tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13695867992556709042024-02-01T22:05:58.589-05:00Conventional Wisdom InstituteStrategic Leadership based on the wisdom of the US Constitution's Framers and contemporary LeadersRebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-63917952005628096742016-07-17T20:29:00.000-04:002016-07-17T20:29:25.310-04:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"> Let's Ban "MISTAKES WERE MADE!"<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<i> Mistakes were made</i>...Every time I hear that phrase I cringe...How
about you?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Mistakes were made</i>--so
vague, so passive, so un-leaderlike.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yet, people keep using it. It screams
out from the headlines and assaults our ears from the TV.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Mistakes were made</i>. At
first it looks like the leader is taking responsibility for the mistakes. But
study your English grammar a little more closely and another picture emerges.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Mistakes
were made. </i>What does it really mean? 'Mistakes' is the subject of the
sentence in this passive voice. But the object of the sentence--by whom--is
implied. By whom? We don't know.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDoK1mXWb4PyMkCdOR4APVI3WgRg2THoB7Gu-WUuAl6BVEdsOCaCqjaqPWXW_VRZDHuhpDENugecuMDnCQu3sajrus_Nej4595TBboyiAI2Yt2JUYrpbLskPC9RN7Tg6Wxy6TyxQUP2Pbu/s1600/blame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDoK1mXWb4PyMkCdOR4APVI3WgRg2THoB7Gu-WUuAl6BVEdsOCaCqjaqPWXW_VRZDHuhpDENugecuMDnCQu3sajrus_Nej4595TBboyiAI2Yt2JUYrpbLskPC9RN7Tg6Wxy6TyxQUP2Pbu/s1600/blame.jpg" /></a> <i>Mistakes were made</i>.
What the leader is really saying is, "OK, folks, we tried to hide the
mistakes but now you've got the evidence so we have to say something that
sounds like we're on top of it and sounds like we're taking responsibility. It
also buys us time to decide whom to sacrifice...whom to throw over the back of
the troika to the wolves--the press, the public, or the employees? Maybe, while
they're gnawing on those bones, we can think of something else to divert their
attention."<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Mistakes were
made, </i>indeed!<i> </i>The first mistake is that we made a bad
decision. But then we compound it by ignoring it, covering it up, blaming someone
else or taking actions that are incorrect. There is only one correct
answer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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"I made a mistake. I
take responsibility. Here's what I'm doing to fix it." And on a personal
note, "Here is what I've learned and how I will apply that in the future."
And, by the way, "I will take the consequences."<o:p></o:p></div>
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I interviewed a wide
variety of leaders for my book on strategic leadership, <i>Conventional
Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding
Fathers</i>. I chose them because they had a track record for translating their
visions into reality and transforming their organizations. I asked each,
"What was your worst business decision and what did you do about it?"
They all had similar reports. These are typical:<o:p></o:p></div>
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"There was a story in
the newspapers about a major mistake that we made. You can make excuses for it
or you can be transparent about what happened. I sat with the media and I
walked them through it and they accurately described it to the public. I hope
other companies who read the story will learn from it. But the key is to take
an adverse incident like that and turn it into something that we can learn from
so it doesn't happen again."<o:p></o:p></div>
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"Mistakes? I've made
some doozies! The ones I've always regretted were the ones where I reacted and
said something I didn't mean or that was based on wrong information. One was
very visible and I was confronted by a reporter with an email that I had sent.
I learned a lot from by boss that day about what a great executive does. He
told me to go immediately to everyone on the list and apologize and be humble.
It was hard but I did it. The press kept going but all but one individual was
satisfied. I learned a lot from that."<o:p></o:p></div>
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How do you create that
environment of responsibility for the entire company? Listen to another
CEO:<o:p></o:p></div>
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"I want everyone to
see our corporate values walking down the hall every day. Let's combine the
mind and the heart. It's all about having a mission, and a culture. They've
heard so much about making money, budget, and business plans. When we switched
back to emphasizing the mission, the values and the culture, the metrics
followed and we went from single digit returns to double digit returns."<o:p></o:p></div>
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Nary a one of the CEOs I
interviewed said 'mistakes were made' or any of its variants. Their message was
clear. Real leadership, strategic leadership, is about taking responsibility
every day for the decisions you make and living your values in your actions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I heard a story on the
news some years ago that brought it all home in a different context. A high
school student's parents were suing a teacher and the school system. The
student, who had a good record, made a decision to turn in a class project late
after a school trip. The teacher had made it plain that late projects would not
be accepted so the student earned a failing mark. The student made the decision
not to turn the project in before the trip. Now the parents are suing for the
trauma to their daughter. Mistakes were made! What lesson is this young person
learning? What lessons are we teaching our employees and colleagues?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have some advice: Let's
ban that despicable phrase, 'Mistakes were made,' from the language. Let's take
full responsibility for our bad decisions, learn from them AND take the consequences.
Let's demonstrate our values 'walking down the hall.'<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What's the "mistakes" culture like in your organization? Are
people rewarded for accepting full responsibility or are the thrown under the
bus? Does every leader take responsibility for his or her mistakes? Or is blame
the name of the game and "mistakes were made."</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Learn more about your work environment and receive feedback about how it
compares to other places. Take our survey, labeled the</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <b><i>Whacky Workplace</i></b></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/jl9cn8p" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">http://tinyurl.com/jl9cn8p</span></a></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You will
also receive a copy of our comprehensive study when it is published next year.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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© Rebecca Staton-Reinstein and Advantage Leadership<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Read more about what successful strategic leaders
do about handling their mistakes in <a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/section/Conventional_Wisdom/17/" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: #1155cc;">Conventional Wisdom: How Today's
Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers.</span></i></b></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Join me on LinkedIn.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
Rebecca Staton-Reinstein,
President, Advantage Leadership, Inc.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
320 S. Flamingo Road, Suite 291,
Pembroke Pines, FL 33027<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-align: center;">
<a href="mailto:Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com</span></a> <a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">www.AdvantageLeadership.com</span></a></div>
Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-25770908537217425152016-03-05T15:18:00.000-05:002016-03-05T15:18:15.938-05:00Dirtiest Election Ever: Beyond Obscenity to Articulate a Vision<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In the recent “presidential” debate, just when we
thought it couldn’t get any lower, sure enough one of the candidates made a
vulgar allusion. (Yes, you had to have a dirty mind to catch it.) Of course the
media are all atwitter. (Can Twitter be atwitter?) They run the clip over and over,
pretending to be offended, but they run it <i>ad nauseam</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0FimERmAY7TClngPSWqvxn8X-owU7Di-JKKHftixivCHmusaPspOTf8B4rNyJmjJK6eBprI48baMvwrgV4ApgvdMbSw7A-DmErd1C0LLw0F2XGYqbmAUII7lqYChmOuaoSxnkQBhcAHQh/s1600/JeffersonVsAdams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0FimERmAY7TClngPSWqvxn8X-owU7Di-JKKHftixivCHmusaPspOTf8B4rNyJmjJK6eBprI48baMvwrgV4ApgvdMbSw7A-DmErd1C0LLw0F2XGYqbmAUII7lqYChmOuaoSxnkQBhcAHQh/s320/JeffersonVsAdams.jpg" width="243" /></a>So what? Move off the networks and onto
the cable channels and the Anglo-Saxonisms flow regularly across the airwaves.
But looking back to the really nasty election of 1800 and its parallels with
2016, what is the story when it comes to salty language and attack words? At
the time Thomas Jefferson and John Adams faced off in what historians cite as
the dirtiest election ever, what was the state of public discourse? In some ways
it was as coarse as today.</div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<br /></div>
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Today, as in 1800, there were words people thought
too rude for public discourse. But behind the scenes? There folks weren't as
gentlemanly as we like to think, especially when talking among themselves. Adams’
surrogates claimed Jefferson was an atheist who wanted to turn churches into
brothels. Adams’ irascible personality and weight were always fair game for
“His Rotundness.” <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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George Washington had a towering temper he usually kept
in check. When he let it rip he could toss the verbal bombs with the best of
them. When delegates to the Constitutional Convention sat with their pipes and
port after dinner, they often swapped bawdy stories. One of their favorite games
was inventing wilder and wilder sexual puns about Gouverneur Morris' wooden leg
and his way with the ladies. James Madison was infamous among his
contemporaries for his dirty jokes.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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It's true they didn't throw the F-Bomb but they
certainly came close. John Adams was no fan of Alexander Hamilton and in an 1806
letter to Benjamin Rush hurled this diatribe against Hamilton for his remarks
denigrating George Washington. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Although
I read with tranquility and suffered to pass without animadversion in silent
contempt the <b>base insinuations of vanity</b> and a hundred <b>lies</b>
besides published in a pamphlet against me by an <b>insolent coxcomb</b> who
rarely dined in good company, where there was good wine, without <b>getting
silly and vaporing</b> about his administration <b>like a young girl</b> about
her brilliants and trinkets, yet I lose all
patience when I think of <b>a bastard brat of a Scotch pedlar</b> daring
to threaten to undeceive the world in their judgment of Washington by writing
an history of his battles and campaigns. This <b>creature was in a delirium of
ambition</b>; he had been <b>blown up with vanity</b> by the tories, had fixed
his eyes on the highest station in America, and he hated every man, young or
old, who stood in his way or could in any manner eclipse his laurels or <b>rival
his pretensions</b>. . . </i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Pretty strong stuff...but not as strong as these
"gentlemen" wrote under pen names in the popular press skewering one
another and accusing one another of the worst intentions and even treason.
Generally they lambasted one another with innuendo as well as direct attacks. It
can be a delicious pastime to dissect their
elaborate language and watch as they slip the verbal knife between the ribs and
give a fatal twist.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Today it's so easy go for the obvious obscenity
rather than the creative cut. In the 2012 presidential race, George Will
wondered why Candidate Mitt Romney was embracing Donald Trump, whom he called a
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/c3e4z3x" target="_blank">“bloviating ignoramus,” </a>certainly an arcane insult the founders could have
appreciated in their own rough and tumble elections. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Is this what we want to hear from our leaders? Has
reality become reality TV? Are there any <b>Leadership Lessons</b> in all this?
Perhaps a few:<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 46.85pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><i>Leaders control themselves:</i></b> George Washington was prickly, thin skinned, and
took offence easily. Yet his advice to himself and others was to show restraint
of "tongues and pens." He kept his temper in check most of the time. He
knew "losing it" on a regular basis causes people to disengage. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 46.85pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><i>Leaders cultivate creativity:</i></b> "Bloviating" is such a yummy word, I'm
sure folks scurried to google its meaning (synonym for blow hard.) In our
general anti-intellectual climate, leaders encourage their people to think and
grow and become more articulate, communicate better for collaboration, without
reducing everything to the lowest common denominator.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><i>Leaders do not condone crudity:</i></b> Leaders know language can offend like the bawdy
stories and sexist remarks disappearing from most workplaces. Leaders insist on
better communication not to be "politically correct" but to be
inclusive; they need everyone engaged. Leaders foster serious, passionate
debate and discussion to unearth the best solutions. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Just
because the founding fathers weren't saints doesn't mean we do not honor and
respect them. We admire them because, like us, they were all too human, capable
of pettiness and backbiting, and sometimes behaving badly. We learn from them
precisely because they made mistakes and then triumphed over their human
nature. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This
doesn’t mean we want this dubious name-calling, sexual-innuendo tradition to
continue. When I watch fired-up candidates yelling insults rather than debating
issues and policies, I flash on our sons as teenagers sitting on the sofa hurling
barbs and punching each other. Normal teenage malarkey...but not the vision of
leadership, functioning on the global stage or wrestling with intractable
conflicts and seeking resolutions and peace. I hope we deserve better. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Jefferson,
Adams, and the other founders showed us real leadership in tough times. They
rose above their character defects. Can we do the same as we select a world
leader?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i>* * * * * * * *</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #474b4e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What's your idea: Can we joust
without bloviating? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<b><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">* * * * * * *</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #474b4e; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>(c) <a href="mailto:Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com" target="_blank">Rebecca Staton-Reinstein</a> and <a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank">Advantage Leadership, Inc.</a></b></span>
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<span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Want to know more about the
tumultuous fights at the Constitutional Convention and the election of 1800?
Check out </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b><i><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Conventional_Wisdom/17/%20" target="_blank">Conventional Wisdom:
How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers</a></span></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b><i>I started a companion video series during the 2012 elections that holds true today.</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbcLmL3HuHo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbcLmL3HuHo</a> </span>Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-30130248472460885832016-02-24T14:37:00.000-05:002016-02-24T14:37:38.149-05:00Let’s Monkey Around: Will the Year of the Monkey Improve or Thwart Productivity at your Workplace?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Year of the Monkey has arrived in the lunar calendar bringing in
wittiness, cleverness, intellectual curiosity, and, of course, fun and mischievousness.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Buddha used Monkey as a vivid metaphor: “Just as a monkey, swinging
through a forest wilderness, grabs a branch. Letting go of it, it grabs another
branch. Letting go of that, it grabs another one...In the same way, what’s
called ‘mind,’ ‘intellect,’ or ‘consciousness’ by day and by night arises as
one thing and ceases as another.” (Samyutta Nikaya 12.61) <em><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-style: normal;">BJ Gallagher</span></em> pushes the destructive
side of the metaphor further, describing our minds as “<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">drunken monkeys, jumping around, screeching, chattering, carrying on
endlessly.” </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">(<i>Buddha: How to
Tame Your Monkey Mind</i> in the <u>Huffington Post</u>.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monkey, therefore, is a great symbol for our distracted,
do-more-with-less, fractured Whacky Workplaces. But Monkey has other alleged
characteristics we can use to create a more productive environment; hard work,
adaptable, fast learner, clever, intelligent, many interests, disciplined,
creative, and fun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Think about your current work environment. Which part of Monkey’s
persona describes it best? Which Monkey comes out to play? Positive
environments invite us to be creative and use our full spectrum of talents and
brain power while negative ones simply drive us to distraction, suppressing our
initiative and creativity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nine is a lucky numbers for Monkey. <b>Here are 9 tips to
keep those Naughty Monkeys at bay, free up our Ingenious Monkeys to counter the
Whacky Workplace and create an environment where we can tap into all our
positive traits.</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Monkey works very hard</i></b>: In a Whacky Workplace hard work
is not rewarded. In fact, the boss often assigns more work because of poor
delegation and management. We know we are supposed to work smarter. Hard-working
Monkey knows the secret; work very hard on the most important tasks aimed at
accomplishing objectives and getting necessary results.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Monkey adapts</i></b>: In a Whacky Workplace the situation is
always fluid and chaotic, lurching from crisis to crisis. Adaptable Monkey doesn’t
waste time bemoaning the situation, gossiping, or supporting dysfunction. Adaptable
Monkey focuses on objectives and results, figuring out HOW to get the job done.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Monkey is a fast learner</i></b>: The Whacky Workplace lacks
formal training and education and teaches the wrong lessons. Learning Monkey
wants to learn and use every resource available to increase knowledge and
skills. Learning Monkey is always proactive and never sits back waiting for the
company to provide training.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Monkey is clever</i></b>: The Whacky Workplace ignores ways to
improve. Clever Monkey cannot resist seeking a better way to get the job done. Clever
Monkey wants to improve efficiency AND effectiveness, asking, “How can I make
this better for our customers and colleagues?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Monkey is intelligent</i></b>: The Whacky Workplace is DUMB,
wasting time, money, people’s abilities, and everything else. Intelligent Monkey
is too smart for that sort of nonsense. Intelligent Monkey harnesses brainpower
to analyze the situation, finds the root cause, tries out solutions to solve
the problem, and thinks ahead to prevent problems in the future. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Monkey has many interests</i></b>: In a Whacky Workplace, only
the Distracted Monkey is encouraged with endless incentives to multitask. But Interested
Monkey knows neuroscience; the human brain cannot multitask but moves from task
to task and back again, eliminating focus and flow. Interested Monkey focuses
on the most important tasks, getting results and meeting goals before grabbing
the next interest branch.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><b><i>Monkey has discipline:</i></b> In a Whacky Workplace,
self-discipline goes out the window. In these environments being disciplined
and focused is seen as a negative when everyone else acts like drunken monkeys.
Disciplined Monkey creates an oasis in the chaos so important work can go on. Disciplined
Monkeys and their teams keep on turning out results. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Monkey is creative</i></b>: In a Whacky Workplace, creativity is consumed in
survival. Creative Monkey keeps creative intelligence focused on creating new
goals, inventing new products, and anticipating customer needs. “Thrival” is
Creative Monkey’s watchword.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Monkey has fun</i></b>: In a Whacky Workplace, fun is off the menu. In fact,
communication, relationship-building, and cohesion are frowned upon, while fear,
cliques, and internal competition are promoted. Fun Monkey knows play releases
our creative and intellectual powers. Fun Monkey focuses on building strong
teams who enjoy working and playing hard together. Fun Monkey makes sure we
celebrate milestones, holidays, birthdays, and exult in the pure joy of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let all these great Monkeys loose in your workplace, your team, and your
life. Monkey around a little and enjoy the results in greater productivity, better
results, and happier team members. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Monkey Business is Good Business.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* * *
* *</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://bit.ly/1ir731H" target="_blank">Find out how your organizations compares to the Whacky Workplace. Take this short survey</a><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><a href="http://bit.ly/1ir731H" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">bit.ly/1ir731H</span></a></b> and discover where you score on the
Whack-O-Meter (designed by Mischievous Monkey.)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking forward to your comments on the Year of the Monkey. </span></div>
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Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-65762936366564486852015-05-09T15:27:00.000-04:002015-05-09T15:27:56.564-04:00What Were You Thinking? Act to Avoid Bad Decisions & Assure Success<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIr5NhYqahVpOAeGZNVEwGtVjN_7jMyx3pnD7Ykgn6fZl-i-39nbcXBwElvG_TDdvI0VxW6xm-LaZMcewRK6XWs2lf4T4bzfQx4ZiJQKu_eRyEh7LnhpnKsHZhlev65nSoO_KGRKCoGOQ3/s1600/MrSpockdrawing2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIr5NhYqahVpOAeGZNVEwGtVjN_7jMyx3pnD7Ykgn6fZl-i-39nbcXBwElvG_TDdvI0VxW6xm-LaZMcewRK6XWs2lf4T4bzfQx4ZiJQKu_eRyEh7LnhpnKsHZhlev65nSoO_KGRKCoGOQ3/s200/MrSpockdrawing2.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the news, do you find yourself musing, "What were they
thinking?" Of course the standard reply is, "They weren't!" If
I'm the one guilty of a stupid decision, I grab the old defense, "It
seemed like a good idea at the time."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we make a wrong decision, there can be serious
consequences. Think about the aftermath of your own bad decisions. What was
going on? What were you thinking? Were you thinking critically?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In another lifetime, as a software developer, we
were going to issue checks to 40,000 vendors for the first time with our new
system. I came in on Saturday to let it rip. I hit the button...the
system started whirring, the printers were loaded with blank checks, we were
going live...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then the system crashed...the dreaded error code
S0C7 rolled across the screen..."Oh Charlie 7" is geek speak for a
non-numeric character sitting in a numeric field. Sure enough, I had let bad
data creep into the vendor payment field.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, I had made a stupid beginner's error but the
real error was my own stinkin' thinkin.' I thought, "No one will put
anything but numbers in that field." I was trained as a scientist and
steeped in logical thinking. However, my logic failed me when I assumed
everyone touching the machine would think logically. Humans, as Mr. Spock might
tell us, are often highly illogical.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we did the <i>post mortem</i>, I realized 3 things:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>* My mission was off target<br />
* My plan failed to consider important risks<br />
* I ignored my most important software tool -- my brain.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3 Critical Thinking Actions to Assure Success</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can draw critical thinking lessons from this
story to improve our daily decision making and problem solving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>1. <u>Mission ain't wishin'</u>:</i></b> The mission is not just pretty words on a
plaque. The mission is a daily guide to decision making and problem solving. I
mistakenly thought my mission was 'automate the vendor payments.' Had I thought
more critically up front, we might have had a mission like, 'Ensure timely,
correct vendor payments.'<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Focus on correct payments would have spurred me to
think about how to ensure the system would produce that result. Timeliness
would have spurred me to test the system long before going live.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Critical thinking begins with a concrete mission we
can act upon. We must ask THE strategic question: <i>Will this move me
closer to or further from the mission?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>2. <u>The Plan is the Boss</u>:</i></b> All our work must be guided by the plan.
Otherwise it's too easy to pull in different directions. It is very difficult
to make a great decision or solve a problem permanently in a vacuum. We must
understand the context and constraints for making the decision or solving the
problem. Where does this situation fall within the company plan?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My plan was incomplete because the mission was
incomplete. Through risk analysis of the likelihood and impact of common problems,
including non-numeric data in numeric-only fields, would have ensured our plan
contained actions to address these risks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>3. <u>Best Tool = Brain</u>:</i></b> There are many "tools" we can use
to solve problems, make decisions, and enhance critical thinking. However,
there is an old saying: <i>A fool with a tool is still a fool!</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even the most powerful tools cannot be used alone.
We must always do a reality check to enhance our decision process. I got
wrapped up in the cool new technology and didn't ask critical questions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The most powerful tool we have is our brain. The
best tools facilitate tapping into our brains' many analytical capacities. Each
time we solve a problem or make a decision we store more information to help us
with the next problem or decision. When we do that <i>post mortem</i> we lock new
information into our neural pathways.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thinking critically is our most vital asset as we
make decisions and solve problems every day:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>* Create a strong mission<br />
* Execute a robust plan to fulfill the mission, and<br />
* Cultivate and flex full brain power.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* *
* * *<br />
Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, Ph.D., and president of Advantage Leadership, Inc.,
was a geneticist and medical researcher and learned to apply her
critical-thinking skills as a manager and leader in the public, private, and
nonprofit sectors. She works with leaders and manages so they achieve their
strategic goals applying critical thinking to pressing challenges.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* *
* * *<br />
(Note: Mr. Spock drawing by Donnietu)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Want to know more about making better decisions and
solving problems successfully? Join us for <b><i>Critical Thinking: The Secrets to
Successful Problem Solving & Decision Making.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* May 14, 2015 1-2:30 US
Eastern Time (GMT -5)<br />
<a href="https://www.advantagehrseminars.com/store/product.php?productid=139&from=partner&bid=11&partner=16" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">https://www.advantagehrseminars.com/store/product.php?productid=139&from=partner&bid=11&partner=16</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* June 2, 2015 1-2:30 US
Eastern Time (GMT -5)<br />
<a href="https://www.advantagehrseminars.com/store/product.php?productid=143&from=partner&bid=11&partner=16" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">https://www.advantagehrseminars.com/store/product.php?productid=143&from=partner&bid=11&partner=16</span></a><br />
* *
* * *<br />
Join me on LinkedIn<br />
<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccastatonreinstein" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">http://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccastatonreinstein</span></a> Visit our website: <a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc;">http://www.AdvantageLeadership.com</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>Advantage
Leadership, Inc.<br />
320 S. Flamingo Road, Suite 291<br />
Pembroke Pines, FL 33027<br />
</b><a href="mailto:Rebecca@AdvantageLeaderhip.com" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #1155cc;">Rebecca@AdvantageLeaderhip.com</span></b></a><b> </b></span>Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-90759747750498094442014-12-10T11:34:00.000-05:002014-12-10T11:34:02.386-05:00Want to Build a Positive Culture? Apply Four Bickisms
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">[Excerpts from an
interview with Bick Whitener, currently principle with Bickley and Company.] <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>"I became the Director
of Getting-Things-Done."</em> That’s how <strong>Bick Whitener</strong> describes the way his boss acknowledged
his leadership. Bick Whitener has a long, distinguished career in the
property/casualty insurance world and has been with companies such as The
Hartford, Prudential, Atlanta Casualty, Assurant, and many others. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I was privileged
to consult to one of the companies where Bick was a manager and see the vibrant
culture of accomplishment he created. He and his team were very different and
getting more done than other areas. They were a "real" team and excited to learn
new skills and approaches. The very positive culture he developed within his
division stood in contrast to the overall company.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Rebecca
Staton-Reinstein:</strong> Bick, you have a solid track record of changing the culture
of any group you work with to make it more of an integrated team that gets
solid results where people love being part of that team. How do you do it?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Bick Whitener:</strong> Let
me start with what I believe is a simple statement. Culture change happens
through people. I believe life is about two things. <em>Life is about choices and
life is about relationships.</em> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Culture change happens
through people. Have you ever noticed that people don’t like change? So if it
is going to happen through people and they don’t like to change, leadership has
to be both effective and efficient in helping them change, in helping with the
culture transition. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Your people are
your most valuable asset. Their time and their skills are your most valuable
asset. You have to be wise how you spend those. People go crazy when I look at
them and say, turn off whatever the notification is that tells</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">
you that you have a new e-mail. It is mail. How many times a day do you run to
your mailbox? How many times a day do you run to the post office? Take your
time and focus on the important things. The important things are "the right
things."</span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Rebecca:</strong> Bick, I
know you have a wealth of knowledge and wisdom you package in pithy statements
you call <strong><em>Bickisms</em></strong>. Can you walk us through your steps for culture change with
these <em>Bickisms</em>? (For a few more, check out Bick’s LinkedIn profile.) </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGWqfBY-PAqgiVt1Ys5sOT4M3zohDIhOSjjRehMXld5q46NeM3mMlR6pCMSkKYtTGvm1I_WCd7bSI6IuvIZtV561SIxhK0ZjigqoXqs4gy5yI-N2xRFun4F3o_89vBgdEpWn1MepmL1uY/s1600/bick-speaking-2-300x200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGWqfBY-PAqgiVt1Ys5sOT4M3zohDIhOSjjRehMXld5q46NeM3mMlR6pCMSkKYtTGvm1I_WCd7bSI6IuvIZtV561SIxhK0ZjigqoXqs4gy5yI-N2xRFun4F3o_89vBgdEpWn1MepmL1uY/s1600/bick-speaking-2-300x200.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Bick:</strong> Sure!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype
id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t"
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style='width:300pt;height:200.25pt;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square'>
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o:title="bick-speaking-2-300x200"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--></span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>STEP 1 Bickism:
Never talk about culture.<o:p></o:p></em></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Rebecca, let me start by telling you I’m a sneaky
little devil. I never start out talking about culture. But what I do start out
talking about is the vision that we have; that journey that we want to take,
where we want to get to. So you have got to find people that want to buy into
that vision. Clearly articulate that vision. Show them what that vision is
going to do in terms of value to them in the future. Then find the people that
want to buy in.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>STEP 2 Bickism: Nothing
anywhere ever gets done until somebody somewhere does something.<o:p></o:p></em></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Don’t misunderstand. I like strategy. I like
tactics. I like planning. I like locking myself in a room and talking about
innovation. But I don’t like it unless things get implemented because brilliant
ideas that are not implemented lose their value. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><strong>STEP 3 Bickism:
Create a shepherding group.<o:p></o:p></strong></em></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Once you find people that want to buy in, you need
a shepherding group. That is a tricky part of the process because the
shepherding group has to have adequate spheres of influence. Otherwise you are
going to get into trouble because those with the power will oppose the vision
and the change and they will stop it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In the early 1500s Niccolo Machiavelli said, <em>There
is nothing more difficult to take in hand, or more perilous to conduct, or more
uncertain of success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order
of things. </em>And almost 500 years later that is proving to be very true in our
business environments today. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So never talk about culture. Talk about the vision,
speak the vision, get people to buy in, find a shepherding group and start the
process. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>STEP 4 Bickism: Go
for small wins.<o:p></o:p></em></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Once you get the buy in you can actually start
going for small wins. Don’t shoot big. Once you get a couple of wins two great
things are going to happen. The first one is some fresh people are going to buy
into the culture and the buy-in group gets bigger. And the second thing is you
start to create momentum and that momentum becomes your friend. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s shared vision followed by wins. Celebrate the
wins. Make them very, very visible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Hear more Bickisms
and gain more wisdom as Bick Whitener discusses his remarkable achievements and
how he got them. Listen to the entire interview on Business in the Morning produced
by Todd Schnick. </span></span><a href="http://businessinthe.am/bick-whitener/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">http://businessinthe.am/bick-whitener/</span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">An in-depth
profile of Bick Whitener will be featured in the forthcoming book, Washington’s
Shadow: How Leaders Cast a Long Shadow and Create a Positive Culture.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em><a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank">© RebeccaStaton-Reinstein and Advantage Leadership, Inc.</a></em></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial;"> This post also appears on </span></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">LinkedIn </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/build-positive-culture-apply-4-rebecca"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/build-positive-culture-apply-4-rebecca</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">
or </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/Bickisms"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">http://tinyurl.com/Bickisms</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">
</span></div>
Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-45219524671870714632014-10-31T16:26:00.000-04:002014-10-31T16:26:35.699-04:00STEM & STEAM Not Hysteria: Why we need to think critically<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>There is nothing which can better deserve your patronage
than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the
surest basis of public happiness...To encourage literature and the arts is a
duty which every good citizen owes to his country. </i>– George Washington</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<em><span style="font-family: inherit;">A nation that expects to be
ignorant and free in a state of civilization…expects what never was and never
will be.<span style="font-style: normal;"> – Thomas Jefferson</span></span></em></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The current public discussion of Ebola quarantines has me
throwing bipartisan shoes at the TV. I don’t want to discuss the political
posturing, which is bad enough but expected. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I want to hone in on the sad state of our general education
and the absence of critical thinking. Founders Washington and Jefferson warned
us and gave us sage advice, which we seem to be ignoring at our peril.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
OK, what right do I have to be spouting off about Ebola,
science, education, and critical thinking? Here are a few bio tidbits:<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8MixNRXQdLZ8dSGZcBgNhN367w5tjSw4s66DRgzvPySxT-z7R9I9eWWHjIQZyOMDeA3-yYyTyQwZhz41Ddv285d5kyT2ZKO7oU5pQ3Oj0TKRCV_GSMgbRIYzjgPnPet7ZD3eUDQ7mRMI/s1600/Rebecca+Science+Teacher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8MixNRXQdLZ8dSGZcBgNhN367w5tjSw4s66DRgzvPySxT-z7R9I9eWWHjIQZyOMDeA3-yYyTyQwZhz41Ddv285d5kyT2ZKO7oU5pQ3Oj0TKRCV_GSMgbRIYzjgPnPet7ZD3eUDQ7mRMI/s1600/Rebecca+Science+Teacher.jpg" height="195" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rebecca the Science Teacher</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Trained as biochemical geneticist</li>
<li>Medical researcher</li>
<li>Taught biological and physical sciences for ten years in
high school and college</li>
<li>Consult to a county STEM board (supports programs in
Science Technology, Engineering and Math)</li>
<li>Board member, GeekiGirls (supports girls' interest in
STEM and the Arts, STEAM)</li>
<li>Foreign Member, St. Petersburg
Engineering Academy.</li>
</ul>
So I'm an educated
layman, trained in critical thinking, OK?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let's take a quick
look at Ebola and the missing critical thinking here in the U.S. Ebola is a
devastating disease we mostly ignored here until it entered big cities and
spread quickly in three West African countries. Volunteers from around the
world have gone to these countries to contribute their skills to fragile and
collapsing health systems there. They are working in very primitive conditions
in places where electricity and potable and running water are not the norm and local
practices exacerbate the spread of the disease.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<b> Fact 1:</b> People only
spread the virus by <i><u>direct contact with bodily fluids</u></i>, most commonly diarrhea,
blood, and vomit. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Fact 2: </b>When people
have <b><u>no symptoms they cannot spread the virus.</u></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Fact 3: </b>The
<i><u>incubation period is 21</u></i> days in humans. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Fact 4:</b> The <b><i>Centers
for Disease Control have issued new guidelines </i></b>based on the degrees of exposure
to people with the virus and supported by international health groups.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The hysterical moves
by the governors of New York and New Jersey, other states, and the U.S.
military to quarantine everyone returning from work in the region ignores the
facts, ignores the science, ignores the advice of medical experts, and ignores
critical thinking. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Listening to TV
reporters, news readers, and "hosts" stir the pot of fear and misinformation is
more than inane, it is dangerous. The rampant speculation, ignorant questions
and comments, and refusal to listen to science are scary. The fact that people fall
for it points to what many studies show; the dire state of science and critical
thinking education in this country is a threat to democracy. Even the college-educated
reporters and commentators demonstrate a lack of scientific understanding and
thinking a 7<sup>th</sup> grader should have mastered.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is nothing new.
When the Russians launched Sputnik and caught the U.S. flatfooted, there were
no other girls in my physics and advanced math classes and many college-bound boys
avoided these hard classes. Government created the National Defense Education
Act and the National Science Foundation created four new science curricula. I
went through graduate school with an NDEA loan, which I repaid by teaching,
including the new science curricula. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I have a couple of
suggestions:<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<ol>
<li><b>Create modern
programs</b>, similar to the post-Sputnik ones, to assure <i style="text-decoration: underline;">every student, in every
school</i>, gets grounding in real science and critical thinking. Emphasize
teaching elementary and middle school teachers to teach the understanding,
application, and love of science. Science must be learned hands on with
experiments and investigation. We must teach everyone to think critically.</li>
<li>Governors and other
officials, it's <b>time to admit you reacted</b> and did not base your moves on
science nor think critically about the situation. George Washington said
it best,<i>"To err is nature, to rectify error is glory."</i></li>
<li><b>Reinstate literature, the arts, science, and social science
</b>as the centerpieces of K-12 education. A recent study confirmed music study
increases other intellectual capacities. In an era when schools routinely cut
all the arts education in favor of drilling for standardized tests, real education
is sacrificed.</li>
</ol>
Everyone needs STEM and STEAM. <i><u>We all need a well-rounded
education to function as citizens and leaders in our complex world.</u></i> We must be
critical thinkers, learning that discipline from the sciences and the arts. The
alternative is a nation that can be whipped into hysteria by the ignorant and
the evil.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<br /></div>
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Food for thought...yes, thought. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Learn the basic skills of critical thinking. Join me for
a technique-packed webinar and white paper access. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/lw8oxgl"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">http://tinyurl.com/lw8oxgl</span></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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* * *
* * *</div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #474b4e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(c) Rebecca Staton-Reinstein and <a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank">Advantage Leadership, Inc.</a> </span></div>
Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-33412329109171967402014-07-30T09:53:00.000-04:002014-07-30T09:53:15.075-04:00A Tale of Two Bosses: Working with Multiple Bosses - Successfully
<span style="font-family: Arial;">At first it seemed very exciting. My fellow manager, Sara,
and I would be reporting to two vice presidents in the newly reorganized
division. <em>WooHoo!</em> VP Marco was new to the company and came with a stellar
reputation for innovation. VP James had been with the company many years and was
a solid performer. Our first meetings went fine and Sara and I were asked to
look over our existing plans and be ready to present our results. </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">That’s when the fun began. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Marco came to our joint team meeting, engaged in some
get-to-know-you conversation, said he understood where we were going, and
participated in some fun activities with us.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">James met Sara and me in his office – (based on his schedule
blocked out in 15-minute chunks.) He grilled us for about 10 minutes and asked
us for documentation, detailed project plans, and a weekly update. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">OK. Two different bosses, two different styles. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtkir6xJdbHpPQiW-F2PebGziPbL9gPea7InGIM3Mx3-lSCTGYJzHIFo68-anKiSK3oyI_go-XkygB3fPY3cgT4FlC2s0_ZrpyvY4hHZEoKLzhp9IYGvGPsyBemswJSdD1KuwjuguB-Yd/s1600/multiple+puppet_master_01_original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwtkir6xJdbHpPQiW-F2PebGziPbL9gPea7InGIM3Mx3-lSCTGYJzHIFo68-anKiSK3oyI_go-XkygB3fPY3cgT4FlC2s0_ZrpyvY4hHZEoKLzhp9IYGvGPsyBemswJSdD1KuwjuguB-Yd/s1600/multiple+puppet_master_01_original.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Marco might show up any time, kibitz for a while, ask what
we needed from him, and look for ways to smooth the way. He wanted a one-page report;
a few bullet points, and lots of white space. When we met with him, he wanted
us to come to the point quickly. He often organized social events for our two
teams.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">James was only available at the appointed weekly meeting,
although if you could find a blank 15 minutes you could have a quick
“emergency” session. Reports needed to be very detailed, with references,
graphs, charts, and hard data. He often said something like, “In the footnote
on page 34 you said X. How does that jive with what you show on the graph on
page A-7?</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">After every meeting, Sara and I would compare notes and
share our frustrations. We realized we had to adapt to Marco and James quickly
in different ways. We evolved <em><u>4 strategies to first cope with and then succeed
with their different expectations.</u></em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Identify all bosses’ work and communication styles and flex
your own.</em></strong> Each week we prepared two reports; one high level, one detailed. In
the review meetings with Marco we hit the high points and got out. We patiently
explained every point in detail and double checked any work for inaccuracies
and inconsistencies for James.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Proactively develop plans, schedules, and expectations in
advance and get their approval.</em></strong> Once we had concrete plans, James was
comfortable going through the detailed results and confirming next steps. Marco
saw the plans and schedules as a way for us to be fast and focused as we
reported highlights. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Invite discussion not challenges with aligned assertive
communication.</em></strong> Sara and I learned to think through ways of presenting
information that did not set off confrontation inadvertently. We used inclusive
language, aligned with their situations, and phrased questions that stimulated
dialogue. The tension dissipated from the discussions.</span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Use problem solving to resolve conflict when it arises.</em></strong> When
Marco or James had strong different opinions on our results or recommendations,
we invited them (tactfully) to engage in some problem solving with us. At the
very least, we got them to restate the problem clearly and concisely so we
could work on solutions off line.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">None of this was easy and it won’t be for you either. No
matter where you sit in the hierarchy, when you have more than one boss, <em>you
must be both flexible and firm</em>. <em>Flex</em> to match your bosses’ individual
communication and work styles. <em>Be firm</em> in working out a plan to accommodate all
their needs and get agreement. <em>Be firm</em> in showing places where overlapping
demands make success unlikely and helping them recognize consequences. <em>Be
flexible</em> in working out solutions. </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Always <em><strong>scan the environment to assess what you are learning
from working with multiple bosses</strong></em>. Both James and Marco taught me many positive
lessons I’ve applied successfully in other assignments. Once I let the
frustration recede and recognized each person’s strengths and focused on them,
I was open to learning and growth...my results got better too. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Whether you’re an admin or manager, individual contributor
or team leader, managing multiple bosses is a learnable skill your need in
today’s workplace. <u><a href="http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/plp/55117/index.html?campaigncode=884AL" target="_blank">Join me for a webinar August 12<i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Working with Multiple Bosses – Successfully</span></i></a> </u>and I’ll
share my <span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">battle-tested techniques for managing
not just your bosses, but your own time as well.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/qd6ru4w"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">http://tinyurl.com/qd6ru4w</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>P.S. Special bonuses for participants including a white
paper, <em>Allied Assertive Communication – the Super Success Secret.</em></strong></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">(c) Rebecca Staton-Reinstein and Advantage Leadership, Inc. </span></div>
Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-15404016296029819682014-06-28T16:55:00.000-04:002014-06-28T16:55:45.763-04:00A Sad Day for the Friends of James Madison<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James Madison has no monuments or fancy remembrances as do many of the other founding fathers (and mothers.) Yet without him, we might not have our republic, our constitution, and be an independent country today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Madison was a student, at what is now Princeton, he stayed another year to work on a study of the world's constitutions while soaking up the ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment from the university's president. This began his life-long passion for republican ideals and constitutions. After flailing about for a while after college, he was elected to the Virginia (Colonial) House of Burgesses and began his life as a politician. He followed this calling to public service until the end of his presidency. Those who call for term limits and hold their noses at the idea of a "politician" could learn a lot from his decades of devotion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the Revolution, he watched with mounting horror as self interest brought out the worst in the Virginia legislature and the Congress under the Articles of Confederation was worse than "do nothing." By 1878, the country was in turmoil, Congress was impotent, groups of States talked of leaving the fragile union spurred on by European powers, the economy was a shambles, and Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts frightened every property owner. The prognosis for continued existence of the country was dire. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So Madison joined Alexander Hamilton and Ben Franklin to conspire to overthrow the government; they committed treason for the second time. Working with others, Madison persuaded General George Washington to join in the call for a Constitutional Convention to provide the political cover they needed. Madison got the resolution through the Confederation Congress and became a delegate along with Washington and others to the gathering. His long-time rival, Patrick Henry, refused to have anything to do with it; "I smell a rat!" He was right, of course. Madison's intent was not to amend the Articles but to abolish them.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9E_f-Kq8qB7gYGsYMPLn7c3g0eczCwCTdlP2JDbGhSfWjMQlsgsOtKocBi0DjS6A5bZO4_tuhvUP92cW30MQYVwA0eTDDWc0YFAjUvP7qyTiy4ONkTVY5T5EE5UOzjivnF1tM40H96bnc/s1600/Jemmy+and+me3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9E_f-Kq8qB7gYGsYMPLn7c3g0eczCwCTdlP2JDbGhSfWjMQlsgsOtKocBi0DjS6A5bZO4_tuhvUP92cW30MQYVwA0eTDDWc0YFAjUvP7qyTiy4ONkTVY5T5EE5UOzjivnF1tM40H96bnc/s1600/Jemmy+and+me3.jpg" height="203" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Jemmy and Me</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He arrived in Philadelphia early, having made a thorough study of republics and constitutions "ancient and modern." He persuaded the governor to present his draft as the "Virginia Plan." Although little of it remained in the final draft signed by the delegates, it did serve as the agenda and shaped the nature and substance of the debates. Madison and the most committed delegates toiled for four months in the Philadelphia summer heat with early morning committee meetings, all-day debates, and informal politicking in the evening. Madison took voluminous notes we still marvel at today and early Supreme Court justices used to unravel "original intent."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But when the delegates scattered back to their states, the work wasn't over. They had to get the special ratifying bodies to agree to the document. In Madison's Virginia, Patrick Henry led the anti-federalist forces. Despite Henry's legendary oratorical skills and political clout, Madison bested him and eked out a tiny margin of victory.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then he was off to the new Congress as a Representative in the House and to serve as Washington's whip in that body to achieve his legislative agenda. He served as Jefferson's Secretary of State and then as President, presiding over the War of 1812. In fact, he was the only Commander in Chief to actually go into battle, despite having no military credentials. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was the last of the "fathers" to depart this world and did so on this day, June 28, 1836. His parting words were, "Nothing more than a change of mind, my dear." James Monroe, who succeeded him as President, referred to Madison in his dying words, "I regret that I should leave this world without again beholding him."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my Google Alert for Madison, about 95% of the mentions are from people, right or left, trying to claim his "authority" for their views. Like anyone quoted out of context, Madison's words are distorted. More importantly, because Madison was a patriot, a passionate politician, and as partisan as anyone, you can always find some snippet to support you. These folks do a disservice to the man, his memory, and his message.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Madison, like all of us, evolved and changed with age. At the end of the Convention, he thought the Constitution was a failure because it created a Senate representing the states and not the population. Yet he went to the ratifying convention and worked with Hamilton to write the <i>Federalist Papers</i> defending the new Constitution with every ounce of his considerable persuasive talent. By Washington's second term, he had joined Jefferson to destroy Hamilton and the Federalists and create the Republican Party (precursor of today's Democrats.) As president, he opposed legislation for building roads and canals or providing "charity." As an elder statesman, he made it clear he had evolved to support these government efforts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What made Madison so great was he was NOT an ideologue. He constantly thought about things, changed his mind, and made it clear where he stood at any moment. He was prepared to compromise for the good of the nation. He seldom held real animosity for his opponents. (Today he'd be derided as a flip-flopper, drummed out of whatever party he was in, and excoriated by the chattering class and talk radio.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I've always found so appealing about Madison was his humanness. My favorite quote from him is (out of context, of course,) "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." Madison is great because he is no saint on a pedestal. He was dead wrong on many things. He made no claims to perfection. We can admire him, not because we agree with him or can find some phrase to prove our political point, but because he thought continuously and was willing to change and grow and leave old notions behind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If today's leaders, whether in politics or business, would spend a little time with "Jemmy, the great little Madison," they might be less inclined to require unthinking adherence to a static idea. Madison's interpretation of the republic's mission statement, the Preamble to the Constitution, matured and morphed over time. If we could take a page from his book, we might all succeed in evolving, being more strategic, making better decisions...and leaving old ideas behind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* * * * *</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(c)<a href="mailto:Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com" target="_blank"> Rebecca Staton-Reinstein</a> and <a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank">Advantage Leadership, Inc.</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Want to know more about Madison and his role in the Constitution and early republic? Want to know how modern leaders exploit the <i>Madison Factor</i>? Check out <b><i><a href="http://www.conventionalwisdomcenter.com/" target="_blank">Conventional Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers. </a></i></b></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Your research into the planning sessions of the Constitutional Convention and the struggles that our framers of the Constitution faced has been cleverly weaved into the strategies of modern business. I am pleased to have your book. </i></span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-- Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (RET) </span></div>
Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-9990981991799775892014-06-23T19:36:00.000-04:002014-06-23T19:36:11.396-04:00What veterans can teach you about mission<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It's a smart business decision to hire veterans. Give vets
a mission and the result you want and they will achieve it. That’s what they've been trained to do,” an entrepreneur pointed out on a recent business show.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What about your organization? Have your folks been trained
to be laser-focused on the mission? Will they give it their all to get results?
Is this what you've trained them to do?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In too many companies, employees may not even know the
mission or it may have been relegated to meaningless words on a plaque. I
recently had a poor experience with an airline and took a look at its mission.
I couldn't find it on the website but an analyst’s report pulled a statement off the annual report that covered the territory...Not a word about the
customer among its five focus areas. The airline believed if it was clean, safe,
on time, had courteous employees, and delivered great revenue at competitive
costs it would have “exceptional customer satisfaction.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How does that happen exactly? If I'm an employee, focused on
the five areas, as long as I stay courteous and don’t do anything to escalate
costs, I'm fulfilling the mission.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is not a rant about poor airline service. This is a
rant about the power of mission to focus everyone’s energy to achieve company goals.
Examiners for a major quality award routinely ask every employee they encounter,
“What’s your role in achieving the corporate mission?” When people can tell you
this in their own words, you get stellar results. The whole point of the mission
is to guide daily action and decision making. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When a mid-sized commodity manufacturer was faced with an
urgent need to transform or be acquired, it started by revamping its mission
and vision. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Mission:</i></b> The <i>people</i> of XYZ are leaders in the design and
manufacture of abc solutions to meet your def needs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Vision: </i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To be a premier supplier of abc using innovative
technology throughout our company while sustaining this in a <i>positive and
creative environment.</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was a major change for the company; emphasizing
people and a positive, creative environment. It was the first step on their
successful, sustained renewal journey.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can read about creating a mission and the bottom-line
impact data in an earlier blog. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/3uz4mnb">http://tinyurl.com/3uz4mnb</a>
To repeat one fact: in companies where
almost every employee believes the mission is important, profits are 5 – 15%
higher than in companies where few people believe mission is important.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My husband and I were honored to be part of a ceremony
commemorating the 70<sup>th</sup> anniversary<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_Wn1f6ZLXnUthNDGr2WLkXb2mvLUoSEQD8LA80xMYUrWW-pqUHci4Q5gKj6zbbYdWhGGqRBSvT-Xy2sYYNhQ6sQZOi2QnUGyMp-Vx_R1ricPzCQAhyphenhyphenFlHZzmzAgxtSxhQCGmywF9l9UG/s1600/Les+Braves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_Wn1f6ZLXnUthNDGr2WLkXb2mvLUoSEQD8LA80xMYUrWW-pqUHci4Q5gKj6zbbYdWhGGqRBSvT-Xy2sYYNhQ6sQZOi2QnUGyMp-Vx_R1ricPzCQAhyphenhyphenFlHZzmzAgxtSxhQCGmywF9l9UG/s1600/Les+Braves.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sculpture
“Les Braves” by Anilore Banon, <br />Omaha Beach St. Laurent Sur Mer, France</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> of D-Day at Omaha beach. The band
was conducted by Colonel Arnald Gabriel, Conductor Emeritus, The United States Air Force Band, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who had come ashore on this beach that “longest day” as a young recruit. His mission was to get
rid of the machine gun nests raining death on the troops wading ashore. The
mission was clear so the results were clear. </span><br />
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you want to put your people first in meeting goals,
that must be clear in the mission. If you want to build a positive, creative
environment, that must be in your mission. If you want to achieve "exceptional customer satisfaction," as the airline claimed, you must have that in your mission, train and empower employees, and reward them for doing everything to achieve the mission. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Get people on a mission and the metrics will follow,”
John Zumwalt, former CEO of engineering firm PBS&J, told his company leaders
when he took over. If you have a strong mission AND train your people to
accomplish it, you will succeed. Learn from our veterans.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* * *
*</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Join a live webinar<span style="font-size: small;">, <b><i>Get
People on a Mission: Strategic Decision Making Drives Daily Action</i></b>, Thursday,
June 25, 1 PM Eastern or catch it on demand or on DVD. </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/m8d6bf7">http://tinyurl.com/m8d6bf7</a><span style="font-size: small;"> Learn
from contemporary </span>CEOs<span style="font-size: small;"> and the U.S. Founding Fathers about how to create a
mission to drive results.</span></span>Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-14220871813223104712014-05-15T09:25:00.000-04:002014-05-22T12:02:46.168-04:00I Can’t Decide! 5 practices to break through on tough problems<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've all been there...the decision that just won’t come...the problem that won't get solved. We've pondered, poked around, purloined others’ solutions, practiced team brainstorming, purchased problem-solving/decision-making tools, procrastinated, paced, and packed up and gone to the pub. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still nothing happened...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We know from neuroscience findings over the past decade, we are using the wrong part of the brain to get the answer. Discovering the best solutions is not about Mr. Spock logic, deep thinking or wrinkling our brow.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Making successful decisions and solving intractable problems require total relaxation, going to our "happy place," and upping our energy level. This is not some new-age amateur reading of quantum physics. Scientists can scan the brain as we solve problems to demonstrate exactly what is happening where. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZLBjzJlZfZ8xPZiRIyGexDD3wKsMN-Fbh77D2UUdiCnNWFIbneHe4f0mlrgmWh2wjtdPvmFru_h-4q7wK3edoargSZ1hVX4wdYolXZe5L0x297tY31-Hc1pkkT8AslDIz5YO5sk7D90zJ/s1600/Luda+book+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZLBjzJlZfZ8xPZiRIyGexDD3wKsMN-Fbh77D2UUdiCnNWFIbneHe4f0mlrgmWh2wjtdPvmFru_h-4q7wK3edoargSZ1hVX4wdYolXZe5L0x297tY31-Hc1pkkT8AslDIz5YO5sk7D90zJ/s1600/Luda+book+cover.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>Luda Kopeikina</b></i> wrote a break-through book based on neuroscience research, in-depth interviews and problem-solving sessions with leading executives, and years of observing her boss, Jack Welch, as he made decisions and solved problems. In <i>The Right Decision Every Time: How to Reach Perfect Clarity on Tough Decisions</i>, she details her findings, which have been augmented by ongoing independent research. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We must harness the assets of our physical, mental, and emotional functions and enter what Kopeikina calls the <i><b>Clarity</b></i> state. </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The key to reaching mastery in decision-making is the ability to focus your physical, mental, and emotional resources on an issue like a laser beam. Such focus enables you to reach decision clarity faster and easier...Clarity is a feeling of certainty and of internal alignment with the solution. The objective of a decision-making process is to reach clarity. A right decision is one when the decision maker is emotionally and mentally congruent with it. Reaching clarity quickly is a differentiating mark of leaders.</i></span></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>5 practices to break through on tough problems</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kopeikina describes the full decision-making process in her book. I use it myself and with a wide variety of clients. The results are solid decisions that leave you energized, confident, and ready to implement. Here are the essential steps to get you into <i>Clarity</i> state before you tackle the decision.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Prepare</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Find a quiet place to sit comfortably. Turn off your phone! Have paper and pen on an otherwise empty table in front of you. Close your eyes. Your goals: Eliminate distractions and be ready to jot down ideas as they come to you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Relax your body</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Progressively relax your muscles starting with your feet and working up to your head. Describe each one relaxing. When we are tense, our fight-or-flight mechanisms interfere with thought as adrenaline builds up and blood flows to our extremities and away from our brains. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breathe deeply from your diaphragm and focus on your breath. Count 4 beats on the inhale and 8 on the exhale. More oxygen enters the body to replenish the brain cells. Continue focusing on breathing until you feel relaxed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Calm your mind</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we are tense, anxious, angry, resigned, frustrated, or in a state of negative emotions, our bodies pump out cortisol. Many folks are unaware of the large part emotions play in decision making. To make good decisions, we must move from negative to positive emotions, pumping out DHEA and feeling energized. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Continue to sit in a relaxed state with eyes closed, breathing slowly and deeply, and focus on a word; nonsense or positive. As stray thoughts appear, acknowledge them and return to breathing and repeating the word. At first, it takes a while to calm emotions. With practice, you can do it quickly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Clear your mind</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you are fully relaxed and calm, begin repeating a phrase such as one Kopeikina suggests, "I feel totally fine and joyful about how life is going." As thoughts appear to counter this, visualize putting each one in a box on the floor and amend your phrase to, "Other than that, I feel totally fine and joyful about how life is going." Continue to stack up the negative boxes and do not engage with these thoughts. Move the boxes out of sight. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When these thoughts have dissipated, see yourself surrounded by light. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Charge up</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You are ready for the last step to reach <i>Clarity</i>. Visualize events from your life when you felt powerful, positive, and full of energy, happy or exhilarated, and. most invested in an exciting and satisfying event. Choose 3 of these events that required effort on your part and re-experience them. Thinking about these events will be your trigger for charging up your energy to enter the <i>Clarity</i> state. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we reach the <i>Clarity</i> state, the brain shifts where it will make the decision or solve the problem and blocks are removed. We have minimized the fight-or-flight response and maximized the positive chemicals flowing through our bodies. We are ready to use the robust problem-solving/decision-making techniques Kopeikina developed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">None of these practices is new and most have been practiced for millennia. Top athletes have been using them for decades to prepare for peak performance. Kopeikina found successful leaders could enter <i>Clarity</i> almost immediately and were ready to make decisions quickly and effectively with absolute confidence. Avail yourself of this powerful approach and start making better decisions today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i>Learn more about decision making and problem solving in my upcoming webinar: </i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/kwfsrau" target="_blank">I</a>f you missed the live webinar catch it </span> on <span style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">DVD or on demand <a href="http://eventcallregistration.com/reg/index.jsp?cid=44502t11">http://eventcallregistration.com/reg/index.jsp?cid=44502t11</a></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>* * * * * </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank"><b><i>© Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, President, Advantage Leadership, Inc</i></b>.</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Learn the entire <i>Clarity</i> problem-solving/decision-making process: <i><a href="http://tinyurl.com/kemaup9" target="_blank">The Right Decision Every Time: How to Reach Perfect Clarity on Tough Decisions, Luda Kopeikina, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005 </a></i></span><br />
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<br />Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-85568385033282701712014-04-28T19:43:00.000-04:002014-04-28T19:43:05.511-04:00Who killed the conference? The zombie Project Manager
<span style="font-family: Arial;">(This is a re-post of an earlier blog.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">If you’ve taken on a big assignment -- moving the office,
planning a big event, or developing a new system to track employees’ mobile
devices – you’ve been asked to manage a project, with or without the title. If
you have amazing organizational and people skills, and luck, you may have
pulled it off without a hitch...</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyk2b74t_UHceMHkVjUBek0sVAJsBZtg9qslVVJzyCtyBhbK3v_dZAxEGH2-04LFZzyw33T0AxnJXN-KfxPj_MTM6uoWygaF8vmUT6WdsAaP2eqhizyu-2DfvEEey7FqvtpUWLEqF-qzau/s1600/zombie+silloettes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyk2b74t_UHceMHkVjUBek0sVAJsBZtg9qslVVJzyCtyBhbK3v_dZAxEGH2-04LFZzyw33T0AxnJXN-KfxPj_MTM6uoWygaF8vmUT6WdsAaP2eqhizyu-2DfvEEey7FqvtpUWLEqF-qzau/s1600/zombie+silloettes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyk2b74t_UHceMHkVjUBek0sVAJsBZtg9qslVVJzyCtyBhbK3v_dZAxEGH2-04LFZzyw33T0AxnJXN-KfxPj_MTM6uoWygaF8vmUT6WdsAaP2eqhizyu-2DfvEEey7FqvtpUWLEqF-qzau/s1600/zombie+silloettes.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">If you are like most mortals, you had a few stumbles and
bumbles. Take a friend of mine who was asked to put on a 1-day conference recently.
He was energetic, dedicated, hardworking, and enthusiastic. His positive
attitude was contagious so he lined up top speakers and recruited volunteers to
help out. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I heard mumblings over the months as preparations continued and
problems mounted. The night before the conference, he held a reception for
everyone who worked on the event. That’s when I saw it was a mess... </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The next day I arrived early; parking was confusing,
registration was chaos, and the exhibitors who were setting up didn’t know what
was going on. OK, nothing disastrous...yet. Once the main program began, things
seemed mostly OK to the audience until one speaker had to repeat his
presentation because the AV was so screwed up.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Behind the scenes, insanity reigned. AV failed right and left,
special sessions were disorganized, and nothing – nothing – seemed to be going
right. The day finally ended but the real disasters weren’t over. There was not
enough sponsorship money to cover expenses and pay vendors for food, AV,
publicity, transportation, or anything else. Fallout just kept coming and
things are still not resolved many months later. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Could the results have been different? Absolutely! If he had
used a few basic skills of project management, he might have avoided most of
the problems under his control.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>3 tips to manage any project:</strong></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Define a clear Business Purpose. </em></strong>What outcome are
you expecting? For this project it was not, “We will have a great conference.”
It should have been, “As a result of this conference X will happen.” Vet every
idea with, “Will this help fulfill the Business Purpose.”</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Assume the worst.</em></strong> Risk management is the first
priority. A project creates a unique product or service so, of course, you’ll
have a project plan; detailed tasks, done by whom, in what time frame, with
what result. Predicting the risks and scanning for early warning signs is THE project
activity to perform flawlessly.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Have Plans B and C ready to go.</em></strong> If risk is first,
contingency planning is next on the list to deal with the most likely and
devastating risks. Plan B won’t be enough. You’ll need a backup for the backup.
Organizing backups creates a new mindset; Murphy’s Law is optimistic. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>What would have been the difference for my friend with just
these 3 items of good project management?</em> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">(1) He would have kept everyone
focused on the outcomes, not just doing tasks. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">(2) He would have examined the risk
management plan every day as results came in and looked for those early warning
signs; especially the lack of sponsorship money. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">(3) He would have had backup
AV, adult volunteers, and other contingencies ready to go.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">You do not have to flail, fumble or fail at your next big
assignment or project. Learn the most important elements of good project
management in a webinar designed to keep out of the Night of the Living Dead.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">If you’re not a “project
manager” but do tackle large assignments, sign up for our webinar, <em>Project
Management for the non-Project Manager</em>. Master the basics to succeed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/lklwcxo"><span style="color: blue;">http://tinyurl.com/lklwcxo</span></a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
* * * * * * *<br />
(c) Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, President, <a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank">Advantage Leadership, Inc.</a><br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-46640823741844655832014-04-10T14:02:00.000-04:002014-04-10T14:02:18.770-04:00If it’s Kind to be Tough, it’s Tougher to be Kind
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’ve always been an advocate of <em>Tough Love</em>. Lots of
leadership books advocate this approach. We admire folks who can carry it off
with grace and get the job done, especially when making almost impossibly difficult
decisions and forcing people to develop. In retrospect the kindest things leaders
did for me was to be tough and insistent upon my change and growth.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I could recount several stories from my own life, both
personal and professional and I’m sure you could also. Sometimes it took me years
to see the correctness of the other person’s action and appreciate that tough
love. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So I’m NOT going to rant against this kind of toughness.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">What I want you to consider is an addition; <strong><em>Kindness</em></strong>. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’m not talking about being wishy-washy, overlooking
issues, or avoiding tough conversations. I’m not saying everyone gets a
trophy, gold star or free pass.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’m talking about genuine kindness. You remember what that
is...think back to when you were a kid...helping a friend with her math
homework when she was struggling...putting a hot water bottle in the new
puppy’s bed to comfort his first night away from his mother...writing Princess
Elizabeth a sympathy note when her father died...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpsQQTTxZuwcMLlYfkgZ-WK_9Oigp4bNuIMETdBqtap6qQIREFVTPT590rAUdsYFL8cN8KB2RnukaOfEzzqQgxt1BLtMxv2Sk89gd9S1-YwvBehiA7euaZgaUDqN8qtm10PHCiPO0EvM5/s1600/Marylouise+Fitzgibbon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRpsQQTTxZuwcMLlYfkgZ-WK_9Oigp4bNuIMETdBqtap6qQIREFVTPT590rAUdsYFL8cN8KB2RnukaOfEzzqQgxt1BLtMxv2Sk89gd9S1-YwvBehiA7euaZgaUDqN8qtm10PHCiPO0EvM5/s1600/Marylouise+Fitzgibbon.png" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Kindness often gets lost in our hard-charging world. I
was reminded of this recently when I heard a remarkable leader talk about her "leadership
secret sauce." One of her 10 rules was <strong><span style="font-size: large;">Be Kind</span></strong>. The audience of business
executives was a little surprised when <strong>Marylouise Fitzgibbon </strong>announced this
one. She has built a reputation in the hospitality industry as a rising star with
a track record of drastically improving properties. Now as <em>General Manager of the
W Hotel on Fort Lauderdale Beach</em>, her hotel is steadily becoming a leading
representative of the brand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Kindness is very different from tough love. Fitzgibbon is
talking about getting out of our own way. Think about a time when you’ve had an
employee, peer or friend do something truly awful. We humans tend to react with
anger in these situations and whether we take the flight or fight route we are
almost never kind when dealing with the person. If we decided to confront the
person, most of us find it extremely difficult to control body language, words,
and tone when the metaphorical smoke is leaking out our ears. If we decide not
to confront, the overwhelming urge to gossip and put down the other person
usually takes over with just a dollop of sarcasm to keep it spicy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The alternative <em>kindness path</em> is much harder than either
of these reactions. Being kind in these situations is NOT reacting. Being kind
means putting ourselves into a very different space; a place of genuine caring
for the person who has acted so badly. It’s more than deep breathing or counting
to 10. Kindness requires us to get in touch with that part of us that is
capable of genuine caring about the other person. Only in this state can we
talk with the other person and, more importantly, listen to what he or she has
to say with openness, compassion, and engagement. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This is a tough order. It goes against some of our firmly
held beliefs and the notion of what a strong leader is and does. When you are
open and kind in this way, you can now deliver the tough love message so it can
be heard by the other person. You are not holding back on the consequences or
necessarily taking any different action than you would have in the situation. Instead
you are treating the other person as a person and being rigorously honest with
yourself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">You</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> are acting. You are returning the love to tough love. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">At the end of the conversation and action you won’t feel
the elation of self justification or winning. You <em>will</em> feel a sense of peace
because you acted with integrity and allowed the person to keep his or her
dignity intact, often accepting the consequences, which is where the real
growth we want from tough love comes from. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">To learn from Marylouise Fitzgibbon’s full 10 leadership
tips watch this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://youtu.be/fibpbLlEXyM" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">http://youtu.be/fibpbLlEXyM</span></span></a></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="color: #555555; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">What’s an example of when you were kind when you could
have been hardhearted in a tough work conversation? Share it as part of our quest
for leaders who cast a long shadow. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>*</span></div>
I'm beginning work on my new book <em>Washington's Shadow: How Leaders Cast a Long Shadow and Create a Positive Culture.</em> Please share your stories or nominees for leaders you know who have transformed the organizational culture positively. This will be a "how-to" book to help others do the same. Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-3444639222173352152014-02-19T15:36:00.000-05:002014-02-19T15:36:44.351-05:00Slow Down to Speed Up
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIQiXtDkTonnKfGL1aQIGTcY0cZoS89Xahh_4SHuaruLKbrok4DFd9BilXZ3YHqovy2zDOzfhcGEkRD4jf4YH7Km_ALP1-v5NRAltu2sHKP_mUSGSNFcsg4eUiW8xcxbLzax0iPrDs108/s1600/rat+in+a+wheel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIQiXtDkTonnKfGL1aQIGTcY0cZoS89Xahh_4SHuaruLKbrok4DFd9BilXZ3YHqovy2zDOzfhcGEkRD4jf4YH7Km_ALP1-v5NRAltu2sHKP_mUSGSNFcsg4eUiW8xcxbLzax0iPrDs108/s1600/rat+in+a+wheel.jpg" /></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">
Are you running like that rat in the wheel; up early, working late, vacationing
with your tablet, and taking calls whizzing down the road? The labor movement
fought hard for the 40-hour week. Do you scoff at working only 40 hours? When
was the last time you slept 7 - 8 hours for weeks at a time? <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">
Everywhere I looked last week someone addressed the need to slow down. <i>Bruce
Turkel</i> wrote a </span><a href="http://turkeltalks.com/early-bed-early-rise" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">great blog; </span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">NPR's <i>TED
Radio Hour</i> featured several </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/02/14/267186818/what-happens-when-we-slow-down" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">presentations</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/02/14/267188672/are-we-happier-when-we-stay-in-the-moment" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">too</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">. Wha's up?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">
People are questioning the efficacy of our insane pace. Hundreds of studies
over 50 years show these results; humans are designed to sleep 7 - 8 hours
every night or we become sleep deprived. When we run on 5-6 hours for months,
our health suffers, and more importantly for our productivity-obsessed business
world, our efficiency plummets. We are not as mentally astute as we think; we
make mistakes, have accidents, and destroy our mental capacity. The bad news?
We cannot make up lost sleep. We sleep in, but that's exhaustion...no net gain.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">
Here's some more bad scientific news; humans are designed to work 35 - 40 hours
over a 7-day period. 50 years of data show a sad trajectory; once we work 9 or
10 hours a day, several days, our efficiency drops like a stone. Keep it up for
weeks and we have to work 50 hours to do what we did in 40. The results on
productivity, mistakes, mental keenness, and capacity mirror sleep deprivation.
Depending on your health, age, physical and mental fitness, when you experience
the toll varies. Even the heartiest lose productivity within weeks. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">
Combine not-enough sleep with too-many work hours and you burnout. <i>Period.</i>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">
Another scary reality: Large companies have Employee Assistance programs. If
you're addicted to alcohol or drugs, they intervene and you can get treatment
for your disease. Companies understand the destructive power of addiction. What
about addiction to work? A joke, right? When they discover you're a workaholic,
they rejoice and say silently, <i>"We've got a live one!"</i> and
publically, <i>"If you want something done, give it to a busy
person!" </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">
I write about this because, <i>"My name is Rebecca and I'm a
workaholic."</i> I've taken the first step and admitted it. I first
realized this 20 years ago while dining with friends in Toronto. "Rebecca,
you never talk about anything except work anymore." I was gob smacked.
They were right. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My Simple Formula to Treat Work Addiction (most
days):</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 90.8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Admit you
have a problem.</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 90.8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Get 7-8
hours sleep.</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 90.8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eat
nutritiously.</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 90.8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Exercise.</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 90.8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Practice
mindfulness. </span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 90.8pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FOCUS on
important work only for an effective 35-hour week.</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">
When I do these things, I have more energy, get more done in less time, am
rarely sick, feel better, and enjoy life more. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What a
concept; sleep more, work less, and be more creative, efficient, and effective.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> I
didn't change overnight and learned to decompress anywhere. For example, I
arrived at an Asian airport 3 hours early, discovered a butterfly garden, and
spent 2 hours in a peaceful, beautiful universe; no email, false urgency,
distractions, or modern-life intrusions. I walked out calm, energized, and
thoughtful to make the 30-hour flight a creative experience, not a dreaded
ordeal. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> At
the end of your path, no one writes on your tombstone, "He was a good
corporate citizen," "She was a multitasking maven" or "The
kids bragged about how many hours mommy and daddy worked." <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> I
always bring these discussions back to lessons from great leaders, especially
the framers of the Constitution. The delegates included leisure naturally; they
fished, trekked to factories, attended concerts, lectures, and religious
services, read books, enjoyed tea with "the ladies" and dining with
friends, kept up lively correspondence with family and friends, and ran
businesses from afar. They mastered the art of a balanced life. Look what they
accomplished; they created a Constitution for a successful republic, which is
still in place. These guys had their wits about them. Can you say the same?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">
Are you ready for workaholic rehab? Are you ready to change yourself and lead
your team to be more creative and productive and transform the destructive
workaholic culture of your organization? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">
Dr. Deming, the great business guru said, "<b><i>Why are we here [work]?
We are here to come alive; to have joy in our work."</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">
You cannot be joyous, productive or creative when you?re running on
empty. In other words, slow down to speed up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">* * *
* *<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">©Rebecca Staton-Reinstein and Advantage Leadership,
Inc</span></i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Let us help you and your team become more effective
and efficient.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Subscribe to </span><a href="http://conventionalwisdominstitute.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">http://conventionalwisdominstitute.blogspot.com/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">
for leadership tips<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> * * *
* *<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <b><span style="color: black;">Webinar: </span></b></span></span><b><span style="color: #417fc8; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/5rcm256" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Get
People on a Mission: Strategic Decision Making Drives Daily Action</span></a></span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #58595b; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #58595b; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">These extraordinary times require extraordinary performance by
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">New Address:</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, Ph.D., President,
Advantage Leadership, Inc.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-84247371900533668012013-03-18T11:27:00.000-04:002013-03-18T11:34:06.432-04:00An uneventful birthday for JemmyIt's really too bad. Even I forgot...and I'm a raving fan of James Madison...the mighty little Madison was 262 this past weekend, March 16 (1751.) Jemmy, as he was known to his friends and enemies, has no monuments in the nation's capitol, no face on the side of Mr. Rushmore, and no holiday marking him or his most amazing accomplishment, the U.S. Constitution.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU0aMu1qrU8w1VI47SAfTml1C_pu-9cAGPtieDXpM0_ljmMV5d4Vl4xqTN0wrGUUpl4SFMIMqYharlKVC_4QyNTUjw0BIYkEO_8JToHL1Ky8xRPjXW1BkCD-UOZkfMLiK4Ntie_4QoOsr8/s1600/Jemmy+and+me3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU0aMu1qrU8w1VI47SAfTml1C_pu-9cAGPtieDXpM0_ljmMV5d4Vl4xqTN0wrGUUpl4SFMIMqYharlKVC_4QyNTUjw0BIYkEO_8JToHL1Ky8xRPjXW1BkCD-UOZkfMLiK4Ntie_4QoOsr8/s400/Jemmy+and+me3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jemmy and Me</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Think about it for a moment. We celebrate the <em>Declaration of Independence</em>, and we should. We celebrate Washington and Lincoln with the combined <em>Presidents Day</em>. We look at <em>Mr. Rushmore</em> and see them again along with Jefferson and Roosevelt (Teddy.) Washington's monument towers over the Mall, Jefferson, Roosevelt (Franklin,) and Lincoln gaze out from their memorials on the Mall. But Madison? Nowhere to be found except at his restored home and the <em>Constitution Center</em> in Philadelphia in the hall of the signers. Even there he is overshadowed by many of the others.<br />
<br />
Why should we care? James Madison was slight of build but a giant when thinking about constitutions. He had studied every one he could lay his hands on, focusing as he said on republics "ancient and modern." But Jemmy was no dilettante. At 36, he was already an experienced politician having served in the Confederation Congress and the Virginia legislature. With Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin and a few others, he conspired to call the meeting we know as the Constitutional Convention, with a secret agenda to overthrow the existing Articles of Confederation. <br />
<br />
The Articles had proven a disaster and the infant nation faced multiple crises including inability to pay its debts, threats of foreign invasion, individual states prepared to go to war with their neighbors or secede altogether, rampant inflation and foreclosures, open rebellion, and a deadlocked, impotent Congress. <br />
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When the delegates gathered in Philadelphia in May of 1787, it was Madison's "Virginia Plan" that formed the basis for the initial debates. The meeting was presided over by George Washington, who had been persuaded in part by Madison to come and provide political cover and credibility. Although when he signed his name to the final document, Madison was not happy with it, he was prepared to fight for it.<br />
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He teamed up with Hamilton and John Jay to write <em>The Federalist </em>to present a compelling case for ratification and then went into the Virginia Ratifying Convention to debate his high-profile adversary, Patrick Henry and win. Despite the fact that he was ill and exhausted from his non-stop work during the 4 months of the Constitutional Convention, he came out swinging and carried the day so Virginia ratified by a few votes. During the Convention he had been tireless, recording all the discussions, lobbying the delegates, and serving on committees. <br />
<br />
But Madison wasn't through. He was elected to the new Congress and quickly became one of the most savvy and effective politicians and lawmakers. He gathered the suggestions for amendments into a package and fought for the passage of the Bill of Rights. He even engineered the passage of Hamilton's finance bill for the assumption of the state's war debts and the establishment of the first national bank, despite being opposed to the plan in principle. <br />
<br />
Finally, after his long and successful legislative career and the appellation of "Father of the Constitution," which he rejected, he served in Jefferson's cabinet and then became the 5th president of the United States.<br />
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James Madison is as responsible for creating our country as any of the other more well-known figures. Without him, the Constitution might never have been written and accepted, and the country would have soon disappeared from history like so many other experiments in self-government. Madison would not have wanted a monument or public holiday for himself. He probably would have wanted a holiday for the signing of the Constitution, (September 17.) <br />
<br />
As Madison himself wrote, "a crisis had arrived which was to decide whether the American experiment was to be a blessing to the world, or to blast for ever the hopes which the republican cause had inspired." Luckily for us, Madison was there to make the difference. Honor him by reading the Constitution and it's amendments. <br />
* * * * * *<br />
(c) <strong>Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, Ph.D</strong>., president, <strong><em><a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank">Advantage Leadership, Inc.</a></em></strong><br />
Learn more about Madison's pivotal role in the <strong><em><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.conventionalwisdomcenter.com/friends.html"><em><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Conventional Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like
the Founding Fathers</span></b></em></a> (Check out the Madison's birthday special pricing.)</span></em></strong><br />
Please send us your comments and feedback.Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-7839377487007594692012-11-06T10:16:00.002-05:002012-11-06T10:16:44.871-05:00Why Vote? To keep a republicAs the delegates were leaving the Pennsylvania State House that September day in 1787, having just written the U.S. Constitution, a woman approached the venerable Dr. Franklin and asked what sort of government they were proposing. He answered,<strong><em> "A republic, if your can keep it."</em></strong><br />
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It's as simple as that. We can only keep our republic by exercising our right to vote and the corollary is informing ourselves about the candidates and the issues. Three thoughts come to mind:<br />
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<strong><em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<strong><span><em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A nation that expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization … expects what never was and never will be. - Thomas Jefferson<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></em></strong><span style="font-size: large;">Liberty & Learning lean on each other for their mutual
and surest support. – James Madison</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Educate and inform the whole mass of the people...They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty. - Thomas Jefferson</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBftvQs6FYK2Tw0HEWfMJo638YwdQH10e5LDWwFUy8Wkrlg7FuwxMMFwLxvHj_fefBnHAMRPrjHgQOT-ypZTvd1wXIZbLJJcvI1W31LePEYCWnyrjmCB_VjIuFk6E6WJmrXZ8nh8QD8nvl/s1600/benjamin_franklin_portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBftvQs6FYK2Tw0HEWfMJo638YwdQH10e5LDWwFUy8Wkrlg7FuwxMMFwLxvHj_fefBnHAMRPrjHgQOT-ypZTvd1wXIZbLJJcvI1W31LePEYCWnyrjmCB_VjIuFk6E6WJmrXZ8nh8QD8nvl/s320/benjamin_franklin_portrait.jpg" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" width="255" /></a>It's as simple as that...inform yourself and vote. Yes it's tough with restricted hours or Sandy's devastation. Yes, the weather can be bad or the lines long or the choices difficult or...<br />
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If you don't vote, you have no voice and NO RIGHT TO WHINE! That's right. You can't go on and on about what's wrong with the "government" if you don't participate. No excuses. <br />
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In the '90s I was working in St. Petersburg, Russia when they held their first free election. I went with my host to the polls -- a high school gym. It was exciting and brought a lump to my throat. My friend was casting a vote in an independent election for the first time. I don't know how she voted - for reform or a return to the old regime. In the end, the important thing is to cast your ballot. <br />
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In a republic, we then accept the result. We don't always like the result and sometimes would have preferred a different outcome. Every election is about the future of the republic. Informed voting is the only way to keep our republic.<br />
<img height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBftvQs6FYK2Tw0HEWfMJo638YwdQH10e5LDWwFUy8Wkrlg7FuwxMMFwLxvHj_fefBnHAMRPrjHgQOT-ypZTvd1wXIZbLJJcvI1W31LePEYCWnyrjmCB_VjIuFk6E6WJmrXZ8nh8QD8nvl/s320/benjamin_franklin_portrait.jpg" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 640px; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 325px;" width="76" />* * * * *<br />
(c) <a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank">Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, President, Advantage Leadership, Inc.</a><br />
Author, <strong><a href="http://www.conventionalwisdomcenter.com/friends.html" target="_blank"><em>Conventional Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers</em></a> (Check out the special election day offer)</strong>Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-14690342551957051062012-10-14T09:14:00.001-04:002012-10-17T08:24:22.672-04:00When did elections become American Idol?Full disclosure: I love to watch debates - academic or political. I love the give and take. I watched every presidential primary debate this season. (The British call it the silly season with good reason.) I've watched both debates now between the candidates and will be glued to the last two. (Update: the second presidential debate does not change what I've already posted.)<br />
<br />
I'm NOT looking for winners and losers. I'm looking for information. I'm not one of those over-hyped "undecided voters." I've made a choice and I don't think a debate will change my mind so I'll take advantage of my state's early voting. However, and this is a big "however," I still want to understand each candidate and party's ideas, desires, plans, history, and more. I never get tired of it. Sometimes I agree with my chosen candidate and sometimes I don't. Sometimes I like what he or she says and sometimes I don't. Sometimes I support their compromises and sometimes I don't. I'm not a single-issue voter, and since I cast my first presidential vote in the 60s, I've tried to look at the full package.<br />
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So what? I was watching some "news" coverage after the vice presidential debate and they were discussing what was trending on social media during the debate...DURING the debate. <br />
<ul>
<li>We are NOT WIRED TO MULTITASK. When we're listening/watching the debate and start texting, tweeting or facebooking, our brain is simply switching back and forth very, very rapidly (below our ability to perceive.) So we're not actually attentive to either. </li>
<li>Much of the "trending" was about ridiculous topics including one candidate's workout photos and the other's use of words like "malarkey." ????? This is what's important in choosing a person who is "a heartbeat away from the president?" This is the how we choose a potential world leader?</li>
</ul>
When did the most important political decisions that will affect our lives become American Idol? Are we electing the Debater-in-Chief? Do we expect him or her to go mano a mano with other world leaders on TV to decide the fate of nations? Do we really think the endless dissection of jokes, wise cracks, facial expressions, body language, and zingers is the best way to make this important decision? <br />
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What about the Founding Fathers? How would they hold up? <br />
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Most wouldn't fare too well based on our pop-idol values.<br />
<br />
George Washington hated to speak in public and many of his addresses were simply published and not spoken. He was self-conscious about his lack of formal education among the political elite of the late 18th century. He was intelligent, well-read, and a shrewd politician and judge of people and events but he would have appeared wooden and ill-at-ease in a public debate.<br />
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John Adams was scrappy and considered a good trial lawyer and effective legislator in the Continental Conventions. He defended British soldiers successfully after the Boston massacre (which would have been political death in today's world of negative ads.) He was also irritable and irritating and seldom curbed his tongue in his attacks on those who disagreed with him. He didn't play well with others when he disagreed.<br />
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Thomas Jefferson wrote soaring prose that still inspires us but he was a horrible speaker. This voice was weak and barely audible when he addressed any gathering and he avoided it whenever possible. He would have delighted in today's campaigns of negativity. Through his support of newspapers and others who he agreed with, he published or caused to be published, scathing attacks on his political enemies. His attacks, through his pal Jemmy Madison, went for the jugular in attempt to destroy Alexander Hamilton, and even George Washington while he served as his Secretary of State. <br />
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James (Jemmy) Madison was a masterful debater, although he too did not have a strong voice, and people often complained he was hard to hear in a large room. However, in his long state and federal legislative career and in the Constitutional Convention, he held his own with other more powerful debaters. Most famously, in the Virginia Ratifying Convention to ratify the new U.S. Constitution, he faced off against Patrick Henry. Although Henry brought his A game bombast and withering rhetoric, he turned out to be no match for Madison, an author of the document with intimate knowledge of every nook and cranny and how it had been debated and decided.<br />
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Today, we would not select the wooden Washington, the irascible Adams, the weak-voiced Jefferson or the egg-head Madison. We would have preferred the smooth-talking Aaron Burr, who kill Hamilton while still vice president; the pyrotechnic Henry who was an avowed anti-federalist who would have gotten rid of anything but independent, autonomous state governments; the avuncular, always charming and folksy and wily Ben Franklin, who would have only a one-house legislature, removing a critical check on popular passion; and who knows what other folly.<br />
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Presidential leadership is not about "optics." Would we elect Lincoln today? Would we elect the very short, "great little Madison?" Would "his rotundness," Adams receive our nod? Would we pick Jefferson who was famous for his slouching posture as well as his weak voice? Sadly, probably not.<br />
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I'll continue to enjoy the debates. I'll go to the polls and cast my ballot. But it would be more assuring to me if citizens watched the debates using the active listening techniques I teach managers and executives.<br />
<ul>
<li>Quiet your mind and ignore stray thoughts or preparing a response.</li>
<li>Focus your entire attention on the other person.</li>
<li>Listen to what he or she is saying and observe the body language and tone.</li>
<li>Ask questions to make sure you understand the other person and that he or she knows you understand.</li>
</ul>
Finally, I can't help but quote from that poor debater, <strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong>:<span style="color: #3b3a3a; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<em>"<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">A nation that expects to be ignorant and free
in a state of civilization … expects what never was and never will be.</span>"</em>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Or maybe from that fierce debater, <strong>James Madison</strong>:</div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Liberty & Learning lean on each other for their mutual
and surest support.</span></em> <span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Please vote...and please, make a rational, informed decision. It ain't American Idol!</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
(c) <a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank">Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, president, Advantage Leadership, Inc.</a> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Check out more about the politics of the early republic and today's leaders in <strong><em>Conventional Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers.</em></strong> <a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Conventional_Wisdom/17/" target="_blank">http://advantageleadership.com/section/Conventional_Wisdom/17/</a></div>
Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-73695568437468596592012-09-24T08:34:00.000-04:002012-09-24T08:34:23.139-04:00"Why train 'em? They'll only leave!"Those were the very words my department head Lenny, said to me some decades ago when we told him we wanted more training. Can you believe it? Of course you can. You've heard the same thing from bosses yourself.<br />
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This was misguided then and it's even more so now. <br />
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We're coming out of a very tough period for most companies. Everyone knows that when budget cutting is on the table, training gets the ax first. So what's new? <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrRZAXVo4aEGRT9UEtXUdc5SdvaPxRs130goh5inuIlaZk_updU33bjjpLpInoRNlsgjDiisWqwTZKeoGfsOvwiRkLJcQDW6Q83PXXGq5iBXauv5tXee0uYzqaAa-DtNzFcGXcGTf42ay/s1600/Training.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbrRZAXVo4aEGRT9UEtXUdc5SdvaPxRs130goh5inuIlaZk_updU33bjjpLpInoRNlsgjDiisWqwTZKeoGfsOvwiRkLJcQDW6Q83PXXGq5iBXauv5tXee0uYzqaAa-DtNzFcGXcGTf42ay/s200/Training.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
According to a new study published in the Harvard Business Review and highlighted in <a href="http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/18/3820806/diane-stafford-why-young-achievers.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy" target="_blank">the Kansas City Star</a>, high achievers who are 30 and under are abandoning ship in droves with an average stay of 18 months. Why? Simple. Lack of training and mentoring for growth. <br />
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Imagine that? Young workers want to grow and develop? Isn't that what every management guru since the beginning of time has been telling would-be managers? "Your job is to grow your people." Didn't managers get the memo? Evidently not.<br />
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People who have been following the discussions about the millennial generation (Gen Y) have decried the fact they grew up thinking everything they did deserved a "good job" and they all got a prize. But guess what, the reality is that every employee needs and deserves the chance to grow and develop. This isn't a new phenomenon. We are <em>Homo sapiens</em> -- the <em>thinking ones</em>. These young workers are just acting on what is deep-seeded in everyone. We want to learn and grow. <br />
<br />
Although my old boss is long gone, his attitude isn't. Here are a few ideas to reverse the trend.<br />
<ol>
<li>Spend time with all employees finding out what their interests and talents are. </li>
<li>Figure out how to develop those interests and talents for mutual benefit.</li>
<li>Provide formal and informal training and mentoring.</li>
<li>Encourage individual initiative and growth. </li>
<li>Be ready to say "goodbye."</li>
</ol>
The best boss I ever had was Joe Caccavo. He reported to Lenny but he was not going to allow his views to affect our team. Joe developed a team of dedicated people who would have followed him to the ends of the earth. (Note: we were also civil service and unionized. Joe could not give us promotions or raises.) So how did he do it?<br />
<ol>
<li>Joe spent time with each of us just talking. He was genuinely interested in understanding our aspirations and talents and then doing what he could to fostering them.</li>
<li>Joe kept looking for ways to give each of us opportunities to develop our talents on the projects we worked on. He allowed us to try different roles and tasks and discover where our real contributions lay.</li>
<li>Joe set up "lunch and learn" sessions in the conference room one a week. They were voluntary but we never missed a one. He supplied the pizza and the knowledge. There was no budget but he found some local professors who were willing to come in once a month and give us more advanced training -- roast beef sandwiches on the menu for those sessions! </li>
<li>He encouraged us to take additional courses on our own and join professional groups that provided educational programs. He attended those meetings with us and helped us network. He let us know when we made mistakes and inspired us to correct them. He was no "softy" and knew how to deliver tough love when we needed it.</li>
<li>No one wanted to leave Joe's team. But Joe knew we needed to move on if we were going to continue to grow and develop. When I went to tell him that after 5 years I was going for a corporate position, Joe was thrilled. Because Joe had supported my development, his team had 5 years of results that benefited the organization. Other teams seldom kept people more than a year (yes even in that protected world.) </li>
</ol>
So which sort of boss are you? Joe or Lenny? I always tried to follow Joe's example and I still encourage my clients to do the same. If fact, my first advice when times are tough and budgets need to shrink? Increase training! After all, if you want people to do more with less, you need to train and mentor them to do that. Otherwise, they'll hit the road as soon as they can.<br />
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(c) <a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank">Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, president, Advantage Leadership, Inc</a>.<br />
Author: <a href="http://www.conventionalwisdomcenter.com/friends.html" target="_blank"><strong><em>Conventional Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers.</em></strong> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(This link takes you to a special
page for a special offer not available publicly.)<o:p></o:p></span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.conventionalwisdomcenter.com/friends.html" target="_blank"></a><br />
Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-90545477127741699792012-09-18T11:50:00.000-04:002012-09-18T11:50:49.975-04:00Happy Birthday, US Constitution<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">On September 17, 1787, delegates lined up to put their names on the document they had agonized over for the last four sweltering months in the Pennsylvania State House. Through it all, James Madison sat near the front of the delegates' meeting hall taking notes in his own shorthand of all the debates, discussions, and final compromises that made it into the document. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Three delegates refused to sign in the very end, holding out for a Bill of Rights. Others of the original 55 representatives from 12 states had drifted away or left in disgust. Rhode Island was not represented. It had refused to participate. Despite everything, with political divides as deep as any today, the remaining delegates signed and sent the new Constitution to Congress to pass on to State ratifying conventions. </span><br />
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</span><span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Visualize Benjamin <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Franklin</st1:place></st1:city>
in his eighties, overweight and crippled with a gout attack. He asks James
Wilson to read his remarks, which are addressed directly to the handful of
delegates who announced they would not sign the Constitution.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNewX0MrLXfUffHl_MMl7YwYccVybQlyfNPhXTG1wSH_C8nqLnrup9p8OYQDibDxeRMZ77wN8gtnqkjhWTJ1oZO2JlCDMsuB2wM0ZXzH_jrARUGKRPTJCFKaIBW66zNZWpXoLubhV6-n_1/s1600/ConventionHi.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNewX0MrLXfUffHl_MMl7YwYccVybQlyfNPhXTG1wSH_C8nqLnrup9p8OYQDibDxeRMZ77wN8gtnqkjhWTJ1oZO2JlCDMsuB2wM0ZXzH_jrARUGKRPTJCFKaIBW66zNZWpXoLubhV6-n_1/s200/ConventionHi.bmp" width="200" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I
confess that I do not entirely approve this Constitution at present…[H]aving
lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged…to change
opinions even on important subjects…[T]he older I grow, the more apt I am to
doubt my own judgment and pay more respect to the judgment of others…I cannot
help expressing a wish that every member of the convention who may still have
objections to it, would … doubt a little of his own infallibility…and put his
name to this instrument. <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span>Franklin</span></st1:place></st1:city><span> speaks down the centuries to leaders. Although the
three reluctant delegates were not swayed that day, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Franklin</st1:place></st1:city> captured a key element of great
leaders. They all know they make bad decisions sometimes. They know they are
fallible and question their preconceived notions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span>As our presidential election draws near, the attack ads continue relentlessly, and candidates play fast and loose with the facts, heed Franklin's advice. Celebrate this Constitution and pay more respect to the judgment of others. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span>* * * * * * * * *</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span><a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank">(c) Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, president, Advantage Leadership, Inc.</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span>To find out more about this important day in U.S. history, the strategic planning and leadership of the framers, and the wisdom of today's strategic leaders, read <a href="http://www.conventionalwisdomcenter.com/friends.html" target="_blank"><strong><em>Conventional Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers</em></strong>. (This link takes you to a special page for a special offer not available publicly.)</a></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span><o:p><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-87373551601959540972012-07-14T19:11:00.001-04:002012-07-14T19:11:20.045-04:00Black Lung Is Back: For My Family It Never Left<a href="http://tinyurl.com/88c76uq" target="_blank">NPR highlighted new evidence that the killer of coal miners - Black Lung - is back</a>. <a href="http://tinyurl.com/88c76uq"><strong>http://tinyurl.com/88c76uq</strong></a><strong> </strong>For my family, it never left. In the early part of the last century, my maternal grandfather, <strong><em>Rufus Necessary</em></strong>, was a coal miner in Wise County in Southwest Virginia. He had a wife, <strong><em>Lula</em></strong>, and several children; 2 daughters and 2 sons. He came down with <strong>black lung</strong> prior to <strong>1912</strong>. The mining company moved him into the office to do bookkeeping. Sometime in 1912 just before the birth of his youngest child, he died. Lula and the children were taken in by relatives but it was not a permanent solution. The family decided to distribute the older children to various relatives nearby. That left an 18 month old baby girl who bore her father's name, <strong><em>Rufus Necessary</em></strong>.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Udi7lShra9C5k8HQZhkLoQQzW1UT7kOMWxKzWXmPXPdy_kxTSI0t-JlM91-uix_hgG8gcJpdgKcWlgS7npnCpCycmjdTu2S_DmoCVNG9NumP3E1VuzS9F_Ub-2oE1WCr8aw-dP-5wo-p/s1600/Mama+and+Mike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Udi7lShra9C5k8HQZhkLoQQzW1UT7kOMWxKzWXmPXPdy_kxTSI0t-JlM91-uix_hgG8gcJpdgKcWlgS7npnCpCycmjdTu2S_DmoCVNG9NumP3E1VuzS9F_Ub-2oE1WCr8aw-dP-5wo-p/s320/Mama+and+Mike.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruth nee Rufus at 2 with Mike the dog</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What was to become of her? None of the family members wanted to take on a younin' so through the local church network the word went out. Living not too far away in the little town of Appalachia were a childless couple, <strong><em>Rob and Lottie Jett</em></strong>. They adopted the little girl and changed her name to <strong><em>Ruth Jett</em></strong>. Rob worked for a small coal-hauling railroad where he had started out as a telegrapher and worked his way up to finally becoming a superintendent. Little Ruth grew up in somewhat more fortunate circumstances in the little town. Almost unheard of at the time, she eventually went to William and Mary and started a new life as a teacher. She eventually married and had a family, continued teaching and studying, and ended up with masters degrees in English and Counseling and a PhD in English education. She finished her long career as a professor at a local college in Roanoke, Virginia.<br />
<br />
But Ruth still bore the scars of the death of her father. She loved her adopted parents and they doted on her. As an adult she was close to one of her brothers and they visited back and forth. Still there was a gnawing feeling of loss and abandonment flying under the surface. Black lung had stripped her of her biological family. <br />
<br />
The mining companies and industry groups continued to deny reality and death certificates almost never bore the words "black lung" as cause of death. Today with a resurgence of the disease exacerbated by the addition of silica to the deadly coal dust not much changes. The industry denies, allies in Congress want to investigate the folks who did the latest study, the President doesn't want to push the issue in an election year, and with the general gridlock, there is no hope of action now.<br />
<br />
In <strong>1912</strong>, <strong><em>Lula Necessary</em></strong> was faced with a bleak future and devastating choices. She had no government safety net, no access to the courts, and no skills with which to make a living and support her kids. She had to give away her children and hope for the best. Records show she eventually found work as a domestic servant and may have married. Her children all did well and entered the middle class as professionals. Rufus and Lula's grandchildren also became professionals and raised families of their own. None of us bear the scars but we do have the sad family memories and an abiding belief that <em>it should not have to happen to others.</em><br />
<br />
<strong>My mother, Ruth/Rufus, and her family were victims exactly 100 years ago. In that time, how many more miners and their families have been destroyed?</strong><br />
<br />
Why am I posting this on my strategic leadership blog? Simple, <br />
<br />
<strong>Black Lung is back because of lack of leadership at every level. The feds, the states, the coal companies, the unions, and industry associations have all been complicitous. </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>100 years is too long to wait for the elimination of this killer. </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Where are the leaders?</strong>Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-19329094504842531002012-07-04T07:30:00.000-04:002012-07-04T07:32:26.254-04:00Dirtiest Election Ever: July 4th Battle of the TitansThomas Jefferson. John Adams. Comrades in the revolutionary struggle. Friends. Allies. Not in 1800. <br />
<br />
In 1800 they squared off against one another in what many historians rate as the dirtiest election ever. They were the public face of the newly minted political parties; Adams for the Federalists and Jefferson for the Republicans. They were locked in a battle with few rules and fewer scruples. <br />
<br />
But that wasn't always the case. In 1776 they were members of the historic Continental Congress. They were ahead of many of their contemporaries in realizing the need to break from Britain. Although Jefferson was relatively new to the Congress and Adams was a seasoned veteran, Adams recognized the talents of Jefferson immediately. They were designated a committee along with Ben Franklin to draft a document for the Congress to declare independence. Adams immediately suggested Jefferson pen the draft for them to review.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/nrvpZxMfKaU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
The rest, as they say, is history. Jefferson penned the document, the Congress did a little editing, and then they members signed. The official signing date was set for July 4, 1776 and has been celebrated ever since. Adams believed the day should be marked with fireworks and celebrations and tonight I'll be off to watch some locally and listen to my husband play in the Greater Miami Symphonic Band. It will be a joyous celebration.<br />
<br />
<strong>But there is another anniversary to notice today.</strong> After many years of close friendship and public service, Jefferson and Adams entered our first federal government in 1788. Adams became George Washington's Vice President and Jefferson Secretary of State. The slow unraveling of a long relationship began as they drifted to different ends of the political spectrum. By the third national election in 1796, the proto-parties had emerged and with some maneuvering behind the scenes by Alexander Hamilton, Adams, the Federalist, became president while Jefferson, the Republican, became Vice President. The split became complete and set the stage for the battle of titans in 1800. <br />
<br />
With Jefferson's victory, Adams infamously lit out of town early on inauguration day to avoid formally passing the reigns of government to his bitter foe. And so the animosity festered below the surface for years. Almost a decade later, their mutual friend Benjamin Rush began a quiet campaign to reunite the former friends. For the last years of their lives they renewed that relationship forged in the crucible of the Revolution and wrote a series of letters not just for one another but for us. In the process, the terrible memories of the 1790s and early 1800s fell away, and a remarkable friendship emerged again. They talked history, politics, farming, and aging. These letters should be required reading for every citizen. There is no better insight into the minds of two of the revolutionary brotherhood.<br />
<br />
<strong>But here's where truth is stranger than fiction.</strong> In 1826 both titans turned down requests to speak at the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence celebrations. Both replied they were ill and not feeling well. As the day drew near, both men took to their beds, terminally ill. Jefferson drifted in and out of consciousness. Sometime in the early hours of July 4th he seemed to rally and asked, "Is it the 4th yet?" Adams woke briefly in the afternoon and said, "Jefferson still lives." But Jefferson was already gone and Adams joined him.<br />
<br />
After an almost life-long relationship with its depths and heights, these two extraordinary founders of the republic died exactly 50 years after bringing the founding document into existence and more importantly dedicating themselves to founding our country. You cannot make this stuff up. <br />
<br />
<strong>So are there any lessons for leaders, for politician, for individuals?</strong> Perhaps only one: Do not allow politics or other such foolishness to separate you from other people. Friendship - true relationships - are more important than ideology and other inanities. If Jefferson and Adams could survive the dirtiest election ever and reconnect, there is some hope for our own fractured country.<br />
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<i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">* * * * * * * *</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What's your idea: Do you have friends and do you maintain relationships with people you disagree with in politics? Please post your comments.</span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">* * * * * * *</span><br />
</span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">©</span></span><a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Our_Team/3/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rebecca
Staton-Reinstein</span></span></b></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>http://advantageleadership.com/section/Our_Team/3/
president, </span></span><a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Advantage Leadership, Inc.</span></span></b></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Http://www.AdvantageLeaership.com
</span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Want to know more about the tumultuous fights at the Constitutional Convention
and the election of 1800? Check out </span></span><a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Conventional_Wisdom/17/%20" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conventional Wisdom:
How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers</span></span></i></b></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> http://advantageleadership.com/section/Conventional_Wisdom/17/</span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br />
<b><i>I NEED YOUR HELP: </i></b>I'm beginning research for my new book on the
influence of leaders on their organizations (<b><i>Washington's Shadow</i></b>)
and I'm interested in your experiences or ideas for case studies. Do you know a
leader who has had a profound influence shaping the organization's culture and
changing it for the better? (I'm <i>not</i> interested in negative stories
which are much more common.) Drop me a note: <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<a href="mailto:Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com"><b><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com</span></span></b></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mailto:Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com
</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbcLmL3HuHo%20" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've started a companion YouTube
series and the introduction is up. Check it out.</span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZF_JGFu6Zw&feature=relmfu"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZF_JGFu6Zw&feature=relmfu</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span>Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-35949259126365083132012-06-20T09:39:00.000-04:002012-06-20T14:39:32.584-04:00Dirtiest Election Ever: Voter suppression, a time-honored tradition?<span style="font-family: Arial;">If you’re following U.S. politics, you know the current
contest between Governor Romney and President Obama is getting nastier with
each passing day and will soon surpass the primaries for down-n-dirty
campaigns. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">People decry how nasty campaigns have become, but the
nastiness was injected almost from the beginning. Many historians put the
campaign of 1800 at the top of the list for dirty contests. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">That election pitted the sitting president, John Adams,
against his Vice President, Thomas Jefferson. 1800 was the first big contest
between two distinct emerging parties. Adams represented the Federalists while
Jefferson stood for the Republicans (predecessor of today’s Democrats.)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Although it wasn’t considered gentlemanly to actually
campaign, Adams and Jefferson worked the levers behind the scenes, the totally
partisan press stirred the pot, and their surrogates were out there
campaigning. Jefferson was especially adept at the anonymous press articles and
getting his friends to “leak” his letters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>But what about the electorate?</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Today there is a raging controversy about voter
suppression. In my home state of Florida, the state is suing the Federal
Government to get access to citizenship records and the Feds are suing the
state for violating the Voting Rights Act. At this writing the issue is not
resolved. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">But are the notions of who is eligible to vote and voter
suppression really new? Of course not! The very existence of the Voting Rights
Act testifies to the history of suppressing the vote of African Americans and
others. (In full disclosure, I benefited directly from the Voting Rights Act.
Until the law passed, I could not vote in Indiana where I was a town resident
and university student.) </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Blacks, Indians, women, and propertyless whites were
denied access to voting from the beginning of the Republic. But a twist on
voter suppression was actually written into the Constitution – the infamous
Three-Fifths Rule. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In <em>Article I, Section 2,</em> which describes the
qualifications for Representatives, here’s what our founding fathers agreed to
in 1787:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpqR8wm5an1igbAwnmJBG14CGuqTT9Fevch7wYi0DSuYmqOYq8c3EDeKWAkklOjVbeEzzOpf79f6_Sj0AmHI7WiA3bYqVlx0W6vp7EpMjgSGcU-88zou6gESYcFMkvFwXtMdPguLPawQsN/s1600/Article+1+constitution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpqR8wm5an1igbAwnmJBG14CGuqTT9Fevch7wYi0DSuYmqOYq8c3EDeKWAkklOjVbeEzzOpf79f6_Sj0AmHI7WiA3bYqVlx0W6vp7EpMjgSGcU-88zou6gESYcFMkvFwXtMdPguLPawQsN/s200/Article+1+constitution.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned
among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to
their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole
Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years,
and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of other Persons.</em></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">First, let’s decode it: <em>“three fifths of other persons”</em>
means each enslaved person was to be counted in determining the total population
as 3/5 of a person. This increased the number of people counted in the
population to determine congressional districts inflating representation.
However, these “other persons” were not allowed to vote. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The practical effect of this notorious clause was to
provide more electoral votes to states with large enslaved populations than
they would have had based on the white population. This skewing of the
electoral vote meant Jefferson had a distinct advantage over Adams. In fact, it
helped elect the Virginia dynasty – Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. (For
dedicated political junkies, check out <em>Negro President: Jefferson and the Slave
Power</em> by Garry Wills for a detailed look at the implications for electoral
votes.) </span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In 1800 the issue was gerrymandering the Electoral
College to suppress the vote of states without a large enslaved population. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This odious section of the Constitution was not
eliminated until the 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment was passed in 1868. Even then,
Indians were still excluded. In 1870 the 15<sup>th</sup> amendment was passed
finally providing: </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude.</em></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Women were not a part of the
voting system (with a few exceptions) until passage of the 19<sup>th</sup>
Amendment in 1920.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>What are the lessons for today?</strong></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Lessons for political leaders:</strong></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Tempus fugit:</em></strong> The Roman poet Virgil is credited with
adding this handy phrase to our lexicon when he wrote, “<i>fugit irreparabile
tempus.” Time flees irretrievably. </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">While
politicians in every age get mired in the immediate mandate to get elected and
re-elected, they fail to notice history is leaving them behind. The wrongs will
eventually get righted and they will be on the wrong side of history.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><strong><em>Carpe diem: </em></strong>The
Roman poet Horace coined this useful phrase as, “<i>Carpe diem quam minimum
credula postero.” </i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seize the
Day, putting as little trust as possible in the future</i>. For politicians
this could be interpreted as, “Do what is right today and don’t wait for a ‘better
time’ at some date in the future.” Gradualism and hope are not successful
strategies for change. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Usque ad:</em></strong> All right I’m pushing the Latin translation but,
roughly, it means “inclusive.” In terms of political leaders this means including
every citizen on the voting rolls, educating them, and getting them out to the
polls. Some countries have mandatory voting, which probably world not work
here. But the embarrassingly low turnout, even for presidential elections,
erodes democracy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Lessons for leaders and managers:</em></strong></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Tempus fugit:</em></strong> The time to fight bias, especially
unconscious bias in the work place is now. Time is fleeing and every day that
passes without tapping into the totality of human potential sets companies,
governments, and nonprofits/NGOs back. In a globally connected world, there is
no rational, financial or organizational reason to exclude the creative
capacity of every human mind. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Carpe diem:</em></strong> Every year the Catalyst Award seeks out
companies that have unearthed their hidden biases, broken down the barriers,
and tapped every employee’s potential contribution. There is always a
bottom-line upside.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Usque ad:</em></strong> Inclusiveness can easily slip into the
buzz-word-du-jour waste bin. Yet, as the most successful leaders have figured
out inclusiveness and celebrating diverse ideas, opinions, and insights leads
to the innovation necessary to compete successfully today. Why would you
exclude anyone? Which ideas can you afford to miss?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Lessons for personal action:</em></strong></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Tempus fugit:</em></strong> Time flees while you divert your mind with
____ (fill in the blank.) The election draws near. Inform yourself on the
issues, choose your candidate, and go to work for him or her. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Carpe diem:</em></strong> Speak out. Look for every opportunity to
support full voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts. Voter fraud is
not threatening our democracy…Voter apathy is. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Usque ad:</em></strong> Insist your candidates embrace inclusiveness,
not only in their campaigns, but in their support of full voter participation.
The actual number of fraudulent voters is miniscule and non-consequential. The
impact of non-participation is devastating. Turning this around could change
the game entirely for all of us of every political stripe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">* * * * * * * *</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>What's your idea: <em>Can we
progress from our checkered history on voter suppression and apathy to full
participation?</em> Please post your comments.</strong></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">* * * * * * *</span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><strong>Next: <em>Is money the great corrupter of
politics?</em></strong></span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">* * * * * *<br />
©</span></span><a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Our_Team/3/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Rebecca
Staton-Reinstein</span></span></b></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>president, </span></span><a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Advantage Leadership, Inc.</span></span></b></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">
Want to know more about the tumultuous fights at the Constitutional Convention
and the election of 1800? Check out </span></span><a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Conventional_Wisdom/17/%20" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Conventional
Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding
Fathers</span></span></i></b></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><i>I NEED YOUR HELP: </i></b>I'm beginning research for my new book on the
influence of leaders on their organizations (<b><i>Washington's Shadow</i></b>)
and I'm interested in your experiences or ideas for case studies. Do you know a
leader who has had a profound influence shaping the organization's culture and
changing it for the better? (I'm <i>not</i> interested in negative stories
which are much more common.) Drop me a note: <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="mailto:Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com"><b><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com</span></span></b></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 5.45pt;">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbcLmL3HuHo%20" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We've started a companion YouTube
series and the introduction is up. Check it out.</span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZF_JGFu6Zw&feature=relmfu"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZF_JGFu6Zw&feature=relmfu</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">
</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-80859006460407601462012-06-17T11:57:00.000-04:002012-06-17T11:57:49.356-04:00Dirtiest Election Ever: Are foreign affairs so foreign?<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong><em>European policies stymie American growth</em></strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong><em>Foreign countries threaten American existence</em></strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong><em>African pirates disrupt shipping</em></strong></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Headlines from today’s news? They could have just as
easily been blazoned across the papers of 1800. During every election cycle,
people are more focused on domestic issues; situations affecting them every day
in obvious ways. Unless there is some huge threat, foreign affairs fall way
down the list of criteria for choosing a candidate. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In 1800, the types of foreign threats the U.S. faced were
eerily similar to those that affect us today. Perhaps the biggest were those
growing out of the ongoing wars in Europe, especially the monumental battles
between England and France. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">President <em>George Washington</em> had insisted on a position of
neutrality in the face of these conflicts. However, neither England nor France
recognized our stance and attacked our shipping with impunity. Under President
<em>John Adams</em> we engaged in the Quasi-War with France as our shipping was attacked
on the high seas and in the Caribbean. England routinely boarded our merchant ships
and impressed sailors they claimed were British citizens. They also barred us
from the Caribbean. Pirates along the infamous Barbary Coast of Africa and in
the Mediterranean routinely attacked our ships, held the captains for ransom,
and enslaved the crew. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcTqN6ivvirAI7PddpulZpQSCsbjsmVdJAFDR2j5WmXBG4Q3lIWOkicGIAVwMaDim1vSMuDOpbeOo8TcAof-Lmi5fWgnzljnl4R-F_PmcvSDtGQKNpE6Br7iTSKi6E_2AKCvReUpmxgjB/s1600/map1800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRcTqN6ivvirAI7PddpulZpQSCsbjsmVdJAFDR2j5WmXBG4Q3lIWOkicGIAVwMaDim1vSMuDOpbeOo8TcAof-Lmi5fWgnzljnl4R-F_PmcvSDtGQKNpE6Br7iTSKi6E_2AKCvReUpmxgjB/s200/map1800.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The World in 1800</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">By 1800, the battle lines were pretty firmly drawn. <em>John
Adams</em> was always distrustful of France since his days as a diplomat there. He
and the <em>Federalist Party</em> leaned towards England. In fact, he was disliked in
his own party for not going to war with France. The <em>Federalist</em>, concentrated in
New England and South Carolina, wanted to reestablish profitable trade with England.
There were even calls for secession. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>Thomas Jefferson</em> and his <em>Republican Party</em> disliked the
British and wanted stronger ties to France. During the French Revolution,
Jefferson supported the new order even when it turned into the Terror. In 1800
he was accused of being a Jacobin – a term the electorate translated as far
more than a Francophile. They accused him of wanting to abolish private
property and religion and turn their daughters into prostitutes in Temples of
Wisdom!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the midst of all this, Adams had sent delegates to
England to negotiate a new Treaty, which was universally hated because people
saw it as a complete capitulation to the British. He was given no credit for
keeping the fragile new nation out of wars we would have surely lost. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Character assassination was the game of the day, just as
now. Each side tried to paint the other as traitors to the American people. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>What can leaders learn from this for today’s elections?</strong></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the political realm, people like to say, <em>“Politics
ends at the water’s edge.”</em> They recall times in our history when this was the
dominant approach. However, those moments are not the norm as much as we might
wish them to be. What can we ask of the presidential candidates? Articulate a
coherent, comprehensive policy that makes it possible to choose. (Of course,
that requires an electorate that educates itself on the issues, makes rational
decisions, and goes to the polls. Because none of these conditions has ever
been met in our history, this may be asking too much.)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><strong>Lessons for Business Leaders</strong></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Foreign affairs matter:</strong> In a global economy, virtually no
business is isolated from what happens elsewhere. Consider in greater depth all
the ramifications of outsourcing or trading with any country. By now companies
understand there is more to the equation than lower production costs or opening
new markets. Weigh these other factors and consequences seriously in making
decisions. Help everyone understand how these decisions affect them and fit
with the mission.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Foster understanding: </strong>In global companies or those that
do business directly in other countries, insist on cultural understanding and
sensitivity. These include learning the language and engaging with people. Too
often employees live in cultural isolation. Unconscious bias is rampant and
undiagnosed. Assess your situation independently and take action to correct
your issues.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Forget isolation:</strong> Even in companies that do no direct
business with other countries, do not isolate yourself and your staff from what
is going on in the rest of the world. Help people understand how all the pieces
of the global puzzle fit together. Educate yourself and your staff about the
issues. Look for opportunities to engage with people from other countries. The “isolationist”
position is unsustainable in today’s world. We cannot afford the fear,
mistrust, anger, and xenophobia isolation breeds. It’s always in our interest
to know and understand the world as it exists not as we might like it to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson interpreted their
work and interactions in Europe through their own biases. Adams tended to
reject outright people, nations, and customs that were different. Jefferson,
although more open, accepting, and even embracing of various European cultures,
was ready to overlook any negative by reinterpreting everything through his
political philosophy. Neither approach serves today’s political and business
leaders. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">* * * * * * * *</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What's your idea: <em>Can we actually
adapt ourselves, our businesses, and our country to a global world?</em> Please post
your comments.</span></span></strong><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">* * * * * * *</span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Next: <em>Voter suppression, a time honored
tradition?</em></span><o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></div>
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</strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>* * * * * *</strong>
©</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Our_Team/3/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rebecca Staton-Reinstein</span></b></a></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, president, </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Advantage Leadership, Inc.</span></b></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">
Want to know more about the tumultuous fights at the Constitutional Convention
and the election of 1800? Check out </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Conventional_Wisdom/17/%20" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Conventional Wisdom: How Today's Leaders
Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers</span></span></i></b></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">
<br />
<b><i>I NEED YOUR HELP: </i></b>I'm beginning research for my new book on the
influence of leaders on their organizations (<b><i>Washington's Shadow</i></b>)
and I'm interested in your experiences or ideas for case studies. Do you know a
leader who has had a profound influence shaping the organization's culture and
changing it for the better? (I'm <i>not</i> interested in negative stories
which are much more common.) Drop me a note: </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="mailto:Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com"><b><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com</span></span></b></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZF_JGFu6Zw&feature=relmfu" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We've started a companion YouTube series and the introductionis up. Check it out.</span></span></a></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-2286962311436463572012-06-04T16:05:00.000-04:002012-06-04T16:05:27.722-04:00Dirtiest Election Ever: Beyond the F-Bomb<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every time a politician drops the F-bomb, the media are all atwitter. (Can Twitter be atwitter?) They run the clip over and over BLEEPING politely at the crucial moment so as not to offend us. The current two candidates for president are not the sort of folks who will be caught using this anglosaxonism although their associates may be. Jefferson and Adams in the election of 1800 usually preferred the perfect barbed comment also.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what? Move off the "networks" and onto the cable channels and the F-Bomb is just another word among many floating across the airwaves. But looking back to the really nasty election of 1800 and its parallels with 2012, what is the story when it comes to salty language and attack words?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today as in 1800 there were words that people thought too rude for public discourse. But what was happening behind the scenes? There folks weren't as gentlemanly as we like to think, especially when talking among themselves. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">George Washington had a towering temper he kept in check for the most part. When he let it rip he could toss the verbal bombs with the best of them. When delegates to the Constitutional Convention sat with their pipes and port after dinner, they often swapped bawdy stories, just as people do today. One of their favorite games was inventing wilder and wilder puns about Gouverneur Morris' wooden leg and his way with the ladies. James Madison was infamous among his contemporaries for his off-color stories.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's true they didn't throw the F-Bomb but they certainly came close. John Adams was no fan of Alexander Hamilton and in a letter to Benjamin Rush in 1806 let fly with this diatribe against Hamilton for remarks he had made denigrating George Washington. </span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhahZ759BNKbglnkmdwWG-Gxz7BHmPgS2dnmSFj3BOOWfETXlvjbZ7FFOmErZjXUphSpDMh1QbJeO40b0AffvL3XwriX3bvBZf1qnh5BajELm3MDunUporxqgDS5Ui0EtJwjkkIcU1h6ibM/s1600/JohnAdams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhahZ759BNKbglnkmdwWG-Gxz7BHmPgS2dnmSFj3BOOWfETXlvjbZ7FFOmErZjXUphSpDMh1QbJeO40b0AffvL3XwriX3bvBZf1qnh5BajELm3MDunUporxqgDS5Ui0EtJwjkkIcU1h6ibM/s1600/JohnAdams.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Adams</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><em>Although I read with tranquility
and suffered to pass without animadversion in silent contempt the <strong>base
insinuations of vanity</strong> and a hundred <strong>lies</strong> besides published in a pamphlet
against me by an <strong>insolent coxcomb</strong> who rarely dined in good company, where there
was good wine, without <strong>getting silly and vaporing</strong> about his administration <strong>like
a young girl</strong> about her brilliants and trinkets, yet I lose <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">all </span>patience when I think of <strong>a bastard
brat of a Scotch pedlar</strong> daring to threaten to undeceive the world in their
judgment of Washington by writing an history of his battles and campaigns. This
<strong>creature was in a delirium of ambition</strong>; he had been <strong>blown up with vanity</strong> by the
tories, had fixed his eyes on the highest station in America, and he hated
every man, young or old, who stood in his way or could in any manner eclipse
his laurels or <strong>rival his pretensions</strong>. </em></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><em>.
. </em></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Pretty strong stuff...but not as strong as these "gentlemen" wrote under pen names in the popular press skewering one another and accusing one another of the worst intentions, treason, and more. Generally they lambasted one another with innuendo as well as direct attacks. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, what can be a delicious pastime is dissecting their elaborate language and watch as they slip the verbal knife between the ribs and give a fatal twist.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We seldom hear such creativity today where it's so easy to just go for the flat obscenity rather than the creative crudity. I was impressed when <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/george-will-calls-donald-trump-a-bloviating-ignoramus-on-this-week/" target="_blank">George Will called Donald Trump a bloviating ignoramus.</a> The founding fathers would have liked that.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">But are there any <strong>Leadership Lessons</strong> in all this?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Perhaps a few:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><em>Leaders control themselves:</em></strong> George Washington was prickly and thin skinned and took offence easily. Yet his advice to himself and others was to show restraint of "tongues and pens." He kept his temper in check most of the time. "Losing it" on a regular basis causes people to disengage. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Leaders cultivate creativity:</em></strong> "Bloviating" is such a yummy word and I'm sure many people scurried to google its meaning. (Synonym for blow hard) In our general anti-intellectual climate, leaders encourage their people to think and grow and become more articulate.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Leaders do not condone crudity:</em></strong> Leaders know that some language offends some people just like the bawdy stories and sexist remarks that have disappeared for most workplaces. They do not insist on better communication because of "political correctness." They want to be inclusive; they want everyone to be engaged. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Just because the founding fathers weren't saints doesn't mean we do not honor and respect them. We admire them because, like us, they were all too human, capable of pettiness and backbiting, and sometimes behaving badly. We can learn from them precisely because they are human. We can learn from their mistakes and when they triumphed over their human nature. <strong><em>And we can learn from their fierce honesty because they would call a bloviating ignoramus a bloviating ignoramus!</em></strong></span><br />
<strong><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">* * * * * * * *</span></em></strong><br />
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<b><span style="color: #474b4e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What's your idea: Can we joust with more inventive language without bloviating? Please post your comments.</span></b><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><b><span style="color: #474b4e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">* * * * * * *</span></b><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><b><span style="color: #474b4e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Next: How foreign are foreign affairs?</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #474b4e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">* * * * * *</span><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><span style="color: #474b4e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">©</span><a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Our_Team/3/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Rebecca
Staton</span></b><b><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-</span></b><b><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Reinstein</span></b></a><span style="color: #474b4e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, president, </span><a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Advantage Leadership, Inc.</span></b></a><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><span style="color: #474b4e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Want to know more about the
tumultuous fights at the Constitutional Convention and the election of 1800?
Check out </span><a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Conventional_Wisdom/17/%20" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Conventional Wisdom:
How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers</span></i></b></a><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><span style="color: #474b4e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><b><i><span style="color: #474b4e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I NEED YOUR HELP: </span></i></b><span style="color: #474b4e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I'm beginning research for my new book on the influence of
leaders on their organizations (<b><i>Washington's Shadow</i></b>) and I'm
interested in your experiences or ideas for case studies. Do you know a leader
who has had a profound influence shaping the organization's culture and
changing it for the better? (I'm <i>not</i> interested in negative stories
which are much more common.) Drop me a note: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="mailto:Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com"><b><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Rebecca</span></b><b><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">@</span></b><b><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">AdvantageLeadership</span></b><b><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.com</span></b></a><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbcLmL3HuHo" target="_blank">We've started a companion YouTube series and the introduction is up. Check it out.</a></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-75939796859138474982012-05-29T11:40:00.000-04:002012-05-29T11:40:49.505-04:00Dirtiest Election Ever: God or Not God, That is THE Question<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Religion seems to always raise its specter during the silly season - the election cycle. This is one of the smarmier sides of politics - folks attacking Romney and his religion, Mormonism, as a cult and non-Christian; other folks accusing Obama of being either a secret Muslim or white-hating black Christian...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a while it seems like outrages get more extreme...but is it anything new? Unfortunately not. The "dirtiest election ever" was held in 1800 when Thomas Jefferson faced off against John Adams...and guess what? Religion and accusations about religion were front and center. Remember, in 1800 ALL newspapers were affiliated with one or the other party. There was nothing that resembled unbiased journalism...and there were virtually no rules. NOTHING was sacred.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jefferson, the Vice President, was the standard bearer for the Republicans. (No not the same party as the one today. Jefferson's Republicans morphed into the Democratic Republicans and later the Democratic Party.) Adams, the sitting President, represented the Federalists (who died off in the early 1800s.) </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both were "founding fathers" and recognized as great patriots. </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adams had been one of the first to push for a break with England and was a leading member of the Continental Congress and helped write the Constitution for the new State of Massachusetts. He had been part of the committee charged with writing the Declaration of Independence. He served as Washington's Vice President and kept the new country out of wars with England and France.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jefferson was also part of the committee charged with drafting the Declaration. Adams proposed Jefferson should create the draft to bring back for approval by Congress. Jefferson had served as war time governor of Virginia and was almost captured by the British. He had served as Adams' Vice President, Washington's Secretary of State, and, earlier, been our representative to France. </span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both men had sterling credentials...</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was the era of the Enlightenment that swept Europe and the colonies. Adams, Jefferson, and the rest of the Revolutionary generation were weaned on John Locke's treatises. So it should come as no surprise that Jefferson was a Deist. In all probability so were Adams, Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton. The difference was these gentlemen never made public pronouncements or recorded their views in writing and Jefferson did.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you're wondering what a Deist is...Essentially they believe god may have created the universe but does not intervene after the creation. Nature's laws can be studied and understood. There is no need for organized religion. Scriptures are interesting but not divine revelation. People must use and develop their rational capacities to solve the problems of the world. Logical belief for the children of the Enlightenment was heresy for the dominant Protestant culture of country in 1800. To add a little spice to the religious mixture, the late 18th century was the period known as the "Great Awakening" in America as a highly spiritual, evangelical spirit and "dissenting" religions spread across many states.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jefferson had committed one huge sin in the eyes of many devout Christians (and political opponents.) He had written the <strong><em>Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom</em></strong>. Its goal was to disestablish the Episcopal Church as the official religion in the state, allow freedom of conscience for everyone, and no longer allow state taxes to go to support religious schools and churches. (His buddy, James Madison, a masterful politician, got it through the Virginia Assembly, used it as a basis for writing the First Amendment to the Constitution later, and incurred the wrath and retaliation of Patrick Henry.)</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXIa9viX7oTaUJidsOZEVBumemBj8rBp_TmTps98f8w4O9-sNWqOTD8i1T2U3LthQQkxxgBH2xNdywuilwgVSFDAQjcvUSsYHFfkimp9RMa1SpstrU9NFb5IdLk8ocvSwMhHxq8hwod9A/s1600/Jefferson_Bible.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXIa9viX7oTaUJidsOZEVBumemBj8rBp_TmTps98f8w4O9-sNWqOTD8i1T2U3LthQQkxxgBH2xNdywuilwgVSFDAQjcvUSsYHFfkimp9RMa1SpstrU9NFb5IdLk8ocvSwMhHxq8hwod9A/s200/Jefferson_Bible.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jefferson created his own version of the bible</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>So let the games begin.</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adams was vilified as a monarchist, still a dirty word in 1800. He was accused of plotting to set up a hereditary monarchy beginning with his son John Quincy. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The common epithet thrown at Jefferson was atheist, an accusation attached to him throughout his long political career. During the 1800 elections cycle Jefferson's support of the French Revolution earned him yet another attack - Jacobin. Like his French counterparts, it was said he wanted to destroy religion and abolish churches and private property.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jefferson was the subject of viral attacks in the press. Yes, that's nothing new - it just took a little longer as other papers and pamphlets copied the following from the <em>Gazette of the United States</em>, a Federalist paper, and spread it:</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The Grand Question Stated: only question to be asked of every American...Shall I continue in allegiance to God and a religious president or impiously declare for Jefferson and no God?</strong> </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Substitute today's candidates and the effect is the same.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>What are the lessons for leaders today?</em></strong></span></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Ignore labels:</em> </strong>Successful strategic leaders know great ideas can come from anyone. They also know a religious or political label does not reveal how a person will behave and act. Bigotry, prejudice, and bias have no role for leaders. Savvy leaders search themselves for these traps and consciously refute them.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong> </div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Advocate:</em> </strong>Successful leaders will take their cue from James Madison. Madison was a religious man and member of the Episcopal Church. Yet it was he who brought his legislative skills to bear to oppose Patrick Henry and the Virginia elite and pass the <strong><em>Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom</em></strong> and penned the First Amendment to the US Constitution and shepherded it through the first Congress. It was Madison who championed the separation of church and state and opposed appointing a chaplain for Congress and opening sessions with prayer. Leaders advocate for the rights of those who have no advocate.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Practice What You Preach:</em> </strong>Leaders put their faith or beliefs into action.<strong> </strong>We fault the founding fathers for their refusal to end slavery. Perhaps one of the most stunning exceptions was Robert Carter III, member of the Virginia elite. In 1791 he walked into the local courthouse and initiated the process to free <em>all</em> his enslaved people. He grew into his beliefs as part of the Great Awakening. He was a member of integrated churches, some of which had black clergy, and all of which preached complete equality. He freed over 450 people, more than <em>anyone</em> freed prior to emancipation 60 years later. Carter took what he believed to be the right action. His position was, "My plans and advice have never been pleasing to the world." Despite being ostracized by his fellow planters and ignoring the financial impact, he continued to support his former bondsmen, provided them land, and lived with them as neighbors. </span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></strong> </div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Refute the Ridiculous:</em> </strong>Leaders have the courage to refute the mud slung at their opponents. Throughout the down-and-dirty election of 1800, John Adams never refuted the attacks on Jefferson, nor did Jefferson refute those hurled at Adams. They were long-time friends and knew one another well. They knew the truth about one another. They missed an opportunity to demonstrate their greatness. Leaders defend the truth with enthusiasm as John McCain did in 2008 confronting the birthers.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's your idea: Can we leave religion and matters of conscience out of politics and the workplace? Please post your comments.</span></span></strong><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><b><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* * * * * * *</span></span></b><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><b><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next: Discourse before the F-Bomb</span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span></b><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* * * * * *</span></span><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">©</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Our_Team/3/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Rebecca
Staton-Reinstein</span></b></a></span><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">,
president, </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Advantage
Leadership, Inc.</span></b></a></span></span><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Want to know more about the
tumultuous fights at the Constitutional Convention and the election of 1800?
Check out </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Conventional_Wisdom/17/%20" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Conventional Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform,
and Progress Like the Founding Fathers</span></i></b></a></span></span><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I NEED YOUR HELP: </span></i></b><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I'm beginning research for my new book on the influence of leaders on
their organizations (<strong><em>Washington's Shadow</em></strong>) and I'm interested in your
experiences or ideas for case studies. Do you know a leader who has had a
profound influence shaping the organization's culture and changing it for the
better? (I'm <em>not</em> interested in negative stories which are much more common.)
Drop me a note: <span style="color: black;">
</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="mailto:Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com"><b><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com</span></span></b></a><span style="color: #474b4e; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
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<br /></div>Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1369586799255670904.post-20361587686241333962012-05-23T10:01:00.000-04:002012-05-23T14:14:54.650-04:00Dirtiest Election Ever? Check out the media<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The pundits and the media (ironically) decry the dirtiness or our politics - attack ads flourish and seem to have a real impact - SuperPACs now proliferate in the "new" no-holds-barred election cycle. Big money, dirty tricks, pants-on-fire lies and fabrications, and every low-down trick we know seem to be on display. It's all new, right? We used to have more well-behaved elections, right? The founding fathers didn't intend us to be so undignified, so down-in-the-gutter, so...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sorry to disappoint all those folks who have never gone beyond Washington chopping down the cherry tree in their study of our history. Modern-day politicians are pikers by the founders' standards! They may even be laughing at the few "rules" we have set up. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(In full disclosure, I want to make my position very clear: I hate negative campaigning, dirty tricks, big money in the mix, and all the rest. But as a student of history and psychology, I know it ain't gonna change.)</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6HY1qAOdoK_V5ZDg-i279_w13ZJbBDcx0yMvAB79r5OStevb6DlNVux_Hm2DYbadJeekgw4r3C55Mc_C4_Z52-PfPZOWedC5r8N09A_nTHzQ6FPregV8ibFJP4ot5e7nUjw2IinnuRoZO/s1600/JeffersonVsAdams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6HY1qAOdoK_V5ZDg-i279_w13ZJbBDcx0yMvAB79r5OStevb6DlNVux_Hm2DYbadJeekgw4r3C55Mc_C4_Z52-PfPZOWedC5r8N09A_nTHzQ6FPregV8ibFJP4ot5e7nUjw2IinnuRoZO/s320/JeffersonVsAdams.jpg" width="242" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>The dirtiest election in our history? 1800, Jefferson vs. Adams.</em></strong> Yes, the first few elections had gone smoothly and pretty much as expected. Washington, who could have been elected every time, stepped down after two terms, establishing a precedent that would stand until Roosevelt's four terms and the predictable backlash establishing two terms as the rule. John Adams, not always the most popular of the "fathers," had served as Vice President for Washington's terms and was elected president. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But by the time of Adams election in 1796, the die was already cast. By then we had two parties who were at war with one another; The Federalists, headed by Alexander Hamilton and including Adams and the Republicans,* headed by Thomas Jefferson. Just to make things interesting, Jefferson the Republican would serve as Federalist Adams VP.**</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the election cycle I will be looking at the big controversies in our present day and demonstrating how they mirror that critical election of 1800. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To kick it off, let's look back at where it all started for our republic.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No sooner did Americans stop fighting the British than they started fighting one another. After newspapers ceased to report on military exploits and denunciations of the Crown they began to fill their columns with the cannonades of politics. Having briefly put aside their old ways of lying and dissembling, exaggerating and trivializing, distorting and abusing and insulting, journalists turned to them again with a new and even more pointed vehemence as they began to consider the most important question of the time, possibly the most important question Americans have ever had to ask themselves: Now that we have won the right to govern ourselves, how, precisely, do we go about it?<u><span style="font-size: x-small;">1</span></u></span></em></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How indeed...The media of the late 18th and early 19th century had no rules. Every newspaper and pamphlet (the blogs of the day) was proudly partisan, secretly funded by candidates, and out to destroy the opposition. </span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are the lessons for today's leaders?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Demand better.</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Whether as corporate sponsors or
consumers, leaders need to demand better reporting, better information,
and better coverage. Trying to find out what's happening in the world is a
frustrating undertaking. The BBC is still one of the best sources for
in-depth, relatively unbiased reporting. Watching CNN outside the US also
means getting some thoughtful straight-up reporting. But back at home?
We're back in the 18th century with "infotainment" ruling the
day - lots of chatty folks, teasers for absurd stories, and the occasional
headline buried in the dross. Leaders demand better results from their
staffs constantly, so apply that to the media.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dig deeper. </span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thought leaders must push themselves to dig deeper into the
situation. What's under the surface? What else is going on? Behind the
screaming headline or breathless "news" reader, what are </span><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">all</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> the facts? If you want to blog or report or
tweet or speak about what's going on, do your homework. Today we drown in
lots of stuff floating around the Internet with no fact checking,
verifying sources, or taking on any of the other disciplines of
"serious" journalism. Leaders demand as much information and as
many facts as possible before making decisions. Do the same before arguing
your case. Separate opinion from a fact-based explanation. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Decide ethically. </span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leaders are clear about their values and
filter their decisions through those. At the same time, leaders don't need
to trash the opposition to make a case. Whether supporting your favorite
candidate or touting your product and services, tell the truth. There is
really no need to run down the other guy or the other product to
demonstrate the value in your point of view or product. Discuss the
benefits. Leave the trash talk for the entertainers. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">What's your idea: Can we overcome our human
nature and our history? </span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/7b6ornk"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Post your responses on the blog. </span></a><a href="http://conventionalwisdominstitute.blogspot.com/2012/05/dirtiest-election-ever-check-out-media.html"><b><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">http://conventionalwisdominstitute.blogspot.com/2012/05/dirtiest-election-ever-check-out-media.html</span></b></a></span></span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* * * * * * *</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next: God or No God, that is the question.</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Jefferson's Republicans morphed into the Democratic Republicans and then the Democratic Party. Hamilton's Federalists never held the presidency after Adams and faded from the scene in the early 19th century. Today's Republican Party formed in the 1850s and their first president was Lincoln.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**The Constitution initially required the top vote getter to become President and the second highest to become Vice President. Because of the disasters occurring in the 1800 election, it was changed to the present form of a "ticket" with the two people running together and no splitting of votes at this level.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 Eric Burns, <em>Infamous Scribblers: The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism, </em>Public Affairs, New York, 2006</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* * * * * *</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">©</span><a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Our_Team/3/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rebecca Staton-Reinstein</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, president, </span><a href="http://www.advantageleadership.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Advantage Leadership, Inc.</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Want to know more about the tumultuous fights at the Constitutional Convention and the election of 1800? Check out </span><a href="http://advantageleadership.com/section/Conventional_Wisdom/17/%20" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Conventional Wisdom:
How Today’s Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers</strong></span></i></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I NEED YOUR HELP: </span></span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm beginning research for my new book on the influence of
leaders on their organizations (Washington's Shadow) and I'm interested in your
experiences or ideas for case studies. Do you know a leader who has had a
profound influence shaping the organization's culture and changing it for the
better? (I'm not interested in negative stories which are much more common.)
Drop me a note</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: </span><a href="mailto:Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com</span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>Rebecca Staton-Reinsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812811069867890203noreply@blogger.com0