Hold Up, Wait? Beyoncé Is Suing a Company for “Feyoncé” Knockoffs!

Beyoncé is suing Texas company Feyonce Inc. for selling merchandise that bear the name “FEYONCÉ” and, in some cases, use her lyrics. 

A complaint was filed in Manhattan federal court wherein the singer accused Feyonce Inc of selling “FEYONCÉ” products on www.feyonceshop.com that are too close to her trademarked name.

According to the lawsuit filed, Beyoncé said the “FEYONCÉ” bootlegs confuse consumers and damage her brand. She added that the defendants have ignored her requests to cease and desist from selling their infringing merchandise and that one defendant, Andre Maurice, has filed trademark applications for “FEYONCE” and “FEYONCÉ.”

“Defendants adopted the Feyonce mark to call to mind Beyonce and her famous song,” the lawsuit said. “Defendants’ conduct described herein is intentional, fraudulent, malicious, willful and wanton.”

Feyonce Inc currently sells shirts, sweaters, hoodies, and tank tops branded with “FEYONCÉ” in the same font the singer used for her self-titled album. There’s also a coffee mug that says, “He put a ring on it”—lyrics from Beyoncé’s hit “Single Ladies.”

“Seeking to capitalize on the notoriety of Single Ladies, with its famous lines ‘put a ring on it,’ Defendants are selling merchandise bearing the ‘FEYONCÉ’ mark — a misspelling of ‘fiancé’ intended to call to mind Beyoncé and her famous song,” the lawsuit said. “Some of Defendants’ merchandise even bear the lyrics ‘put a ring on it’ further solidifying the connection between Beyoncé and the unauthorized products.” 

January 2015, Beyoncé’s lawyers threatened to take legal action against an Etsy seller who was selling mugs pained with “Feyoncé.” The mugs were later taken down from the artist’s site. A quick Google search will also show that there are a ton of merchandise with the “Feyoncé,” a word often used by fiancés, available online.

So far, the “FEYONCÉ” merch is still available on www.feyonceshop.com

Organizational Benefits of Coaching & Mentoring

by Nicole Long, Demand Media

Coaching and mentoring can provide an array of benefits for organizations of all sizes, especially small businesses. 

When conducted in an efficient and productive manner, coaching and mentoring provides employees a way to connect, learn and grow within the company and along their own career paths.

Significance

Coaching and mentoring involve pairing experienced professionals with employees that could use help adapting to the environment and culture of the workplace. This can include pairing a mentor with new employees to help them settle into the surroundings and get off to a good start. Coaching often comes in play when a new employee or current employee can benefit from personal guidance on specific job duties, processes or responsibilities. Small businesses can also use mentors to help develop other employees along a specific career path, such as management.

Retention

On an organizational level, coaching and mentoring can provide a host of benefits. Mentoring and coaching can help encourage loyalty to the company. When experienced professionals help mold the career of and provide opportunities for mentees, these individuals may feel a greater sense of connection and commitment to the business. Coaching helps an employee feel comfortable with management and encourages open communication, resulting in a positive work experience. This can allow the company to save money that would have otherwise been spent on the continual recruitment and training of replacement employees.

Personal Development

Taking advantage of the expertise and knowledge of experienced employees and professionals can help bring younger or less experienced employees up to speed. This results in better efficiency across the organization when bringing on new employees. In addition, coaching and mentoring can help guide an employee along on her career path resulting in an employee well versed on company expectations. Coaching specifically allows individuals to resolve issues and concerns within the boundaries of a trusted and confidential relationship. This can help reduce frustrations on a personal level and improve the job satisfaction of the individual, providing a benefit for the organization.

Team Efficiency

On top of developing employees, coaching and mentoring can improve the function of the team, department and entire organization. Coaching and mentoring allows managers to identify the weaknesses and strengths of each employee. This allows the organization to capitalize on the resources at hand to keep the whole team working smoothly when employees request vacation or take a sick day.

How To Be A Leader People Want To Follow

by Jayson DeMers

“Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily, even if you had no title or position.

Conduct a personal assessment and ask yourself, ”Would I follow me?”

                                                                                                            – Brian Tracy

Just because you’re a leader doesn’t necessarily mean people want to follow you. Anyone can take on a leadership role, but that doesn’t mean you automatically earn the trust, respect and confidence of your followers.

The good news is that almost anyone can hone the skills necessary to become a ‘follow-worthy’ leader. All it takes is a dedication to learning what makes a great leader, and the determination to practice and develop those skills every single day.

Following are 7 ways you can become a leader people actually want to follow — not just a leader people follow because they have to.

1. Show respect to those around you (even when you don’t feel like it).

It’s easy to be respectful when you’re working with motivated employees or favorite clients. But what about with a customer who eats up your time (and patience) with unrealistic requests? Or the employee who showed up late for work – again?

True respect doesn’t depend on the other person doing something (or not doing something). It means recognizing that all people are inherently worthy of respect; even people who drive you crazy or who haven’t done a single thing to earn it. It means treating people in a way that preserves their dignity and honors their humanity.

When you show respect to everyone you interact with, you foster an environment of caring that permeates the workplace. It encourages your employees to treat clients, co-workers and subordinates with the same respect they’ve seen you model.

2. Communicate (in a way that not only informs, but inspires).

Good leaders know that communicating clearly and concisely is important for avoiding conflict and articulating expectations. But great leaders understand that communication is about more than just getting across an accurate message. I wrote about this in my article 7 Things Good Communicators Always Do.

Communication must be efficient and informative, but it can also be used as a way to inspire, motivate and persuade. When you can communicate in a way that a particular outcome is achieved or a certain action is taken, this is when the true impact of great communication shows. In the words of General Dwight Eisenhower, “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

3. Be generous (with time, encouragement and responsibility).

When we think of being generous, we often think of monetary generosity; of keeping employees happy by giving gifts, bonuses and regular pay bumps. And while this is certainly one aspect of generosity, it can be far more.

True generosity involves being liberal with praise and encouragement; of giving employees the appropriate credit when they have a great idea; of being gracious when people make mistakes. It can also mean letting go of some of the control and giving those around you the chance to take on extra responsibility.

Being generous means giving without thoughts of what someone can do for you in return: “Listen with regard when others talk. Give your time and energy to others; let others have their own way; do things for reasons other than furthering your own needs." — Larry Scherwitz.

4. Express your passion (because that’s how passion spreads).

True passion is contagious. When you’re genuinely excited about what you’re doing, your enthusiasm can’t help but rub off on those around you. But being passionate about something isn’t quite enough; you also need to express your passion to those around you.

When your employees sense that you have a deep and abiding passion for what you do, they get the sense that what they’re doing is worthwhile; that you’re all on the path towards something bigger and greater than yourselves.

5. Be humble (this doesn’t mean being a pushover).

Being humble in the workplace doesn’t equate to not taking credit for your work or ideas, or to letting others walk all over you. What it does mean is taking responsibility for your mistakes, and acknowledging when your followers can do something better than you.

In a study published in the Academy of Management Journal, researchers reported that humble leaders were overall more effective and better liked. Co-author of the study, Bradley Owens, writes: “Growing and learning often involves failure and can be embarrassing, but leaders who can overcome their fears and broadcast their feelings as they work through the messy internal growth process will be viewed more favorably by their followers. 

They also will legitimize their followers' own growth journeys and will have higher-performing organizations.”

6. Be decisive (and take responsibility for your decisions).

Great leaders make tough decisions, and then take responsibility for the outcomes of those decisions. No matter how carefully a decision is analyzed and the resultant impacts weighed, poor decisions are bound to be made, and someone has to be accountable.

A ‘follow-worthy’ leader isn’t afraid to make these decisions, and knows that avoiding risk also means forfeiting potential opportunities. She seeks out the opinions of those around her in order to make an informed decision, but then takes the final responsibility for the outcome squarely on herself.

7. Show courage (even when you’re scared).

All leaders will be scared from time to time – scared of risk, failure and competition. But inspiring leaders forge ahead in spite of this fear, and show courage in the face of adversity.

Mark Twain wrote, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” Great leaders find ways to harness the energy produced by fear, and turn it into something that propels them forward. They show courage, and encourage those around them to do the same.

Courageous leaders know they’re nothing without their team, and are willing to admit they don’t know everything. They understand that sometimes their decisions will be unpopular, and yet they choose to lead regardless. For more of my thoughts on this, see Things Every Courageous Leader Knows.

Conclusion

The skills needed to be a ‘follow-worthy’ leader may not come naturally to all of us, but they can be learned and practiced over time. And when those around you witness your efforts, you unwittingly create a culture of generosity, respect and loyalty.

Five Keys to Leading a Team

By Doug Piece

Whether leading a small team or a larger organization, I have found a few tips I like to share on building an environment for group success:

1) Establish the team objectives:

Define and articulate the objectives and measures of success for the team. Demonstrate how the team's objectives are unique but support those of the organization at large.

It's not enough as a leader to articulate your group’s objectives once and assume everyone is on board.  Refer to the established goals throughout your project, and use them to frame accomplishments and interactions.

Measuring performance against the stated objectives is also critical.  It establishes the definition of success, and puts what matters front and center.

2) Get the right people on — and off — the bus:

This is often said, but that doesn’t make it any less critical. Of course every leader wants to stack their team with "A" players.  You either have some of these or you need to find some. But you also can’t expect to only work with "A" players— otherwise, your leadership wouldn’t be needed.

For all other members of my team, I'll take attitude over technical skill any day. People who want to succeed generally will if they’re supported with the right resources and environment. This is about finding which strengths a leader can manage and which weaknesses need support.

And of course, there are those who lack critical skills or a positive attitude. Managers too often fail through inaction in dealing with these. Do not underestimate the negative impact that these individuals can have on the rest of the team’s success.

3) Demonstrate your commitment:

Demonstrate to the team that you are invested in  the success of the organization, the stated objectives of the team and the success of each individual —in that order, and before any self-serving objectives.  You do this with sustained action over time, not with words. 

I don’t mean simply that you need to work long hours and take on all of the hard tasks.  Of course, it's important to display work ethic, to show that you are willing to roll up your sleeves and take on the same work as the team.  But if this is your only approach, you will get so bogged down that you won't be available where your team needs you most.

4) Be a coach.

A coach pushes people. If you aren't asking people to do something they haven't done before, you aren't setting the bar high enough. 

A coach also supports. When someone isn't finding their way or isn't succeeding, you help them.  In either case, ample use of the word "we" is often helpful.

Look around and you will find that many managers rely too heavily on either pushing —think of the hardass who is never pleased— or supporting—like the coddler who is everybody’s friend.  Appropriate balance nets appropriate results.

Finally, a coach celebrates. Providing positive feedback when it’s earned makes people more receptive to negative feedback when it’s necessary. And showing that you value, recognize, and reward even small successes will create more of them.

5) Make decisions.

I like people I lead to know that there is plenty of opportunity for input. I don't have all of the answers. I want others to be exploring and suggesting new things, and I often seek out review and input from team members I respect.

But there are also moments when a decision must be made and people need to have clear direction. You can't be afraid of making the unpopular decision so much that you don't make a decision at all. 

As the quote goes, "Consensus is the absence of leadership."

More women have become self-employed since the recession, but are still underrepresented among entrepreneurs

Canadian women have led the charge into entrepreneurship since the 2009 recession, says TD Economics.

While overall self-employment has been fairly flat since then, self-employment among women has grown, the bank said in a report Friday.

However, women remain underrepresented among entrepreneurs, despite the recent upswing, it said.

Statistics Canada data show 77,300 men and 41,600 women were self-employed in the Calgary region in 2009. Last year, that had grown to 84,200 men and 43,300 women. The number of self-employed Calgarians with paid help also rose, from 20,500 to 27,900 (for men) and 6,500 to 7,600 women in the same time period.

“Absolutely this is a trend we are seeing across the country and even within our own membership, and thank goodness,” said Richard Truscott, Alberta director for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. “Canada is facing some major challenges in terms of business succession. We will have a lot of business owners exiting in the next 10 years.

“More women starting new enterprises, or taking over existing businesses, is clearly a big part of the answer.”

The TD report found Newfoundland and Labrador led growth of self-employed women between 2009 and 2014, at 48 per cent, followed by Saskatchewan (nine per cent), Manitoba (six per cent), Prince Edward Island (six per cent) and Alberta (five per cent).

“While women make up nearly half the workforce, they are still much less likely than men to be entrepreneurs,” said Leslie Preston, economist with TD Economics. “Some factors like greater risk aversion and occupational choice, which help shape the gender entrepreneurship gap, are likely to be slow to change.

“However, the recent growth of women entering self-employment since the recession is a positive sign that women are overcoming many deeply-rooted hurdles and venturing out on their own.”

Bhawana Clark opened her jewelry store in Calgary’s Inglewood neighbourhood in March 2013.

“The beautiful thing about living in Canada and Calgary is that most women have a vast array of choices. It is shocking to see the extremely low number of women entrepreneurs and at the same time it is not surprising, as women we are hard wired in our DNA to be the nurturers, and take care of our families which leaves very little time to be an entrepreneur,” said Clark.

“The shift in women entering the business arena has been happening very slowly over decades and centuries and has been a difficult process. Being a woman entrepreneur, the road is paved with many learning curves that are foreign to women as they dive into new ventures of uncharted territories, from all levels of creating goods, buying goods, hiring staff, balancing budgets, the list is endless. The road is paved with success and failure but every failure eventually leads to success, if you have the nerves of steel, the dedication and drive to see your dream through. The rewards can be great such as financial freedom and a sense of great accomplishment.”

Jeanette Sutherland, manager of workforce and productivity for Calgary Economic Development, said one factor in the rise of female entrepreneurs is the result of well-established e-commerce and social media.

This can allow some women, including stay-at-home mothers, the option of working wherever and whenever they want to access local, national or global markets.

“We also have a generation of Millennials that are very well-educated and enterprising in nature.  Many women from this generation are very prepared to break the mould and directly go after what they want,” she said.