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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

A Vision for the Future

The future represents what is new.   It represents change and innovation.  It represents hope and the results of past efforts, attitudes and growth.

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

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

Location:AA Flight from Tucson to Dallas

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

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

Competent Teamates

Leaders are not afraid of their teammates or subordinates taking their jobs.

Quite the contrary, leaders recruit the best people they can find and train them thoroughly so they can not only do their job, but so they can fill in for the leader when necessary.

This ensures that the team and the leader gets maximum performance, maximum results and success into the future. This is part of Maxwell's  Law of Legacy- A leader’s lasting value is measured by succession.

Quality followers, teammates, and subordinates are a result of, and a course of, strong true leadership.


There is something that is much more scarce, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability.
Robert Half

http://www.thesocialleader.com/2010/01/social-leader-spotlight-orrin-woodward-founder-team/

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Common Sense

Leaders Exhibit Good Common Sense.

Are people born with common sense? Maybe.
Is it the result of experience? Possibly.
Is it the combination of IQ, acquired knowledge and personal experience?
Probably!

Experts and know-it-alls can argue what constitutes common sense until the end of time but the fact remains that a true leader has it and uses it. Period!

Common sense is the knack of saying things as they are, and doing as they ought to be done.
Josh Billings

http://team_orrin_woodward.typepad.com/

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Taking Risks

Leaders take calculated risks.

Leaders are not foolhardy, wild-eyed maniacs who throw away the rule book.

On the contrary:  leaders continually evaluate the elements of a risky project in comparison to the potential for gain from taking those risks.

They speak out in the heat of controversy.  They take a stand when right, but not necessarily popular.  They dare to try new ideas, sure in their own minds that their ideas will work.

They do not risk the safety of their subordinates or someone else's career-- only their own.

If nothing is ever ventured, then nothing is ever gained.

It is impossible to win the great prizes of life without running risks.
Theodore Roosevelt

The Social Leader on Orrin Woodward

Strive to be the Best

Leaders strive to be the best in everything they do.

Leaders also instill this attribute into their subordinates.

Leaders seek to be the best-- for their own satisfaction in knowing they can be.

Get a good idea and stay with it.  Dog it, and work at it until it's done and done right.
Walt Disney

The Best Leadership Nuggets

Take Responsibility

True leaders are in charge, and they are responsible for every facet of the project or task at hand.

When it is successful, they are the ones responsible.  When it is unsuccessful, they are also responsible.

Taking responsibility relieves others, and shows them who the true leader really is.  Anyone can choose to be a leader and accept responsibility.

A chief is a man who assumes responsibility.  He says, "I was beaten."  He does not say, "My men were beaten."  Thus speaks a real man.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Adversity or Opportunity

We've all heard "When handed a lemon, make lemonade."

The leader follows this advice and looks for any opportunity to combat, and thrive against, adversity.

Every cloud has a silver lining.  True leaders look for that silver lining at every opportunity of adversity.

Since the house is on fire, let us warm ourselves.
Italian Proverb

The Social Leader on Orrin Woodward

Just One Word – Part 1

As a Board Member for the local FCA here in Michigan, I frequently read some great articles as a part of the Resources available through FCA.  The following is an article I read last week that is a great way to bring focus to your New Year.  I hope you enjoy it and take advantage of the wonderful resources FCA has to offer.  Happy New Year!

Just One Word – Part 1

By Dan Britton

Posted December 28, 2010

Ready:

"Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 3:13-14

Set:

It’s hard to simplify life. Narrowing the focus seems impossible. Over this past year, I know you have been asked hundreds of time, “How is it going?” Your response was probably something like mine: “I have been SO busy!” I haven't heard one person respond: “I’ve had so much time on my hands, and I’m looking for something new to do.” I would love to meet that person.

As an athlete or coach, you have tons of responsibilities, and your schedule is crazy. You feel like you are sprinting on the field and sprinting in life. That is why we need to be intentional about clarifying and simplifying life. For the past eight years, I have been sharing with many people the simple discipline of picking just one word as a theme for the upcoming year. That is right, a ONE-word theme. Not a phrase, not a statement, just a single word. And to this point, it has been nothing short of life-changing.

In the movie City Slickers, there is a scene that reveals the value and magnitude of "one thing." Billy Crystal plays Mitch, a vacationing businessman who, along with two friends, takes on the adventure of a cattle drive. In the middle of the drive, a rough-necked cowhand named Curly tells Mitch that the secret to life is just one thing. Curly emphasizes the point by holding one finger up and saying, "You need to stick to that one thing." To this, Mitch replies, "What is that one thing?" Curly responds back, "That is what you gotta figure out."

Curly is not a Bible scholar, but he does recognize the power of just one thing. Even though the Bible does not have the phrase "one-word theme," it is interesting to note that the phrase "one thing" appears five times in the Bible: once in Philippians and four times in the Gospels.

In Philippians 3:13-14, Paul uses the phrase "one thing" to bring focus and clarity to his calling. In Luke 10:42 Jesus says to Martha, "only one thing is needed." Both Luke 18:22 and Mark 10:21 include His words to the rich man and express a lack of "one thing." John 9:25 also includes this phrase as the blind man tells the Pharisees, "One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"

In the same way that Scripture uses these words, we also can put it to use by asking God to reveal a one-word theme for us for the upcoming year.

For me, this one-word exercise, in its simplicity, helps bring clarity into a very complex world. The discipline of picking a one-word theme has stretched me in all areas—spiritually, physically and emotionally. God has transformed me in many ways through this exercise, and I know that through it God can bring truth and revelation into your life, as well.

When I first started this process, half of the fun was choosing the word for the year, but I have learned that it is not necessarily me who chooses the word, but rather God who reveals it to me. God can, indeed, drop an anointed, specific word into your soul. In my first year, I admit that it was 99 percent me picking the word and 1 percent God speaking. Even so, God still used it! But as I have become more experienced in the process, I have learned to really listen and watch for God's leading in selecting the word.

It has been my experience that God quickly reveals His plans for the year regarding your one-word. That word (be it a discipline, fruit of the Spirit, character trait, attribute of God or even the name of a person) will brand you for life! Every day, you'll be blessed as you experience God revealing to you powerful truth about your one-word theme. Everywhere you turn, there will be new insights and valuable lessons associated with that word.

Enjoy the process, and remember: just one word. Not a phrase. Not even two words. Just one word!

Go:

1. Why is it so hard to simplify life?
2. Why do you think we try to impress people with more rather than less?
3. How do you answer the question, "How are you doing?" Does the word "busy" always come out? How can you respond differently?
4. What did Paul say his one thing was in Philippians 3:13-14?
5. What is God saying to you now about your one-word theme for 2011? Commit some serious time to praying and asking God to speak to you.

Workout:

Luke 10:42
Luke 18:22
Mark 10:21
John 9:25

Overtime:

"Lord, as I get ready to start 2011, I ask that You would make it a life-changing year. I want to live for You alone. Reveal Yourself to me as You show me what my one-word theme will be. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I realize that it is a journey of learning, not a task to accomplish. Through this process, I desire to know You better. Strengthen me as I live out this word every day."

Become a WisdomWalker! WisdomWalks.org

Bible Book: John, Luke, Mark, Philippians 

Bible Chapter: John 9, Luke 10, Luke 18, Mark 10, Philippians 3

Collection: Daily Impact Play

Keywords: Impressing Others, Simplifying Life, WisdomWalks

Related Links: The Power of One Word, One Thing, Bible Reference Handout, Cut it Off, Go for the Goal

Leading the Pack

Leaders stay a little more progressive. 

The do so by:
Being a little more innovative.  A little more creative.
By taking that extra step.
Spending a little more effort.
Getting a little more accomplished.
Getting a few more results.

However, leaders can't run too far ahead of the pack without bringing others with them.  They need support from others to be successful themselves.  Leaders stay ahead but make sure others are with them. 

It is a mistake to look too far ahead.  Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.
Winston Churchill

Keep Moving Forward

Leaders are always going forward making progress in some fashion.  Sometimes in tiny steps, but often in quantum leaps.

A leader's group is the first to adopt new ideas, first to try new technologies, and first in efficiency and productivity.  They pay attention to percentage points of increase and decrease.  They pay attention to the score.

True leaders make things happen.

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.
Arthur Godfrey