In the second part of Orrin Woodward's review of Scams and Networking, Orrin reviews personal responsibility and the victim mentality. What a pertinent essay considering the current state of our country. I suggest we reprint this and float leaflets of this information over the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters. This is nothing short of fantastic information on how to succeed in today's world, something that isn't taught in any learning institutions but should be!
God Bless!
Capt. Bill
Robert Kiyosaki - author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Rich Dad Poor Dad
Network marketing teaches basic, critical life skills. It teaches people how to overcome their fears, how to communicate, and how to handle rejection and maintain persistence. This kind of education is absolutely priceless. Here’s what I tell people: “Even if you don’t like it, stay with it for five years and you’ll be better equipped to survive in the real world of business. And you’ll be a better person.” The people who are successful in network marketing have a spiritual cause. They genuinely want to help better others’ lives. If you don’t have that, if you just want a paycheck, then work for the post office!
Success isn’t easy, but then again, neither is failure
When people call the entire Network Marketing profession a scam, merely because they didn’t succeed, it demonstrates their lack of understanding of scams and personal responsibility. No one should teach that success in Networking is easy, since it’s not, but failure certainly isn’t easy either. Malcolm Gladwell, a best selling author, teaches that success in any field requires 10,000 hours of diligent study and action. Anything less, and that person is still an amateur in his profession. For someone to try Networking for several years, and then state it’s a scam, is simply a version of Aesop’s fables, sour grapes from an amateur fox who couldn’t reach the desired fruit. For example, in high school, I wrestled in many tournaments. I could not of imagined any wrestler calling the tournament a scam because he didn’t receive a medal. The sour grapes wrestler would have been laughed out of the arena, since many do not win medals, not having at that moment, learned the skills and put in the hours to win at a tournament level.
Seth Godin is author of the New York Times bestsellers The Dip and Tribes
Network marketing works when it’s not about you. It works when it is about the customer. Not sort of about the customer as a way of helping you, not kinda about the customer when you imagine how they could act like you and become part of your downline. No, it works when it is generous and transparent and true. If someone buys from you because they are a friend or because it’s easier than avoiding you, that’s not about the customer. Here’s my dream for you: find a product and a price and a story that people choose to seek out. Discover a niche that people would miss if it disappeared. Offer an experience that’s about more than money, more than making a living and more than recruiting a new salesperson. When you bring joy and utility and trust to people (at a fair price), they’ll embrace you.
Anonymous Victims Online
In today’s society, people can write anonymously about their victimization, crying about their lack of results, claiming to be scammed from the Networkers (better wrestlers) who kicked their butts in free enterprise, while the victims claim it was rigged against them, even though others seem to be winning while they are whining. If someone felt they were hurt, why not seek out the leaders of the company or community for resolution? Doesn’t this sound like the right thing, not to mention the honorable thing to do? Rather than post anonymously, hiding their identities as well as their real motives, assaulting the reputations of people that they don’t personally know, why not call the community leaders or the company to get the issue resolved? This is why anonymous blog postings hold no value with me. If someone doesn't feel strong enough about his opinion to state his real name, then why should I give his opinion any credence at all? Any reputable company would serve the customer in a heartbeat. I have personally been involved in several customer issues myself over the years, and they were amicably resolved. I believe in customer satisfaction and have grown my business through the application of this principle consistently. In fact, the TEAM initiated a email help system, similar to Amazon's, to ensure all issues are resolved promptly. If anyone leaves the TEAM unhappy, it wasn’t through lack of concern, but through lack of interest by the customer to address. Perhaps, the real reason that many post in Networking are anonymous, postings that act as if they are upset at the company, are because they are from competitors, not real customers. These are the bottom feeders of Networking, the parasite marketers, who, believing in a win-lose scarcity mentality, blatantly attack one company’s reputation for the alleged benefits supplied to their current company. Sadly, this egregious behavior happens often, leading to much of the negative written online. When the perceived opportunity for gain exceeds the applied character of those involved, parasite marketing will typically occur.
Orrin Woodward
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Failure Is One of Life’s Greatest Teachers!
Orrin studies leadership and success in absolutely everything. Everyone has a story we can learn from, some are by example to emulate, and some are by example to avoid. I hope you enjoy this tidbit as much as I did!
Capt. Bill
I found this excellent article about Michael Jordan. MJ was one of the most enjoyable athletes to watch in any sport—he was a consummate professional in his field. From last minute heroics,stellar defense or deft passing, Michael helped everyone on his team play better. In fact, he even helped the opposing team play better because of his presence. There is much we can learn from individualswho accept nothing less than excellence in their life. MJ is one of the greatest and we all should learn from his hunger to rise above the field.
God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Growing up every body wanted to be like Mike. Kids would wear Michael Jordan shoes in the hopes that some of his magic might rub off onto them. No other man in history has been able to single handedly shape a game as Michael Jordan did in his career. He was one of the most fiercest competitors to ever
grace the courts and as a result dominated the game like no one else in history.
His sporting achievements read like a dream list, winning 6 NBA championships, 10-time All-NBA First Team, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, 14-time All-Star, two time Olympic gold medalist, countless MVP’s to his credit and inducted as one of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. There is no question that Jordan was a winner, here are some timeless lessons we can learn from his legacy:
1. Winners Aren’t Afraid To Fail
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
Jordan ended his amazingly stellar career with a field goal shooting average of 0.497%. Imagine one of the greatest players in history missing nearly one in every two of his shots, some of which were no doubt in pivotal moments of the game and even potential game winners. Most people make decisions in their life as if one misstep or setback would cause their house of cards to come crumbling down beneath their feet. They fear failure, fear letting down their friends or family, fear what others might think about them, fear the consequences of their actions and thus visualize the worst case scenarios in their mind.
Winners are those rare individuals who in spite of all odds, choose to put their hand up for that game winning shot and whether they make the basket or not, know that they put 100% into that moment. The difference between hero and villain is a fine line and winners know the highs and lows of both. To be given the responsibility and the privilege like Jordan did over and over again in his career to take the game winning shot you must prepare the best you can, live the best you can and believe in every ounce of your ability. Winners don’t just rely on blind faith and see failure as a lesson to learn from. Failure is one of life’s greatest teachers and if you but embrace those lessons you will bestronger for it.
2. Winners Work Harder And Smarter
“I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don’t do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results.” – Michael Jordan
It is always surprising to hear people who talk about achieving success in their field, instead of being willing to put in the hard work they look for short cuts. They look to gain as much as they can by working as little as they can. To look for shortcuts is a fools game, no one ever achieved excellence in any great undertaking by subscribing to the ethic of laziness. Jordan was cut from the varsity team as a sophomore during his time at Laney High School in Wilmington. “Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I’d close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it,” Jordan said, “and that usually got me going again.” He eventually made the team and led it to the state championship. At age 35 he was still working harder than most of the players half his age, and he was still out maneuvering them on the basketball courts. He out hustled, out played, and out skilled his contemporaries a fraction of his age. Jordan’s secret was his work ethic was like no other, even at an age where he had already proved he was the greatest living basketball player, he still worked harder than everyone else to continue to develop his game.
3. Winners Rise Above The Low Expectation Of Others
“If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.” – Michael Jordan
You have to be willing to rise about the mediocrity of your peers and critics. Mediocrity is a disease that takes hold on those who aren’t strong enough to hold onto their dreams, who don’t have enough belief in them self or too scared to rise above the crowd. When Jordan was cut from the Varsity team
in high school, he was relegated to playing for the Junior Varsity team and worked on his skills during the summer with his brother. He spent that year developing his skills and honing his craft earning him a spot in the varsity team a year later. The rest is history. If he was to have believed that he wasn’t good enough like his coach then imagine history without Jordan jumping through the air and making impossible jump shots. Winners aren’t confined to the domain of the most gifted, the most talented or the one with the most opportunities and resources. At the end of the day winners are the ones who rise above everybody else’s thinking and believes in themselves. They pay the price to become the best.
4. Winners Love What They Do
“Even when I’m old and grey, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game.” – Michael Jordan
It doesn’t take a genius to work out that Jordan loved the game. Basketball for Jordan was something that brought him joy and fulfillment. He played basketball as a young kid with his father and older brother way before his skills and talents were even known. He worked hard to follow his passion even when obstacles were presented in his path. The path to greatness is all uphill and if you aren’t doing something your passionate about then that road uphill very quickly becomes a grinding slog. Life is too short to slog your way through life, if you know the path is uphill then at least find something that you love to do so that you can have fun while doing it.
5. Winners Are In It To Win
“I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.” – Michael Jordan
Jordan might be considered an over achiever, but he wasn’t sweating it out week in week out to just be in the game. Jordan’s tenacity and drive to win iswhat fueled much of his devotion to the game and his outstanding record ofsuccess was the scorecard. He pushed his body to it’s limit so that he could see
what it was possible in achieving. Sure you might argue that it’s just a game,it’s not like world peace is at stake but what separates winners from losers istheir willingness to get off the sideline and play all in. They dedicatethemselves to an undertaking of excellence in everything they do and commit to a path forged with professionalism.
6. Winners Overcome Obstacles In Their Path
“If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” – Michael Jordan
It is amazing how often people quit at the first sign of defeat. Instead of pushing through that defeat they see it as some sort of sign that this path was not theirs to begin with and go seeking another path for their life. The problem is that these people never stick to one thing long enough for success to sprout. They dabble at this and dabble at that and achieve mastery at nothing in life. Obstacles are put on your path to challenge you to rise to a whole new level, a level often time you didn’t even knew existed in your human potential. Obstacles give you a reason to strive further, work harder and find that inner strength that each and everyone of us possess if we just are willing to tap into it.
7. Winners Make Things Happen
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” – Michael Jordan
Opportunities don’t magically fall into your lap, you have to create those opportunities. Winners are proactive with their dreams, they are willing to do what the loser’s only dream about. Instead of complaining, getting upset or trying to explain why things didn’t happen for you, stand up and take charge of your destiny. Shape it the way you want, if one door closes, work twice as hard till the next door opens. You can turn around your life today if you just subscribe to the winners mindset that all things are possible if you put your mind to it. Jordan revolutionized the game of basketball, he created what to mere mortals look like impossible shots from impossible angles.He dazzled professional athletes by making them look amateurish by dribbling around them and pulling out jump shots. Jordan devoted his life to masteringhis craft and created shots that generations to come would emulate. He didn’tjust play the game, he created the game as he went and defined the game.
Capt. Bill
I found this excellent article about Michael Jordan. MJ was one of the most enjoyable athletes to watch in any sport—he was a consummate professional in his field. From last minute heroics,stellar defense or deft passing, Michael helped everyone on his team play better. In fact, he even helped the opposing team play better because of his presence. There is much we can learn from individualswho accept nothing less than excellence in their life. MJ is one of the greatest and we all should learn from his hunger to rise above the field.
God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Growing up every body wanted to be like Mike. Kids would wear Michael Jordan shoes in the hopes that some of his magic might rub off onto them. No other man in history has been able to single handedly shape a game as Michael Jordan did in his career. He was one of the most fiercest competitors to ever
grace the courts and as a result dominated the game like no one else in history.
His sporting achievements read like a dream list, winning 6 NBA championships, 10-time All-NBA First Team, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, 14-time All-Star, two time Olympic gold medalist, countless MVP’s to his credit and inducted as one of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. There is no question that Jordan was a winner, here are some timeless lessons we can learn from his legacy:
1. Winners Aren’t Afraid To Fail
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
Jordan ended his amazingly stellar career with a field goal shooting average of 0.497%. Imagine one of the greatest players in history missing nearly one in every two of his shots, some of which were no doubt in pivotal moments of the game and even potential game winners. Most people make decisions in their life as if one misstep or setback would cause their house of cards to come crumbling down beneath their feet. They fear failure, fear letting down their friends or family, fear what others might think about them, fear the consequences of their actions and thus visualize the worst case scenarios in their mind.
Winners are those rare individuals who in spite of all odds, choose to put their hand up for that game winning shot and whether they make the basket or not, know that they put 100% into that moment. The difference between hero and villain is a fine line and winners know the highs and lows of both. To be given the responsibility and the privilege like Jordan did over and over again in his career to take the game winning shot you must prepare the best you can, live the best you can and believe in every ounce of your ability. Winners don’t just rely on blind faith and see failure as a lesson to learn from. Failure is one of life’s greatest teachers and if you but embrace those lessons you will bestronger for it.
2. Winners Work Harder And Smarter
“I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don’t do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results.” – Michael Jordan
It is always surprising to hear people who talk about achieving success in their field, instead of being willing to put in the hard work they look for short cuts. They look to gain as much as they can by working as little as they can. To look for shortcuts is a fools game, no one ever achieved excellence in any great undertaking by subscribing to the ethic of laziness. Jordan was cut from the varsity team as a sophomore during his time at Laney High School in Wilmington. “Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I’d close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it,” Jordan said, “and that usually got me going again.” He eventually made the team and led it to the state championship. At age 35 he was still working harder than most of the players half his age, and he was still out maneuvering them on the basketball courts. He out hustled, out played, and out skilled his contemporaries a fraction of his age. Jordan’s secret was his work ethic was like no other, even at an age where he had already proved he was the greatest living basketball player, he still worked harder than everyone else to continue to develop his game.
3. Winners Rise Above The Low Expectation Of Others
“If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.” – Michael Jordan
You have to be willing to rise about the mediocrity of your peers and critics. Mediocrity is a disease that takes hold on those who aren’t strong enough to hold onto their dreams, who don’t have enough belief in them self or too scared to rise above the crowd. When Jordan was cut from the Varsity team
in high school, he was relegated to playing for the Junior Varsity team and worked on his skills during the summer with his brother. He spent that year developing his skills and honing his craft earning him a spot in the varsity team a year later. The rest is history. If he was to have believed that he wasn’t good enough like his coach then imagine history without Jordan jumping through the air and making impossible jump shots. Winners aren’t confined to the domain of the most gifted, the most talented or the one with the most opportunities and resources. At the end of the day winners are the ones who rise above everybody else’s thinking and believes in themselves. They pay the price to become the best.
4. Winners Love What They Do
“Even when I’m old and grey, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game.” – Michael Jordan
It doesn’t take a genius to work out that Jordan loved the game. Basketball for Jordan was something that brought him joy and fulfillment. He played basketball as a young kid with his father and older brother way before his skills and talents were even known. He worked hard to follow his passion even when obstacles were presented in his path. The path to greatness is all uphill and if you aren’t doing something your passionate about then that road uphill very quickly becomes a grinding slog. Life is too short to slog your way through life, if you know the path is uphill then at least find something that you love to do so that you can have fun while doing it.
5. Winners Are In It To Win
“I play to win, whether during practice or a real game. And I will not let anything get in the way of me and my competitive enthusiasm to win.” – Michael Jordan
Jordan might be considered an over achiever, but he wasn’t sweating it out week in week out to just be in the game. Jordan’s tenacity and drive to win iswhat fueled much of his devotion to the game and his outstanding record ofsuccess was the scorecard. He pushed his body to it’s limit so that he could see
what it was possible in achieving. Sure you might argue that it’s just a game,it’s not like world peace is at stake but what separates winners from losers istheir willingness to get off the sideline and play all in. They dedicatethemselves to an undertaking of excellence in everything they do and commit to a path forged with professionalism.
6. Winners Overcome Obstacles In Their Path
“If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” – Michael Jordan
It is amazing how often people quit at the first sign of defeat. Instead of pushing through that defeat they see it as some sort of sign that this path was not theirs to begin with and go seeking another path for their life. The problem is that these people never stick to one thing long enough for success to sprout. They dabble at this and dabble at that and achieve mastery at nothing in life. Obstacles are put on your path to challenge you to rise to a whole new level, a level often time you didn’t even knew existed in your human potential. Obstacles give you a reason to strive further, work harder and find that inner strength that each and everyone of us possess if we just are willing to tap into it.
7. Winners Make Things Happen
“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” – Michael Jordan
Opportunities don’t magically fall into your lap, you have to create those opportunities. Winners are proactive with their dreams, they are willing to do what the loser’s only dream about. Instead of complaining, getting upset or trying to explain why things didn’t happen for you, stand up and take charge of your destiny. Shape it the way you want, if one door closes, work twice as hard till the next door opens. You can turn around your life today if you just subscribe to the winners mindset that all things are possible if you put your mind to it. Jordan revolutionized the game of basketball, he created what to mere mortals look like impossible shots from impossible angles.He dazzled professional athletes by making them look amateurish by dribbling around them and pulling out jump shots. Jordan devoted his life to masteringhis craft and created shots that generations to come would emulate. He didn’tjust play the game, he created the game as he went and defined the game.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE!
Here's another example of the quality input from the #7 leadership guru in the world Orrin Woodward from his upcoming release RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE.
Enjoy!
Capt. Bill
Here is a snippet from the new RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE book coming out November 1. Sam Walton is one of my favorite all-time business men because he endured so many setbacks and criticisms on his way to massive success. Enjoy. Orrin Woodward
Walton, after a decade of being the Butler Brothers top performer, began to chafe under their rigid bureaucracy and mismanagement. The Butler Brothers, who at the time made huge profits with their business model, seemed incapable of recognizing the impending, competitive threat from discounting stores to their variety store chain. But Walton, not suffering from the myopia, recognized before others that the variety stores chains must adapt or die. The billionaire Butler Brothers, in a hubris induced coma, preferred to play it safe. They may have secured higher margins temporarily, but ultimately, they destroyed their business by not responding to the “creative destruction” inherent in the free enterprise system.
Walton anticipated the future, realizing the days of high margins were following the dinosaur into extinction becoming a fatality of the discount store’s more competitively priced business model. Walton flew up to the Butler Brothers’ office in Chicago, proposing a partnership with them to launch a discount model. He wasn’t far into his presentation when he mentioned the margins would have to be cut from the typical 25% plus to around 12.5% or less of the sale’s price. This terminated the meeting. Walton recalled, “They blew up,” not willing to risk their easy profits; choosing instead, to ride out the variety store model into business oblivion. Exasperated, Walton explained that the profits would be made up on volume; that the high margins were going away regardless, but the Butler Brothers, blinded by the past, rejected the new reality along with Walton.
Not easily dismayed, Walton flew to Texas, hoping to become a franchiser of Herb Gibson, the highly successful discounter at the time. Gibson however, rejected Walton outright, seeing Walton, “as a bush-league variety-store merchant who possessed neither the finances nor the experience necessary to succeed in the Gibson chain.” Not surprisingly, it’s the revolutionary leaders with the largest of visions who must endure endless criticism from those who profit from the past, who stand to lose the most if the leader’s vision is fulfilled. Walton, with every avenue possible rejected, did what all revolutionary leaders do in this situation – he did it anyway. In fact, 95% of the money for the original Walmart came from Walton himself; simply because no one else believed enough in his vision to invest
Enjoy!
Capt. Bill
Here is a snippet from the new RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE book coming out November 1. Sam Walton is one of my favorite all-time business men because he endured so many setbacks and criticisms on his way to massive success. Enjoy. Orrin Woodward
Walton, after a decade of being the Butler Brothers top performer, began to chafe under their rigid bureaucracy and mismanagement. The Butler Brothers, who at the time made huge profits with their business model, seemed incapable of recognizing the impending, competitive threat from discounting stores to their variety store chain. But Walton, not suffering from the myopia, recognized before others that the variety stores chains must adapt or die. The billionaire Butler Brothers, in a hubris induced coma, preferred to play it safe. They may have secured higher margins temporarily, but ultimately, they destroyed their business by not responding to the “creative destruction” inherent in the free enterprise system.
Walton anticipated the future, realizing the days of high margins were following the dinosaur into extinction becoming a fatality of the discount store’s more competitively priced business model. Walton flew up to the Butler Brothers’ office in Chicago, proposing a partnership with them to launch a discount model. He wasn’t far into his presentation when he mentioned the margins would have to be cut from the typical 25% plus to around 12.5% or less of the sale’s price. This terminated the meeting. Walton recalled, “They blew up,” not willing to risk their easy profits; choosing instead, to ride out the variety store model into business oblivion. Exasperated, Walton explained that the profits would be made up on volume; that the high margins were going away regardless, but the Butler Brothers, blinded by the past, rejected the new reality along with Walton.
Not easily dismayed, Walton flew to Texas, hoping to become a franchiser of Herb Gibson, the highly successful discounter at the time. Gibson however, rejected Walton outright, seeing Walton, “as a bush-league variety-store merchant who possessed neither the finances nor the experience necessary to succeed in the Gibson chain.” Not surprisingly, it’s the revolutionary leaders with the largest of visions who must endure endless criticism from those who profit from the past, who stand to lose the most if the leader’s vision is fulfilled. Walton, with every avenue possible rejected, did what all revolutionary leaders do in this situation – he did it anyway. In fact, 95% of the money for the original Walmart came from Walton himself; simply because no one else believed enough in his vision to invest
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Now Hear This!
Important scuttlebutt from the bridge, pass it on!
Capt. Bill
Special Announcement: On October 3, Blogharbor will be closing its doors, my blog will be moving over to WordPress. All of the relevant leadership material will migrate with me. :)
Chris Brady and I went to Lansing, Michigan for a Super Open. With TEAM in it's pre-launch phase of LIFE, numbers and excitement are peaking! With over 1500 in live attendance plus 760 TEAM Casts locations, with an average of 15-20 per house, this was the single biggest Open meeting in TEAM's history. Now people can enjoy the leadership training in the comfort of their own or a neighbors house, reducing the amount of time, travel and hotel space needed, while increasing the quality of speaker content across the community. Here is a description of the intersectional quality of TEAM's new business model - LIFE. LIFE's plan is to grow all 8F's, helping serve each member with the only company with two of the Top 30 Leadership Gurus and New York Times Best Selling Authors. Not too mention the lowest priced leadership products, all within the record setting TEAM community. Finally, In November, LIFE will launch the most lucrative compensation plan in the history of Networking. I love win-win-win, and this plan is a win for customers, win for TEAM members, and win for Dallin Larsen. I personally want to thank Dallin Larsen, Ernst & Young entrepreneur of the year, for having the vision and foresight to partner with leaders in a win-win fashion. When TEAM reaches a million people, he will be happy with the results. :) Onward to 1 million! God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Capt. Bill
Special Announcement: On October 3, Blogharbor will be closing its doors, my blog will be moving over to WordPress. All of the relevant leadership material will migrate with me. :)
Chris Brady and I went to Lansing, Michigan for a Super Open. With TEAM in it's pre-launch phase of LIFE, numbers and excitement are peaking! With over 1500 in live attendance plus 760 TEAM Casts locations, with an average of 15-20 per house, this was the single biggest Open meeting in TEAM's history. Now people can enjoy the leadership training in the comfort of their own or a neighbors house, reducing the amount of time, travel and hotel space needed, while increasing the quality of speaker content across the community. Here is a description of the intersectional quality of TEAM's new business model - LIFE. LIFE's plan is to grow all 8F's, helping serve each member with the only company with two of the Top 30 Leadership Gurus and New York Times Best Selling Authors. Not too mention the lowest priced leadership products, all within the record setting TEAM community. Finally, In November, LIFE will launch the most lucrative compensation plan in the history of Networking. I love win-win-win, and this plan is a win for customers, win for TEAM members, and win for Dallin Larsen. I personally want to thank Dallin Larsen, Ernst & Young entrepreneur of the year, for having the vision and foresight to partner with leaders in a win-win fashion. When TEAM reaches a million people, he will be happy with the results. :) Onward to 1 million! God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Control Issues!
This post by Orrin Woodward, number seven leadership guru in the world, is the main reason I decided after several decades to return to church. There is much to be said for the power of mentoring, and the association with a community of postive minded people who are interested in nothing but your success!
Enjoy!
Capt. Bill
Don’t let the issues outside of your control, stop you from addressing issues inside of your control.
If I have seen it once, I have seen it a thousand times, a talented person with a willingness to work, stopped cold by dwelling on issues outside of his control. This type of thinking takes on many forms, but let me give you an example to help you recognize it in your own thinking. Suppose you are looking at attending a certain school, learning that one of your friends attended the school, you seek him out to learn from his experiences. If he shares that he quit the school because it was too hard, requiring too many hours of studying and not enough for play, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t attend. If you have a dream, and are willing to work, it doesn’t tell you anything about your potential experiences at the school; since education, like nearly all life, is a matter of personal responsibility. But, if your friends failed attempt at school, blocks your dream to even apply, then two failures have occurred, one a failure of action, the other a failure of thinking. How do you control your friends work ethic? How do you know if your friend was truly committed to the school and his dreams? Why are you letting your friends actions hinder your opportunities? Leaders can only control themselves and the decisions they make, with others, they have only influence, not control.
There are numerous examples of poor thinking in allowing issues outside of your control to affect the issues inside of your control. Here are some other poor thinking scenarios:
1. I don’t attend church because a hypocrite goes there. Why allow a hypocrite to stop you from learning Truth for you and your family?
2. I am not a business owner because I had a bad experience with a business person. Why allow a bad business person to deny you of future opportunities?
3. I don’t go to doctors because I had a bad experience with a doctor. Why threaten your health because of one doctor’s incompetence.
4. I don’t read, because a teacher told me that I was dyslexic and would never be able to read. Why allow a teacher’s label to halt your personal growth.
5. I don’t talk to people because my parents told me that I was shy. Why allow your parents label, when you were a child, to hinder your future?
6. I don’t attempt great things for God, because my family has never accomplished anything great. Why allow your family’s past to hinder its future?
7. I don’t save money, because I was told that I would always be in debt. Why allow someone’s poor thinking on money become your thinking?
8. I don’t dream, because I saw my friend dream and fail. Why not learn from failures versus become one?
9. I am not getting married because so many people get divorces. Why not learn the successful marriages versus focus on the failed ones.
10. I am not having children because the world is so messed up. Why not learn how to prepare children for life versus deny them the opportunity for life?
I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Instead of allowing the things that you don’t control (other peoples thoughts and actions), to create your reality, why not focus on the things that you do control (your thoughts and actions)? I grew up in Columbiaville, Michigan, a small village with few, if any, big thinkers. It would have been easy to succumb to the ‘stinking thinking’ around Laurie and myself, but through God’s Grace, and a ton of effort, we broke free from the mold. Instead of dwelling on our parents faults, since all parents have them, Laurie and I focused on our parents strengths. We learned work ethic and the ability to think from our parents, and applied to every endeavor we undertook. One of the keys to breaking out is to major on your majors, not on the failed minors of others. Yes, people will let you down, shame on them, but that shouldn’t stop you from fulfilling your purpose. Yes, your family may hurt you at times, but that doesn’t stop end your responsibility to love and lead them. Yes, your vision, like a ship, may take on water every now and then, but leaders understand that it’s part of the journey, rebuilding the ship bigger and stronger. Your dream cannot be stolen, but through poor thinking, it can be surrendered. Life is much easier, since Laurie and I decided to press on regardless of the actions of others, that we were in the game no matter what. This released the stress and anxiety, felt by most people, created when not truly committed to a course of action. Leaders decide, backing the decision with full commitment, making the decision right by overwhelming passion and effort.
Did we have setbacks? Of course. Did we have people make promises while not following through? Many examples. Did we stay the course? To the best of our ability and know how, an emphatic yes. We cannot control other peoples poor decisions, but the last thing we should do, is to compound the mistake by piling on. Laurie and I have witnessed many people, with more talent than us, sabotage their own success by allowing poor thinking to take root in their minds. Usually, by the time the weeds have ruined their thinking, they no longer are interested in hearing the advice to help pull the weeds, even getting offended at the suggestion that they are growing weeds. I do my best to help point out the improper thinking, if they are willing to listen, but, at the end of the day, people are responsible for the fruit, or lack of fruit, produced in their minds, pulling weeds when identified is standard fare for leaders. Thus, one of the biggest weeds that can grow, if not pulled quickly, is permitting issues outside of your control to hinder your attitude and actions on the issues inside of your control. For example, if you aren’t reading, listening and learning daily in your chosen field, thinking what’s the use, since you aren’t getting the results in life that you want, then you are revealing a huge weed in your own thinking. It takes time to develop master in any field, in fact it takes 10,000 hours according to Malcolm Gladwell and Geoff Colvin, both authors who write on achievement, but most quit in despair long before this. By allowing things outside of your control, a lack of 10,000 hours when you start something new, to stop you from doing what is inside of your control, building up the hours to reach 10,000 for mastery in your field, you ensure that mastery will never arrive in any field. It truly is that simple, though not that easy.
Success in life, is simply a matter of staying focused on the areas that you control, surrendering to God the areas that are outside of your control. What a leader discovers is, that others, influenced by their example, address issues, improving the community through a leader’s influence, not control. The community, inspired by the leaders courage, in confronting and changing areas of control, make the tough changes in their lives to grow. None of this would have happened, if the leader would have dwelled upon areas that he doesn’t control. It was only because the leader stayed the course, even when it hurt, that it strengthened the resolve of others to change their lives. Are you that type of leader for your family, community, and team?
One of the best decisions that a leader will ever make in life is to be “all in”, in whatever field that s/he is pursuing. Greatness doesn’t happen to those who dabble, nor to those who deliberate, but only to those who decide. Laurie and I are “all in” for our 8F’s - Faith, Family, Friends, Freedom, Finances, Fitness, Following, and Fun. What are you “all in” for in life? Life has become so much fuller by learning the secret of sacrifice. When Laurie and I sacrifice our current conveniences for our convictions, we receive a ten fold return on, not only on our own 8F’s, but also in the joy of seeing others develop their 8F’s. Look back upon your own life, didn’t you achieve more when you kept your mind focused on the areas that you could control, instead of dwelling upon what you didn’t control? Today is the day to start thinking like the leader you plan on becoming. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Enjoy!
Capt. Bill
Don’t let the issues outside of your control, stop you from addressing issues inside of your control.
If I have seen it once, I have seen it a thousand times, a talented person with a willingness to work, stopped cold by dwelling on issues outside of his control. This type of thinking takes on many forms, but let me give you an example to help you recognize it in your own thinking. Suppose you are looking at attending a certain school, learning that one of your friends attended the school, you seek him out to learn from his experiences. If he shares that he quit the school because it was too hard, requiring too many hours of studying and not enough for play, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t attend. If you have a dream, and are willing to work, it doesn’t tell you anything about your potential experiences at the school; since education, like nearly all life, is a matter of personal responsibility. But, if your friends failed attempt at school, blocks your dream to even apply, then two failures have occurred, one a failure of action, the other a failure of thinking. How do you control your friends work ethic? How do you know if your friend was truly committed to the school and his dreams? Why are you letting your friends actions hinder your opportunities? Leaders can only control themselves and the decisions they make, with others, they have only influence, not control.
There are numerous examples of poor thinking in allowing issues outside of your control to affect the issues inside of your control. Here are some other poor thinking scenarios:
1. I don’t attend church because a hypocrite goes there. Why allow a hypocrite to stop you from learning Truth for you and your family?
2. I am not a business owner because I had a bad experience with a business person. Why allow a bad business person to deny you of future opportunities?
3. I don’t go to doctors because I had a bad experience with a doctor. Why threaten your health because of one doctor’s incompetence.
4. I don’t read, because a teacher told me that I was dyslexic and would never be able to read. Why allow a teacher’s label to halt your personal growth.
5. I don’t talk to people because my parents told me that I was shy. Why allow your parents label, when you were a child, to hinder your future?
6. I don’t attempt great things for God, because my family has never accomplished anything great. Why allow your family’s past to hinder its future?
7. I don’t save money, because I was told that I would always be in debt. Why allow someone’s poor thinking on money become your thinking?
8. I don’t dream, because I saw my friend dream and fail. Why not learn from failures versus become one?
9. I am not getting married because so many people get divorces. Why not learn the successful marriages versus focus on the failed ones.
10. I am not having children because the world is so messed up. Why not learn how to prepare children for life versus deny them the opportunity for life?
I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Instead of allowing the things that you don’t control (other peoples thoughts and actions), to create your reality, why not focus on the things that you do control (your thoughts and actions)? I grew up in Columbiaville, Michigan, a small village with few, if any, big thinkers. It would have been easy to succumb to the ‘stinking thinking’ around Laurie and myself, but through God’s Grace, and a ton of effort, we broke free from the mold. Instead of dwelling on our parents faults, since all parents have them, Laurie and I focused on our parents strengths. We learned work ethic and the ability to think from our parents, and applied to every endeavor we undertook. One of the keys to breaking out is to major on your majors, not on the failed minors of others. Yes, people will let you down, shame on them, but that shouldn’t stop you from fulfilling your purpose. Yes, your family may hurt you at times, but that doesn’t stop end your responsibility to love and lead them. Yes, your vision, like a ship, may take on water every now and then, but leaders understand that it’s part of the journey, rebuilding the ship bigger and stronger. Your dream cannot be stolen, but through poor thinking, it can be surrendered. Life is much easier, since Laurie and I decided to press on regardless of the actions of others, that we were in the game no matter what. This released the stress and anxiety, felt by most people, created when not truly committed to a course of action. Leaders decide, backing the decision with full commitment, making the decision right by overwhelming passion and effort.
Did we have setbacks? Of course. Did we have people make promises while not following through? Many examples. Did we stay the course? To the best of our ability and know how, an emphatic yes. We cannot control other peoples poor decisions, but the last thing we should do, is to compound the mistake by piling on. Laurie and I have witnessed many people, with more talent than us, sabotage their own success by allowing poor thinking to take root in their minds. Usually, by the time the weeds have ruined their thinking, they no longer are interested in hearing the advice to help pull the weeds, even getting offended at the suggestion that they are growing weeds. I do my best to help point out the improper thinking, if they are willing to listen, but, at the end of the day, people are responsible for the fruit, or lack of fruit, produced in their minds, pulling weeds when identified is standard fare for leaders. Thus, one of the biggest weeds that can grow, if not pulled quickly, is permitting issues outside of your control to hinder your attitude and actions on the issues inside of your control. For example, if you aren’t reading, listening and learning daily in your chosen field, thinking what’s the use, since you aren’t getting the results in life that you want, then you are revealing a huge weed in your own thinking. It takes time to develop master in any field, in fact it takes 10,000 hours according to Malcolm Gladwell and Geoff Colvin, both authors who write on achievement, but most quit in despair long before this. By allowing things outside of your control, a lack of 10,000 hours when you start something new, to stop you from doing what is inside of your control, building up the hours to reach 10,000 for mastery in your field, you ensure that mastery will never arrive in any field. It truly is that simple, though not that easy.
Success in life, is simply a matter of staying focused on the areas that you control, surrendering to God the areas that are outside of your control. What a leader discovers is, that others, influenced by their example, address issues, improving the community through a leader’s influence, not control. The community, inspired by the leaders courage, in confronting and changing areas of control, make the tough changes in their lives to grow. None of this would have happened, if the leader would have dwelled upon areas that he doesn’t control. It was only because the leader stayed the course, even when it hurt, that it strengthened the resolve of others to change their lives. Are you that type of leader for your family, community, and team?
One of the best decisions that a leader will ever make in life is to be “all in”, in whatever field that s/he is pursuing. Greatness doesn’t happen to those who dabble, nor to those who deliberate, but only to those who decide. Laurie and I are “all in” for our 8F’s - Faith, Family, Friends, Freedom, Finances, Fitness, Following, and Fun. What are you “all in” for in life? Life has become so much fuller by learning the secret of sacrifice. When Laurie and I sacrifice our current conveniences for our convictions, we receive a ten fold return on, not only on our own 8F’s, but also in the joy of seeing others develop their 8F’s. Look back upon your own life, didn’t you achieve more when you kept your mind focused on the areas that you could control, instead of dwelling upon what you didn’t control? Today is the day to start thinking like the leader you plan on becoming. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Leadership Control And Influence!
More great input from Orrin Woodward, this one really hit home for me! I feel so blessed to be mentored by both Orrin and Laurie because I constantly get wisdom like this first hand. Part of the leadership journey is challenging the thinking that led to the results your currently getting.
Enjoy!
Capt. Bill
Don’t let the issues outside of your control, stop you from addressing issues inside of your control.
If I have seen it once, I have seen it a thousand times, a talented person with a willingness to work, stopped cold by dwelling on issues outside of his control. This type of thinking takes on many forms, but let me give you an example to help you recognize it in your own thinking. Suppose you are looking at attending a certain school, learning that one of your friends attended the school, you seek him out to learn from his experiences. If he shares that he quit the school because it was too hard, requiring too many hours of studying and not enough for play, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t attend. If you have a dream, and are willing to work, it doesn’t tell you anything about your potential experiences at the school; since education, like nearly all life, is a matter of personal responsibility. But, if your friends failed attempt at school, blocks your dream to even apply, then two failures have occurred, one a failure of action, the other a failure of thinking. How do you control your friends work ethic? How do you know if your friend was truly committed to the school and his dreams? Why are you letting your friends actions hinder your opportunities? Leaders can only control themselves and the decisions they make, with others, they have only influence, not control.
There are numerous examples of poor thinking in allowing issues outside of your control to affect the issues inside of your control. Here are some other poor thinking scenarios:
1. I don’t attend church because a hypocrite goes there. Why allow a hypocrite to stop you from learning Truth for you and your family?
2. I am not a business owner because I had a bad experience with a business person. Why allow a bad business person to deny you of future opportunities?
3. I don’t go to doctors because I had a bad experience with a doctor. Why threaten your health because of one doctor’s incompetence.
4. I don’t read, because a teacher told me that I was dyslexic and would never be able to read. Why allow a teacher’s label to halt your personal growth.
5. I don’t talk to people because my parents told me that I was shy. Why allow your parents label, when you were a child, to hinder your future?
6. I don’t attempt great things for God, because my family has never accomplished anything great. Why allow your family’s past to hinder its future?
7. I don’t save money, because I was told that I would always be in debt. Why allow someone’s poor thinking on money become your thinking?
8. I don’t dream, because I saw my friend dream and fail. Why not learn from failures versus become one?
9. I am not getting married because so many people get divorces. Why not learn the successful marriages versus focus on the failed ones.
10. I am not having children because the world is so messed up. Why not learn how to prepare children for life versus deny them the opportunity for life?
I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Instead of allowing the things that you don’t control (other peoples thoughts and actions), to create your reality, why not focus on the things that you do control (your thoughts and actions)? I grew up in Columbiaville, Michigan, a small village with few, if any, big thinkers. It would have been easy to succumb to the ‘stinking thinking’ around Laurie and myself, but through God’s Grace, and a ton of effort, we broke free from the mold. Instead of dwelling on our parents faults, since all parents have them, Laurie and I focused on our parents strengths. We learned work ethic and the ability to think from our parents, and applied to every endeavor we undertook. One of the keys to breaking out is to major on your majors, not on the failed minors of others. Yes, people will let you down, shame on them, but that shouldn’t stop you from fulfilling your purpose. Yes, your family may hurt you at times, but that doesn’t stop end your responsibility to love and lead them. Yes, your vision, like a ship, may take on water every now and then, but leaders understand that it’s part of the journey, rebuilding the ship bigger and stronger. Your dream cannot be stolen, but through poor thinking, it can be surrendered. Life is much easier, since Laurie and I decided to press on regardless of the actions of others, that we were in the game no matter what. This released the stress and anxiety, felt by most people, created when not truly committed to a course of action. Leaders decide, backing the decision with full commitment, making the decision right by overwhelming passion and effort.
Did we have setbacks? Of course. Did we have people make promises while not following through? Many examples. Did we stay the course? To the best of our ability and know how, an emphatic yes. We cannot control other peoples poor decisions, but the last thing we should do, is to compound the mistake by piling on. Laurie and I have witnessed many people, with more talent than us, sabotage their own success by allowing poor thinking to take root in their minds. Usually, by the time the weeds have ruined their thinking, they no longer are interested in hearing the advice to help pull the weeds, even getting offended at the suggestion that they are growing weeds. I do my best to help point out the improper thinking, if they are willing to listen, but, at the end of the day, people are responsible for the fruit, or lack of fruit, produced in their minds, pulling weeds when identified is standard fare for leaders. Thus, one of the biggest weeds that can grow, if not pulled quickly, is permitting issues outside of your control to hinder your attitude and actions on the issues inside of your control. For example, if you aren’t reading, listening and learning daily in your chosen field, thinking what’s the use, since you aren’t getting the results in life that you want, then you are revealing a huge weed in your own thinking.
It takes time to develop master in any field, in fact it takes 10,000 hours according to Malcolm Gladwell and Geoff Colvin, both authors who write on achievement, but most quit in despair long before this. By allowing things outside of your control, a lack of 10,000 hours when you start something new, to stop you from doing what is inside of your control, building up the hours to reach 10,000 for mastery in your field, you ensure that mastery will never arrive in any field. It truly is that simple, though not that easy.
Success in life, is simply a matter of staying focused on the areas that you control, surrendering to God the areas that are outside of your control. What a leader discovers is, that others, influenced by their example, address issues, improving the community through a leader’s influence, not control. The community, inspired by the leaders courage, in confronting and changing areas of control, make the tough changes in their lives to grow. None of this would have happened, if the leader would have dwelled upon areas that he doesn’t control. It was only because the leader stayed the course, even when it hurt, that it strengthened the resolve of others to change their lives. Are you that type of leader for your family, community, and team?
One of the best decisions that a leader will ever make in life is to be “all in”, in whatever field that s/he is pursuing. Greatness doesn’t happen to those who dabble, nor to those who deliberate, but only to those who decide. Laurie and I are “all in” for our 8F’s - Faith, Family, Friends, Freedom, Finances, Fitness, Following, and Fun. What are you “all in” for in life? Life has become so much fuller by learning the secret of sacrifice. When Laurie and I sacrifice our current conveniences for our convictions, we receive a ten fold return on, not only on our own 8F’s, but also in the joy of seeing others develop their 8F’s. Look back upon your own life, didn’t you achieve more when you kept your mind focused on the areas that you could control, instead of dwelling upon what you didn’t control? Today is the day to start thinking like the leader you plan on becoming. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
MLM Scams
Enjoy!
Capt. Bill
Don’t let the issues outside of your control, stop you from addressing issues inside of your control.
If I have seen it once, I have seen it a thousand times, a talented person with a willingness to work, stopped cold by dwelling on issues outside of his control. This type of thinking takes on many forms, but let me give you an example to help you recognize it in your own thinking. Suppose you are looking at attending a certain school, learning that one of your friends attended the school, you seek him out to learn from his experiences. If he shares that he quit the school because it was too hard, requiring too many hours of studying and not enough for play, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t attend. If you have a dream, and are willing to work, it doesn’t tell you anything about your potential experiences at the school; since education, like nearly all life, is a matter of personal responsibility. But, if your friends failed attempt at school, blocks your dream to even apply, then two failures have occurred, one a failure of action, the other a failure of thinking. How do you control your friends work ethic? How do you know if your friend was truly committed to the school and his dreams? Why are you letting your friends actions hinder your opportunities? Leaders can only control themselves and the decisions they make, with others, they have only influence, not control.
There are numerous examples of poor thinking in allowing issues outside of your control to affect the issues inside of your control. Here are some other poor thinking scenarios:
1. I don’t attend church because a hypocrite goes there. Why allow a hypocrite to stop you from learning Truth for you and your family?
2. I am not a business owner because I had a bad experience with a business person. Why allow a bad business person to deny you of future opportunities?
3. I don’t go to doctors because I had a bad experience with a doctor. Why threaten your health because of one doctor’s incompetence.
4. I don’t read, because a teacher told me that I was dyslexic and would never be able to read. Why allow a teacher’s label to halt your personal growth.
5. I don’t talk to people because my parents told me that I was shy. Why allow your parents label, when you were a child, to hinder your future?
6. I don’t attempt great things for God, because my family has never accomplished anything great. Why allow your family’s past to hinder its future?
7. I don’t save money, because I was told that I would always be in debt. Why allow someone’s poor thinking on money become your thinking?
8. I don’t dream, because I saw my friend dream and fail. Why not learn from failures versus become one?
9. I am not getting married because so many people get divorces. Why not learn the successful marriages versus focus on the failed ones.
10. I am not having children because the world is so messed up. Why not learn how to prepare children for life versus deny them the opportunity for life?
I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Instead of allowing the things that you don’t control (other peoples thoughts and actions), to create your reality, why not focus on the things that you do control (your thoughts and actions)? I grew up in Columbiaville, Michigan, a small village with few, if any, big thinkers. It would have been easy to succumb to the ‘stinking thinking’ around Laurie and myself, but through God’s Grace, and a ton of effort, we broke free from the mold. Instead of dwelling on our parents faults, since all parents have them, Laurie and I focused on our parents strengths. We learned work ethic and the ability to think from our parents, and applied to every endeavor we undertook. One of the keys to breaking out is to major on your majors, not on the failed minors of others. Yes, people will let you down, shame on them, but that shouldn’t stop you from fulfilling your purpose. Yes, your family may hurt you at times, but that doesn’t stop end your responsibility to love and lead them. Yes, your vision, like a ship, may take on water every now and then, but leaders understand that it’s part of the journey, rebuilding the ship bigger and stronger. Your dream cannot be stolen, but through poor thinking, it can be surrendered. Life is much easier, since Laurie and I decided to press on regardless of the actions of others, that we were in the game no matter what. This released the stress and anxiety, felt by most people, created when not truly committed to a course of action. Leaders decide, backing the decision with full commitment, making the decision right by overwhelming passion and effort.
Did we have setbacks? Of course. Did we have people make promises while not following through? Many examples. Did we stay the course? To the best of our ability and know how, an emphatic yes. We cannot control other peoples poor decisions, but the last thing we should do, is to compound the mistake by piling on. Laurie and I have witnessed many people, with more talent than us, sabotage their own success by allowing poor thinking to take root in their minds. Usually, by the time the weeds have ruined their thinking, they no longer are interested in hearing the advice to help pull the weeds, even getting offended at the suggestion that they are growing weeds. I do my best to help point out the improper thinking, if they are willing to listen, but, at the end of the day, people are responsible for the fruit, or lack of fruit, produced in their minds, pulling weeds when identified is standard fare for leaders. Thus, one of the biggest weeds that can grow, if not pulled quickly, is permitting issues outside of your control to hinder your attitude and actions on the issues inside of your control. For example, if you aren’t reading, listening and learning daily in your chosen field, thinking what’s the use, since you aren’t getting the results in life that you want, then you are revealing a huge weed in your own thinking.
It takes time to develop master in any field, in fact it takes 10,000 hours according to Malcolm Gladwell and Geoff Colvin, both authors who write on achievement, but most quit in despair long before this. By allowing things outside of your control, a lack of 10,000 hours when you start something new, to stop you from doing what is inside of your control, building up the hours to reach 10,000 for mastery in your field, you ensure that mastery will never arrive in any field. It truly is that simple, though not that easy.
Success in life, is simply a matter of staying focused on the areas that you control, surrendering to God the areas that are outside of your control. What a leader discovers is, that others, influenced by their example, address issues, improving the community through a leader’s influence, not control. The community, inspired by the leaders courage, in confronting and changing areas of control, make the tough changes in their lives to grow. None of this would have happened, if the leader would have dwelled upon areas that he doesn’t control. It was only because the leader stayed the course, even when it hurt, that it strengthened the resolve of others to change their lives. Are you that type of leader for your family, community, and team?
One of the best decisions that a leader will ever make in life is to be “all in”, in whatever field that s/he is pursuing. Greatness doesn’t happen to those who dabble, nor to those who deliberate, but only to those who decide. Laurie and I are “all in” for our 8F’s - Faith, Family, Friends, Freedom, Finances, Fitness, Following, and Fun. What are you “all in” for in life? Life has become so much fuller by learning the secret of sacrifice. When Laurie and I sacrifice our current conveniences for our convictions, we receive a ten fold return on, not only on our own 8F’s, but also in the joy of seeing others develop their 8F’s. Look back upon your own life, didn’t you achieve more when you kept your mind focused on the areas that you could control, instead of dwelling upon what you didn’t control? Today is the day to start thinking like the leader you plan on becoming. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
MLM Scams
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Give Me Liberty!
History has timeless examples of leadership and courage. Here is a reprint of one of Orrin's posts highlighting an American icon, an example we should all aspire to. America is tired of being the scam being used by the elite in Washington. This is how American patriots stand against tyranny.
Enjoy!
Capt. Bill
Patrick Henry - The Seven Resolutions
by Orrin Woodward on Wed 28 Nov 2007 08:03 AM EST
This is the second part of young Patrick Henry's courageous stand for truth against the tyranny of the British King George the Third. What will Patrick Henry do? Will he stand for what he knows is right or bow to the older members? The older House members fear the King and are not representing the people they are under oath to represent. The House of Burgess began its session and by all indications it would be a few days of closing up previously discussed items. The monotonous proceedings clipped along until someone made a proposal to review all the actions the House had done in protest against the notorious Stamp Acts and consider any further steps that could be taken to convey their displeasure with the tyrannical actions of King George. Patrick Henry stood up in the opening debates with 7 resolutions he had written out on a blank page of an old law book. He drew the page from his pocket and began to read the resolutions. (I will paraphrase and abridge the resolutions.)
Resolved: That subjects of his Majesty’s colony have all privileges, franchises, and immunities (rights) enjoyed by the people in Great Britain.
Resolved: These rights have been confirmed by two royal charters.
Resolved: The taxation of the people by themselves or by a person representing them is the distinguishing mark of British freedoms.
Resolved: The Virginians have always been thus governed by their own Assemblies in the areas of taxes and internal policy.
By this point the conservative Tory members of the House were getting nervous. No one could argue with Patrick Henry’s logic or the correctness of his points. But they did not like the tone or the direction that Patrick was heading with his reasoning. In 1765, subjects did not talk like this against the King’s proclamations. Patrick Henry knew there were principles stronger than the King’s commands. Conservatives attempted to close the debate by saying they should wait until they heard from the British Ministry and Lord George Grenville on their earlier protest letter. (In fact, they never heard from Lord Grenville, author of the Stamp Act as he scarcely glanced at the protest before dumping letter into wastebasket.) After much discussion, Patrick’s first 4 resolutions were adopted by the slimmest of margins. Patrick Henry did not sit down and what happened next was a major force that changed the thinking of the colonies and forged the unity which led to the United States of America. The conservatives’ worst fears were being realized.
Resolved: That the General Assembly have the exclusive right and power to lay taxes on the subjects of the colony.
Resolved: That the subjects of this colony are not bound to obey any law designed to impose taxes upon them—other than the laws and ordinances from the General Assembly.
Resolved: Anyone maintaining a contrary opinion to this either in writing or speaking shall be considered an enemy to the Virginian Colony.
This was a new and bold innovation in the colonies. Although the Virginian colony enjoyed incredible freedom from British Parliament, it was more from neglect than by design. The British had left the Colonist alone and their freedoms had thrived. Now with the British desire for money and power they began to tax and regulate the colonist freedoms away. Patrick Henry would not take this sitting down. The fifth resolution passed by one vote, but the 6th and 7th caused an uproar amongst the members. Members attempted to shout down the 29 year old Patrick Henry. Patrick stood his ground and spoke with the eloquence of a backwoods Demosthenes.
“Tarquin and Caesar had each his Brutus, Charles the First, his Cromwell; and George the third…..”
“Treason!” cried by Speaker of the House. Numerous members of the House followed the Speaker in castigating the young leader. Patrick patiently waited for the fury to subside and continued.
“……and George the Third may profit from their example. If that be treason, make the most of it.”
The House appeared to accept all 7 resolutions, but the next day the inflammatory 6th and 7th were rejected by the more conservative majority in the House of Burgess. On the following day the 5th resolution was rejected also. Even with this setback the die was cast. The political foundations of the Virginian conservative order was cracked and soon to be broken. Copies of all 7 resolutions were sent to the other colonies and the ideas that would lead to the Revolutionary War were disseminated into the leading minds of the colonies. Here was the spark that lit the flame inside of the Revolutionary leaders burning for independence. Let me quote from George Willison’s excellent biography again:
If Virginia—the oldest, largest, richest, and traditionally the most loyal and royalist of the colonies—was prepared to take the lead in resisting British “tyranny”, why should her sister colonies hesitate to follow? The answer was: They shouldn’t. And they began organizing associations to boycott British goods and take other measure to force repeal the Stamp Tax. . . . . . . . . . .
Years later, when assessing the relative influence of American leaders on the eve of Independence, it was Jefferson, always in the vanguard himself, who said of Henry: “He left all of us far behind . . . . He gave the first impulse to the ball of Revolution . . . . He was the idol of the country beyond anyone that ever lived.”
Can one man with courage and convictions make a difference? In my reading of the Revolutionary War, I believe this single event was the catalyst that united Massachusetts and Virginia together. This unity created leadership teams across all colonies that formed together to resist the tyranny of the British tyranny. I can only imagine the amount of courage it took for a 29 year old country lawyer to stand up in front of the wealthy Virginia aristocracy and speak the truth. Where would you have stood in the Virginia House of Burgess? Would you have rationalized the wrongs for your own personal peace and affluence? Or would you have stood with the truth and young Patrick Henry. Perhaps you will have an opportunity in your life to test your courage. When you need courage, reflect back to the young lawyer from Virginia who stood up to the English empire and sparked a revolution.
God Bless,
Orrin Woodward
Enjoy!
Capt. Bill
Patrick Henry - The Seven Resolutions
by Orrin Woodward on Wed 28 Nov 2007 08:03 AM EST
This is the second part of young Patrick Henry's courageous stand for truth against the tyranny of the British King George the Third. What will Patrick Henry do? Will he stand for what he knows is right or bow to the older members? The older House members fear the King and are not representing the people they are under oath to represent. The House of Burgess began its session and by all indications it would be a few days of closing up previously discussed items. The monotonous proceedings clipped along until someone made a proposal to review all the actions the House had done in protest against the notorious Stamp Acts and consider any further steps that could be taken to convey their displeasure with the tyrannical actions of King George. Patrick Henry stood up in the opening debates with 7 resolutions he had written out on a blank page of an old law book. He drew the page from his pocket and began to read the resolutions. (I will paraphrase and abridge the resolutions.)
Resolved: That subjects of his Majesty’s colony have all privileges, franchises, and immunities (rights) enjoyed by the people in Great Britain.
Resolved: These rights have been confirmed by two royal charters.
Resolved: The taxation of the people by themselves or by a person representing them is the distinguishing mark of British freedoms.
Resolved: The Virginians have always been thus governed by their own Assemblies in the areas of taxes and internal policy.
By this point the conservative Tory members of the House were getting nervous. No one could argue with Patrick Henry’s logic or the correctness of his points. But they did not like the tone or the direction that Patrick was heading with his reasoning. In 1765, subjects did not talk like this against the King’s proclamations. Patrick Henry knew there were principles stronger than the King’s commands. Conservatives attempted to close the debate by saying they should wait until they heard from the British Ministry and Lord George Grenville on their earlier protest letter. (In fact, they never heard from Lord Grenville, author of the Stamp Act as he scarcely glanced at the protest before dumping letter into wastebasket.) After much discussion, Patrick’s first 4 resolutions were adopted by the slimmest of margins. Patrick Henry did not sit down and what happened next was a major force that changed the thinking of the colonies and forged the unity which led to the United States of America. The conservatives’ worst fears were being realized.
Resolved: That the General Assembly have the exclusive right and power to lay taxes on the subjects of the colony.
Resolved: That the subjects of this colony are not bound to obey any law designed to impose taxes upon them—other than the laws and ordinances from the General Assembly.
Resolved: Anyone maintaining a contrary opinion to this either in writing or speaking shall be considered an enemy to the Virginian Colony.
This was a new and bold innovation in the colonies. Although the Virginian colony enjoyed incredible freedom from British Parliament, it was more from neglect than by design. The British had left the Colonist alone and their freedoms had thrived. Now with the British desire for money and power they began to tax and regulate the colonist freedoms away. Patrick Henry would not take this sitting down. The fifth resolution passed by one vote, but the 6th and 7th caused an uproar amongst the members. Members attempted to shout down the 29 year old Patrick Henry. Patrick stood his ground and spoke with the eloquence of a backwoods Demosthenes.
“Tarquin and Caesar had each his Brutus, Charles the First, his Cromwell; and George the third…..”
“Treason!” cried by Speaker of the House. Numerous members of the House followed the Speaker in castigating the young leader. Patrick patiently waited for the fury to subside and continued.
“……and George the Third may profit from their example. If that be treason, make the most of it.”
The House appeared to accept all 7 resolutions, but the next day the inflammatory 6th and 7th were rejected by the more conservative majority in the House of Burgess. On the following day the 5th resolution was rejected also. Even with this setback the die was cast. The political foundations of the Virginian conservative order was cracked and soon to be broken. Copies of all 7 resolutions were sent to the other colonies and the ideas that would lead to the Revolutionary War were disseminated into the leading minds of the colonies. Here was the spark that lit the flame inside of the Revolutionary leaders burning for independence. Let me quote from George Willison’s excellent biography again:
If Virginia—the oldest, largest, richest, and traditionally the most loyal and royalist of the colonies—was prepared to take the lead in resisting British “tyranny”, why should her sister colonies hesitate to follow? The answer was: They shouldn’t. And they began organizing associations to boycott British goods and take other measure to force repeal the Stamp Tax. . . . . . . . . . .
Years later, when assessing the relative influence of American leaders on the eve of Independence, it was Jefferson, always in the vanguard himself, who said of Henry: “He left all of us far behind . . . . He gave the first impulse to the ball of Revolution . . . . He was the idol of the country beyond anyone that ever lived.”
Can one man with courage and convictions make a difference? In my reading of the Revolutionary War, I believe this single event was the catalyst that united Massachusetts and Virginia together. This unity created leadership teams across all colonies that formed together to resist the tyranny of the British tyranny. I can only imagine the amount of courage it took for a 29 year old country lawyer to stand up in front of the wealthy Virginia aristocracy and speak the truth. Where would you have stood in the Virginia House of Burgess? Would you have rationalized the wrongs for your own personal peace and affluence? Or would you have stood with the truth and young Patrick Henry. Perhaps you will have an opportunity in your life to test your courage. When you need courage, reflect back to the young lawyer from Virginia who stood up to the English empire and sparked a revolution.
God Bless,
Orrin Woodward
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Orrin Woodward: The Courageous Leader
Whenever someone rises above the herd, they are subjected to the ire of the critics. Their efforts are often discredited as having climbed on the backs of the less fortunate, perpetrating a scam to acheive a level of greatness. So when someone takes the time to give them an unsolicited pat on the back, it bears notice.
Enjoy!
Capt. Bill
With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity. Keshavan Nair
I have attended a few Men's Leadership Seminars in Michigan where Orrin Woodward has been one of the featured speakers of the night. The one thing that has struck me is the consistency of his talks month after month. Orrin has latched on to a vision for his company. It is laser like in focus and he is motivated beyond measure to see this vision become reality.
Having vision is not enough however. Orrin Woodwardhas built his business on timeless principles of success and lives a value based life which extends into how he operates within the business world. You can see that this mentality has been effectively adopted by the senior leaders of his company and those throughout the organization. It is really amazing to see a group of business men with that type of mindset. All you have to do is read any recently published book about many of the failed major businesses in America like Enron and Global Crossing to see that the failures where aided by men who lacked the courage to lead and to stand up and do what was right.
Because Orrin Woodward has the courage to lead and to do what is right, he and his company will continue to grow and take a larger role in the US economy. You can see the tipping point coming. AOL, Wal-Mart, Dell, Microsoft, Apple, and many others had the same beginning growing and developing somewhat under the radar of the American public only to at a certain point go totally mainstream once it hit the "Tipping Point" as Malcom Gladwell says in his book. I certainly believe the same is true for Orrin Woodward and the Team.
Companies that are successful have courageous leaders willing to take risk. In my lifetime I have not seen a leader with as much conviction, passion, and courage as Orrin Woodward. I am excited to see what he and his company have planned.
Enjoy!
Capt. Bill
With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity. Keshavan Nair
I have attended a few Men's Leadership Seminars in Michigan where Orrin Woodward has been one of the featured speakers of the night. The one thing that has struck me is the consistency of his talks month after month. Orrin has latched on to a vision for his company. It is laser like in focus and he is motivated beyond measure to see this vision become reality.
Having vision is not enough however. Orrin Woodwardhas built his business on timeless principles of success and lives a value based life which extends into how he operates within the business world. You can see that this mentality has been effectively adopted by the senior leaders of his company and those throughout the organization. It is really amazing to see a group of business men with that type of mindset. All you have to do is read any recently published book about many of the failed major businesses in America like Enron and Global Crossing to see that the failures where aided by men who lacked the courage to lead and to stand up and do what was right.
Because Orrin Woodward has the courage to lead and to do what is right, he and his company will continue to grow and take a larger role in the US economy. You can see the tipping point coming. AOL, Wal-Mart, Dell, Microsoft, Apple, and many others had the same beginning growing and developing somewhat under the radar of the American public only to at a certain point go totally mainstream once it hit the "Tipping Point" as Malcom Gladwell says in his book. I certainly believe the same is true for Orrin Woodward and the Team.
Companies that are successful have courageous leaders willing to take risk. In my lifetime I have not seen a leader with as much conviction, passion, and courage as Orrin Woodward. I am excited to see what he and his company have planned.
Sunday, May 08, 2011
An Uninvited Guest!
Timeless words, timeless wisdom, by Orrin, from when government wasn't a scam on the people, but served the people!
Enjoy!
Capt. Bill
My adventure with the American election process began much like other young people entering college, not certain who the candidates were, or even what they stood for, I voted with zeal but with little knowledge. As I gained more experience, through reading newspapers and magazines, I quickly fell into the democratic herd, who spout their surface knowledge regurgitated from the morning newspaper, but understand little if any of why the system operates the way it does. I conscientiously cast my vote election after election, hoping to maintain my freedoms by the wonderful power of the democratic election process, until a curious thought entered my mind and would not leave. This uninvited guest, this alien idea would not depart, no matter how much I recited the alleged benefits of democracy. The thought was simple, but inarguable, if the key to our American freedoms is our democratic elections, if freedom is endangered when Americans neglect this right, how is it that every four years we seem to lose more of our freedoms that our vote was allegedly cast to secure, regardless of which party is elected? No one seemed to have a satisfactory answer to that question and I quickly realized that we all had the same pat answers espoused to us during our high school indoctrinations.
What if democratic voting isn’t the key to securing freedoms at all? More pointedly, if it is, why have Americans lost their freedoms at an increasing rate since we inaugurated our full fledged democracy around the turn of the 20th century? Many times, the worst of errors occur when the key to solving the problem is buried in the unquestioned assumptions of the ruling paradigm. These questions and others engaged my thoughts as I pondered America’s voting paradox, leading me on to an election epiphany-that it’s not the vote that ensures a people’s freedoms, but a contract between the rulers and the ruled. Starting with the Magna Carta written to protect English freedoms against a money hungry King John, all the freedoms of the English speaking people’s have been ensured by written contracts between the governed and the governors. Merely casting your vote, herding into schools and town halls, does not ensure anyone freedom in America. Even Adolph Hitler, that megalomaniac of power, that dictator of dictators, used the legitimate democratic election process to gain power in Germany. The more I thought, the more suspicious I became, the constant drum roll of praise beaten into me during my high-school years on the joys of our democratic process, seemed not to square with the facts, leading me to read the Founding Fathers in their own words to learn what they thought of democracy. To my great surprise, if not downright horror, I learned that democracy was the least favorable form of government in the opinion of nearly all of the Founders. Even Thomas Jefferson, one of the strongest supporters of the people, was quick to disassociate himself with democracy and stay safely under the republican banner.
If democracy isn’t working in practice, anyone alive during the last 40 years can vouch for this, and the Founding Fathers knew that it didn’t work in theory over 200 years ago, why are American’s constantly bombarded with messaging on the importance of our democratic system? With taxes increasing yearly, government regulations increasing monthly, the money supply increasing weekly, government bureaucracy increasing daily, government power increasing hourly, our national debt increasing by the minute and our freedoms waning by the second, exactly who is benefiting from this democratic process? If you answered: Politicians, Political Parties, Big Business, and Wealth Transfer Recipients; you have just qualified for double jeopardy. Edmund Burke wrote about England in the 18th century, “For us to love our county, our country ought to be lovely.” I love America and I dream of a lovely America where all races, creeds and colors can come together and unite around the idea of justice and liberty for all. The Founding Fathers didn’t trust in a democratic election process to ensure their liberties, remember many of the Founding Fathers were lawyers, writing contracts was part of any business partnership, a partnership between the people and the government required a contract to ensure the terms, that contract, written to protect the people from potential government encroachment upon their freedoms was called the American Constitution.
Contracts in business are essential, helping each side of the written agreement maintain his pledge of fidelity to the written terms, but if either side becomes negligent of the contract, abuses can and will occur. The American people have lost the understanding and intentions of the original contract, sending a clear message to government that the majority to not care to defend their freedoms, most willing to surrender their freedoms for the security of government provisions. It’s a fools game that must end in the bankruptcy of a once great country, since, if given the choice, the majority of people will choose handouts rather than work. Only through production can any country maintain its solvency, printing money is not production, borrowing money is not production, only producing goods and services that can be sold on the free market will restore the American Dream. Able bodied men and women should not be paid to idly sit by while others produce, it’s debilitating in three separate but related ways: to the self esteem of the recipients, to the total production of the country, and to the attitudes of those who are forced to work for others who do not. I don’t read a paragraph on government handouts in our written Constitution, but it’s going to take more than a few of us to read our agreement to set this straight. It’s possible for a group of people, sick and tired of voting every two years only to lose more freedoms, rising up peacefully together, to ensure that government does not encroach upon it written responsibilities.
The majority in a democracy does not have the right to vote its hands into the pockets of any its citizens anymore than an elite has a right to use government power to coerce open the pockets of the majority. The American Republic must be restored based upon the natural rights and natural law inherent in each person, as the Declaration of Independence has clearly stated. Further thoughts on our American Constitution can be found in The 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen, a must read for any hungry student of our written contract.
Ben Franklin, one of America’s greatest Statesmen, was prophetic when, upon exiting the Constitutional Convention, he was asked what type of government America would be; he answered, “A Republic, if you can keep it.” We cannot keep our Republic since it was been lost at the turn of the 20th century, but we do have a responsibility to restore it. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Enjoy!
Capt. Bill
My adventure with the American election process began much like other young people entering college, not certain who the candidates were, or even what they stood for, I voted with zeal but with little knowledge. As I gained more experience, through reading newspapers and magazines, I quickly fell into the democratic herd, who spout their surface knowledge regurgitated from the morning newspaper, but understand little if any of why the system operates the way it does. I conscientiously cast my vote election after election, hoping to maintain my freedoms by the wonderful power of the democratic election process, until a curious thought entered my mind and would not leave. This uninvited guest, this alien idea would not depart, no matter how much I recited the alleged benefits of democracy. The thought was simple, but inarguable, if the key to our American freedoms is our democratic elections, if freedom is endangered when Americans neglect this right, how is it that every four years we seem to lose more of our freedoms that our vote was allegedly cast to secure, regardless of which party is elected? No one seemed to have a satisfactory answer to that question and I quickly realized that we all had the same pat answers espoused to us during our high school indoctrinations.
What if democratic voting isn’t the key to securing freedoms at all? More pointedly, if it is, why have Americans lost their freedoms at an increasing rate since we inaugurated our full fledged democracy around the turn of the 20th century? Many times, the worst of errors occur when the key to solving the problem is buried in the unquestioned assumptions of the ruling paradigm. These questions and others engaged my thoughts as I pondered America’s voting paradox, leading me on to an election epiphany-that it’s not the vote that ensures a people’s freedoms, but a contract between the rulers and the ruled. Starting with the Magna Carta written to protect English freedoms against a money hungry King John, all the freedoms of the English speaking people’s have been ensured by written contracts between the governed and the governors. Merely casting your vote, herding into schools and town halls, does not ensure anyone freedom in America. Even Adolph Hitler, that megalomaniac of power, that dictator of dictators, used the legitimate democratic election process to gain power in Germany. The more I thought, the more suspicious I became, the constant drum roll of praise beaten into me during my high-school years on the joys of our democratic process, seemed not to square with the facts, leading me to read the Founding Fathers in their own words to learn what they thought of democracy. To my great surprise, if not downright horror, I learned that democracy was the least favorable form of government in the opinion of nearly all of the Founders. Even Thomas Jefferson, one of the strongest supporters of the people, was quick to disassociate himself with democracy and stay safely under the republican banner.
If democracy isn’t working in practice, anyone alive during the last 40 years can vouch for this, and the Founding Fathers knew that it didn’t work in theory over 200 years ago, why are American’s constantly bombarded with messaging on the importance of our democratic system? With taxes increasing yearly, government regulations increasing monthly, the money supply increasing weekly, government bureaucracy increasing daily, government power increasing hourly, our national debt increasing by the minute and our freedoms waning by the second, exactly who is benefiting from this democratic process? If you answered: Politicians, Political Parties, Big Business, and Wealth Transfer Recipients; you have just qualified for double jeopardy. Edmund Burke wrote about England in the 18th century, “For us to love our county, our country ought to be lovely.” I love America and I dream of a lovely America where all races, creeds and colors can come together and unite around the idea of justice and liberty for all. The Founding Fathers didn’t trust in a democratic election process to ensure their liberties, remember many of the Founding Fathers were lawyers, writing contracts was part of any business partnership, a partnership between the people and the government required a contract to ensure the terms, that contract, written to protect the people from potential government encroachment upon their freedoms was called the American Constitution.
Contracts in business are essential, helping each side of the written agreement maintain his pledge of fidelity to the written terms, but if either side becomes negligent of the contract, abuses can and will occur. The American people have lost the understanding and intentions of the original contract, sending a clear message to government that the majority to not care to defend their freedoms, most willing to surrender their freedoms for the security of government provisions. It’s a fools game that must end in the bankruptcy of a once great country, since, if given the choice, the majority of people will choose handouts rather than work. Only through production can any country maintain its solvency, printing money is not production, borrowing money is not production, only producing goods and services that can be sold on the free market will restore the American Dream. Able bodied men and women should not be paid to idly sit by while others produce, it’s debilitating in three separate but related ways: to the self esteem of the recipients, to the total production of the country, and to the attitudes of those who are forced to work for others who do not. I don’t read a paragraph on government handouts in our written Constitution, but it’s going to take more than a few of us to read our agreement to set this straight. It’s possible for a group of people, sick and tired of voting every two years only to lose more freedoms, rising up peacefully together, to ensure that government does not encroach upon it written responsibilities.
The majority in a democracy does not have the right to vote its hands into the pockets of any its citizens anymore than an elite has a right to use government power to coerce open the pockets of the majority. The American Republic must be restored based upon the natural rights and natural law inherent in each person, as the Declaration of Independence has clearly stated. Further thoughts on our American Constitution can be found in The 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen, a must read for any hungry student of our written contract.
Ben Franklin, one of America’s greatest Statesmen, was prophetic when, upon exiting the Constitutional Convention, he was asked what type of government America would be; he answered, “A Republic, if you can keep it.” We cannot keep our Republic since it was been lost at the turn of the 20th century, but we do have a responsibility to restore it. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Financial Common Sense!
This is a revisiting of a fantastic article leadership guru Orrin Woodward brought to light back in 2009, coupled with his unique insight on steps to balance our budget. Some principles prove themselves timeless!
Enjoy!
Capt Bill
Here is a thought provoking article from Robert Murphy. Massive government intervention is responsible for the economic mess that America is experiencing in the first place and the Obama plan adds more government intervention to allegedly get us out of the mess. I believe the Austrian economists have a better plan. I don’t care if you are a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or other, read these proposals and think for yourself about this common sense approach. America lasted nearly 150 years without an income tax, so don’t tell me that society would crumble without it. I agree that massive government would crumble without our money, but government in America was never intended to be the behemoth that it has become. We need honorable statesmen who will balance the budget and tell Americans to work for their own rewards and not beg for government doles. Leadership is a tough business and if they can't stand the heat then they need to get out of the kitchen. Robbing our future generations to pacify slothfulness will never make America great, loved, nor respected. Immigrants flocked to America for an equal opportunity not government handouts! Why are we robbing our future generations of their opportunities to experience the hope and ideas that made America the envy of the free world for centuries?
No one can legitimately explain why we have troops in at least 135 other countries. Why should American taxpayers foot the bill for another sovereign country's defense needs? We are massively going into debt while having troops in Germany, Italy, Brazil etc. (see the complete list below) that are protecting who from what? Are you telling me that German, Italian, and Brazilian (along with the rest of the countries) cannot raise men to defend their own countries on their own dime? If a country cannot legitimately do this, then I doubt the sovereignty of the country in the first place. Can you imagine a foreign military establishment protecting our borders? This hasn’t happened since America was an English colony. America must balance our budget and having a defense budget that is nearly 10 times higher than the next nation is sheer madness. Is there not anyone capable of balancing a budget (a skill set that every American working family must do) in Washington? Read the article and please share your thoughts. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Foreign Countries with American Troops
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote D’lvoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Article by Robert Murphy - Faculty member of the Mises Institute
A lot of people get annoyed with Austrian economists because they tend to be so dogmatic (we prefer the term consistent) and because they cloak their strictly economic claims with self-righteousness (we prefer the term morality). After a good Austrian bashing of the latest call to steal taxpayer money and waste it on something that will make a given problem worse, the stumped critics will often shout, "Oh yeah? Well do you guys have a better idea?"
Now, in truth, someone doesn't have to have a better suggestion in order to point out that a recommended strategy will exacerbate the situation. If an allergic man has been stung by a bee, I don't know what to do except rush him to the hospital and maybe scour the cupboards looking for Benadryl. But I'm pretty sure drawing blood from his leg, in order to inject it into his arm and thus "stimulate his immune system," is a bad idea on numerous accounts — not least of which, is that I'm pretty sure an allergic reaction means your immune system needs to calm down. But the point is, if a bunch of guys hold the man down — he has to be forced to endure the procedure for his own good, don't you know — I feel perfectly qualified in yelling, "Stop!"
If you grasped that analogy, you can understand my feelings about anything Paul Krugman writes.
(All joking aside, I am pretty proud of the above analogy. But to make it even more accurate, let’s stipulate that a blind heroin addict, who has been convicted of manslaughter on three separate occasions, is the one entrusted with making the transfusion. Naturally he will use one of his own needles for the procedure.)
An Austrian Recommendation for President Obama
In one sense, the critics are right when they ask, "Oh, so we should just sit back and do nothing and let the market fix itself?" Yes, that would be a perfectly good idea. The whole reason we are in a recession in the first place is that the capital structure of the economy had become unsustainable due to the Fed's massive credit expansion following the dot-com bust and 9/11 attacks. Resources — most notably, labor — are currently idle, because the economy needs to readjust. Overextended lines such as housing and finance need to shrink, while others need to expand. (And no, I don't know what those understaffed lines are; that's why we have a price system.) Because Americans lived beyond their means for so many years, they now need to live below their means, consuming less while they rebuild their checking accounts and portfolios.
Given the diagnosis, we can be sure that efforts to borrow and spend our way back into prosperity, or massive bailouts of the banks and homeowners, are only pumping air into a flat tire with a gaping hole. And Bernanke's unbelievable injections of new funny money into the credit markets will only ensure that those failed institutions remain afloat, paralyzing true recovery in the loan market, and risking very large price inflation if Bernanke does not soon reverse course.
However, even though "nothing" would be much, much better than all of the alleged remedies being bandied about, the Austrians actually do have concrete proposals for President Obama. The following list includes items that I would have endorsed even before the crisis, but inasmuch as they would definitely help things, I offer them with sincerity to the new administration.
One last caveat: I know there are many purists who read the Mises Daily, and will be aghast at my watered-down recommendations. Yes, yes, I agree that the best thing would be for Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and all my friends to say, "You know, if you look at the history of this company, it always ends up wasting money and getting innocent people killed. I think we should just quit and go volunteer at a church instead."
But, if I said that as an Austrian recommendation, it would be dismissed as "unserious," a very grave charge indeed. Thus, the following list of recommendations are not politically impossible, just exceedingly unlikely:
Eliminate the personal and corporate income tax. Don't put in a flat tax or a fair tax or a VAT or any other cute name for a very uncute process. To make sure that individuals and corporations realize you are serious, blow up the IRS building. (Have everyone vacate the premises first, of course.) Tell all of the displaced workers that they have 9 months of full pay, plus whatever pension and health-care benefits they had contractually earned to that point. If the workers get new jobs 3 days after being laid off from the IRS, that's fine; they still get their full 9 months' pay. But if they haven't found a new job after 9 months, tough.
Unfortunately, dismantling the Social Security system will have to wait. (That means some of the IRS personnel would — sigh — have to be retained. But they would move to a different building.) Getting rid of the income tax will knock out much of the federal revenues, and taking out all payroll "contributions" would take us into the realm of "unserious." Note that in 2007, even without the personal and corporate income tax, the federal government still took in more than $1 trillion in receipts.
The loss of some $1.5 trillion in annual tax receipts sounds absurd, but the actual figure would be lower, because of "supply-side" effects. That is, the true stimulus to the economy from such an enormous tax cut would cause the revenues from other sources to grow. So long as the federal budget were cut by, say, a trillion dollars, within a few years it would be in the black.
Reducing annual federal expenditures by $1 trillion sounds inconceivable, but it actually could be phased in. The government has many assets that it could auction off into private hands, so that in the first year or two, the government could take certain programs and say, "This will have its budget cut by one-third over each of the next three years." The auction receipts would fill the gap until these phased-in reductions had fully occurred. Some of the obvious auction items would be the oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (current value of about $35 billion at $50/bbl oil), as well as all of the mineral deposits (both onshore and offshore) technically owned by the federal government. It is difficult to come up with an estimate of how much the latter properties would fetch in an auction, since the proposals right now are for leasing extraction rights. But since the Outer Continental Shelf is estimated to have some 86 billion barrels of oil, presumably the government could receive many hundreds of billions of dollars — and possibly trillions — from an orderly and staggered sale over a few years of the most lucrative (and environmentally noncontroversial) lands.
Now, where to start cutting?
Eliminate the DEA and the SEC. Since the SEC failed to catch Madoff, despite nine years of warnings, I think its $950 million annual budget is obviously a waste of money. The DEA's $1.9 billion budget in 2007 also strikes me as counterproductive. Beyond the issues of violent gangs and judicial corruption, there is the fact that this is a recession and we need to cut costs. If you're afraid of your kid doing drugs, have a serious talk and then make him watch this movie. And if he's still keen on the idea, I'm not sure the DEA is going to stop him. (By the way, the DEA and SEC employees get the same deal as the laid-off IRS personnel.)
Cut the Pentagon budget in half. In FY 2008 it was (officially) some $460 billion, so that cut alone would free up $230 billion per year. This isn't an article about foreign policy, so we won't be specific about how the military could achieve such cuts. But if you're worried that the country would suddenly be overrun by Iranian tanks, the following chart should reassure you:
Top 10 Countries by Military Expenditure, 2007
Eliminate the Department of Education. That would save $68.6 billion a year, based on its latest budget. Does anyone want to argue that Americans are well educated? And incidentally, I was a college professor for a few years, so I can say from personal experience that there are way too many kids going to college. If you think "everyone should get a college degree," let me ask you this: Should everyone get a PhD? If not, then why a bachelor's degree? The more kids crammed into the school, the harder it is to teach to the truly academic, and the less of a signal the diploma provides. Plus, $68.6 billion is some serious money.
Cancel all the pending "stimulus" and other bailout packages. Tell the Big Three that small is beautiful. Tell the banks, "OK your 'short-term' loan from the Fed has expired, here are your mortgage-backed securities back, and we'll be taking our reserves. Good luck to you. This is a capitalist country, where you keep your earnings if you forecast well (we just eliminated the income tax!) and where you go bust if you don't realize real estate sometimes drops. Have a nice day." Yes, this would cause some banks to immediately go bankrupt, but the big banks aren't doing anything now anyway. The dreaded liquidation would actually wipe the slate clean so recovery could begin. As it is, trillions of dollars in capital is now locked up in undead institutions that can't make new loans but won't mark their assets at true values, since they are insolvent. And with the income tax being wiped out, the toxicity of these troubled assets would come way down.
Allow unrestricted immigration so long as the incoming folks had a secure job in which the employer (a) paid three years in advance on any state and local taxes that would accrue from the employment and (b) bought at least a $100,000 house for the immigrant and his or her family. (Yes, yes, the last point is silly, but it will help sell the package.)
Abolish the minimum wage. That — coupled with the elimination of the income tax — will take care of unemployment within 6 months.
The above steps are incomplete, and I'm sure many readers will email me with snags in them. Fair enough. But I am confident that the above would make a heck of a lot more sense than letting blind heroin addicts borrow an extra trillion dollars to "stimulate" the economy.
Robert Murphy, an adjunct scholar of the Mises Institute and a faculty member of the Mises University, runs the blog Free Advice and is the author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism, the Study Guide to Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market, and the Human Action Study Guide.
Enjoy!
Capt Bill
Here is a thought provoking article from Robert Murphy. Massive government intervention is responsible for the economic mess that America is experiencing in the first place and the Obama plan adds more government intervention to allegedly get us out of the mess. I believe the Austrian economists have a better plan. I don’t care if you are a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or other, read these proposals and think for yourself about this common sense approach. America lasted nearly 150 years without an income tax, so don’t tell me that society would crumble without it. I agree that massive government would crumble without our money, but government in America was never intended to be the behemoth that it has become. We need honorable statesmen who will balance the budget and tell Americans to work for their own rewards and not beg for government doles. Leadership is a tough business and if they can't stand the heat then they need to get out of the kitchen. Robbing our future generations to pacify slothfulness will never make America great, loved, nor respected. Immigrants flocked to America for an equal opportunity not government handouts! Why are we robbing our future generations of their opportunities to experience the hope and ideas that made America the envy of the free world for centuries?
No one can legitimately explain why we have troops in at least 135 other countries. Why should American taxpayers foot the bill for another sovereign country's defense needs? We are massively going into debt while having troops in Germany, Italy, Brazil etc. (see the complete list below) that are protecting who from what? Are you telling me that German, Italian, and Brazilian (along with the rest of the countries) cannot raise men to defend their own countries on their own dime? If a country cannot legitimately do this, then I doubt the sovereignty of the country in the first place. Can you imagine a foreign military establishment protecting our borders? This hasn’t happened since America was an English colony. America must balance our budget and having a defense budget that is nearly 10 times higher than the next nation is sheer madness. Is there not anyone capable of balancing a budget (a skill set that every American working family must do) in Washington? Read the article and please share your thoughts. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Foreign Countries with American Troops
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote D’lvoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Article by Robert Murphy - Faculty member of the Mises Institute
A lot of people get annoyed with Austrian economists because they tend to be so dogmatic (we prefer the term consistent) and because they cloak their strictly economic claims with self-righteousness (we prefer the term morality). After a good Austrian bashing of the latest call to steal taxpayer money and waste it on something that will make a given problem worse, the stumped critics will often shout, "Oh yeah? Well do you guys have a better idea?"
Now, in truth, someone doesn't have to have a better suggestion in order to point out that a recommended strategy will exacerbate the situation. If an allergic man has been stung by a bee, I don't know what to do except rush him to the hospital and maybe scour the cupboards looking for Benadryl. But I'm pretty sure drawing blood from his leg, in order to inject it into his arm and thus "stimulate his immune system," is a bad idea on numerous accounts — not least of which, is that I'm pretty sure an allergic reaction means your immune system needs to calm down. But the point is, if a bunch of guys hold the man down — he has to be forced to endure the procedure for his own good, don't you know — I feel perfectly qualified in yelling, "Stop!"
If you grasped that analogy, you can understand my feelings about anything Paul Krugman writes.
(All joking aside, I am pretty proud of the above analogy. But to make it even more accurate, let’s stipulate that a blind heroin addict, who has been convicted of manslaughter on three separate occasions, is the one entrusted with making the transfusion. Naturally he will use one of his own needles for the procedure.)
An Austrian Recommendation for President Obama
In one sense, the critics are right when they ask, "Oh, so we should just sit back and do nothing and let the market fix itself?" Yes, that would be a perfectly good idea. The whole reason we are in a recession in the first place is that the capital structure of the economy had become unsustainable due to the Fed's massive credit expansion following the dot-com bust and 9/11 attacks. Resources — most notably, labor — are currently idle, because the economy needs to readjust. Overextended lines such as housing and finance need to shrink, while others need to expand. (And no, I don't know what those understaffed lines are; that's why we have a price system.) Because Americans lived beyond their means for so many years, they now need to live below their means, consuming less while they rebuild their checking accounts and portfolios.
Given the diagnosis, we can be sure that efforts to borrow and spend our way back into prosperity, or massive bailouts of the banks and homeowners, are only pumping air into a flat tire with a gaping hole. And Bernanke's unbelievable injections of new funny money into the credit markets will only ensure that those failed institutions remain afloat, paralyzing true recovery in the loan market, and risking very large price inflation if Bernanke does not soon reverse course.
However, even though "nothing" would be much, much better than all of the alleged remedies being bandied about, the Austrians actually do have concrete proposals for President Obama. The following list includes items that I would have endorsed even before the crisis, but inasmuch as they would definitely help things, I offer them with sincerity to the new administration.
One last caveat: I know there are many purists who read the Mises Daily, and will be aghast at my watered-down recommendations. Yes, yes, I agree that the best thing would be for Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and all my friends to say, "You know, if you look at the history of this company, it always ends up wasting money and getting innocent people killed. I think we should just quit and go volunteer at a church instead."
But, if I said that as an Austrian recommendation, it would be dismissed as "unserious," a very grave charge indeed. Thus, the following list of recommendations are not politically impossible, just exceedingly unlikely:
Eliminate the personal and corporate income tax. Don't put in a flat tax or a fair tax or a VAT or any other cute name for a very uncute process. To make sure that individuals and corporations realize you are serious, blow up the IRS building. (Have everyone vacate the premises first, of course.) Tell all of the displaced workers that they have 9 months of full pay, plus whatever pension and health-care benefits they had contractually earned to that point. If the workers get new jobs 3 days after being laid off from the IRS, that's fine; they still get their full 9 months' pay. But if they haven't found a new job after 9 months, tough.
Unfortunately, dismantling the Social Security system will have to wait. (That means some of the IRS personnel would — sigh — have to be retained. But they would move to a different building.) Getting rid of the income tax will knock out much of the federal revenues, and taking out all payroll "contributions" would take us into the realm of "unserious." Note that in 2007, even without the personal and corporate income tax, the federal government still took in more than $1 trillion in receipts.
The loss of some $1.5 trillion in annual tax receipts sounds absurd, but the actual figure would be lower, because of "supply-side" effects. That is, the true stimulus to the economy from such an enormous tax cut would cause the revenues from other sources to grow. So long as the federal budget were cut by, say, a trillion dollars, within a few years it would be in the black.
Reducing annual federal expenditures by $1 trillion sounds inconceivable, but it actually could be phased in. The government has many assets that it could auction off into private hands, so that in the first year or two, the government could take certain programs and say, "This will have its budget cut by one-third over each of the next three years." The auction receipts would fill the gap until these phased-in reductions had fully occurred. Some of the obvious auction items would be the oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (current value of about $35 billion at $50/bbl oil), as well as all of the mineral deposits (both onshore and offshore) technically owned by the federal government. It is difficult to come up with an estimate of how much the latter properties would fetch in an auction, since the proposals right now are for leasing extraction rights. But since the Outer Continental Shelf is estimated to have some 86 billion barrels of oil, presumably the government could receive many hundreds of billions of dollars — and possibly trillions — from an orderly and staggered sale over a few years of the most lucrative (and environmentally noncontroversial) lands.
Now, where to start cutting?
Eliminate the DEA and the SEC. Since the SEC failed to catch Madoff, despite nine years of warnings, I think its $950 million annual budget is obviously a waste of money. The DEA's $1.9 billion budget in 2007 also strikes me as counterproductive. Beyond the issues of violent gangs and judicial corruption, there is the fact that this is a recession and we need to cut costs. If you're afraid of your kid doing drugs, have a serious talk and then make him watch this movie. And if he's still keen on the idea, I'm not sure the DEA is going to stop him. (By the way, the DEA and SEC employees get the same deal as the laid-off IRS personnel.)
Cut the Pentagon budget in half. In FY 2008 it was (officially) some $460 billion, so that cut alone would free up $230 billion per year. This isn't an article about foreign policy, so we won't be specific about how the military could achieve such cuts. But if you're worried that the country would suddenly be overrun by Iranian tanks, the following chart should reassure you:
Top 10 Countries by Military Expenditure, 2007
Eliminate the Department of Education. That would save $68.6 billion a year, based on its latest budget. Does anyone want to argue that Americans are well educated? And incidentally, I was a college professor for a few years, so I can say from personal experience that there are way too many kids going to college. If you think "everyone should get a college degree," let me ask you this: Should everyone get a PhD? If not, then why a bachelor's degree? The more kids crammed into the school, the harder it is to teach to the truly academic, and the less of a signal the diploma provides. Plus, $68.6 billion is some serious money.
Cancel all the pending "stimulus" and other bailout packages. Tell the Big Three that small is beautiful. Tell the banks, "OK your 'short-term' loan from the Fed has expired, here are your mortgage-backed securities back, and we'll be taking our reserves. Good luck to you. This is a capitalist country, where you keep your earnings if you forecast well (we just eliminated the income tax!) and where you go bust if you don't realize real estate sometimes drops. Have a nice day." Yes, this would cause some banks to immediately go bankrupt, but the big banks aren't doing anything now anyway. The dreaded liquidation would actually wipe the slate clean so recovery could begin. As it is, trillions of dollars in capital is now locked up in undead institutions that can't make new loans but won't mark their assets at true values, since they are insolvent. And with the income tax being wiped out, the toxicity of these troubled assets would come way down.
Allow unrestricted immigration so long as the incoming folks had a secure job in which the employer (a) paid three years in advance on any state and local taxes that would accrue from the employment and (b) bought at least a $100,000 house for the immigrant and his or her family. (Yes, yes, the last point is silly, but it will help sell the package.)
Abolish the minimum wage. That — coupled with the elimination of the income tax — will take care of unemployment within 6 months.
The above steps are incomplete, and I'm sure many readers will email me with snags in them. Fair enough. But I am confident that the above would make a heck of a lot more sense than letting blind heroin addicts borrow an extra trillion dollars to "stimulate" the economy.
Robert Murphy, an adjunct scholar of the Mises Institute and a faculty member of the Mises University, runs the blog Free Advice and is the author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism, the Study Guide to Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market, and the Human Action Study Guide.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Mentoring Is Giving!
I read a fantastic article by Rick Beneteau on giving and listening. It reminded me of the role of mentoring in helping someone think properly through their life. Life can be tough and it certainly isn’t always a bed of roses. If life is tough for everyone, why do some people seem to ride the waves from peak to peak, but others are buried by the waves? I believe it is not what happens to you in life, but how you think about what happens to you in life that matters most. Do you see your current challenges, roadblocks, and setbacks as evidence of no opportunity or do you see the same situations as evidence that God has a BIG plan for you! Think about it for a minute! If God is calling you for a big assignment—wouldn’t it make sense that He would place some major challenges in your life to develop character first? God must develop the person for the assignment given and challenges are a great way to develop the necessary character for advanced assignments. Instead of fighting our fate, let’s be drawn to our destiny!
When Laurie and I sit down to mentor couples, we tell them to share with us the good, the bad, and the ugly. We are not listening so we can have a pity party with the couple. We listen to celebrate the good, make adjustments for the bad and address the ugly immediately. Every great leader has had good, bad and ugly things happen to them, but the key is how they are thinking through the situations. How are you thinking through the good, the bad, and the ugly in your life? Do you secretly enjoy the bad and the ugly things that are happening? Many people surprisingly do! The reason for this secret enjoyment is they feel it justifies their lack of results and causes others to feel sorry for them. DO NOT EVER PLAY THE ROLE OF VICTIM! It may feel good to have others feel sorry for you, but it is a drug that creates a harmful life addiction. YOU are a champion and all champions will have to overcome the bad and the ugly in their life. We are not training people to be victims, so take the bad things that happen to you as God’s way of developing character. The greatest gift a mentor can give to you is the absolute belief that you have what it takes inside of you to overcome your present difficulties and win in the game of life. Laurie and I believe strongly that all of us have what it takes and we have dedicated our life to teach others how to think through their difficulties to be champions in the game of life! We must give to others, but the best thing to give to others is a champion’s way of thinking through life. Anything else that we give to them is giving less than our personal best! God Bless, Orrin Woodward
"Give 'til it hurts." You've probably heard this a thousand times. I know I have. A well-intentioned expression that I always found somewhat strange as "giving" and "hurt" are concepts that seem to be polar opposite.
I want to share with you a personal story where "giving" in fact "hurt" a person I was trying to help. In order to do that, I need to give you a little background about myself. Please indulge me.
For whatever reason the universe has, I have been blessed to have had many people seek my counsel during my fifty years of living. They trusted that I could help them in some way.
I've been told that I am a good listener. Coupled with an inherent desire to help others, even during my high school days, I seemed to become the counselor of choice for many of my peers.
I vividly recall private chats I had with my high school cohorts, normally conducted in my sooped-up '67 ‘Cuda, during lunch, spare periods or skipped-out classes. Problems about girlfriends, boyfriends, teachers and parents were the norm. Usually self- esteem issues were at the core, as is the case with most problems thirty years later.
And later, my twenty-and-thirty-something friends and family members, as well as many of the employees in my drycleaning business, could always count on complete confidence and my objectivity when discussing problems that they had in their personal lives.
As life moved along, I was faced with a myriad of not only challenges to overcome, but tragedies to deal with. The death of two of my siblings, my father and many close family members and friends, business losses, divorce and being the parent of a special needs child were among them. The lessons learned and the strength gained from these life experiences ultimately led to what I have chosen to do with my life today.
But being pretty well-schooled in life does not always mean that one has the right answers though.
He has been in my life a long time. I was mostly always on the listening end. Conversation after conversation he would laundry-list his assorted problems. And, as many "victims of life" have it, they were never in short supply. I would allow him to "share" his stories of suffering, time after time, consuming much of mine. Like the traditional psychologist, I would just listen, as I felt listening was a large part of "my role" in trying to help him.
Thing was, no matter what suggestions I would offer to try to help him, the problems not only remained, but amplified over time. He never acted on my advice and I eventually began to feel rather impotent and confused about how I could make a difference in his life.
Suddenly, in a conversation last year, at a point where I became very irritated at listening to his negativity, it struck me. This person was receiving so much more benefit from knowing I was listening to him spew about his miserable life than he ever would from finding solutions and improving it. It finally dawned on me that he LOVED having problems!
I hadn't helped him. Not one bit. In fact, for years, I was simply feeding this need in him. I was helping him to have a great time at his own pity party. All this time my giving was, in fact, hurting him!
He was shocked when I interrupted him mid-sentence and blurted out that I didn't want to listen to any more about his problems. There was an awkward silence but when he finally asked me "why" I quickly reassured him that I was still interested in helping him. But it was not going to be on his terms anymore. The new deal would have to be that from this conversation forward, we would not discuss the past. Only the present and future. We would address current issues by working on solutions. He would need to act on my suggestions. Things such as reading certain books or listening to certain tapes and making small adjustments in his thinking that would produce positive results. Our future conversations would consist only of discussing the changes he would sincerely attempt to make to improve his life. He seemed somewhat stunned, and reluctantly agreed.
Those next few times we talked though he tried very hard to steer the conversation down his familiar road attempting to inform me of the latest, greatest grief in his life. But I didn't allow that, sticking to the agreed-upon plan and changing direction to our new proactive approach.
You know what? It really didn't take too long before the tone of our conversations became more positive in nature and soon he was beginning to "get" some important concepts about how his mind, and the universe, really worked. He started reading and listening to materials I suggested. He was beginning to learn that his current results were the product of his current thinking and that he was never a victim of life – not for one minute! That growth has continued.
Now we have great talks, often upbeat, and any real problem he has is briefly outlined and then discussed in such a way that a solution can be found and acted upon. In fact, I've become comfortable sharing some of my problems with him! More than once he's reminded me to take some of my own medicine!
It's both magical and comforting to me at the same time to know that when the simple truths of how things work in this world are realized, things can really begin to change for the better and in a big way. It's unfortunate that it took so long for me to realize how I could better serve my friend, but then, the universe has it's own timing for things like this.
It is my hope that if you have been trying to help someone like my friend and find yourself doing a lot of "listening", that just maybe, your giving is hurting.
When Laurie and I sit down to mentor couples, we tell them to share with us the good, the bad, and the ugly. We are not listening so we can have a pity party with the couple. We listen to celebrate the good, make adjustments for the bad and address the ugly immediately. Every great leader has had good, bad and ugly things happen to them, but the key is how they are thinking through the situations. How are you thinking through the good, the bad, and the ugly in your life? Do you secretly enjoy the bad and the ugly things that are happening? Many people surprisingly do! The reason for this secret enjoyment is they feel it justifies their lack of results and causes others to feel sorry for them. DO NOT EVER PLAY THE ROLE OF VICTIM! It may feel good to have others feel sorry for you, but it is a drug that creates a harmful life addiction. YOU are a champion and all champions will have to overcome the bad and the ugly in their life. We are not training people to be victims, so take the bad things that happen to you as God’s way of developing character. The greatest gift a mentor can give to you is the absolute belief that you have what it takes inside of you to overcome your present difficulties and win in the game of life. Laurie and I believe strongly that all of us have what it takes and we have dedicated our life to teach others how to think through their difficulties to be champions in the game of life! We must give to others, but the best thing to give to others is a champion’s way of thinking through life. Anything else that we give to them is giving less than our personal best! God Bless, Orrin Woodward
"Give 'til it hurts." You've probably heard this a thousand times. I know I have. A well-intentioned expression that I always found somewhat strange as "giving" and "hurt" are concepts that seem to be polar opposite.
I want to share with you a personal story where "giving" in fact "hurt" a person I was trying to help. In order to do that, I need to give you a little background about myself. Please indulge me.
For whatever reason the universe has, I have been blessed to have had many people seek my counsel during my fifty years of living. They trusted that I could help them in some way.
I've been told that I am a good listener. Coupled with an inherent desire to help others, even during my high school days, I seemed to become the counselor of choice for many of my peers.
I vividly recall private chats I had with my high school cohorts, normally conducted in my sooped-up '67 ‘Cuda, during lunch, spare periods or skipped-out classes. Problems about girlfriends, boyfriends, teachers and parents were the norm. Usually self- esteem issues were at the core, as is the case with most problems thirty years later.
And later, my twenty-and-thirty-something friends and family members, as well as many of the employees in my drycleaning business, could always count on complete confidence and my objectivity when discussing problems that they had in their personal lives.
As life moved along, I was faced with a myriad of not only challenges to overcome, but tragedies to deal with. The death of two of my siblings, my father and many close family members and friends, business losses, divorce and being the parent of a special needs child were among them. The lessons learned and the strength gained from these life experiences ultimately led to what I have chosen to do with my life today.
But being pretty well-schooled in life does not always mean that one has the right answers though.
He has been in my life a long time. I was mostly always on the listening end. Conversation after conversation he would laundry-list his assorted problems. And, as many "victims of life" have it, they were never in short supply. I would allow him to "share" his stories of suffering, time after time, consuming much of mine. Like the traditional psychologist, I would just listen, as I felt listening was a large part of "my role" in trying to help him.
Thing was, no matter what suggestions I would offer to try to help him, the problems not only remained, but amplified over time. He never acted on my advice and I eventually began to feel rather impotent and confused about how I could make a difference in his life.
Suddenly, in a conversation last year, at a point where I became very irritated at listening to his negativity, it struck me. This person was receiving so much more benefit from knowing I was listening to him spew about his miserable life than he ever would from finding solutions and improving it. It finally dawned on me that he LOVED having problems!
I hadn't helped him. Not one bit. In fact, for years, I was simply feeding this need in him. I was helping him to have a great time at his own pity party. All this time my giving was, in fact, hurting him!
He was shocked when I interrupted him mid-sentence and blurted out that I didn't want to listen to any more about his problems. There was an awkward silence but when he finally asked me "why" I quickly reassured him that I was still interested in helping him. But it was not going to be on his terms anymore. The new deal would have to be that from this conversation forward, we would not discuss the past. Only the present and future. We would address current issues by working on solutions. He would need to act on my suggestions. Things such as reading certain books or listening to certain tapes and making small adjustments in his thinking that would produce positive results. Our future conversations would consist only of discussing the changes he would sincerely attempt to make to improve his life. He seemed somewhat stunned, and reluctantly agreed.
Those next few times we talked though he tried very hard to steer the conversation down his familiar road attempting to inform me of the latest, greatest grief in his life. But I didn't allow that, sticking to the agreed-upon plan and changing direction to our new proactive approach.
You know what? It really didn't take too long before the tone of our conversations became more positive in nature and soon he was beginning to "get" some important concepts about how his mind, and the universe, really worked. He started reading and listening to materials I suggested. He was beginning to learn that his current results were the product of his current thinking and that he was never a victim of life – not for one minute! That growth has continued.
Now we have great talks, often upbeat, and any real problem he has is briefly outlined and then discussed in such a way that a solution can be found and acted upon. In fact, I've become comfortable sharing some of my problems with him! More than once he's reminded me to take some of my own medicine!
It's both magical and comforting to me at the same time to know that when the simple truths of how things work in this world are realized, things can really begin to change for the better and in a big way. It's unfortunate that it took so long for me to realize how I could better serve my friend, but then, the universe has it's own timing for things like this.
It is my hope that if you have been trying to help someone like my friend and find yourself doing a lot of "listening", that just maybe, your giving is hurting.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Leadership and Systems Thinking!
Have you ever watched a team of mountain climbers scale a cliff? I have watched with awe as the mountain climbers work together, as a team, to pull of this feat. Imagine five climbers, all connected together by ropes and pulleys, ensuring the safety of all, scaling a cliff thousands of feet up. The five climbers are a system, each action by one of the climbers affects the actions of the rest. No climber could choose to scale the cliff if the others, were resting. In fact, no four of the climbers could scale the cliff if just one chose to stop. The ropes magnify the interdependence between the individuals, but with or without the ropes, people in communities are part of a system, being interdependent upon one another. Each person in a community needs to understand systematic thinking as their actions will affect all others in the community. Every leader must learn to think systematically in order to lead to his full potential. Systems thinking is the process of understanding how individual parts influence one another within the entity as a whole. Both nature and organizations are filled with systems. Nature is filled with ecosystems involving air, water, plants, animals and more in systems to sustain life, while organizational systems consist of people, structures, and processes that interact to produce results. Whether the results are good or bad depends upon the system interactions orchestrated by the leader.
Remember the story of the elephant and the blind men? This is an excellent example displaying systems thinking. Read it again, thinking through how portions of truth must be combined (like a system) to gain the entire truth.
Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today." They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Everyone of them touched the elephant.
"Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg.
"Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.
"Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.
"It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.
"It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.
"It is like a solid pipe," Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.
They began to argue about the elephant and everyone of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated, each blind man wondering how the others could be so stupid. Each believing they had the truth, since he felt it with his own hands. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, "What is the matter?" They said, "We cannot agree to what the elephant is like." Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, "All of you are right and all of you are wrong. The reason each of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched a different part of the elephant. Each of you has a partial truth. The elephant has all the features that each of you described, but isn’t fully what you described unless you combine all of your answers."
Each of the blind men has touched upon a truth of the elephant, but individually, none of them had the whole truth. If they had spent their time arguing, insisting upon the truth of what they had felt with their own hands, the community would have broken down, forming individual perceptions and not gaining a system perspective of the truth. Only when each individual learns that they are part of a system, touching upon truth at some point, but probably not touching upon the total systematic truth, will each teammate seek out alternative perspectives. Many times, disagreements are not really disagreements at all, but just individuals seeing or feeling a different aspect of the system, revealing a portion of the truth, that only when combined yields the whole truth. System thinking is essential for leaders to help everyone work as a team, gathering all of the facts to accurately model the system they are working on to improve. Without a systems perspective, the leader quickly takes sides with one of his personal favorites, forcing others to comply with his partial interpretation of the truth, killing his credibility, alienating many of his teammates, destroying the motivation to share alternative perspectives in the future.
I love the blind men analogy. If leaders will remember the lesson of the blind men, their ability to solve problems will greatly increase, no longer satisfied with portions of the truth, they will seek out all perspectives to gain a larger view of reality. Let’s discuss another example of systems thinking. I believe I heard a version of this story first from Stephen Covey. Covey uses the example of a fishermen going to a river to enjoy a day of fishing, but just minutes after getting there, he sees a young boy flailing his arms in the middle of the river, screaming for help. The fishermen jumps in and save him. The boy is healthy, so the fishermen starts fishing, but fifteen minutes later, a young girl is flailing her arms, yelling for help, in the middle of the river. The fishermen saves her also. At this point, he ponders what the odds are, that two people would need saving on the same day. Fifteen minutes later, when a third child needs to be rescued, he is certain that there must be more to the picture (system), than he is touching upon. At this point, he starts asking questions, no longer believing that the children who needed rescuing, are isolated events. He believes there is more to this system than is meeting his eyes. The fishermen, deciding to solve the cause at its roots, not just continue to trim at the leaves, walks upstream, discovering a children’s camp. The fishermen finds that the local bully, doing what bullies do, was throwing kids in the river every fifteen minutes, and would continue to do so, until everyone surrendered their money. The fishermen, a true problem solver, took the bully by the ear, walked him into the camp office, solved the root cause of the problem (the bully), and enjoyed the remaining fishing time in peace.
I know the example is simplistic, but it does capture the main points in systematic thinking. Many times in life, people run from emergency to emergency, never stopping to think if the emergencies are related systematically. The simple system described above included the boys and girls, the bully, the river, and the fishermen downstream. The fishermen would have had a busy day, if he hadn’t solved the problem at its root. You can stay busy your entire life, but unless you are solving problems at the root, nothing of long-term consequence is being solved. Busy is not the goal, but productivity is. As Covey teaches, one can trim the leaves for life, but if you wish to eliminate a tree, one must attack the roots. Toyota has a problem solving system that helps discover the root causes, called the Five Whys. It teaches that most root causes are at least five questions removed from the issue that is being addressed at the moment. The root cause is usually not the first why, but, if one will keep asking questions, the root cause will typically be revealed.
For example, if someone slips and falls on a slippery factory floor, breaking their arm in the process, the quick solution is to order a cleaning crew to work more hours, cleaning the floors daily to ensure a non-slippery surface. A non-slippery floor is the right answer, but before hiring extra people, spending money and time on the problem, the Five Why’s would attempt to discover the root cause (like the bully in example above). Leaders aren’t happy with just trimming the leaves, while the root cause remains unaddressed and will use the Five Why’s to help determine the root issues. The Five Whys in this example would go something like this:
Q: Why did the man slip and fall?
A: Because the ground was slippery.
Q: Why was the ground slippery?
A: Because there was oil on the floor.
Q: Why was there oil on the floor?
A: Because one of the machines was leaking oil.
Q: Why was the machine leaking oil?
A: Because an oil pan bolt was loose.
Why was the oil pan bolt loose?
A: Because the machine vibrated the bolt loose.
Q: Why did the machine vibrate the bolt loose?
A: Because the shaft bearing is worn out in the machine.
Q: Why is the shaft bearing worn out in the machine?
A: Because maintenance hasn’t changed it and it is past it’s useable life.
Q: Why haven’t they changed out the old bearing?
A: Because we cut all preventative maintenance in a cost cutting measure.
The Five Why’s has revealed the systematic issue in the factory system, not just the obvious answer of cleaning up the oil. When the preventative maintenance program was eliminated, in an effort to save money, it brought upon other effects, not clearly understood at the time. If another department has to hire more cleaning crews, or paying overtime to existing ones, then we have not really saved any money, but still have a maintenance issue. This only compounds the factories problems further, having not understood the systematic effects of the choices made. Trimming the leaves by cutting preventative maintenance, but causing a bigger root problem, by machines failing over time. Without the proper machine maintenance, further degradation is inevitable, leading to more trimming leaves behavior, while the root cause, the improper maintenance, ruins the productivity and safety of the entire factory. Only when the leader thinks systematically, will the root cause be revealed. Preventative maintenance will be reinstated; machines run with quality bearings; the bolts will stay tight; the oil remains in the pan; and people can walk the floor without endangering their safety. The factory is a system, every action performed by one department will have effects on numerous others departments. It’s only when the leader thinks of the entire system (elephant above), that the entire truth will be revealed, leading to decisions made upon the total systems, not just the partial truths that each department feels. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Remember the story of the elephant and the blind men? This is an excellent example displaying systems thinking. Read it again, thinking through how portions of truth must be combined (like a system) to gain the entire truth.
Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today." They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Everyone of them touched the elephant.
"Hey, the elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg.
"Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.
"Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.
"It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.
"It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.
"It is like a solid pipe," Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.
They began to argue about the elephant and everyone of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated, each blind man wondering how the others could be so stupid. Each believing they had the truth, since he felt it with his own hands. A wise man was passing by and he saw this. He stopped and asked them, "What is the matter?" They said, "We cannot agree to what the elephant is like." Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, "All of you are right and all of you are wrong. The reason each of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched a different part of the elephant. Each of you has a partial truth. The elephant has all the features that each of you described, but isn’t fully what you described unless you combine all of your answers."
Each of the blind men has touched upon a truth of the elephant, but individually, none of them had the whole truth. If they had spent their time arguing, insisting upon the truth of what they had felt with their own hands, the community would have broken down, forming individual perceptions and not gaining a system perspective of the truth. Only when each individual learns that they are part of a system, touching upon truth at some point, but probably not touching upon the total systematic truth, will each teammate seek out alternative perspectives. Many times, disagreements are not really disagreements at all, but just individuals seeing or feeling a different aspect of the system, revealing a portion of the truth, that only when combined yields the whole truth. System thinking is essential for leaders to help everyone work as a team, gathering all of the facts to accurately model the system they are working on to improve. Without a systems perspective, the leader quickly takes sides with one of his personal favorites, forcing others to comply with his partial interpretation of the truth, killing his credibility, alienating many of his teammates, destroying the motivation to share alternative perspectives in the future.
I love the blind men analogy. If leaders will remember the lesson of the blind men, their ability to solve problems will greatly increase, no longer satisfied with portions of the truth, they will seek out all perspectives to gain a larger view of reality. Let’s discuss another example of systems thinking. I believe I heard a version of this story first from Stephen Covey. Covey uses the example of a fishermen going to a river to enjoy a day of fishing, but just minutes after getting there, he sees a young boy flailing his arms in the middle of the river, screaming for help. The fishermen jumps in and save him. The boy is healthy, so the fishermen starts fishing, but fifteen minutes later, a young girl is flailing her arms, yelling for help, in the middle of the river. The fishermen saves her also. At this point, he ponders what the odds are, that two people would need saving on the same day. Fifteen minutes later, when a third child needs to be rescued, he is certain that there must be more to the picture (system), than he is touching upon. At this point, he starts asking questions, no longer believing that the children who needed rescuing, are isolated events. He believes there is more to this system than is meeting his eyes. The fishermen, deciding to solve the cause at its roots, not just continue to trim at the leaves, walks upstream, discovering a children’s camp. The fishermen finds that the local bully, doing what bullies do, was throwing kids in the river every fifteen minutes, and would continue to do so, until everyone surrendered their money. The fishermen, a true problem solver, took the bully by the ear, walked him into the camp office, solved the root cause of the problem (the bully), and enjoyed the remaining fishing time in peace.
I know the example is simplistic, but it does capture the main points in systematic thinking. Many times in life, people run from emergency to emergency, never stopping to think if the emergencies are related systematically. The simple system described above included the boys and girls, the bully, the river, and the fishermen downstream. The fishermen would have had a busy day, if he hadn’t solved the problem at its root. You can stay busy your entire life, but unless you are solving problems at the root, nothing of long-term consequence is being solved. Busy is not the goal, but productivity is. As Covey teaches, one can trim the leaves for life, but if you wish to eliminate a tree, one must attack the roots. Toyota has a problem solving system that helps discover the root causes, called the Five Whys. It teaches that most root causes are at least five questions removed from the issue that is being addressed at the moment. The root cause is usually not the first why, but, if one will keep asking questions, the root cause will typically be revealed.
For example, if someone slips and falls on a slippery factory floor, breaking their arm in the process, the quick solution is to order a cleaning crew to work more hours, cleaning the floors daily to ensure a non-slippery surface. A non-slippery floor is the right answer, but before hiring extra people, spending money and time on the problem, the Five Why’s would attempt to discover the root cause (like the bully in example above). Leaders aren’t happy with just trimming the leaves, while the root cause remains unaddressed and will use the Five Why’s to help determine the root issues. The Five Whys in this example would go something like this:
Q: Why did the man slip and fall?
A: Because the ground was slippery.
Q: Why was the ground slippery?
A: Because there was oil on the floor.
Q: Why was there oil on the floor?
A: Because one of the machines was leaking oil.
Q: Why was the machine leaking oil?
A: Because an oil pan bolt was loose.
Why was the oil pan bolt loose?
A: Because the machine vibrated the bolt loose.
Q: Why did the machine vibrate the bolt loose?
A: Because the shaft bearing is worn out in the machine.
Q: Why is the shaft bearing worn out in the machine?
A: Because maintenance hasn’t changed it and it is past it’s useable life.
Q: Why haven’t they changed out the old bearing?
A: Because we cut all preventative maintenance in a cost cutting measure.
The Five Why’s has revealed the systematic issue in the factory system, not just the obvious answer of cleaning up the oil. When the preventative maintenance program was eliminated, in an effort to save money, it brought upon other effects, not clearly understood at the time. If another department has to hire more cleaning crews, or paying overtime to existing ones, then we have not really saved any money, but still have a maintenance issue. This only compounds the factories problems further, having not understood the systematic effects of the choices made. Trimming the leaves by cutting preventative maintenance, but causing a bigger root problem, by machines failing over time. Without the proper machine maintenance, further degradation is inevitable, leading to more trimming leaves behavior, while the root cause, the improper maintenance, ruins the productivity and safety of the entire factory. Only when the leader thinks systematically, will the root cause be revealed. Preventative maintenance will be reinstated; machines run with quality bearings; the bolts will stay tight; the oil remains in the pan; and people can walk the floor without endangering their safety. The factory is a system, every action performed by one department will have effects on numerous others departments. It’s only when the leader thinks of the entire system (elephant above), that the entire truth will be revealed, leading to decisions made upon the total systems, not just the partial truths that each department feels. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Character and Integrity= Courage!
I resolve to focus on character more than reputation, knowing that character is who I am and reputation is only what others say that I am.
“To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.” - Abraham Lincoln
Character is that special quality, that makes men and women, who have it, appear larger than life. Character is more than just what a person says or does, rather, it’s what a person is. Words like honorable, honest, trustworthy, dutiful, and fidelity, describe the person with integrity, in any field of endeavor. But character moves beyond integrity, since integrity is ‘not doing wrong,’ while character is moves beyond that into ‘doing right’. For example, if someone is picking on little Billy at school, but a person didn’t participate, then he displayed integrity by not doing wrong. But to display character, a person must move beyond integrity, having the courage to defend young Billy against his oppressors, risking his personal peace and affluence for the sake of justice. In other words, integrity refuses to do wrong, but character is more demanding, expecting people to have the courage to do right. By helping Billy, a person moves from integrity to character through his display of courage. John Wooden, one of the all-time great basketball coaches, and life coaches, said, ““Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” Character then, if displayed as a mathematical formula would be: Character = Integrity * Courage. If one doesn’t have integrity, then displaying courage doesn’t give him character. For example, many bank robbers had courage, but not integrity, thus not character. But, one can also have integrity, but no courage, thus lack character through not standing up for principle when required by justice. Character, in other words, requires massive courage to ‘do right,’ especially in the current pragmatic culture that expects timidity, even when gross injustices are routinely performed. Most people will mind their own business, leaving the oppressors a free hand to abuse the victims, but people of character will have none of this. As Reverend Martin Niemoeller, a Nazi prison camp survivor, said, “First they arrested the Communists - but I was not a Communist, so I did nothing. Then they came for the Social Democrats - but was not a Social Democrat, so I did nothing. Then they arrested the trade unionists - and I did nothing because I was not one. And then they came for the Jews and then the Catholics, but I was neither a Jew nor a Catholic and I did nothing. At last they came and arrested me - and there was no one left to do anything about it.” Character is essential for all true success, for without it, nations, corporations, charities, and families are destroyed. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
“To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.” - Abraham Lincoln
Character is that special quality, that makes men and women, who have it, appear larger than life. Character is more than just what a person says or does, rather, it’s what a person is. Words like honorable, honest, trustworthy, dutiful, and fidelity, describe the person with integrity, in any field of endeavor. But character moves beyond integrity, since integrity is ‘not doing wrong,’ while character is moves beyond that into ‘doing right’. For example, if someone is picking on little Billy at school, but a person didn’t participate, then he displayed integrity by not doing wrong. But to display character, a person must move beyond integrity, having the courage to defend young Billy against his oppressors, risking his personal peace and affluence for the sake of justice. In other words, integrity refuses to do wrong, but character is more demanding, expecting people to have the courage to do right. By helping Billy, a person moves from integrity to character through his display of courage. John Wooden, one of the all-time great basketball coaches, and life coaches, said, ““Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” Character then, if displayed as a mathematical formula would be: Character = Integrity * Courage. If one doesn’t have integrity, then displaying courage doesn’t give him character. For example, many bank robbers had courage, but not integrity, thus not character. But, one can also have integrity, but no courage, thus lack character through not standing up for principle when required by justice. Character, in other words, requires massive courage to ‘do right,’ especially in the current pragmatic culture that expects timidity, even when gross injustices are routinely performed. Most people will mind their own business, leaving the oppressors a free hand to abuse the victims, but people of character will have none of this. As Reverend Martin Niemoeller, a Nazi prison camp survivor, said, “First they arrested the Communists - but I was not a Communist, so I did nothing. Then they came for the Social Democrats - but was not a Social Democrat, so I did nothing. Then they arrested the trade unionists - and I did nothing because I was not one. And then they came for the Jews and then the Catholics, but I was neither a Jew nor a Catholic and I did nothing. At last they came and arrested me - and there was no one left to do anything about it.” Character is essential for all true success, for without it, nations, corporations, charities, and families are destroyed. God Bless, Orrin Woodward
Friday, March 11, 2011
Humor Relief
In times of crisis, leaders must be able to reduce a problem to real-world standards and bring it into a manageable perspective. They must be able to see the comedic aspects of the situation and clear the stress, anxiety and tension from the air through their own sense of humor.
Your people need this type of release in order to relax, reevaluate, and reprioritize their goals. Then they can refocus on what really needs to be done to correct the problems they face and get the job done.
That simple "humor relief" created by a leader can be the difference between success and failure. A true leader understands the importance of reframing perspective through humor.
Humor is an affirmative of dignity; a declaration of man's superiority to all that befalls him.
Romain Gary
http://team_orrin_woodward.typepad.com/
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Your people need this type of release in order to relax, reevaluate, and reprioritize their goals. Then they can refocus on what really needs to be done to correct the problems they face and get the job done.
That simple "humor relief" created by a leader can be the difference between success and failure. A true leader understands the importance of reframing perspective through humor.
Humor is an affirmative of dignity; a declaration of man's superiority to all that befalls him.
Romain Gary
http://team_orrin_woodward.typepad.com/
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, March 07, 2011
A Vision for the Future
The present is important for it is in the present that we achieve the future, and we must learn from the past, our successes and failures. But the future provides a vision not yet attained-- a target to aim for.
A true leader understands the importance of having a clearly defined vision for success and is effective in communicating that vision to the team.
I like the dreams of the future, better than the history if the past.
Thomas Jefferson
http://team_orrin_woodward.typepad.com/
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Dallas/Fort Worth Airport
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
The Leadership Role
To be appointed to a leadership position is not sufficient to make you a leader.
Leadership is not based upon position. That's management. Once appointed to a position of leadership, you have to take charge and begin leading.
Too many people feel as though they have arrived when they get promoted. The wise know that promotion is just the beginning. It is the opportunity to lead!
A leader who assumes the leadership role is much more effective than those who try to succeed by mere position. But those under the purview of that leadership soon discover the lack thereof.
It is easier to assume your role as a leader once you understand that people want and need to be led by a competent leader. You are there to help them, and yourself, by giving them direction through being the example.
When in charge, take charge!
http://team_orrin_woodward.typepad.com/
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Leadership is not based upon position. That's management. Once appointed to a position of leadership, you have to take charge and begin leading.
Too many people feel as though they have arrived when they get promoted. The wise know that promotion is just the beginning. It is the opportunity to lead!
It is easier to assume your role as a leader once you understand that people want and need to be led by a competent leader. You are there to help them, and yourself, by giving them direction through being the example.
When in charge, take charge!
http://team_orrin_woodward.typepad.com/
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:AA Flight from Tucson to Dallas
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Leadership Process
Becoming a leader is an incremental process.
Becoming an effective supervisor requires certain skills.
Becoming an effective manager requires another set of skills.
In that same regard, becoming an effective leader requires yet another set of skills. Skills that can all be learned, developed, and honed by anyone motivated and disciplined to do so.
Developing these skills is the formula for your success.
Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Becoming an effective supervisor requires certain skills.
Becoming an effective manager requires another set of skills.
In that same regard, becoming an effective leader requires yet another set of skills. Skills that can all be learned, developed, and honed by anyone motivated and disciplined to do so.
Developing these skills is the formula for your success.
Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, February 25, 2011
Solution Oriented
True leaders are constantly seeking solutions.
One seldom has to look for problems. Problems have a natural way of making themselves known.
One does, however, have to look for solutions to those problems.
Rather than expend wasted energy worrying and placing blame, leaders are solution-oriented seeking to just solve the problem. They then go one step further to learn from the mistakes and take action to ensure that a similar problem does not occur in the future. True leaders learn from problems and teach the lesson for greater growth of the team.
The block of granite which is an obstacle in the pathway of the weak, becomes a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.
Thomas Carlyle
http://www.thesocialleader.com/2010/01/social-leader-spotlight-orrin-woodward-founder-team/
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
One seldom has to look for problems. Problems have a natural way of making themselves known.
One does, however, have to look for solutions to those problems.Rather than expend wasted energy worrying and placing blame, leaders are solution-oriented seeking to just solve the problem. They then go one step further to learn from the mistakes and take action to ensure that a similar problem does not occur in the future. True leaders learn from problems and teach the lesson for greater growth of the team.
The block of granite which is an obstacle in the pathway of the weak, becomes a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.
Thomas Carlyle
http://www.thesocialleader.com/2010/01/social-leader-spotlight-orrin-woodward-founder-team/
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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