Reflection and Action for Leadership
From the category archives:
Here is something from the field of energy psychology. I have gained a lot of tools in the past 20 years that have helped me to help myself and others. This may look strange but give it a try. You can use it in a lot of situations. It provides an elegant solution. There are some who will remain too skeptical to even give this a try. That’s okay. I can also provide referrals to very expensive therapists who would love to establish a multi-year relationship!
Any questions? Get in touch!
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Warning: This video is not safe for work and family.
This was my motivation for today (and I’m guessing for a few days going forward). I’m getting comfortable with the theory that people like me will end up offending most of the people I come across. My audience is all the others.
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This post is short and (hopefully) sweet – á la Seth Godin. I’ve talked about “values” in the past. This one is about VALUE. Perhaps it’s the ravages of middle age but I am losing my interest in potential. Talk to me about what value you bring NOW. In fact, someone may not have the entry level skills for a retail job, much less the ability to survive TEOTWAWKI (go ahead, look it up!). If you have the desire to be of value to your community, then you are the kind of person I want to be around.
When someone wants to be of value, they are seekers – they have to be curious. Integrity is more important to them than having the opportunity to show their cleverness. They work to be a part of the community. All I know is that when I’m done, and to paraphrase Albert Einstein, I would “rather be a man of value than a man of success.”
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Check out the whole movie when you can. Pam Slim, Michael Port, Justin Lukasavige, Chris Brogan, Janet Atkinson, John Carlton, and Hans Hageman & Associates, are some great places to start if you need or want to investigate the employment side of life as a masterless Samurai -- the Ronin. There is no better time.
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I have never found regret to be a useful emotion. It’s tough to learn from regret and it prevents forward movement. If you can work yourself up to something a little stronger, like guilt or remorse, there may be some positive benefits – a necessary apology, or a change in behavior or a different approach for next time.
As Frank said, “Regrets? I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention.” I was able to figure something out when I practiced law and while not perfected, it has allowed me to lessen some of the kinds of regrets I hear too many people experiencing. Perhaps this is because of some really high self esteem but I like to hallucinate that it’s mainly because of a fairly regular values inventory.
We get our values from experience, family, role models, and various cultural/media messages. For the most part, they remain outside of our conscious awareness. Our values often change with context, age, and experience but I believe that people are happiest and most successful when they are able to establish “bedrock” values that aren’t contextual.
In some of my recent work with police officers I was interested in their answers in response to questions about their values. Like many of us, they hadn’t given too much thought to their personal values or to the values that are important to police work. In this line of work, if your personal values don’t line up/aren’t congruent with those of your job, the consequences can be extreme. It was a good discussion and the conversation was more honest and robust than it could have ever been with the board members and many senior staff at Boys & Girls Harbor.
Some of the questions I asked them are the questions I have asked myself at different times in my professional life:
After you answer these questions, ask yourself, “Do I live these answers?” Understand that when you don’t, you pay a price. It’s too simple to be described by single words but since we live in the land of McDonald’s, here are a list of some values that serve as my bedrock:
These aren’t in order of importance. Another interesting exercise is to rank them. Send me a comment or email if you want a post on this. What I do know, is that there was a conflict between my bedrock values and the people who were calling the shots at my job. I am grateful that they brought me back to awareness and I thank you all for joining me on my latest adventure.
Write me with examples in your life when your values came into conflict with the living (not espoused) values of your job.
Jai Ho!
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fat police
The police department in Mexico City has had to ration the calories served to police officers in their cafeterias. Many officers are limited to consuming no more than 2,500 calories if they eat in the cafeterias – instead of the usual 4,000. Do you know how hard it is to eat 4,000 calories? If you don’t know, it’s an interesting exercise to count your average caloric consumption over the course of a week (go to fitday.com for a free nutrition account – it’s actually pretty good). Most of us (I hope) would find it a challenge to consume 4,000 calories.
Three-quarters of the Mexico City police force is overweight. This problem is reflected in police departments throughout Mexico and in the urban population in general.
I am interested in this for reasons other than anthropological and physiological curiosity. Mexico has the highest rates of obesity – second only to —wait for it— the United States. The problem of overweight police officers is shared by their brethren in the US. I have undertaken my own very informal study of the New York police department and found they are not exempt – despite having a disciplined and fit Commissioner. I am even able to play my own version of the Volkswagen “punch buggy” game with the number of VERY overweight officers I come across.
I have asked friends in the department about the reasons for this low fitness level – why don’t you guys work out? The standard response seems to be: “Because we don’t have to.” Police officers work under something called “presumed compliance.” The uniform and the authority it conveys are supposed to elicit a measure of respect and compliance from the average citizen. A problem arises when, as frequently happens, officers are called to engage someone who is not average and who despises authority.
What happens when a suspect is not prepared to comply? The answers range from “I’ll just kick his ass” to “that’s what guns are for.” I don’t know about you, but neither of these answers is satisfactory. Whatever happened to Coach Paul Bear Bryant’s philosophy, “The will to win is nothing compared to the will to prepare to win”? If it’s good enough for football, it should be good enough for law enforcement. After all, just like the military, coming in second in these worlds has a whole different meaning.
After the police academy, few police departments have ongoing fitness requirements. This is a result of the strength of their labor unions and our litigious society. Another argument is that it would be a logistical nightmare to check on compliance with any fitness program. Legal barriers notwithstanding, I find it hard to believe that checking on compliance doesn’t have a technological solution. A bigger issue is the matter of “will.”
Being physically fit enables an officer to perform the basic functions of their job, such as chasing criminals. Another benefit would be a reduction in the frequency of life threatening illnesses that come with being unfit and overweight in an extremely stressful job. An unhealthy level of stress is the most pernicious and deadly consequence of police work. A healthy lifestyle would go a long way to countering its effects. I also believe that taxpayers have a right to question the reasons behind increasing disability and pension costs for civil servants.
I would hope that financial incentives or legislation would not be required for our guardians to show self-discipline and pride. Not all of these officers are “big-boned.” There should be an annual fitness requirement much like the Marines have that matched the test to the job tasks – one that also took into account worst case scenarios. Police would be able to do their jobs more efficiently, police shootings would decrease; depression, high blood pressure, diabetes, and broken marriages would decrease; taxpayers wouldn’t be supporting bad lifestyle choices; and the people would take more pride in our guardians.
I know some incredible police officers. Some are incredible athletes and some of them are in less than peak condition. It’s about creating a culture of improvement and accountability. Hey, who knows? The police today, and the rest of society tomorrow?
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