In every organization there are those who would rather act the part than do their part. I’ve classified these people as pretenders. Pretenders can slow an organization down, steal momentum and damage relationships. They live for themselves. When an organization needs “we” people, the “I” people either change or get exposed.In order for a pretender to become a player, major changes in personality and thought patterns must take place.A good friend of mine, Bill Purvis, gave me the idea to do a lesson on this very topic. He once said, “I experienced much more success when I learned to tell the difference between the players and the pretenders.”Pretenders look the part, talk the part and claim the part, but fall short of fulfilling the part. Let me give you five differences between players and pretenders.Differences Between Players and Pretenders

The White House, Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, congressional leaders and many investment pundits all have warned that catastrophic harm to markets and the economy would occur if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling by Aug. 2 and agree on a deficit-cutting plan big enough to help the U.S. keep its sterling triple-A debt rating. Yet stocks have not suffered the steep drop that some have been warning of — at least not yet.The Dow Jones industrial average definitely has been held back by the uncertainty over the impasse on Capitol Hill between Democrats and Republicans. But even after its 88-point drop to 12,593 Monday, the blue-chip average is down just 1.7% from its 2011 high.Stocks have not suffered steep losses mainly because many on Wall Street are betting that lawmakers will come to an agreement in time, mainly to protect their political careers and avoid being blamed for causing the first-ever default in U.S. history.

(Reuters) - Top Republicans and Democrats worked behind the scenes on Wednesday on a compromise to avert a crippling U.S. default even as they publicly pressed ahead with rival debt plans that have little chance of winning broad congressional approval.With global financial markets increasingly on edge, the U.S. Treasury warned it could not guarantee the government of the world's biggest economy could keep paying all of its bills if Congress fails to raise its borrowing limit by August 2.Even if a deal is reached to lift the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, a budget plan that flinches from hefty cuts in the deficit may result in a downgrade of the top-notch U.S. credit rating, which could sow financial chaos worldwide.Leaders in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Democratic-controlled Senate scrambled to find common ground but complications with their competing plans could send attempts at a compromise right down to the wire.

The economies of Latin America and the Caribbean will continue a recuperation that began in mid-2009 with overall growth estimated at 4.7 percent this year, according to a new report by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.That’s a slowdown from last year when the region’s economic growth rate was 5.9 percent but slightly better than a 2011 forecast of 4.2 percent that ECLAC made in December.
Growth rates for 11 countries — eight of them in South America — were expected to top 5 percent. Argentina (8.3 percent), Panama (8.5 percent) and Haiti (8 percent) were the countries predicted to have the highest growth rates. But Haiti, still recovering from the 2010 earthquake that caused its gross national product to tumble to - 5.1 percent, is building on a very low base. The medium-term economic outlook for the region is the “best in recent history,” said Lisa Schineller, an economist and director of sovereign ratings for Standard & Poor’s, in a conference call earlier this week.The growth, she said, is being fueled by an increasing middle-class as well as some countries’ links with fast-growing China.

Court proceedings began Tuesday in a high-profile libel lawsuit that pits Ecuador's president against one of the nation's largest newspapers.Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa is seeking $80 million in damages from El Universo newspaper and its staff. He also wants a judge to impose three-year prison sentences on the newspaper's directors and its former opinion editor.A judge is scheduled to rule Friday in the case, which has drawn international attention from press-freedom advocates, who say Correa aims to crack down on critics by restricting the media.Correa filed the lawsuit after El Universo published in February a column by the newspaper's then-opinion editor, titled, "No to lies." The column called Correa a dictator and claimed that the president had ordered security forces to open fire at a hospital full of civilians last September. Correa said Tuesday that the article's claims were untrue, baseless and "an outrage," according to the state-run El Ciudadano government information website. The president told reporters that he hopes the case will set a precedent.