"I believe effective leaders are, first and foremost, good teachers." -- John Wooden
What hope for the future! Teaching's my number one strength.
Wooden also said "We are in the education business."
I suppose everyone's business is education. It's also been said that everyone is in the people business. Education's a top item for me in the next presidential election. We have abundant natural resources. How can we train them to be their best? As McCain and Obama talk, I'll be listening through that framework. Defend us from invasion, and budget a certain amount in support of our global neighbors, then get busy training our citizens to succeed.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Love Triangle
Phil Jackson won six championships with the NBA's Chicago Bulls using the famed "triangle offense." This offense, Jackson noted, "emphasizes cooperation and freedom, the very values I'd spent my life pursuing off the court and dreamed of applying to the game."
When asked to choose my favorite values, those two would probably rise near the top for me too -- freedom to do what makes life most enjoyable at any given moment, and cooperation (or maybe better, "harmony") with those around me. When values come into conflict, one is compromised. I could probably find a more exciting job somewhere, one with less pay and security, and therefore less freedom. So why? Excitement can be manufactured where it doesn't flow most naturally. Act excited -- become excited.
When asked to choose my favorite values, those two would probably rise near the top for me too -- freedom to do what makes life most enjoyable at any given moment, and cooperation (or maybe better, "harmony") with those around me. When values come into conflict, one is compromised. I could probably find a more exciting job somewhere, one with less pay and security, and therefore less freedom. So why? Excitement can be manufactured where it doesn't flow most naturally. Act excited -- become excited.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Close Relationships
From Lou Tice:
Everywhere you look, it seems that someone is offering you advice on how to make your marriage happier, your friendships closer, and your love connections stronger. Television and radio talk shows are loaded with advice. Even your sister-in-law has advice.
Today I want to give you what may be the single most valuable piece of advice you will ever receive about how to build and sustain good, close, lasting relationships. Here it is: Learn to stop blaming and finding fault with others. It doesn't matter how much you may believe you are in the right. The fact is, blaming and fault-finding create resentment, hostility, and withdrawal.
When you stop blaming and finding fault, you create warmth and openness, and the focus shifts from what is wrong to what it will look like when it is fixed. Practice making clear statements of your needs and the changes you'd like.
Show why the thing you want is mutually desirable. Paint a vivid picture of the benefits of change and keep that picture alive in words and thoughts. Reward positive efforts toward change with lots of praise and approval. Remember, people move in the direction of praise, while criticism usually doesn't produce much movement at all, except away from the critic.
Give up blaming others, take accountability for your own feelings, and see how your relationships will improve.
Everywhere you look, it seems that someone is offering you advice on how to make your marriage happier, your friendships closer, and your love connections stronger. Television and radio talk shows are loaded with advice. Even your sister-in-law has advice.
Today I want to give you what may be the single most valuable piece of advice you will ever receive about how to build and sustain good, close, lasting relationships. Here it is: Learn to stop blaming and finding fault with others. It doesn't matter how much you may believe you are in the right. The fact is, blaming and fault-finding create resentment, hostility, and withdrawal.
When you stop blaming and finding fault, you create warmth and openness, and the focus shifts from what is wrong to what it will look like when it is fixed. Practice making clear statements of your needs and the changes you'd like.
Show why the thing you want is mutually desirable. Paint a vivid picture of the benefits of change and keep that picture alive in words and thoughts. Reward positive efforts toward change with lots of praise and approval. Remember, people move in the direction of praise, while criticism usually doesn't produce much movement at all, except away from the critic.
Give up blaming others, take accountability for your own feelings, and see how your relationships will improve.
Alternatives
From Lou Tice:
Today, let's talk about how important it is to have alternatives, and how our thoughts can keep important alternatives out of our reach.
How would you feel if only one candidate was running for president? (OK, that might be a loaded question for parts of the world right now!)
What if, when you got sick, there was only one doctor you could see? You'd feel very uncomfortable, right? Because these are areas in which most of us are used to having alternatives.
When you have options and the opportunity to choose, you have power in your life. But sometimes we develop blind spots, or scotomas, and we lock-on to one idea, one way of looking at a problem or solution. This may be because we were raised to think a certain way, or because we prefer the security of the known to the uncertainty of the unknown. Now when we lock-on to one idea, or a singular way of doing things, we automatically lock-out other alternatives, and in the process, we rob ourselves of power.
The more alternatives you can see, the more power you have. It helps to expose yourself to different ideas and other points of view. There is no need to feel threatened by differences, because you are the final authority about what is best for you, whether it is treating an illness, dealing with a difficult relationship, or deciding on a career move.
Give yourself lots of options, and you increase your personal power.
Today, let's talk about how important it is to have alternatives, and how our thoughts can keep important alternatives out of our reach.
How would you feel if only one candidate was running for president? (OK, that might be a loaded question for parts of the world right now!)
What if, when you got sick, there was only one doctor you could see? You'd feel very uncomfortable, right? Because these are areas in which most of us are used to having alternatives.
When you have options and the opportunity to choose, you have power in your life. But sometimes we develop blind spots, or scotomas, and we lock-on to one idea, one way of looking at a problem or solution. This may be because we were raised to think a certain way, or because we prefer the security of the known to the uncertainty of the unknown. Now when we lock-on to one idea, or a singular way of doing things, we automatically lock-out other alternatives, and in the process, we rob ourselves of power.
The more alternatives you can see, the more power you have. It helps to expose yourself to different ideas and other points of view. There is no need to feel threatened by differences, because you are the final authority about what is best for you, whether it is treating an illness, dealing with a difficult relationship, or deciding on a career move.
Give yourself lots of options, and you increase your personal power.
From Abe Lincoln's Lips
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.
Peaceful Thought
Is anyone more at peace than the one with an eternally grateful heart and trusting soul?
Why July 4?
From Livescience.com:
John Adams predicted in a letter to his wife Abigail that Americans would celebrate their Independence Day on July 2. Off by two days - not too bad for government work.
On July 2, 1776, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, signed only by Charles Thompson (the secretary of Congress) and John Hancock (the presiding officer). Two days later Congress approved the revised version and ordered it to be printed and distributed to the states and military officers. The other signatures would have to wait.
Many actually viewed the Declaration of Independence as a yawner - a rehashing of arguments already made against the British government. John Adams would later describe the Declaration as "dress and ornament rather than Body, Soul, or Substance." The exception was the last paragraph that said the united colonies "are and of Right ought to be Free and Independent states" and were "Absolved of all Allegiance to the British Crown."
For Adams, it was the momentum towards achieving American independence initiated on July 2 that future generations would consider worth celebrating, not the approval of this document on July 4.
Interestingly, the pomp and circumstance that many Americans presume took place on July 4, 1776, actually occurred days to weeks afterwards.
The Philadelphia Evening Post published the Declaration's full text in its July 6 newspaper. And the Declaration of Independence was publicly read from the State House in Philadelphia on July 8. Later that day, it was read in Easton, PA, Trenton, NJ, and to the local embryonic militia to provide much-needed inspiration against the formidable British.
The shouting and firing of muskets that followed these first public readings represent America's first celebrations of independence.
As copies spread, the Declaration of Independence would be read at town meetings and religious services. In response, Americans lit bonfires, fired guns, rang bells, and removed symbols of the British monarchy.
The following year, no member of Congress thought about commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence until July 3 - one day too late. So the first organized elaborate celebration of independence occurred the following day: July 4, 1777, in Philadelphia. Ships in the harbor were decked in the nation's colors. Cannons rained 13-gun salutes in honor of each state. And parades and fireworks spiced up the festivities.
Fireworks did not become staples of July 4 celebrations until after 1816, when Americans began producing their own pyrotechnics and no longer relied on expensive fireworks from across the pond.
Since 1777, the tradition of celebrating America's independence on July 4 has continued.
John Adams predicted in a letter to his wife Abigail that Americans would celebrate their Independence Day on July 2. Off by two days - not too bad for government work.
On July 2, 1776, Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, signed only by Charles Thompson (the secretary of Congress) and John Hancock (the presiding officer). Two days later Congress approved the revised version and ordered it to be printed and distributed to the states and military officers. The other signatures would have to wait.
Many actually viewed the Declaration of Independence as a yawner - a rehashing of arguments already made against the British government. John Adams would later describe the Declaration as "dress and ornament rather than Body, Soul, or Substance." The exception was the last paragraph that said the united colonies "are and of Right ought to be Free and Independent states" and were "Absolved of all Allegiance to the British Crown."
For Adams, it was the momentum towards achieving American independence initiated on July 2 that future generations would consider worth celebrating, not the approval of this document on July 4.
Interestingly, the pomp and circumstance that many Americans presume took place on July 4, 1776, actually occurred days to weeks afterwards.
The Philadelphia Evening Post published the Declaration's full text in its July 6 newspaper. And the Declaration of Independence was publicly read from the State House in Philadelphia on July 8. Later that day, it was read in Easton, PA, Trenton, NJ, and to the local embryonic militia to provide much-needed inspiration against the formidable British.
The shouting and firing of muskets that followed these first public readings represent America's first celebrations of independence.
As copies spread, the Declaration of Independence would be read at town meetings and religious services. In response, Americans lit bonfires, fired guns, rang bells, and removed symbols of the British monarchy.
The following year, no member of Congress thought about commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence until July 3 - one day too late. So the first organized elaborate celebration of independence occurred the following day: July 4, 1777, in Philadelphia. Ships in the harbor were decked in the nation's colors. Cannons rained 13-gun salutes in honor of each state. And parades and fireworks spiced up the festivities.
Fireworks did not become staples of July 4 celebrations until after 1816, when Americans began producing their own pyrotechnics and no longer relied on expensive fireworks from across the pond.
Since 1777, the tradition of celebrating America's independence on July 4 has continued.
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