How Do You Do... What They Tell You... You Gotta Do?

This is one of the biggest complaints that I have about the College/University Educational System in America especially in the area of BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.

From the Harvard Business Review:
Our research also pointed to six leadership skills where practice was particularly important. These are not mysterious and certainly aren’t new. However, the leaders we talked with emphasized that these fundamental skills really matter. 

Aspiring leaders should focus on practicing these essential basics:

1. Shape a vision that is exciting and challenging for your team (or division/unit/organization).
2. Translate that vision into a clear strategy about what actions to take, and what not to do.
3. Recruit, develop, and reward a team of great people to carry out the strategy.
4. Focus on measurable results.
5. Foster innovation and learning to sustain your team (or organization) and grow new leaders.
6. Lead yourself — know yourself, improve yourself, and manage the appropriate balance in your own life.

SO...

first of all, these are not Harvard's ideas or suggestions but the suggestions from several already successful business executive...

second, "How to implement" must be assumed.

SO AGAIN...  we have this nice list from a prestigious educational organization and we return to work and decide that we are going to implement right away...

Note...  key words will be highlighted

NUMBER ONE:  Shape a vision that is exciting and challenging for your team. 

I know how to shape a vision because I looked it up on the internet.  VISION means:  the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.

HOW TO WRITE A VISION STATEMENT

Tips for crafting your vision statement

1.      Project five to 10 years in the future.
2.      Dream big and focus on success.
3.      Use the present tense.
4.      Use clear, concise, jargon-free language.
5.      Infuse it with passion and make it inspiring.
6.      Align it with your business values and goals

Source:  www.businessnewsdaily.com

Now, I have a whole lot of other factors to consider first in order for me to become a good leader and have no idea how long all of this is going to take...  and, if I have the time...  patients...  and money to pay my workforce to keep working while I learn to become a leader to them and/or for them.

OF COURSE...  this has been exaggerated to make a point.   And, I attended GRADUATE SCHOOL for two years where I received an MBA from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC and while my professors gave me many pieces of valuable information and many tools, they never really told me how to implement any of those ideas and tools (although one cannot really implement a tool) other than VIA CASE STUDIES where we read about how others did it, and were either successful or not successful hoping that by OSMOSIS we would become enlightened.

WHAT WORKS FOR ONE DOES NOT ALWAYS WORK FOR ANOTHER...  I learned that concept before I took my first step into Graduate School.

A LEADER LEARNS through EXPERIENCE not through BOOKS...

A STRATEGIC PLAN for example, is easy to write by one person and can be done over a weekend.  It is slightly more difficult to write, if one has to work with half a dozen managers or so and could take several weeks.  It becomes quite a formidable task to complete in an aligned fashion when one includes the inputs from the supervisors and workers that report to those half a dozen managers and could take 6-9 months to complete, perhaps longer...  and, if by some wild chance a STRATEGIC PLAN is eventually completed...   it is damn near impossible to IMPLEMENT unless the entire day of several people is focused on making sure that everyone does what the STRATEGIC PLAN says that they are going to do...  OTHERWISE THE STRATEGIC PLAN WILL NEVER BECOME IMPLEMENTED 100 PERCENT...

But, the College/University textbook authors don't share that tidbit of knowledge with you...

If you have read this far...  then you should completely understand the title of this article.

Final Question:  Why do we think that a LEADER should always be OUT IN FRONT of the team?

LEGISLATE THIS...

Police Brutality

Law Enforcement BAD...

LAW ENFORCEMENT IS ROTTEN THROUGH AND THROUGH...

LAW ENFORCEMENT IS POWER HUNGRY...

LAW ENFORCEMENT ABUSES THE LAW...

LAW ENFORCEMENT IS CORRUPT...

LAW ENFORCEMENT IS RACIST...

LAW ENFORCEMENT HATED...

George Floyd's death has caused a nationwide negative focus on law enforcement, some of whom have cause for a de-funding of their local police departments.  And, while this is a movement fueled by misguided passion, it is still nonetheless underscoring the hatred that is felt for the police.  It is also true that in some cases, police do, in fact, have to use extreme force in order to gain control over criminal activity; but,for some reason they do not always know when to de-escalate their behaviors.

While law enforcement is now under the public microscope, the real problem of RACISM is being overlooked in the sense that NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO STOP RACISM...  and, no one is willing to admit that dilemma.

We can FORCE people not to demonstrate RACISM at work, but after work, their racism CAN and DOES PERSIST.

I remember having lunch with a colleague at his home and while we were eating, he and his son were sitting on the couch watching TV and my colleague had a rifle pointed at the screen shooting black people. 

How was his young son being influenced?
How can the government stop that from happening?

On the other side of the coin, if I am driving in my vehicle and see a police cruiser behind me, my first thought is have I been driving too fast...  but, I am WHITE...  if I were BLACK my first thought would more than likely revolve around the fact that I am BLACK...  and, that is a different fear under which to live one's life...

Other scenarios that are going to be difficult to LEGISLATE AGAINST are the feeling that a WHITE person might feel at night if he/she is walking into a group of BLACK people standing at a corner.  Or, making sure your doors are locked if you see BLACK YOUTHS walking around your neighborhood...  even though they may be members of a local BLACK church.  Or, a WHITE female walking by herself and notices a BLACK man that seems to be following her...  even though all he is doing is walking in the same direction.

BLACKS make the claim that SLAVERY is responsible for their adverse treatment by WHITES...  while WHITES make the claim that ALL VIOLENCE is caused by BLACKS and therefore they should be wary of all BLACKS.

HOW DOES THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LEGISLATE THIS MINDSET OUT OF THE MINDS OF BOTH BLACK AND WHITE AMERICANS?

All Creatures Great and Small

It's True Yawl...

Around 10 years ago, I had the opportunity to work for a Proprietary College in Kentucky just across the river from Cincinnati and while it did not last very long, I learned the most powerful message of my entire life...  may be hard to believe but it is true.

The Pacific Institute (TPI) was hired to present an unusual program to the entire workforce of that organization...  and the program focused a small organ at the base of the brain called the RAS or Reticular Activating System.

The reticular activating system (RAS) is a network of neurons located in the brain stem that project anteriorly to the hypothalamus to mediate behavior, as well as both posteriorly to the thalamus and directly to the cortex for activation of awake, desynchronized cortical EEG patterns.

The ascending reticular activating system (ARAS), also known as the extrathalamic control modulatory system or simply the reticular activating system (RAS), is a set of connected nuclei in the brains of vertebrates that is responsible for regulating wakefulness and sleep-wake transitions.

The reticular activating system is a short, pencil-sized piece of the brain located just above where the spinal cord is attached to the brain. It acts as the gatekeeper of information between most sensory systems and the conscious mind.

Basically, if you think positive thoughts then there is a high degree of probability that not just good things will happen to you but that your goals will be achieved...

FROM THE PACIFIC INSTITUTE - Lou Tice (above)

AUGUST 27, 2018

THE PACIFIC INSTITUTE
THE WINNER'S CIRCLE

Did you know that you have a built-in screening device that either admits or blocks information? Yes, we do, and it’s another “natural superpower” each of us already owns.

The human nervous system, at the base of the brain, contains a marvelous network of cells called the reticular formation, or Reticular Activating System – RAS for short. Its primary function is to screen out unimportant information that comes to you through your senses. Because of the work the RAS does for us, we are not aware of most of the information bombarding our senses every second of every day.

A parent with a new baby in the next room will sleep through jet planes screaming overhead, but will wake in an instant if that baby starts to cry. The airplane is louder, but not important, so it doesn’t get through because the parent’s RAS keeps it out. Only information that is important – valuable or threatening – gets through.

Now when you set a goal, you declare a new significance – you make something important. And suddenly, information that never got through before is all around you. Did you ever decide to buy something – maybe a new HD television – and the next day all you see are advertisements for HD TV’s? They were there all along, but now they’re important to you, so the RAS lets the information through and you notice them.

Or you decide to take a vacation, and all of a sudden you are seeing vacation specials in your emails, online or in the newspapers and periodicals. They were there all along, you just deleted or recycled them, because you weren’t thinking “vacation.”

So when you set a goal and declare its importance, you’ll find yourself noticing opportunities to help you achieve that goal that you never knew were there before. Try it. You will be surprised at how efficiently your RAS works for you.

And it operates 24/7/365…YOU MUST DECIDE FOR YOURSELF IF THIS IS WORTH LOOKING INTO...  Positive Affirmations can change your life...  what have you got to lose?

INTERMISSION I

Does Something Exist Before You See It?

I was born a man and unless I decide to go through gender reassignment, I will be a man until I die... 
that seems pretty straight forward.  And, my behavior as an adolescent is different than when a teenager, young adult, middle aged, senior citizen, and finally retired.  And, that seems pretty straight forward as well.

But...  am I who I am at the
beginning of my life
middle of my life
end of my life?

Who I was changes as my life changes and the reality as to who I am changes as well; so, at any
given point-in-time you only see part of the reality of who I am, never really seeing my true reality until the very end...

I remember a Bible phrase:  "the first shall be last and the last shall be first."  What does God know about us that we don't know about ourselves?  OUR FUTURE...

NOTE:  What brought this about was reading about the UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE and that object don't know if they are a particles or a waves do not know their own reality until the end of their journey because of all the filters that could be placed in front of them.

When Does One Act or Not Act?

What possesses two people to marry?

• sex
• love
• money
• security
• friendship
• commonalities
• companionship

And...  when do those two people decide that their marriage is no long viable and it is time to divorce and go their separate ways?

Oftentimes, no action is taken by either spouse when one or both realize that their marriage is DEAD and whatever was there that brought them together is no longer present and continuing to remain in the marriage is hypocritical.

Why does this happen?

• money
• security
• promises
• society
• children
• convenience
• lesser of two evils

I remember growing up in a household where once I became a TEENAGER, I realized that there was NO LOVE present and/or exhibited between either of my parents...  and yet, I expected them to remain together...  because I just assumed that this is what married people do.

RIOTING and VIOLENCE Will Not Stop Police Racism

I am not a law enforcement officer nor do I have any experience in law enforcement other than arranging a several law enforcement classes when working in Continuing Education at a North Carolina Community College...

I am not a Psychologist or a Psychiatrists nor do I have any experience in either one of those fields other than the PSYCH courses I took in College to fulfill graduation requirements, learning just enough to make myself dangerous in those fields.

BUT...  common sense, logic, and experience tell me that RACISM is damn near impossible to eliminate or prevent when individual need someone to blame or someone to hate.  AND, just because you are in law enforcement does not mean that you are no longer racist.  It just means that you need to put forth more of an effort to hide it.

Part of our justification for our racism can be found in our Democracy and First Amendment Rights...  believe it or not, these two concepts allow a lot to take place in America from which there are always UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES.

Our Democratic Freedoms can/could cause: 
SOCIAL UNREST
SOCIALISM TO TAKE ROOT
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
PANDEMIC TO FLOURISH
ECONOMIC GREED
INCOME INEQUALITY TO EXIST
INEQUALITY OF ALL SORTS

Will Rioting Increase COVID-19 Outbreaks?

Now this is an interesting proposition...  and, and an even more interesting development if it were to actually happen...  Just as America begins to get a little control over the COVID-19 PANDEMIC, rioters start causing the COVID-19 cases to increase because they are no longer maintaining social distancing...  and, no doubt some of these rioters will catch the virus and be hospitalized...

What then?

CURFEWS, LOCK DOWNS, QUARANTINES...

AND THE FUTURE OF A SPEEDY RECOVERY DIMINISHES...

How to Stop the Violence Across America?

Let the mobs destroy whatever it is that they want to...  instead of truing to stop them...  let them steal and loot, pillage and burn...  keep law enforcement away...  use the National Guard and/or the US Military to keep their efforts as quarantined as possible...  it will eventually die out...  RIOTING IS ONLY POPULAR WHEN THERE IS RESISTANCE...

NO VIOLENCE...

SHOOT THEM WITH RUBBER BULLETS...

USE WATER CANNONS...

INVOKE MARSHALL LAW...

Sometimes, Black Americans believe

and/or perceive that White Americans are

intentionally trying to keep them from being

successful and preventing them from pursuing happiness

and, perhaps they are right...   but, that does not give Black Americans

the right to destroy property...

Let them protest...  whoever them might be...  black, white, oriental, Asian, Hispanic, etc...

Let them disrespect the laws that are designed to protect them...

Let them destroy their future...

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

CANNOT FORCE AMERICANS

TO STOP HATING EACH OTHER

AND STOP BEING RACIST...

I'm A Book Lover Too...

Interesting Math

FROM BELGIUM

A New Month

2020 has seen 5 months pass by and needless to say these last 5 months will not be forgotten any time soon in our minds, our actions, our behaviors, and by the historians who will document us and at some point-in-time will write about us...

What do you think JUNE will be?

• more of the same
• a little different
• another direction

These last 5 months I only left the house if I had a doctor's appointment or a chemo treatment until the last 2 weeks in May where I went to a restaurant and also to a wedding.  This month, I have just as many doctor's appointments cheno treatment in two weeks that I had in 4 months...  plus, we are going to Myrtle Beach, SC for two weeks.

Regardless of how we find our apartment, my wife and I will enter the room with gloves on and will clean the room again...  that is to say all surfaces that could be touched and make sure that we put the remote in a zip locked bag....  we will request that are room not be cleaned everyday but that towels be delivered everyday...

As far as the beach chairs are concerned, we will not worry about that because of the exposure to the UV rays of the sunlight...  and, will probably go to restaurants and dine-in rather than take-out because that part is being well managed.

I fear this will be our new normal...