Lack of Vision

The sensory world shows us that the lack of physical vision utterly removes our ability for navigation.  I maintain that the same holds true when when we lack metaphysical vision.



Click Here for an audio of the radio interview with more interesting information

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It's about power, stupid!

Andy McArthy just posted what I've been thinking for some time. The healthcare takeover will happen, irrespective of looming electoral losses in November.

We like to think that the current crop of Dems are typical politicians who will moderate their views given the displeasure of the American people with this monstrosity.

Repeat after me..."These...Are...Not...Typical...Politicians"

This is what the Dems have been waiting for since the Great Society. They already failed once with Carter and aren't about to let this opportunity slip through their hands. This is not just being made up as they go along...they were just waiting for the right numbers and the right person as head of the executive branch.

So, what are we (those who don't want a vast federal government overseeing our daily lives) to do?

We must press those on our side to plan now to act in the same aggressive manner in dismantling the plan. If our side behaves as typical politicians after this massive power is granted to the feds, then we will continually move incrementally toward serfdom, even with a massive takeover in November.

So, Republicans...given your giddiness about winning in November...what is your plan?

30 Day Proactivity Challenge

Proactivity: The 30-Day Test

Assignment:
Every day, you must write in your journal concerning your willingness to be proactive. Use the following questions to help you:

1. Did I make and keep small commitments? If so, what were they? If not, why not?
   
2. Was I actively seeking solutions rather than highlighting problems? Example.
   
3. Did is use proactive or reactive language today? How did I respond to someone I heard using reactive language? Did I encourage or insult or ignore?
4. Did I act on my commitment to be proactive today? Did I consider whether or not something frustrating was in my circle of influence? Example.
   
5. Did make a mistake today? Did I admit it, correct it and learn from it? Immediately? Example.
   
6. Did I accuse or blame someone or something for my situation? Example.
   
7. Was I compassionate toward the weaknesses in others? Example.
   
8. Did you remind yourself that you control all of your actions and reactions? Example.
   
9. How many times today did you say "I can't", "If only" or "I have to?" Fix that.
10. Is your circle of influence growing as you focus on your freedom of choice?

Excerpt from Steven Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

We don't have to go through the death camp experience of Frankl to recognize and develop our own proactivity. It is in the ordinary events of every day that we develop the proactive capacity to handle the extraordinary pressures of life. It's how we make and keep commitments, how we handle a traffic jam, how we respond to an irate customer or a disobedient child. It's how we view our problems and where we focus our energies. It's the language we use.

I would challenge you to test the principle of proactivity for 30 days. Simply try it and see what
happens. For 30 days work only in your Circle of Influence. Make small commitments and keep
them. Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic. Be part of the solution, not part of the
problem.

Try it in your marriage, in your family, in your job. Don't argue for other people's weaknesses.
Don't argue for your own. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and learn from it --
immediately. Don't get into a blaming, accusing mode. Work on things you have control over.
Work on you. On be.

Look at the weaknesses of others with compassion, not accusation. It's not what they're not doing or should be doing that's the issue. The issue is your own chosen response to the situation and what you should be doing. If you start to think the problem is "out there," stop yourself. That thought is the problem.

People who exercise their embryonic freedom day after day will, little by little, expand that freedom. People who do not will find that it withers until they are literally "being lived." They are acting out the scripts written by parents, associates, and society.

We are responsible for our own effectiveness, for our own happiness, and ultimately, I would say,
for most of our circumstances.
Samuel Johnson observed: "The fountain of content must spring up in the mind, and he who hath so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition, will waste his life in fruitless efforts and multiply the grief he proposes to remove."

Knowing that we are responsible -- "response-able" -- is fundamental to effectiveness and to every other habit of effectiveness we will discuss.

For my class...

Following the Cow Path

Cow Path

One day thru the primeval wood
A calf walked home, as good calves should,
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail, as all calves do.
Since then three hundred years have fled,
And I infer, the calf is dead;
But still behind he left his trail,
And thereon hangs my mortal tale.

The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way,
And then a wise bell-weather sheep
Sliding into a rut now deep,
Pursued that trail over hill and glade
Thru those old woods a path was made.

And many men wound in and out,
And dodged and turned and bent about,
and uttered words of righteous wrath
Because “twas such a crooked path”
But still they follow-do not laugh-
The first migrations of that calf.

The forest became a lane
That bent and turned and turned again;
This crooked lane became a road
where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.

The years passed on in swiftness fleet,
The village road became a street,
And this, before the men were aware,
A city’s crowded thoroughfare.

And soon a central street was this
In a renowned metropolis;
And men two centuries and a half
Followed the wanderings of this calf.

Each day a hundred thousand strong
Followed this zigzag calf along;
And over his crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.

A hundred thousand men were led
By one poor calf, three centuries dead.
For just such reverence is lent
To well established precedent.

A moral lesson this might teach
Were I ordained and called to preach.

For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf paths of the mind;
And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.

- Sam Walter Foss

Leadership as self-expression

“No leader sets out to be a leader. People set out to live their lives, expressing themselves fully. When that expression is of value, they become leaders. So the point is not to become a leader. The point is to become yourself, to use yourself completely – all your skills, gifts and energies – in order to make your vision manifest. You must withhold nothing. You, must, in sum, become the person you started out to be, and to enjoy the process of becoming.” – Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader

Taken from my favorite Leadership Blog -- The Practice of Leadership

Typewatching the Candidates

Students...here is an article by a gentleman that has been typewatching for much of his life...some interesting insights!

Wow, What a Race: Final Reflections on Type and Election 2008
By Hile Rutledge, INFP and Chief Executive Officer, OKA

Hile Rutledge
Here in the final week of the race for President, let's step away from policy debates and character insults, and look at this historic contest one last time before we actually vote, through a type lens.

It is striking how so many of the criticisms being leveled at each candidate are rooted in strengths they have. In other words, so many of the liabilities (or what are offered as such) are simply type preferences being disrespected or misunderstood. As someone who has made his career using type and other tools to build self-awareness and improving the effectiveness of communication, teams and organizations, I want to take every opportunity I can to reframe positively my perceptions of others - assuming good intentions when I can - and to see even troubling, problematic behavior as a strength that has merely been misapplied, misunderstood or taken to an extreme.

To this end, let's see what kind of lessons might be offered up by John McCain and Barack Obama.

John McCain, Warrior fighter pilot turned quick-draw political maverick: ESTP

Throughout his career-and especially in this campaign-John McCain has been quick to respond, to react, and to change. When the financial crisis hit in September, McCain was quick on the draw with comments and plans in response to the situation as it changed from day to day-even hour to hour. While this reactiveness and flexibility-hallmarks of ESTP-are frequently praised, this behavior also has earned McCain the reputation of being erratic and someone more prone to engaging in tactics, not strategy.

McCain seems (and has always seemed to me to be) an open, talkative, expressive man energized by the groups he is with. He thrives in a town hall event setting, engaging directly with voters. It was McCain who invited/challenged Obama to a long series of town hall meetings throughout the fall as a way of interacting with the issues and each other. This likely preference for Extraversion (and ESTP more broadly), however, also brings with it a tendency to speak unfiltered thoughts and feelings that reflection might have withheld. Admitting to a reporter in this election cycle that he did not know a lot about the economy, saying on the morning of what would prove to be an economic calamity that the fundamentals of the US economy were strong, and in the debates, referring to Obama as "That one" - these were all statements that flowed from the moment relatively unfiltered, yet my guess is that, if he had his preference, McCain would likely retract these "off the cuff" thoughts. It feels like we lament that our leaders don't often enough give us their unvarnished, "unspun" thoughts, but then when they do-there is a price to pay. This is the Extravert's dilemma.

McCain also has a reputation, well highlighted in this contest, of being a bit of a rebel, a maverick who will speak truth to power and go his own way even in opposition to his own leadership and political party. It is this maverick, "go against the grain" approach (again, very much in keeping with ESTP), that has brought McCain much of his distinction and power, but it is this same set of qualities that lead some people to not trust his motives and loyalties. If you are part of the establishment against which he is pushing, it's easy to see why someone might see the maverick as an inconsistent flag-bearer.

Barack Obama, The community organizer turned visionary agent of change: INFP

Barack Obama has earned a reputation over the last 18 months as being rather contained and reserved-a calm hand on the rudder. His internal campaign motto is "No drama Obama". These qualities reflect a reserve and containment that have served him well-especially during this recent economic meltdown. This same calm, unflappable manner, however, has also earned Obama criticism for being passionless and aloof. In a memoir, Obama shares an emotional recounting of a personal moment of crisis and awakening when he fell to his knees and wept. This is an emotional display that we in the outside world don't get to see and from someone so generally calm and reserved can only imagine. One commentator quipped that Obama acts as though he understands emotions far more than he feels them-this is a statement leveled against many Introverts.

From his first job as a community builder and organizer to his presidential campaign, Obama has been driven by values around empowering people, fostering harmony, and finding common ground. He came onto the national stage in 2004 with a speech denouncing our tendency of seeing blue states and red states; instead urging us to be the United States. He reminded us of our gun-owning, church-going friends in the blue states and the gay and lesbian friends and family we have in the red states to emphasize our common bonds-the bridges that connect us rather than emphasize the issues that tear us apart. This tendency to harmonize and idealize, typical of INFPs, while inspirational to some, creates skepticism in others and a concern that an embrace of harmony reflects an unwillingness or inability to get tough and combative politically.

Barack Obama has shown a special skill for writing, for crafting artful and at times inspirational speeches (and books). While a polished and effective speaker, it is the quality of his pre-written messages (IN specifically and INFP more generally) with which he is so often associated. A criticism consistently leveled against Obama is that he depends too much on pre-written addresses (tele-prompters are used even in short rallies and campaign stops) and not enough on more unscripted addresses and events. The desire to have messaging known, controlled, and even rehearsed is a common introverted behavior, but one that leads many to question the connection and even authenticity of the speaker.

Reframing the Debate through Type

So, is John McCain quick to react or is he erratic? Is he a maverick or just contrary? Is Barack Obama calm and cool-headed, or is he distant and aloof? Is he an idealist or a visionary? Type suggests that the answer to all these questions is "yes."

Type shows us clearly that every benefit comes with a liability, but the flip-side of this reality is that nearly every weakness or troublesome behavior is also rooted in a strength that has been misapplied, overdone, or misunderstood. This means that type is a great vehicle to help us both correct our ineffective behavior and to help us reframe the perceptions and judgments we have and make of others. This presidential race is going to be over in a week, but the work to help clients, leaders, and teams understand how to use type to improve their performance and to reframe positively those around them goes on. In the midst of what has been a contentious and at times bitter race, it has helped me to reflect on this silver lining.

Good luck to both John McCain and Barack Obama, and don't forget to vote!

Guidance Presentation

Preparation for Mayor's Breakfast

Lesson 3 - Seating/Building Rapport at the Mayor's Breakfast

Assignment #1

Figure out a way amongst yourselves to determine with whom each person will sit. Remember Krista is going as well, so you need to take her into consideration:

3 students will sit with Roland & Schlegel Law Firm
3 students will sit with Al Ottinger (a business coach and some of his clients)
2 students and I will sit with a Reading Berks Conference of Churches Board Member (Jack Lacey) and members of Christ Episcopal Church

Assignment #2

Next, consider the answer to this question:

What three words would you use to describe yourself?

Write down these three words.

Has anyone ever commented on these qualities, positively or negatively?

Write down your answer. Share the three words with the class. See if they would use the same or similar words.

**Why do this? Sometimes our self-perception is very different than what comes across to others...especially for introverts...we may think we're being talkative or brash, when in fact we come across as reserved or polite.

If you find that you don't come across the way you think you do, what can you do on Tuesday to present the side of you that you would like them to know? It isn't about being fake...it's about being confident about displaying a part of you that you may not be good at displaying to people you don't know.

What three words would you like the people you are sitting with on Tuesday to use to describe you after the breakfast?

Write down these words, then write down how you will act in order to convey these characteristics to the people at the breakfast.

DO NOT HAND THIS ASSIGNMENT IN...KEEP IT AND REVIEW IT OVER THE WEEKEND...GO SOMEWHERE OVER THE WEEKEND AND INTERACT WITH PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW AND PRACTICE CONVEYING THESE CHARACTERISTICS TO THEM...PRACTICE ON YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR FRIENDS..ASK THEM IF THEY THINK YOUR ARE CONVEYING WHAT YOU WANT TO CONVEY

I am not kidding about this assignment...You WILL NOT just sit there talking to one another or staring at your eggs and bacon. If this creates stress for you, this is good...it means you're alive. All it means is that you need to practice and prepare.

To be honest, I'm a little nervous because I know this type of environment is hard for me as an introvert, and with my reduced vision, large rooms with lots of people and (usually) dim lighting make it highly probable that I'll bump into someone or trip over a chair at least once. I also know that getting to know people is highly rewarding and worth the effort, and the quicker you learn this, the better off you'll be.

So, just know that you're not alone, and there will be plenty of people there that feel the same as you, you just may not notice it. There will be a lot of students there as well...it's time to stand out!

You will act as if you're going on a first date. You will ask all sorts of questions about what they do, what they like about their profession, what they don't like, what it's like to start out in it, what type of preparation you would need to get into it, what is the single most rewarding thing they've done in their career, etc. (Refer to the previous blog post for more question ideas).

Because you want to begin building your contact list for future reference, you will ask for contact information from the person(s) you're talking with before the end of the breakfast. You may want to pursue some sort of internship (which we will help you arrange) or visit their workplace to see what they do in a typical day. The business coach would be able to give a lot of different ideas for placement for internships, the Board member is in finance of some sort, just not sure where he works, and the members of the church all work somewhere...so there are a lot of opportunities in addition to the law firm.

So, be prepared with a pen and pad of paper. They'll probably have business cards, but you can't count on that.

You will introduce the person you developed a relationship with to me before we depart at some point.

Each of the items in bold will go into determining your grade.

If you have any questions about any of this, email me before Tuesday.

Mayor's Prayer Breakfast

Leadership Class Students will be attending the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast which is sponsored by the Reading Berks Conference of Churches on Tuesday, September 23 at 7:15 am.

Students,

You are all in for the Mayor's Breakfast next Tuesday. It is located at the Sheraton in Wyomissing and starts at 7:15, so I would expect you all to arrive at 7 am. Paul, confirm with me asap if you'll be able to go.

What to expect:

• You will be seated among business leaders at their table. So, you must be prepared to ask and answer questions. Do not go expecting that you'll be cloistered with your friends. In fact, depending on the reservations, I'd prefer if you sat apart at the table. We'll see once we get there.
  
• Because most of you are introverts, this may be difficult for you...but introversion is not the same as being shy...it just means that you need to prepare questions ahead of time to ask.
• Think of things you are truly interested in and ask. Adults like it when students are genuinely interested in what they do.
• Be prepared to post what you learned on the blog and discuss later that day in class. You will be assessed on your interaction with people that you are seated with.
  

Ideas of questions to ask (put in your own words):
What business are you in?
How did you first become interested in this business?
What is it like to lead a business like that?
We're taking a Leadership Class at The Kings' Academy -- what would be your number one leadership principle to tell someone interested in doing what you do?

Touch base with me if you have any questions.

mrt

Common Objects of Love

Greetings Class!

Please note the "Leadership Clips" box in the right margin. Check out a couple of these blog posts and submit at least one substantive comment on the blog below. I plan on having additional people with leadership experience posting on here as well for your benefit, so you'll be checking this blog regularly for assignments, instruction and general inspiration!

See Lesson #2 below:

The book Common Objects of Love by Oliver O'Donovan assumes the Augustinian view of society as posited in City of God book 19. Augustine makes the case that "A people, we may say, is a gathered multitude of rational beings united by agreeing to share the things they love."

"So Augustine famously challenged the classical definition of a republic articulated by Cicero, replacing an idealist understanding of organized social life with a realist one, which would allow for radical criticism without dissolving the political phenomenon altogether."

You can hear Dr. O'Donovan discussing this information in a lecture at Calvin College.

Read pp. 25-32 of this book here and answer the following questions:

1. What is the ground on which we act as individuals and communities?
2. What determines and defines the structures of society?
3. To what is this love directed?
4. Define "community"
5. What is the center of all human communication?
6. How does a community attain coherence?
7. How is human communication different from animal communication?
8. How are communities formed?
9. What does any of this have to do with leadership?
   

Intentional Listening

Interesting reading today about listening and how to truly do so. The Chinese symbol above indicates what it really means to listen to another:

The symbol on the left indicates the EAR, the top right symbol is YOU, underneath that is EYES, the line indicates undivided attention, the bottom symbol indicates your HEART.

M. Scott Peck said, "You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time."

I know this is true, but I many times try to listen with just the ears...

Leadership Tip 3 - Keep It Simple

Many people have a very simple goal (get in shape, make more money, be nice) and they stop before they start. Why?

The details. Action is all-important. In his book, Action! Nothing happens until something moves, Robert Ringer talks about the all-important first step. Action always works, even though it may lead you in a different direction than where you had intended to go.

Getting bogged down in the details happens because we think that we have to have everything figured out before we start. I can tell you...that is absolutely NOT true! All of us learn through experience and you wouldn't learn through experience if you knew everything before you started!

The point is illustrated to me by a faithful reader, who has found the secret...

I think that I may have found the answer to my "being consistent with working out" problem. My "goals" before were respectable, to be sure. Get in shape. Run a 5k. Run a half-marathon. I had high hopes in the beginning, just like all the other goals I've set in the past. Then, not so much. But, the goal that I am concentrating on now is, ...Go to the Y.

There it is...keep it simple...just get there! Don't worry about elaborate schemes or bells and whistles.

It's a cliche, but it's really true...You're halfway to success if you just show up!

Takeaway: Act! Don't try to get it all figured out first

Action Step: Identify it's most basic step of your top priority goal, even if it seems elementary. Do it...Today.

Profiles in Leadership - Reagan's Courage

In 1986, President Reagan met with Gorbachev in Reykjavik to discuss nuclear disarmament, among many other things. From Architects of Victory quoting An American Life:

Then, after everything had been decided, or so I thought, Gorbachev threw us a curve. With a smile on his face he said: "This all depends of course, on you giving up SDI." I couldn't believe it and blew my top. "I've said again and again the SDI wasn't a bargaining chip. I've told you, if we find out that the SDI is practical and feasible, we'll make that information know to you and everyone else so that nuclear weapons can be made obsolete. Now, with all we have accomplished here, you do this and throw in this roadblock and everything is out the window..."

Gorbachev heard the translation of my remarks, but he wasn't listening. He wouldn't budge from his position....I was getting angrier and angrier. I realized that he had brought me to Iceland with one purpose: to kill the Strategic Defense Initiative. he must have known from the beginning that he was going to bring it up at the last minute.

"The meeting is over," I said. "Let's go, George, we're leaving."

Reagan's Communication's Director Patrick Buchanan had this to say:

This was a triumph. What you saw then was the character of this man. He hated nuclear weapons, but he believed in the defense of his country. He believed in SDI and he was willing to blow up a summit over it. But when it was done, he knew he had done what he believed was right.

But for me, that was the moment that said it about Reagan. It was his general serenity in his beliefs. His conviction that—as he used to say—as he would point to the ceiling, “The rest of time I’ve got”—after the shooting—“belongs to Him.”

I think fundamentally Reagan’s success was due to the fact that his beliefs and his principles were correct and they corresponded perfectly with the time he was in.