People in your community listen to what you say. This is because you have a high visibility within the community. This high visibility can be helpful when you want to tell people about the efforts you support within the community. It could be the high school, youth sports leagues, or any number of non-profit organizations. For my wife and I, it is an organization called Faith House Florida. We support it because we believe in the efforts this organization makes to help individuals rejoin society.

Hopefully, when people hear you supporting an organization they will see you as a voice of authority and consider adding their support. And the neat part is that people are going to admire you for your efforts; there is not a lot of chance that people will scorn you because of your stance.

Then we have the other side of the issue. Here in the United States we are in a very heated political situation; from the office of president through Congress and into local elections.

You can see this on Facebook; you can see it in the traditional media, along with yard signs, bumper stickers, and most any form of communication that speaks to others.

I cannot offer guidance on this issue; nor should I make any attempt to do so. The advisory for this month is simply a word of caution. Showing your personal feelings in the political arena, even in the most polite of ways, can have a cost to you and your business. Whatever you decide, do so carefully.

Writing the newsletter for August, I am also responding to a reader's question about the incentive plan they have in their business. It could be said that the incentives are working in that sales are increasing as are profits. However, margins are decreasing.

The problem is that the employees have discovered a way to beat the system; they are driving sales while sacrificing margins. The increase in profits does not match the increase in sales.

Incentives are good only if they are good for everyone; business, employee and customer. Incentives should be created to drive increases to the bottom line. They cannot take advantage of the customer. Unless everyone wins, nobody wins.

We want to recognize A Carrot A Day by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, whose book provides the basis for each month's incentive idea.