may seem counter-intuitive to do less, but “you can get incredible power in your life by just doing one thing and not trying to do multiple things,” Moltz explained.

Categorize your day — Applegate said that when she was working from home, she started dividing her days into “in days” and “out days” to make the most of her time and not waste it driving around or shifting from task to task.

On the in days, she would hunker down, not leave the house and work hard. Out days would be packed to the brim with errands, meetings and other activities that had to be done out of the house.

Use “time chunking” — setting aside chunks of time for completing specific tasks to get everything done, advised Lena West, founder, CEO and chief strategist of Influence Expansion. She designates each day of the week for a specific type of activity and sticks to it.

Embrace imperfection — “When we obsess over perfection, that’s where the stress comes in,” said Wendi Caplan-Carroll, a senior regional development director with Constant Contact. She had to learn to do things well enough, because most things don’t need to be perfect.

Be smart about checking tech — “Never ever, ever check” your e-mail, voice mail, social media feeds or other forms of electronic communication first thing in the morning, said Moltz. “It will totally derail your day” and send you down a wormhole of busyness where you won’t actually be productive.

Also just check everything less frequently, said Krista Neher, CEO of Boot Camp Digital. Pick a few specific times of the day to check and don’t cheat.

Change in five-minute increments — It’s hard to totally overhaul your entire way of getting things done the way that some productivity guides suggest, so try making one change a month that will save you five minutes a day, advised Neher.

Those smaller changes are easier to make and easier to stick to, plus the time saved really adds up fast, Neher explained.

Take advantage of time-saving tools — One easy way to save five minutes a day is by taking advantage of the many productivity tools available these days, said Neher, who suggested a few of her favorites.

• Evernote, which allows you to take searchable notes in a variety of formats that you can share and access from all your devices.
• Tungle.Me, which helps you find a time to meet, instead of going back and forth with everyone involved to find a mutually agreeable time.
• Oh Don’t Forget, which lets you send text reminders to yourself and others.
• Rapportive, which allows you to connect social networks to Gmail so you can see additional information about the person you’re writing to or whose message you’re reading.
• Google Voice, which is a free voice mail service that forwards to any cell phone, and e-mails and texts you when you have a message.

Throughout the year, Americans will be flying the American flag to demonstrate their patriotism and support of our country.  Learn more about the Federal Flag Code and how set rules and standards for your association.

 “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill

Taking the time to learn from your daily failures (no matter how small) is important to avoid repeating them and in learning how to circumvent the big failures.

You only need 15 minutes: Lose the distractions, close your door or find a private space, and spend 15 minutes with a journal, a pen and your thoughts. I know a journal and pen might seem old-fashioned, but go with it. The act of writing will slow you down, encourage clarity in your thoughts and help you to remember your experiences after the journal is put away. The journal isn’t a diary, and you don’t have to be a good writer.

Use some questions to get started: It’s not unusual to sit down with a pen in hand and with your mind whirling, not knowing where to start. Use some simple questions to jump-start yourself to think about (and write down) your thoughts. Try these to begin with:

• What failures did I experience today?
• What did I learn from my failures?
• What behavior changes do I need to make to become a better leader as a result of learning from today’s failures?

For some positive balance, how about also reflecting and journaling on your successes:

• What successes did I experience today?
• What did I learn from my successes?
• What behaviors do I want to keep as a result of learning from today’s successes?

Bullet points are fine: You don’t have to write a treatise. Bullet-point answers to the questions are fast, easy and often enough to help you later recall the scenarios of failure and success. Over time, you may see some patterns in response to your questions, helping you assess strengths and weaknesses as well as prepare for bigger things as a leader. These patterns can also help you to create an action (or development) plan. Consider how you can capitalize on the behaviors that helped you in your successes and how you can minimize those that played a role in your failures.

Create a plan and get an accountability partner: Those patterns that contributed to your failures won’t go away without taking action. Create a plan and find someone to hold you accountable: a colleague, your manager, a coach. Have them help you to break down the actions you need to take into smaller chunks and create a plan from them. Ask your partner about which successes you can capitalize on. Include the behaviors you want to change, what behaviors you’d rather exhibit and the steps you’ll take to achieve them.

Stick with the plan: We’ve all developed new behavioral habits in our lives. It takes time, patience and repetition. Ask your accountability partner to be ruthless in assuring that you stick with your plan until the new habits become second nature.

We all fail a little every day. We can learn from those small failures as well as daily successes when we reflect, create a plan and stay accountable.

Read the full article by Mary Jo Asmus here.  Mary Jo Asmus is an executive coach and a recovering corporate executive who has spent the past 10 years as president of Aspire Collaborative Services, an executive-coaching firm that manages large-scale corporate-coaching initiatives and coaches leaders to prepare them for bigger and better things.