I’ve decided to end the year with a guest blog from my friend and fellow Vistage Chair, Larry Cassidy. We’ve been having a discussion amongst us Vistage Chairs about the recent tragedies, hate crimes and terrorism and the related impact some members have begun to see in their companies. For me, Larry’s commentary expressed the challenge we face as a nation and caused me to pause. With that in mind, I am making it visible here, offering you some food for thought as you begin the holiday season.
First, a couple of stories and then Larry’s post.
One member reported an angry customer screaming in the lobby of her financial services company that the customer service rep he dealt with (second generation Pakistani American) should go back to her home country.
My first newsletter was sent on June 27, 2011, some 230 newsletters ago. And for those 4½ years I have stepped carefully around politics. Today I will take edge up to that tricky topic, not so much traditional politics, but rather on who we are, and what price we 322-million folks are willing to pay to be that.
We have undergone many serious gut-shots in the past several years, Paris and San Bernardino being the latest. As I ponder these tragedies, and before releasing this newsletter into the wild, my thoughts go to three big ideas:
- becoming the best version of ourselves,
- the hard price we are (or are not) willing to pay to get and stay there,
- our leadership as a part of all that.
There are many pieces to that, and we each have our own ideas. I will share mine below. You may disagree. But I do so because it is a conversation we cannot avoid, and all voices are required.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
The Statue of Liberty, dedicated 10/28/1886
Terrorism is a stark and frightening example of what others can do to us. Paris. San Bernardino. Too much, too often. And leadership is what we choose to do about it, and how we go about doing it.
Once again, we confront events with which we have not contended (remember: Pearl Harbor, the Cuban Missile Crisis, 9/11), and while such moments spawn anger and paranoia, they also summon our better angels. Which is one more good reason we would rather live here than anywhere else in the world, our flaws notwithstanding.
As I now savor almost-eight decades, I wonder if our fears might extinguish the Statue of Liberty’s torch, our shining beacon of freedom. And I question whether my opportunity to be born here, to live here, and to experience this thing called America, could have happened had such fear and paranoia won the early days of our history.
A bit dramatic? Go back a century-or-more, and we Irish were potato-heads, lazy scum. Italians were looked on as not much better. Jews? Forget it. African Americans, which was hardly what they were called? Slaves at best. Nor does that count Japanese-Americans or German-Americans in WWII. Pretty lucky for we shoddy Irish (and me) that we got past much of that.
Yes, we each have a right to feel, to fear, to embrace and to be safe. But before we pounce, look around. Soak it in. The ethnic, religious and nationalistic mess we behold is what has combined to make us great. It is our grand experiment, a palate on which each color and belief and ancestry is a part. It is us. So, what will it be ten, or fifty, or a hundred years from now?
Once again, we are in the process of deciding. In every business, classroom, sanctuary, gathering and discussion. And we are the leaders: the parents, coaches, elders, teachers, business executives. Make no mistake, we are deciding, we are leading and we are teaching.
- So what will we do, and how will we go about doing it?
- Which parts of what made this country great will we keep, and which will we discard?
- Will we mirror or will we reject what those who threaten us espouse?
- And once we decide, once we move on, will we have found our way to safety while continuing to lift our lamp beside the golden door?
This is a big deal. And we are all right in the middle of it.
Larry Cassidy
P.S. This is the last post this year, see you back here in January.
Are Your Expectations Too High Or Too Low?
How do you know?
- Sometimes we set our sights too low and don’t achieve as much as we can.
- Sometimes we expect too much from ourselves and constantly feel as though we don’t measure up.
- Sometimes we expect too much from our team or our key vendors and they feel as though they can’t please us.
- Sometimes we expect too little or don’t ask for what we really want from our employees or our vendors and we end up taking on too much ourselves instead.
How do we know which it is? For me the litmus test is this…
- How often are our expectations of ourselves or others met?
- What does our gut say about that percentage? Too high? Too low?
- What then is the next step to get our expectations in line with what is possible?
Leadership Quote: We Should Try To Be The Parents Of Our Future…
This month’s leadership quote:
“We should try to be the parents of our future, rather than the offspring of our past.”
-Miguel de Unamuno
The best way I know to live Miguel’s quote is by being intentional. For some of us, it is setting goals and deciding what we want for the future. For others, it is opening ourselves to discovering the opportunities that await us and how we can best apply our geniuses and contribute to the world. Which way works best for each of us depends on who were are, and where we are, in our lives and our careers. Either way, it is up to us to be the parents of our future, rather than the offspring of our past.
P.S. One way to contribute to the world is to support social purpose organizations. With that in mind, the four of us have extended our Cara challenge grant through the end of the year. Click here, if you want to learn more and perhaps join the match.
Today is Giving Tuesday
Today on Giving Tuesday nonprofits, families, businesses and students around the world come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.
I also wanted to share…my matching gift opportunity.
Many of you know about my passion for The CARA Program, a true social innovator. I am proud to count Maria Kim, CEO as a member of Vistage 3361. Cara was the only social purpose organization to win the Chicago Innovation Award and for the first time in 2015, Cara was listed in Chicago Magazine’s “Best 20 Charities in Chicago” .
This year, I have joined with Maria’s fellow Vistage member, Kevin Krak of Gallant Building Solutions, and Jim and Kay Mabie in offering a $20,000 Challenge Grant. We will match every dollar up to $20,000! Click Here to give today and your gift will go twice as far.
Thank you in advance for joining me on Giving Tuesday with a donation to the Cara Program, or to the social purpose organization of your choice.
If you’ve walked through the doors, you know there’s something special about Cara. It’s a place where people in need get help so they can find and keep a good job. And it’s so much more.
What does Cara mean to you?
|
|
|
|
|