So, the sky really is falling and now what do we do about it? Panic? Run? Hide? Now is the time we really need those brave souls with the long-view vision of where and what they want to accomplish, with nerves of steel that won't be frightened or driven by short-term incentives.
I've been working for most of my life, from very early on, starting from the summer of my thirteenth year, I've always had a job. This is my kind of luck, not the lottery or bingo luck, but employment luck. (God, please don't let me jinx myself with these words, especially in the time of the Great Collapse. I really am grateful and even though I complain about work, I am utterly thrilled to be employed right now.) My point is not that I've been working for more than a little while , but that I've seen a lot of good and bad managers, so this is really for you, Mr. Manager, from me, your Worker Bee. My leadership advice, in the time of the Great Collapse, for what it's worth.
There's a vision, a personal statement or brand that each of us has. Whether we are walking down the street, meeting a client, a colleague, the Pope or the grocery clerk, we bring ourselves wherever we go. So how do people view you? Start looking in the mirror, and start really understanding the other guys' point of view. What do they see, think, feel when they think of you?
One of the best bosses I ever had was able to change and mold herself to meet the needs of the person she managed. If so and so needed more guidance, then she'd meet with them more often. If someone else only needed them when they had a problem, she'd know if she heard from them, it was serious. If another person just needed reassurance, that's what she offered. A kick in the pants to get you moving in the right direction? Then you got that. She never treated anyone unfairly, never pressed down on her staff unnecessarily, despite the pressures and manipulations from her bosses. She remained calm and collected when crises struck. She planned. She organized. She knew who she was in the world and was not about to degrade her own person to please anyone else.
BUT, because she saw people, she SAW people. She noticed them, recognized them and understood them. If you were going through a rough period, it mattered. If you were celebrating a personal victory, it mattered. If you were putting in extra efforts, she noticed.
Noticing people, valuing them, and I don't mean giving some lip service about how important people are, this seems like a very simple way to show appreciation. Imagine yourself as a little kid, trying to get your mother's attention and she's distracted, not paying any attention to you at all. You might start acting up and getting into all sorts of trouble. Now imagine the mother, really present, really enjoying your company. Picture your mother really laughing at something you said or did. Doesn't that feel great, getting recognized and appreciated from your mother? Now, think of yourself as the mother and the kid as your staff. Pay attention to your kids, notice them and appreciate them. If the kid needs a lift, give them a lift, a kick in the butt, well, what's a mother for, anyway?
Maybe your company has to reign in raises. Money is tight and well, that's the way it is and everyone understands it, so that's okay. Of course, you have to think about cash flow and revenue and so on. But, reward people a different way and keep them motivated. Can you let people know you appreciate their dedication and hard work, not using a pay raise? Can you give them some extra comp time? Can you have an employee of the quarter award? Can you motivate them to save money on the budget, giving them a percentage of the savings they manage to produce for you? What can you do to empower them to help you? Think outside the box here, because if you want effective empowered teams, you have to trust.
If you can, right now, I would absolutely think of opportunities. How can you streamline? How can you re-organize, change and improve processes? Have high expectations and expect your staff to live up to those expectations. Pay it forward. Whatever opportunities you had in the past, try to be the one with the vision to think in the long-term, not just the short-term.
So many things can motivate people. Use this truth. Why do soldiers go to war and love their leaders? Use some of that. People really need to keep their jobs right now, but please, do not use this as a way to keep people fearful. Fear means hoarding information, no collaboration and stifles the heart. Right now, we need to take heart, rely on one another and bring out the best in each other, not promote self-serving, anxious behavior.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
2008, The Year of the Scoundrels
2008, good riddance.
What a year for scam artists, connivers and scoundrels. Government bureaucrats, business tycoons and industry manipulators go a bit too far this time and now we're all suffering. I sometimes feel like I buy the club they get to hit me with. Apparently, there's no stopping anyone or anything if the TV tells us it's all for our own good. And the fox keep watching the chicken. How the heck do you put a Senate seat up for auction, anyway?
I'll be glad for the end of the Bush years and remain (stupidly?) hopeful for the Obama era to begin. Godspeed and God Bless, Barack!
What a year for scam artists, connivers and scoundrels. Government bureaucrats, business tycoons and industry manipulators go a bit too far this time and now we're all suffering. I sometimes feel like I buy the club they get to hit me with. Apparently, there's no stopping anyone or anything if the TV tells us it's all for our own good. And the fox keep watching the chicken. How the heck do you put a Senate seat up for auction, anyway?
I'll be glad for the end of the Bush years and remain (stupidly?) hopeful for the Obama era to begin. Godspeed and God Bless, Barack!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Word Choices
Oh, Lord, those words we choose to use really do matter.
I just completed a great 3 day course at work on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Years ago I listened to this on tape and like the millions before and since who've experienced this great book, I too, drew inspiration and hope from the truth of its message. The lessons are so simple and so profound at the same time.
Habit 1 is the "Pro-Active Habit". It is knowing that you have power, your life is not fate-driven, but choice-driven. This is nothing short of revolutionary thinking! I can clearly recall being absolutely certain that we were all a victim of fate at the sweet, tender age of only 17 . It just must be so, I reasoned, as my English teacher, Mr. Peter Majoy, taught us about all kinds of philosophers who thought about and expanded upon this idea of fate and how we had all been pre-determined to the lives we got and ultimately, to the final resting place of either heaven or hell. I was absolutely convinced that I had no hope of changing my already pre-determined, pre-defined life. The Doors were singing, "I woke up this morning and got myself a beer. The future's uncertain and the end is surely near." I felt the same way. Exactly. Then Mr. Majoy brought in a new philosopher or two and I had to rethink this understanding I had developed. Oh my God...are we really controlled or not?
I think of Lt. Dan in the movie, Forrest Gump. Oh how he relished and enjoyed the idea of fate having dealt him his honorable death in war. He loved this idea and hated Forrest for taking this away from him. I think of Forrest's mother and how she told Forrest, Life is What You Make It. By the end of the movie, Forrest tells the grave and his beloved Jenny how he thinks they're both right, both Lt. Dan and his mother. And I guess that's how I think of it, too, now with some more life experiences and some more time under my belt.
I can't direct the wind, but I can adjust my sails.
So, what's all this got to do with words?
First the word, the thought, then the action. As you think it, imagine it, so it is.
In my Catholic upbringing, we learned this from the Gospel of John, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word was made Flesh." So many meanings in this little text. To me, one of the deepest meanings is the power of seeing things, the power of choosing, deliberately. Ideas happen and actions stem from those thoughts. The Word was made Flesh. The thought is made action. As Mother Theresa pointed out, we are Love in Action. Where's the Love come from? Our thoughts, our words create our deeds, so we need to have the thoughts of love before the actions of love.
I know this is crazy, but I think even our passwords, in this crazy life full of passwords, are really indicative of our thoughts. My grandmother, the best person I ever, ever knew had succumbed to having to get an ATM card for my aunt to have some modern conveniences in handling her money before she died. "Ma, we need to get a password for you. What do you want it to be?" She explained what this meant, and without having to think, in a quick pause my grandmother picked her word. LOVE. I thought, OF COURSE! It could be nothing, nothing, except this word.
I went to another training course for some technical SAP training and of course, you need a password to enter the site and do the work. I had to share computers and my co-learner, Nyda Faith (if you can believe this, FAITH is her real name) asks me what should our password be? I don't know, I don't care. SUCCESS, says Nyda. Later, we got together and had a great talk about the possibilities and power in envisioning our lives. Nyda is determined to lead and be and live a successful life, in every manner and meaning this word has. Success in living, doing, contributing. If you can breathe sucessfully, then Nyda breathes this way. (We met, I'm sure, because of fate, by the way.)
So the words we choose, even our crazy passwords, are like little keys. Little sticky notes, that tell a story in a word.
What's your password? What's your word?
I just completed a great 3 day course at work on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Years ago I listened to this on tape and like the millions before and since who've experienced this great book, I too, drew inspiration and hope from the truth of its message. The lessons are so simple and so profound at the same time.
Habit 1 is the "Pro-Active Habit". It is knowing that you have power, your life is not fate-driven, but choice-driven. This is nothing short of revolutionary thinking! I can clearly recall being absolutely certain that we were all a victim of fate at the sweet, tender age of only 17 . It just must be so, I reasoned, as my English teacher, Mr. Peter Majoy, taught us about all kinds of philosophers who thought about and expanded upon this idea of fate and how we had all been pre-determined to the lives we got and ultimately, to the final resting place of either heaven or hell. I was absolutely convinced that I had no hope of changing my already pre-determined, pre-defined life. The Doors were singing, "I woke up this morning and got myself a beer. The future's uncertain and the end is surely near." I felt the same way. Exactly. Then Mr. Majoy brought in a new philosopher or two and I had to rethink this understanding I had developed. Oh my God...are we really controlled or not?
I think of Lt. Dan in the movie, Forrest Gump. Oh how he relished and enjoyed the idea of fate having dealt him his honorable death in war. He loved this idea and hated Forrest for taking this away from him. I think of Forrest's mother and how she told Forrest, Life is What You Make It. By the end of the movie, Forrest tells the grave and his beloved Jenny how he thinks they're both right, both Lt. Dan and his mother. And I guess that's how I think of it, too, now with some more life experiences and some more time under my belt.
I can't direct the wind, but I can adjust my sails.
So, what's all this got to do with words?
First the word, the thought, then the action. As you think it, imagine it, so it is.
In my Catholic upbringing, we learned this from the Gospel of John, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word was made Flesh." So many meanings in this little text. To me, one of the deepest meanings is the power of seeing things, the power of choosing, deliberately. Ideas happen and actions stem from those thoughts. The Word was made Flesh. The thought is made action. As Mother Theresa pointed out, we are Love in Action. Where's the Love come from? Our thoughts, our words create our deeds, so we need to have the thoughts of love before the actions of love.
I know this is crazy, but I think even our passwords, in this crazy life full of passwords, are really indicative of our thoughts. My grandmother, the best person I ever, ever knew had succumbed to having to get an ATM card for my aunt to have some modern conveniences in handling her money before she died. "Ma, we need to get a password for you. What do you want it to be?" She explained what this meant, and without having to think, in a quick pause my grandmother picked her word. LOVE. I thought, OF COURSE! It could be nothing, nothing, except this word.
I went to another training course for some technical SAP training and of course, you need a password to enter the site and do the work. I had to share computers and my co-learner, Nyda Faith (if you can believe this, FAITH is her real name) asks me what should our password be? I don't know, I don't care. SUCCESS, says Nyda. Later, we got together and had a great talk about the possibilities and power in envisioning our lives. Nyda is determined to lead and be and live a successful life, in every manner and meaning this word has. Success in living, doing, contributing. If you can breathe sucessfully, then Nyda breathes this way. (We met, I'm sure, because of fate, by the way.)
So the words we choose, even our crazy passwords, are like little keys. Little sticky notes, that tell a story in a word.
What's your password? What's your word?
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Won't Get Fooled Again
As America’s hopes for the future rest in the hands of a new Obama administration, We the People must demand and push for the completion of a new energy agenda. Told time and again that an energy plan was essential for the welfare and security of the nation, every President since Nixon has spoken of, then failed to produce, a real change in our energy policies. Let us all commit to help Obama and our nation and each other as we finally begin and ultimately achieve this goal.
As a nation and a people, we have been like fish following the bait of cheap gasoline without fully realizing until recently the true hidden and long-term costs. The global climate crisis, the Iraq / Afghanistan wars without a seeming end in sight, and the economy driven to its brink, finally, as the several weeks of $4.00 per gallon gasoline that pushed everyone over the edge. We fall down, the world falls down. The great powers that herd and control us -- our institutions, our political leaders, our corporate titans -- for decades now have been baiting that hook. Lobbyists wield their influence and we all respond exactly as the oil, coal, and gas companies want us to. The future - our most precious commodity, our kids and grandkids – where do they stand, if we can’t stand up for them?
I number myself among Barrack Obama’s generation. When we were both growing up, there was a public service announcement with a Native American crying, paddling down the river, witness to the filthy water, dead fish, and littered land as a result of our progress. Though small children, the meaning was not lost on us and we clearly understood. The significance of a world destroyed by the new occupants from the point-of-view of the ancient trustees, even when you are only 8 or 9 years old is one of those images you don’t forget.
By the time our generation was graduating high school, we had already witnessed how the Iran hostage crisis cost Jimmy Carter the presidency and ushered in the Reagan era. As Carter had put solar panels on the White House, Reagan ordered them down. We grew up, went to school and work and raised children. We worried and worked for our families, our neighbors and friends. Somehow, we didn’t pay enough attention, though. We focused on our own small lives, we lost sight of the bigger picture, we lost the perspective of “we” as the “me” overtook our vision.
How can the “me” generation make amends for ignoring and allowing the status quo to inherit our own and our children’s future? Did they trick us or did we trick ourselves? How’d we get into this mess?
I recently found this great book at the library, Power & Light: Political Strategies for the Solar Transition by David Talbot and Richard E. Morgan. What an eye-opener. The authors educate their readers to the insider’s game. We learn the lingo and rules – soft energy, rate setting, municipal energy corporations, public utility rates, and so on. The book highlights achievements and pitfalls, with chapter titles telling the story – The Specter of Synfuels, The Dark Ages, Capitalizing Solar, Soft-Energy for Hard Times, A Tale of Two Cities.
One success story given is that of a San Bernadino California community group. Under the direction of Valerie Pope Ludlam, a solar jobs program is created. She is quoted in the book, “We saw that it was a major new business opportunity, a new frontier. We saw that it could create a whole new job market…Solar is a new opportunity for us to participate in the American Dream.”
The only issue with the book … it was written in 1981, the year I graduated high school. So, what happened to Valerie Pope Ludlam and David Talbot and Richard E. Morgan? Why didn’t we already reach the promise of a solar future when we were ready to achieve it back in 1981? These guys were smart, their book is fact-filled, with references to everything, everything cited, with a glossary to boot. When the reader finishes the book, the thoughts that come to mind are, “Hey, we are on the brink of a revolution here. Look at all these people, making a difference. We can do it; we really can use the power of the sun.”
Incredibly, the word “green” is not mentioned in this book and there is only a passing reference to climate change and the effects of carbon dioxide on the planet. In 1981, we wanted to go solar because it meant jobs and it meant getting us to kick the oil habit, taking the country away from the interests of coal, oil and gas, and nuclear industries. That should have been enough. And yet …how did that road turn into our road?
When the prices for oil and gasoline did not soar as they once had, we forgot all about it. We had bigger, Soviet fish to fry. We had political infighting, we argued over blue versus red. Hairstyles and stock market bubbles came and went. We celebrated the millennium and then everything changed, somehow, the collective rug was slipped out from under us. That beautiful September day, it all changed.
Now, I implore you, my generation – re-listen to the words of the Who’s song, "Won't Get Fooled Again". Shall we let this boss be the same as the ol’ boss? Shall we all gather up our papers and smile at the sky? We all know that the hypnotized never lie.
Wake up, America! We hold the future in our hands. I do. You do. Obama does. We, the People do. True energy independence is not only possible, it is right here, right now. We only need to envision it, imagine it, demand it and so it will be. If you read this book, you will be convinced that we had the answers 25, 30 years ago and were led down the same ol’ boss’s road.
Al Gore has put forth a wonderful, bold plan on how we can achieve this in ten years time. Amory Lovins, a genius in energy and head of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a man energized by energy itself, he is my vote as our energy czar. Wouldn’t that be wonderful to have a leader in the DOE that was actually a leader in energy conservation?
Both men argue for a sane policy. Minor and major changes are required. Not the least of which involve some actual behavioral changes. Maybe we won’t all be so comfortably heated and cooled, maybe we can take that walk to the store instead of the good ol’ American auto. A little walk won’t hurt. A little colder or warmer, I can do that for my country, my kids and your kids and those that aren’t even here yet.
One last lingering thought I’d like to leave you with and that is to think about the word “karma”. Karma is real, it happens all the time. The earth is full of cycles. Rocks and rivers regenerate and the pollution and abuse done in one corner turn around and bite you in another corner. The pollution from coal powered plants generated way over there drifts right over here. The forests shrink, while the deserts grow. Guess what, folks … we are all connected, all of us, and all of the planet. Chain links, invisible but made of steel, pull me and you together. I am you, you are me. What’s done for one is done to all, eventually.
The smart fish doesn’t get caught, it knows that shiny thing at the end of the string is not really a worm, it’s a trap. If we get lured down the same path of lobbyists over logic, then shame on us. And heaven help us, we'll need it.
As a nation and a people, we have been like fish following the bait of cheap gasoline without fully realizing until recently the true hidden and long-term costs. The global climate crisis, the Iraq / Afghanistan wars without a seeming end in sight, and the economy driven to its brink, finally, as the several weeks of $4.00 per gallon gasoline that pushed everyone over the edge. We fall down, the world falls down. The great powers that herd and control us -- our institutions, our political leaders, our corporate titans -- for decades now have been baiting that hook. Lobbyists wield their influence and we all respond exactly as the oil, coal, and gas companies want us to. The future - our most precious commodity, our kids and grandkids – where do they stand, if we can’t stand up for them?
I number myself among Barrack Obama’s generation. When we were both growing up, there was a public service announcement with a Native American crying, paddling down the river, witness to the filthy water, dead fish, and littered land as a result of our progress. Though small children, the meaning was not lost on us and we clearly understood. The significance of a world destroyed by the new occupants from the point-of-view of the ancient trustees, even when you are only 8 or 9 years old is one of those images you don’t forget.
By the time our generation was graduating high school, we had already witnessed how the Iran hostage crisis cost Jimmy Carter the presidency and ushered in the Reagan era. As Carter had put solar panels on the White House, Reagan ordered them down. We grew up, went to school and work and raised children. We worried and worked for our families, our neighbors and friends. Somehow, we didn’t pay enough attention, though. We focused on our own small lives, we lost sight of the bigger picture, we lost the perspective of “we” as the “me” overtook our vision.
How can the “me” generation make amends for ignoring and allowing the status quo to inherit our own and our children’s future? Did they trick us or did we trick ourselves? How’d we get into this mess?
I recently found this great book at the library, Power & Light: Political Strategies for the Solar Transition by David Talbot and Richard E. Morgan. What an eye-opener. The authors educate their readers to the insider’s game. We learn the lingo and rules – soft energy, rate setting, municipal energy corporations, public utility rates, and so on. The book highlights achievements and pitfalls, with chapter titles telling the story – The Specter of Synfuels, The Dark Ages, Capitalizing Solar, Soft-Energy for Hard Times, A Tale of Two Cities.
One success story given is that of a San Bernadino California community group. Under the direction of Valerie Pope Ludlam, a solar jobs program is created. She is quoted in the book, “We saw that it was a major new business opportunity, a new frontier. We saw that it could create a whole new job market…Solar is a new opportunity for us to participate in the American Dream.”
The only issue with the book … it was written in 1981, the year I graduated high school. So, what happened to Valerie Pope Ludlam and David Talbot and Richard E. Morgan? Why didn’t we already reach the promise of a solar future when we were ready to achieve it back in 1981? These guys were smart, their book is fact-filled, with references to everything, everything cited, with a glossary to boot. When the reader finishes the book, the thoughts that come to mind are, “Hey, we are on the brink of a revolution here. Look at all these people, making a difference. We can do it; we really can use the power of the sun.”
Incredibly, the word “green” is not mentioned in this book and there is only a passing reference to climate change and the effects of carbon dioxide on the planet. In 1981, we wanted to go solar because it meant jobs and it meant getting us to kick the oil habit, taking the country away from the interests of coal, oil and gas, and nuclear industries. That should have been enough. And yet …how did that road turn into our road?
When the prices for oil and gasoline did not soar as they once had, we forgot all about it. We had bigger, Soviet fish to fry. We had political infighting, we argued over blue versus red. Hairstyles and stock market bubbles came and went. We celebrated the millennium and then everything changed, somehow, the collective rug was slipped out from under us. That beautiful September day, it all changed.
Now, I implore you, my generation – re-listen to the words of the Who’s song, "Won't Get Fooled Again". Shall we let this boss be the same as the ol’ boss? Shall we all gather up our papers and smile at the sky? We all know that the hypnotized never lie.
Wake up, America! We hold the future in our hands. I do. You do. Obama does. We, the People do. True energy independence is not only possible, it is right here, right now. We only need to envision it, imagine it, demand it and so it will be. If you read this book, you will be convinced that we had the answers 25, 30 years ago and were led down the same ol’ boss’s road.
Al Gore has put forth a wonderful, bold plan on how we can achieve this in ten years time. Amory Lovins, a genius in energy and head of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a man energized by energy itself, he is my vote as our energy czar. Wouldn’t that be wonderful to have a leader in the DOE that was actually a leader in energy conservation?
Both men argue for a sane policy. Minor and major changes are required. Not the least of which involve some actual behavioral changes. Maybe we won’t all be so comfortably heated and cooled, maybe we can take that walk to the store instead of the good ol’ American auto. A little walk won’t hurt. A little colder or warmer, I can do that for my country, my kids and your kids and those that aren’t even here yet.
One last lingering thought I’d like to leave you with and that is to think about the word “karma”. Karma is real, it happens all the time. The earth is full of cycles. Rocks and rivers regenerate and the pollution and abuse done in one corner turn around and bite you in another corner. The pollution from coal powered plants generated way over there drifts right over here. The forests shrink, while the deserts grow. Guess what, folks … we are all connected, all of us, and all of the planet. Chain links, invisible but made of steel, pull me and you together. I am you, you are me. What’s done for one is done to all, eventually.
The smart fish doesn’t get caught, it knows that shiny thing at the end of the string is not really a worm, it’s a trap. If we get lured down the same path of lobbyists over logic, then shame on us. And heaven help us, we'll need it.
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