Is This Really All There Is?

Reflection and Action for Leadership

How Does It End?

light in the tunnel
You’ve put in a few decades doing whatever it is you do. How does it end? I was prompted to think about this after a longtime friend came by for dinner. We’ve known each other for close to 35 years. We talked about the paths we’ve been on and the paths we see ourselves taking in the near future. We also reminisced about people we know in common.

Retirement
Our dinner guest is pushing hard. She’s one of the women I talked about in my last post who’s always shown me qualities that were missing in many of my male professional counterparts. She got her Ivy League degree but knew that nothing was promised. She’s hasn’t had it easy but she’s embraced “free agency” and works to improve the lives of those around her.

I was taken aback to hear that friends we went to school with are getting ready to head for retirement and quieter climes in the next year. I was shocked to hear recently that the nephew of a friend had put in his twenty years and was retiring in a year or two and was opening a restaurant/bar.
Maybe what happened to me is…

What’s Next
that I share the view of people like Peter Ragnar who believe that a lot of the aging process is mental. I’ve also taken positions that haven’t provided decent retirement benefits as one of their perks – so temptation is less. My ADD also does not lend itself to a hammock. I am also from the Helen Keller school of thought that says ” security does not exist in Nature. Life is either a daring adventure or it’s nothing.” This is part of the manifesto shared by me and my fellow Ronin.

God does not promise security in this life. The author Philip Yancey points out that we don’t get to know God and then do his will – we get to know God by doing his will. Like my parents, I choose to “wear out rather than rust out.” It took me a while, but I realize that my wife’s complaints about our path are mainly pro forma. In many ways she pushes harder than I do. She does this in the face of the paradoxes that come with being a good Christian. The more you do, the more is demanded and gratitude be damned.

The reasons for staying on or stepping off may be the result of evolution, genetics, or something else. Some of us are built a different way. Some deal with the difficulty of the now – they live how they believe Christ lived, and they accept that God will determine the value of all these efforts at some point in the distant future. You are not alone. I respect and admire those who have decided that their race has been run. But there are those of us who are not content with where we are and what we’ve done and we will keep moving. The Talmud, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Bible all recognize that we cannot possibly finish the work set before us – but we will not be excused for not taking it up.

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The Power of Belief

friendly universe
“Cogito ergo sum” – I think, therefore I am. I have been hoping that there is a related principle that applies to the art of writing. Something like, “I write, therefore I am a writer.” Even if it is not true, I will continue to act as if it is. I combine this with Emerson’s advice on writing that “when you run out of arrows, throw your body at it.”

Today I’m throwing my body at a short post on the Universe.

Albert Einstein felt that the fundamental question facing all of us is: “Is the Universe a friendly place?” We each get the chance to answer this for ourselves. What if you decided just for today that it was? Would you be a rebel in this Universe? Would your belief about your capabilities or responsibilities change?

What kind of Universe do you currently live in? If we take better control of our beliefs and imagination, we can make sure the trance we’re in is one of our own making.

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Ingratitude and Leadership

ingratitude
This is point #2 of my post about Nonprofit Leadership. It has to do with ingratitude and its mainly male practitioners.

Men Without Chests (see C.S. Lewis)
In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is told “you are not entitled to the fruits of your labor, only to your labor.” This is something that has become something of a mantra for me in my professional life. With regard to men, I first thought the ingratitude thing was jealousy over comparative testosterone/intelligence combinations. After all, how do you explain the guys I brought in – who had been unable to find employment elsewhere – who I promoted, mentored, and who then engaged in almost Biblical acts of betrayal. These were something more than mere character flaws. I know, I know – I have to take my own hit for having a defective slime meter. But how did this environment get created? Then I found out…

it may in fact be an evolutionary imperative!

Women On Top
An article in this month’s Atlantic by Hanna Rosin states that men may be obsolete in the postindustrial economy. She talks about qualities like emotional intelligence, communication skills, and focus being things that men struggle to exhibit while most women seem to be naturals. Will men fade away in terms of economic relevance?

Well, it’s not comfortable for me as a guy to embrace this but I am not going to put up much of an argument. I have worked with too many tough, smart, creative women. I would also add loyalty to the list of traits that women seem to have in contrast to the “office warriors with the beer balls” that I have come across. There are notable exceptions in places like the military but in the zero sum game of business, you may not want your “wing man” to be a man.

Gratitude and God

I’ve had some time to reflect on my agitation around the snakes that entered my world. When I think of gratitude, I think of the X Files and the tag line, “We are not alone.” For me, gratitude represents an acknowledgment of our need to help one another. It represents an awareness of the gifts God has provided us though nature. Philosophers like Immanuel Kant and David Hume understood that gratitude goes way beyond etiquette. Some observers have gone so far as to equate ingratitude with sin. When you stand on the other side of gratitude you rebel against humility, you take our gift of freedom for granted, you spit in the face of community, and you stand in league with the greed, self-centeredness, and sense of entitlement that is ruining this country.

A good start would be for the ingrates among us to slow down, and show gratitude for the good things in their own lives. Take that step and it may be possible for these people to recognize that we are, in fact, not alone – and that’s a pretty wonderful thing.

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The Nonprofit Marketing Guide – A Book Review

This is a book review of The Nonprofit Marketing Guide by Kivi Leroux Miller. If you are a decision maker at a nonprofit -- particularly a small one -- this is the only guide you’ll need. You should also check out Ms. Miller’s website..

I have been able to get something useful from all the other books in this space that I have read but I could’ve saved a bunch of money if I had waited for this book.

P.S. I think I got the lighting right this time. I just wish that microphone cord didn’t look like it was going to disrobe me!
P.P.S. -- I’m going to continue the “11 Tips” for nonprofit leaders with a post later this week.

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Nonprofit Leadership – Love and Fear


Just a few notes:

I left integrity out of my list of qualities that I mention in the video -- it belongs at or near the top.

Once you get clear about your moral boundaries and the things you are willing to fight for -- DON’T SHARE THEM!. Your enemies and your putative allies/friends will attempt to use this against you to gain your position and presumed power.

You probably won’t find yourself in a debate about different moral codes or concerned about moral relativism. It will more likely be your code on one side and the absence of any code on the other. Hopefully, that will make your Rubicon clearer.

Finally -- yes, I do know what a “fill light” is and I promise to do better next time( I choose not to blame this on my 9 year-old camera man).

In the words of Emile Zola, whatever you do, “Live your life out loud!”

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Nonprofit Leadership Challenges

leaders - Napoleon

This post contains a few of my reflections on nonprofit leadership challenges. My caveat is that while these are mostly general observations, they are mainly flavored by my experiences. In setting down these observations, I hope to provide offense only to those who deserve it – i.e. the Quislings and sycophants who, along with their feckless masters, took advantage of my evolved consciousness ;-) You know who you are!!

The best audience for this piece is people who are thinking of moving into nonprofit leadership or who have been on the job for a short time. Two really good books on the topic are “Leadership on the Line” and “The Leadership Challenge” (not affiliate links).  Some of these observations are unique to my experience. They will be the subject of a book on my nonprofit adventures and the interesting characters who populated them. I tried to start this out as a Top Ten list but more and more reflections intruded, so here goes:

1. Decide what kind of leader you are going to be before you start.
2. Expect ingratitude – from my experience, ingratitude is mainly a male trait.
3. Do not join an organization where the founder is still active – unless you are prepared to be merely a spokesperson.
4. Develop your network before the big job so that you can bring in your own team.
5. Get a guarantee that you can
bring in your own team.
6. If you are Latino or African-American and board members start telling you how articulate you are, start looking for another job.
7. Get a contract.
8. Avoid working for a board that has a majority of members with too much time on their hands – or too many lawyers.
9. Provide well-structured feedback immediately – whether it is positive or not.
10. Hire for loyalty, passion, intelligence, courage, and sense of humor.

11. Don’t let sympathy get in the way of getting rid of the “dead wood” as soon as you can.

In future posts I’ll provide more details, insight, and cautionary tales.  If you’re doing it, or thinking about doing it and want to get in touch for sympathy, to rant, or feedback, please contact me.  For those of you in the nonprofit trenches, I’d love to hear your additions to my list.

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Independence Is Not About Hot Dogs

independence
There is no official post today because of the holiday. I’ll be doing one tomorrow on nonprofit leadership (I think!).

Because this weekend is a ceIebration of our independence, I did want to say “thank you” to all the people who defend our freedom. In particular, THANKS to my two former students, Michael Rivera and Anthony Howell, both serving in the USMC. These two young men joined the Corps as teenagers so that they could grow and serve. Thank you also to Lt. Col. Ridenhour, currently deployed to Afghanistan. I am also proud of the fact that they allow me to call them “friend.”

I have worked with too many “men without chests” (C.S. Lewis) so it’s good to know that there are those capable and willing to do the work that liberty requires.

“We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.”
— Winston S. Churchill

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Great Schools or Just Retooled Factories?

It’s also worth checking out his 2006 TED talk.

Albert Einstein said: “We can’t solve problems at the same level of consciousness at which we created them.” Yet this is exactly what we do in our efforts at educational reform. There continue to be dueling reports about whether charter schools work any better for underprivileged kids than the regular school system. From what I can tell, this is only a discussion about the best form of palliative care.

I go back and forth on why we do what we do with our children and their education. Is it a desire for social and economic control by our oligarchs? Is it greed? Is it a lack of imagination? A combination, or something else entirely?

This affects us all and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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What Will You Bring To The Life Party? Shadow or Light?

sun and clouds
This is a short guest post from one of my former students – Tiffany Pagan. She’s on her way to big things! Also, if you sign up for my newsletter, I’ll give you FREE access to a 15-minute audio recording on relaxation and performance.

HERE IT IS:

“I wrote this and wanted to share it with a few people who I believe know the real me! Enjoy!

When you act a certain kind of way your whole life, no one ever expects you to have a different side. When all people see you do is laugh, the world is surprised to see that you cry, too. Life is not about how others see you, but how you see yourself. If you know that your heart bears love, hate, laughter, tears, pain and joy, then you have nothing to fear. If you know that your mind has the potential to make a person smile or make a person cry, then you must always be conscious of the words you use with the people who love you.

Life will bring you light and life will bring you darkness. Life will inevitably bring storms, but after every storm, life will always bring back the Sun. And when the Sun shines upon you it will enable you to shine upon the world. You can guarantee that everyone will always and forever see you for who you really are: A ray of sunshine who will always surpass the clouds.”

– Tiffany Pagan

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Reiki Energy Healing And Growing Up

pranic healing
I’m back on the path! Reiki energy healing was a part of my life in the mdi-90′s. I had parents with health problems and students who were living with holes in their souls. Reiki, hypnosis, biofeedback, and NLP were some of my stops along the way. My intuition, stress level, communication skills, and health all improved as I undertook this journey. I studied under some good people – Rachel Hott and Stephen Leeds, John LaValle, and William Lee Rand, among others.

Reiki
“Reiki” means “universal” or “spiritual” energy. Kanji is made up of ideographs and pictographs so it’s difficult to come up with an exact translation. The founder, Mikao Usui, did not use the term “Reiki” but this is the name that has come to describe this system of healing. I studied under William Lee Rand and became a Reiki master in 1997. It was cool for me to go back and check on this lineage

As the son of a Methodist minister, I had to ask myself whether I was delving into the dark side with my studies? Part of this question was answered by the peace that I was able to bring to my family and students with my practice. I was honored to be part of an Episcopal church, headed by Father Robert Castle, that invited me to the altar on Sundays to provide Reiki healing.

Christianity
For me, Reiki has meant a closer connection to God – a way to relieve suffering, express compassion, and to be more Christ-like. I spoke to Christians who were concerned or skeptical. They were unable to answer my questions about “Gifts of the Spirit” and Paul’s guidance in Corinthians. If you are called to practice the gift of healing do you ignore the Jesus of John 14:12 who says: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.”

The Lesson
I have stated it in other posts and been attacked for it in other contexts but…I am my parents’ child and I am a child of God. Healing is part of my path. I hope to pass this on. I ‘d love to hear about your path to healing and your thoughts on ways we can create a healing community. I’m not ashamed to say that I’m growing up.

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