I Don't Care If You Can Play Golf

Recently, President Obama and Speaker Boehner played golf to show everyone they could get along.  They probably had a beer after their round.  

My question is this:  I know they can play golf, but can they move the country forward? As a result of their golf event is the world is a better place? Can they now agree on either raising or lowering the debt ceiling?  How about developing and implementing a comprehensive Medicare, immigration and energy policy?
   
The answer is a big fat NO!  Recently, the Republicans asked for a meeting with the President and their request was declined.  Why?  There is no real good reason for denying the meeting.  The American people want their elected officials to stop playing politics with their lives.

With all of the turmoil in the Middle East and a horrible economic climate here at home, every effort should be taken to come to a meeting of the minds to extricate us out of this mess.

A true leader must be willing to look at an issue and move to bring it to resolution.  It is not about political power or personalities or who is right.  It’s about doing what is best for all Americans, the rich, the middle class and the poor.  There is a balance.  I do not believe there has to be an either/or situation.
  
We must find a solution to our ever-growing debt.  Continuing to play the blame game and calling each other names like little children will not enhance the lives of the American people or move us to reducing our debt, nor will it get us out of the various costly skirmishes we are involved in around the world.

Our elected leaders may be able to play golf together, and repeatedly kick the can down the road, but are not so good at moving the country forward and out of the mess we are in.

Who Will Step Up?

Our nation is in deep trouble when it comes to leadership.  On both sides of the aisle there’s a void of real leadership.  Ongoing issues like unemployment, social security, the budget deficit, Medicare, and the various wars in which we are engaged, represent critical challenges that require strong and decisive leadership.  Unfortunately, all we get from Washington is finger pointing and placing the blame on the other party.  As a result, all over the country there is this boiling caldron of frustration, anger, hate and mistrust that has led to numerous protests.

The decisions our leaders have made over time are now changing the very foundation of our country.  It appears that all they are concerned about is maintaining their power, and many are willing to deceive and spin the truth to keep what they believe is theirs.  How long will we sit back and watch this happen?

Who will step up to be the leader to bring stability to our country?  This nation is ripe and ready for authentic leadership to emerge.  However, I believe it will not come from any one person.  It will come from each and every one of us taking a stand and demanding that our voices be heard.

It’s amazing how Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have impacted so much change, not only in our country, but in the world.  One person challenges the status quo and others pick up on it and it then goes viral.  All of us must be willing to challenge our leaders and hold them accountable for their decisions and to keep their promises.

We must demand that our leaders look out not for individual interests, but the interests of all Americans.  We are all in this together.  Regardless of what party you are affiliated with, Democrat or Republican we are all breathing the same air.  The sun shines and the rain falls on each of us.  The last time I checked, both Democrats and Republicans are facing the same challenges of unemployment, high taxes, and fighting for our freedom.

Who of us will be willing to take a stand and be counted?  Complaining and sitting idly by while our economy and the future of the next generation continues deteriorate, will not get it done.  Write your congressman, blog, volunteer, lead.  You may say that I am one person, what can I do?  You have the power to make a difference.

If we continue to wait for our so called leaders to make the changes necessary to lift up this nation to its former greatness, we are going to be waiting for a long time.

It is up to all of us to do our part. The time is now!

Credit Crisis

”There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
— Ronald Reagan


Now that the mid-term elections are over, the real fun begins, (can you hear my sarcasm?).  The past few weeks since the elections, the Democrats and Republicans have started in on each other once again to pass blame and to criticize the ideas and direction that each side believes is the best way for the country to move forward.  They talk about the “lame duck” session of congress and what they will try to push through.  Will they be able to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?”  Although this issue may be important to some, its resolution is not essential to turning the economy around.  

During the many interviews and face to face debates on the network and cable news stations, the phrases “The American People” and “The Future of our Children” come up often. Each time they do, my head feels like it wants to EXPLODE! With all of the talk about their concern about the American People it is quite apparent that they care very little about our current and future state.

While they bicker with each other, many Americans struggle to make ends meet.  They’re concerned about the cost of health care, about the economy, about high and burdensome tax rates, and the never ending spending of our financial resources on things that do not keep our people safe or enhance the quality of our lives.

Last week I was walking in our downtown area where I met two men sitting on a bench drinking coffee.  As I began to speak with them they said that this is the worst they have ever seen in terms of the economy.  They spoke of the struggle to find work, to pay bills and to get ahead.  This is what is on the minds of the American people.

Please hear me when I say that I am not expecting the government to take care of me or my family, I can do that myself.  What I am saying is that our elected leaders continue to miss the mark on what is truly important to us. For many of them it is about winning and losing the party fight.  It is about their personal agenda and making the other side look bad.  We must demand from our elected officials to put away partisan political games and get this country back on track, together.

We can accomplish great things when we “don’t care who gets the credit.”  

Transformational Leadership

“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.  What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? 
To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?  Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain.  Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.”  Isaiah 10:1-4 NIV 

With the elections around the corner we hear from so many of the candidates who promise that if they are elected they are going to do so and so.  Once elected, we will soon discover that many of them will go back on their promises.  When questioned about why they have not kept their promises, they will say things like:  It will take time, I am working on it or they will go into spin mode.  For those candidates wanting to be re-elected, they too make promises.  My question has always been why you don’t do what you are promising to do now while you are in office?  Why wait until after the elections?  


What the American people really need is transformational leadership, leadership that makes a difference in the communities in which they serve.  Whether you are Republican or Democrat we continue to see poverty, crime, and poor public education.  It is not getting, and has not gotten any better and things go on as they have for decades.  We need leaders that will stand up for what is right for all Americans not just the ones that agree with them.  Our country needs leaders that can make a real and sustainable difference in the lives of its people.  


Our leaders need to be mindful that the leadership is not about their special interests, or lining their pockets.  It is about the greater good for all citizens of this country.  Every leader must know that they will be held accountable for the decisions they make, both good and bad.  

We...

With the primary elections over, let the mudslinging begin. In an article in the SF Chronicle, Saturday, June 12, 2010, just four days after the election, former California Governor Jerry Brown was said to have compared Meg Whitman, his republican opponent, to the Nazi Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda minister for Hitler. However, according to Brown’s campaign spokesman, his words were taken out of context. Here is the problem as I see it--with California at 12% unemployment, teachers and policemen being laid off, and cities throughout the country facing tremendous budget shortfalls, we have already begun to see the nasty campaign rhetoric rear its ugly head.

Is this what we have to look forward to over the next few months? While many Americans struggle to make ends meet, it is disheartening to sit on the sidelines and see candidates go after each other like we do not matter.

This is not the time for casting aspersions at one another; it is time for authentic servant leadership. Are we, as Americans, getting what we asked for? Do we demand the best of our leaders? Too often we allow them to make promises on the campaign trail but do not hold them accountable when they do not keep those promises. It should not be a surprise then when they do not live up to their commitments.

I believe we can emerge out of the current economic difficulties, but only if our leadership focuses on working through the issues with mutual goals in mind, and that is to stabilize our economy and create a sustainable job market.

As we move closer to the November elections it is going to be critical that we demand that the candidates stay focused on the issues that matter to most Americans, jobs. We must demand that they bring real solutions to the problems we face. We must not allow them to distract us with name calling and made up accusations.

Currently we are not the UNITED States of America, but are divided on so many issues and ideologies, e.g. illegal immigration, gay marriage, abortion, Republican vs. Democrat, etc. This election must be different if we are to overcome the challenges we face as a nation. Unless we hold our candidates to a higher standard we will continue to elect mediocre, self-serving individuals concerned only with their own agenda. Moreover, we will again be left frustrated and angry at the lack of results. We must demand that our candidates focus on what is good and right for all Americans.

You may have noticed that throughout this post I have used the word we frequently. Why? Because we are all in this together.

A Different Kind of Leadership

With all of the cheating and lying done by Wall Street bankers, investment houses and the lack of integrity by our politicians, the world demands a different type of leader.

Many Americans are frustrated, angry and afraid because of the problems we are facing as a nation: joblessness, healthcare, the debate over global warming, Republicans vs. Democrats…the list can go on and on. Although I hear the word leadership a lot, I see very little evidence of it in the political arena. Special interest groups, lobbyists, and power grabbing politicians seem to rule the day. Many will say that is just the way things are done and it will not change. However, if we are to return to the great nation we once were it is going to take a new kind of leadership.

We need a leader who does not look back and place the blame on someone else, but accepts the challenge in front of him or her and is committed to representing the interests of all people, not just the ones who agree with them. We need a leader who is able to gain consensus by acknowledging different viewpoints and finding common ground to bring about a win-win.

As a national operations leader of an organization of over 1200 employees, it was important that I be open to all points of view. It was amazing how many times great ideas came out of conversations with team members who brought a different perspective to an initiative that I for which I thought I had considered all the angles. In order for this to work, my team had to feel safe to express their opinions without fear of retaliation. As a result we were able to achieve great business success.

We need a new kind of leadership to revive the entrepreneurial spirit that made our nation great. I am not talking about an individual, but leaders at every level of our society, leaders who are willing to stand up and be counted, leaders who are not just thinking about themselves and their place in history, but the good of all people.

Are you willing to stand up and be counted?