I've got a very cool BlueAnt wireless Skype headset . It connects via Bluetooth so I can be talking on Skype or listening to iTunes without being attached to my computer. As I said, very cool... until it stopped working. And of course I've had it for over a year so it's outside the warranty - isn't that always the way?

I'm quite handy, so I figured I'd pull it apart and see if I could fix it.

We do - mainly through the Love Your Business Epicentre Project which aims to end hunger for 10,000-15,000 people in Africa over a five year period. And I've just been introduced to a much better way for us to give (thanks Paul!).

And what's this better way of giving? Its called transactional based giving - and if you give, or plan to, then this is for you.

How much do you work for? What's your real pay rate?

Turns out last month I worked for $18 an hour.

Here's how you calculate it. Take your after-tax after-super pay at the end of the month - the money that actually hits your bank account, or your pocket so-to-speak. Subtract everything you spend in a month as a result of running your business (or doing your job). Travel costs, clothes you buy, coffees you wouldn't otherwise have, lunches you buy, dry cleaning, the drink you need at the end of the day because you need to unwind etc. Everything that you wouldn't spend if you weren't working. That's your actual pay.

Seth Godin, author of Purple Cow, all Marketers are Liars and recently Tribes, has come across my desk a couple of times this week. Well, not him personally - and more across my computer screen than my desk - but you know what I mean.

The first instance was a link to Seth talking about Tribes on TED. (By the way, if haven't seen TED before, check it out. I've added 'speaking at a TED conference' to my list of things to do before I die). It's 17 minutes, but worth watching if your interested in leadership. He proposes a new model of leadership made possible by the internet based on a notion of tribes, tribes being any group with a common interest that are connected.

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about moving our headquarters temporarily to Bali. Looking at what I need to change in order to run the business remotely and not have an office has been a cleansing and revealing exercise.

As a business grows, it starts to have a life of its own. The team grows, stuff accumulates, and more and more time, energy and money can get taken up just keeping things going. I have been ruthlessly going through everything I do and the business does, and asking do we need to do that ... and do I love doing that?

I read a great article by Jeffrey Stibel, entrepreneur and brain scientist, on the Harvard Business Site called 7 Ways to Be Happier at Work . Entrepreneur and brain scientist ... I think that's what I want to be when I grow up.

I've just come home from a couple of weeks in Bali. It was a perfect holiday. No phone, no computer... Lots of beautiful sunrises and sunsets, bungalows on the beach, walks through the rice paddies, old and new friends, and outrageously cheap (we hired a car for AU$12 a day). Lots of time to just be and time to think.

As I was sitting looking over the ocean in our little bungalow on the beach I thought to myself 'I could get used to this'.

Last week I met an inspiring, highly successful business leader who certainly hasn't let it go to his head.

I was on my way to Bali, via Darwin, flying Jetstar. I'd add that I was flying economy, but that's a bit redundant given that's all there is on Jetstar. Not exactly the place to hang out to meet business high flyers.

I had an interesting cup of coffee with Anthony about sales a couple of days ago. Actually, the coffee while good was pretty normal, but the conversation was interesting.

Anthony's background is old school sales - selling all sorts of things in high pressure sales teams. He talked about some of the tricks of the trade which are far from honest. Saying to someone "let me call my supervisor and see if I can get you a discount," then going out for a smoke and coming back pretending you had authorisation for the discount you were going to give all along.

If you are like most bosses, you would say number one is good pay and number two is job security. Sounds pretty reasonable. But according to a study at the George Mason University you would be way off the mark. Good pay only comes in at number five, and job security is only slightly ahead of it at number four.

So what are the top three things on the list of what your staff really want?