What kind of oracle do you have?

I’m not talking about hoodoo mysticism or the Matrix, and the reference has nothing to do with your database. I mean someone that mentors you, your coach, or as Wikipedia defines oracle: a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel.

If you think you are such a good manager or team leader that you don’t need one, that’s the same as saying you have nothing else to learn. When you have nothing else to learn, you are obsolete. Everyone needs a sounding board, a listener or reviewer who helps us confirm we’re on the right track, not full or ourselves, or worse: full of crap.

Who do you have coaching you? Hopefully, it is your manager. If not, then perhaps it is a friend or colleague. The important thing is that you’re not floating in the middle of Decision Sea alone, but if you are, relax. I’ve got good news for you.

Finding mentors and getting input is easier in the 21st century than ever before. Texting, Skype, forums, blogs with interactive commenting, LinkedIn Groups, and even Facebook are tools readily available for communicating with existing coaches or finding new ones.

You’re back at the office tomorrow. Here’s your goal for the week: seek coaching by Friday. Engage in a conversation that helps you move forward. Even if you have no pending decisions, seek second opinions on last week’s decisions. Ask someone to hear you out and provide feedback. Quite often, just hearing yourself recount a decision or path out loud shines lights on new options.

Try this out this week, and let me know how it works for you.

What is a Perpetual Team?

Do you recall hearing of “perpetual motion” or “perpetual motion machines”?
Perpetual Motion generally refers to any closed system that produces more energy than it consumes.
When the industrial age was in it’s infancy, several inventors attempted to create “perpetual motion machines”—devices that completely eliminated friction and maintain motion forever through mass inertia.
It was an interesting idea, but unfortunately, the laws of physics made their success impossible.
However—lucky for us—the laws of physics have no effect on the creation of Perpetual Teams.
Think of your team as a machine, where each member is a moving part, constantly pushing the other moving parts forward. As long as each part continues to push the other forward, the whole of the parts will produce more energy than was consumed.
If each team member is constantly pushing the other towards a goal—routinely asking: what can we do to deliver better, faster—then two or more heads will not only be better than one. They will be better than teams triple their size.
Of course, there is one caveat…
When one of those parts stops working, that part must be replaced, before the corrosion contaminates the other parts.
I know that sounds harsh, but it is a reality.
To believe anything else is to fool yourself and damage the morale—and the throughput—of your team.
This is not to say that a part cannot be repaired. The team itself should work to oil and adjust its parts to keep them from failing, and the mechanic—the manager—shouldn't be called until such repairs are beyond the abilities of the team.
Everything starts with a truly motivated, self-managed team.
Successful teams lead themselves, and within each team, there are strong members that will push for improvements.
However, those leaders must not be allowed to dominate, as one persons improvement is often another persons impediment.
You must have strong leaders that counter other strong leaders, ensuring the team is always moving forward and weighing options based on everyone's input, in order to find the optimal solutions to all problems.
Any who sees a problem with current processes should lead the team to improve it, just as they would any other problem.
If a member cannot identify a problem with current processes, it is that member's responsibility to support those processes—continuing to move forward and to push other members to move forward.
Those old tried-and-true words of Thomas Paine are still alive and well today: "Lead, follow, or get out of the way" of those who are trying to improve and/or support the team.
Yea, I know what you are thinking—and you are wrong.
There is nothing negative about this perspective for two simple reasons:

• REASON ONE: The process is a fair one. Everyone has the opportunity to support the team as is or help change the team and its processes for the better. Finding a team where you are a better fit is truly a last resort.
• REASON TWO: The process has proven time and time again that it works!

Here’s something else to keep in mind. If you can build one Perpetual Team, you can build many. Just as one member can push another member forward, one team can push another team forward—creating a Perpetual Organization—an organization that produces five times more than it consumes.
You’ve heard consultants babble on about company’s crossing the chasm from good to great? The only way you’ll really do that is with Perpetual Teams.

Perpetual Teams deliver Perfection

The Japanese word Shibumi translates roughly to "effortless perfection", but this is not the definition of Shibumi as much as it is the goal of Shibumi.
Shibumi is an ancient discipline that disallows stress when obstacles appear—“Worrying is a sin”, grandmother used to say.
Students of Shibumi inspect problems, then improvise and adapt to the best solution presented. If a better solution presents itself later, the students inspect, then adapt again. This cycle continues until one reaches the infinite goal of effortless perfection.
For years, I have described what I termed "The Perpetual Team" and considered this methodology to be my own, but Japanese artists and Jujitsu masters have been teaching the fundamentals of this philosophy for centuries.
If an idea works, you stick with it.
On the Perpetual Team, office politics and the blame game are non-existent. Team-members are committed to the same goals, enabling each member to hold themselves—and each other—accountable for missteps. Each admits mistakes and weaknesses immediately in order to get team advice and address problems by leveraging the collective wisdom of the team.
For a team to achieve Shibumi, they must become Perpetual Teams.
Members of Perpetual Teams push each other to deliver on their commitments. Members are constantly inspecting team makeup and processes, diligently asking, "What can we do to deliver better, faster?"
Like the disciples of Shibumi, Perpetual Teams are constantly identifying inefficiencies and adapting to improve.
If you are reading this and thinking that Shibumi actually translates to "pie in the sky", then you have much to learn about the potential of Perpetual Teams in an organization or even in a family.
If everyone on a team is truly committed to the goal, that team can move mountains.
Commitment happens when team meeting attendance actually synergizes team members.
This synergy manifests when goals are clear and prioritized, and when everyone on the team trusts everyone else to do their best to achieve those goals.
This kind of trust develops when the team believes that everyone else—management included—is being truthful about motives, goals, and obstacles as they arise.
Establishing transparency throughout the team is the key to fostering truthfulness. Everyone must clearly see who is doing what, where, and when, and what problems have or may arise. Teams with fewer than a dozen members achieve transparency with little effort, but dividing larger teams into multiple Perpetual Teams works just as well, if the goals of each team support the goals of the organization.
To ensure this support, Leaders form Perpetual Teams of their own. Just as each member of a team pushes the other to reach the goal, leaders of teams can push other leaders, driving the organization to reach the organizational goal.
The trust introduced by transparency solidifies when leaders stop punishing teams for missteps and learn to improvise, working with teams to find solutions that correct mistakes and to define processes that prevent those mistakes from reoccurring. As Akio Morito, co-founder of Sony Corporation, once said, “Don't be afraid to make mistakes, but make sure you don't make the same mistake twice.”
Does Shibumi translate to “Pie in the Sky”?
At Decade Software, the Perpetual Team concept originated in the Development Department, and then spread to the Design Team and Customer Service. Our company tripled production and elevated quality to the fourth power in less than two years. Where we once released a product annually, today we release new features eight times per year, and we release every product upgrade with zero known defects—a feat previously unheard of in the software industry.
Seriously evaluating the rewards of effortless perfection, a stress-free work and home environment, together with committed trust and transparency between peers and management, another definition of Shibumi becomes clear.
Shibumi is little more than “common sense”.

What Managers Expect from teams

Larry Bossidy’s article,“What Your Leader Expects of You,” provides a thoughtful and thorough list of what managers’ expect from the members of their teams.

This is that list with some of my additional thoughts here and there:

1. Get involved: Bossidy says, “Good managers know when to delegate…but more importantly, they know when to get involved.” I say, “Good managers trust staff to deliver, but they also trust staff to alert management when they’ve hit a brick wall or they’re stuck in quicksand. In other words, stay transparent. From a Scrum perspective, this means update the team, the ScrumMaster  and the SOS Master every step of the way.
2. Generate ideas: Team players should provide ideas rather than playing it safe. Don’t offer random ideas that you haven’t thought about, but ones you’ve considered and have merit.
3. Be willing to collaborate: Team players sometimes work in cross-functional team where collaboration is required.
4. Be willing to lead initiatives: Team players should take initiative rather than avoiding the risky projects for the sake of having a good track record. How else will direct report learn to take initiative on their own if they don’t think it’s of value?
5. Develop leaders as you develop: Good Team players are leaders and teachers, constantly helping others develop. For the good of the company or for the good of the team, leaders and managers coach, mentor, and help team players to be leaders and grow into future managers.
6. Stay current: There’s nothing more embarrassing than seeing anyone not know what’s going on in their own industry, the market, or with their customers. All managers should scanning and watching the environment for opportunities or competitive threats.
7. Anticipate: Team players and their management should anticipate what the industry, market, competitor, or customer changes mean for the company and department.
8. Drive your own growth: Team players should want to learn more and take initiative without waiting for the manager to hand out growth opportunities. Find the white spaces in your job function that allow you to learn something new or expand on existing skills. Take control of your career path within the company.
9. Be a player for all seasons: Business is good. Business is down. Team players need different flavors of the same skills sets for good times and bad times. Action plans against competition when you’re the market leader can be vastly differently when you are not. Be a well-rounded player for any business circumstances.

Next, we’ll look at the other side of the coin: What Teams expect from Managers.

Bing! And thanks for saying so.

Just back from vacation, I decided to try Bing!, the new search engine everyone’s been raving about. And like everyone who tests a new search engine, I entered my own name.  Doing so, I discovered a PDF from the Center for Aggression Management entitled, Addressing the Loss of Teamwork: Identifying, Measuring and Minimizing Trust-Destructive Behaviors.

The following is a quote from that essay…

“HL Arledge, a leadership expert defines leadership with four “Ts”: trust, truth, team and transparency. He says Trust is a cornerstone to leadership, the development of loyalty and teamwork.”

Real Nice.

BTW, I also found my name on a page entitled “Words about the Dalai-Lama”, but that’s a different story.

Beware the Wizard of Oz

Sometimes you’ll find team members or leaders pushing for something really hard—something that you struggle to understand why, because they have trouble articulating why it is important to them.

Beware the Wizard of Oz.

Pay attention to the man behind the curtain.

In most cases like these, the person making the case doesn’t have all of the facts, because they are just acting as mouth-piece for another team member or members.

The person talking can’t convince you of the importance of the issue, because they may not personally have a stake in it themselves. Their objective is simply to not let those down who coerced them into speaking on their behalf.

Dig deeper, and you will uncover the Wizard of Oz—and maybe even a flying monkey or two.

I never assign work to anyone

Although I am very good at delegating work, I never assign a task to anyone.

Day to day, I prioritize my workload, and then ask myself…

“Okay, which tasks can be delegated and which am I uniquely qualified to tackle?”

This daily decision is the key to being a good manager.

If you are doing too much, you are saying to your team: I don’t trust you to do as good a job as I will do.

On the other hand, assigning work is a command and control vessel. To “assign work to someone” is to say that their current tasks are unimportant.

Instead, explain why you believe the team member is suited for the task, and then ask them to accept the task, weighing and prioritizing the task against their current workload.

By asking someone to commit to a task, you are building teamwork and proving that you trust that teammate’s skills and judgment.

When you say that you are assigning work, you are essentially saying what you parents told you as a child…

“Do it, because I said so. I am the boss.”

Whether you realize it or not, a simple word like “assign” will lower morale and hurt your team(s) and the culture of your organization.

Shine the Light or John Travolta versus Perry Como

Regular readers of this blog—and those who attend my public presentations—know that I was shouting the virtues of transparency long before the recession made the term a household word.

What you may not know is that my first insights into the subject began much earlier—with one of my seventh grade teachers.

In the 1970s, Carolyn Higginbotham was a guidance counselor and teacher at the only school in Holden, Louisiana.

"Ms. Carolyn" was considered somewhat of a radical among the traditional southern teachers of the day. In fact, the blue-haired disciplinarians with their combination rulers and seat warmers thought she was a little nuts.

In her classroom, she and the students designated 25% of the room as a combination library and student lounge by carpeting the floor. Students were led to work together, and when their teams completed tasks on time, they could relax in the makeshift lounge.

This strategy dramatically increased team morale and individual self-esteem by spotlighting both group and individual accomplishments.

[If Ms. Carolyn is reading this, she has crossed out at least half of the words in the preceding paragraphs with a red Sharpie, but I am not embarrassed. One of the first tenets she taught me about writing was that you can break the rules, as long as you know a rule and have chosen to ignore it as a matter of style.]

My class had conducted a fund raiser, and with the money collected, we were directed to purchase something for our student lounge—something that would serve generations of junior high students to come.

As a lesson in democracy, Ms. Carolyn tasked us with campaigning and voting for our vision of that ideal purchase. After hours of debate, the majority vote was in favor of the new Saturday Night Fever record album, featuring an up and coming actor named John Travolta.

Ms. Carolyn thought our idea was unwise—I would have said "stupid" but she hated that word with a passion—but she wanted the class to discover the error of our ways on our own. To assist, she began what she later called "shining the light" on the absurdity of the situation.

Today, I think of the approach as "exaggerating transparency".

It works like this: If your colleagues in a debate do not possess the sense of urgency you know they should have, you can cut through the noise quickly by exaggerating an option that mirrors the one gaining the popular vote.

In the middle of our debate, the teacher raised her hand.

"I'm changing my vote," she said.

"I think Perry Como's Greatest Hits would be a wiser choice. Saturday Night Fever is new and unproven, but this album has stood the test of time."

Some of the class grew annoyed, almost angry, others found confirmation that their teacher was bonkers, but an inspired minority actually saw the light.

I was among that inspired minority, and I count Ms. Carolyn's light as one of the best tools in my leadership toolbox today, but—as you might have guessed—when I use it, some on my team get annoyed, some get really, really angry, and some just think I'm nuts.

However…

There is still that inspired minority that see the light, giving me hope that Ms. Carolyn's torch to transparency will serve them as wonderfully as it has me.

I'll bet you're wondering what became of Carolyn Higginbotham.

Today, she leads the team that manages federal programs for the Livingston Parish School Board.

Unfortunately, I haven't spoken with her since the 1980s. I believe she had just gotten back from astronaut training, when I asked her to assist me with a murder.

...but those are stories for another day.

It is time to be transparent again

I’ve gotten several notes and phone calls. Readers want to know what happened to the avid blogger they had developed a love-hate relationship with.

Someone wrote…

“I know you were out awhile when your blog host had technical problems. Now that those are resolved, I’m guessing you’re just out of the habit. We miss the craziness. Please come back.”

Now, that was sweet……………but they got it all wrong.

For years, I’ve touted the virtues of transparency. I believe that trust is the key to growing a company, just as it is key to growing a successful team. Without transparency, there can be no trust.

The e-mail got me asking the tough question: Why have I not been blogging very much?

I tell myself that I’m too busy, but I’m at work at 6:30 or earlier every day, so I must be lying to myself.

The truth is: I felt I could no longer be transparent, and if I cannot be transparent, I would rather be silent.

Some folks were telling me…

“Stop bragging on your team’s accomplishments. It makes other teams look bad and feel jealous, and it makes what your saying difficult to believe. No team could be that successful. Talk about your future goals, and let your past achievements speak for themselves.”

While others said the opposite…

“Our company should never talk about what we are going to do. It makes us sound like our competition, full of empty promises. Don’t talk about any of our goals until after we have achieved them.”

That’s why I had a loss for words. I simply did not know what I could say.

Then, I remembered that honesty is still the best policy. When in doubt, just tell the truth.

So…………we're back!

Starting tomorrow, truth, trust, and transparency return.

Does your team have have forest goals or tree goals?

This week, Jeff Sutherland revisits the roots of Scrum and expands on why trust is so important to teamwork.

He said…

“With trust based on real unity and cohesion, Boyd's Observe, Orient, Decide, Act feedback loop goes into an implicit state where there is Observe, Orient, and Decisions becomes implicit. The team goes into motion before the leader can give a command. Like in martial arts the Sensei is moving before he even sees the motion of the attacker using a sixth sense. This is the kind of trust a Dream Team has. You know it when you see it, but few software teams have that level of trust.”

I have seen my teams in this state, but they don’t always stay there. 

Such a state is only driven by a “sense of urgency”—a sense is created only when…

1. Clear goals exist—not just “tree goals”, but “forest goals”. Your team must see how the little tasks they’ve committed to delivering add to the “big picture”.
2. The leaders are practicing what they are preaching. Truth, Trust, and Transparency have to be seen more-often than heard.

In that environment, the type of synergy Jeff describes is a no-brainer.

Incidentally, I have a meeting tomorrow to further to try and solidify my company’s “forest goals”. Wish me luck!

Another Team Parable: Quality and the Self-motivated team

Nearly a month ago, I called the team together to discuss defects. I wanted their feedback on an idea that I had.

I started the sentence with “What if…”

Someone said “uh-oh” and some eyes began to roll.

I said, “What if we stopped committing to and addressing all defects during a single 30-day sprint and instead committed to addressing them only in overtime. That way, we’d continue to maintain our zero defect count, but we’d be able to deliver more features, sooner.”

“What do you think?”

My team has always hated overtime with a passion.

As always, they thought I was crazy and told me so…

“This is not Agile,” they said. “This will not work. We’ll be coding into the late hours of night. We’ll be exhausted. Quality will decline.”

The sky is falling. That’s what they said.

I then said what I always say in times of change. “It’s your decision. You are a self-managed team, but I would appreciate it if you would at least give the idea a try. If it doesn’t work, say the word, and we can go back to the old way or try something new.”

And with that, my team elected to trust me enough to give the idea a try.

As I said, that was nearly a month ago.

Yesterday, the Scrum Master who most opposed the overtime idea was in my office for our monthly one-on-one.

He said…

“I’ve noticed something really odd lately. We seem to be creating very few defects lately. Now, even the guys who want to work overtime are having trouble finding something to fix.

“We’re coding the way we always have. We didn’t change our processes at all. We code as fast as we always have, and we test the same way we always have. I just don’t understand what changed.”

I said…

“That is bizarre. It’s almost as if the team found some reason to be more attentive to their work. Perhaps, it’s a testament to your leadership?”

He looked at me a moment and said only, “Isn’t it time for your next meeting?”

About those fad management books

A manager friend of mine said last week…

“I stick with the tried and true. None of those fad management books for me.”

He went on to say that his company was too busy to experiment with new ideas.

“If it isn't broke, don’t fix it. Right?”

Of course, my response was: just because it’s not broken, doesn’t mean it can’t be improved. That’s why my team is always focused on improving processes, asking: how can we be better, faster?

Our conversation started with a discussion of “consumer evangelism”—the belief that customers are filtering out advertising and are more willing to trust word-of-mouth recommendations.

The “fad management books” he referenced were those touting the virtues of building online communities to make it easier for clients to exchange data—and fast track those word-of-mouth recommendations.

Here’s an example from Creating Customer Evangelists: How Happy Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force:

Shouldice Hospital in the city of Thornhill encourages patients to meet and discuss the care they receive. Patients compare notes long after treatment ends, and their feedback has been used to improve hospital care and service since the customer evangelist program began.

The program is an amazing success. Patients meet for an annual ball and banquet that includes dining, dancing, and a free medical check-up.

Today, potential patients are actually on waiting lists to get into this hospital!

As I mentioned, their story is covered in detail in a brand spanking new “fad management book”, but Shouldice Hospital started their successful program in 1947.

12 Characteristics of a Remarkable Leader

Here are the 12 characteristics of remarkable leadership according to author Kevin Eikenberry:

• Champions Change   
• Communicates Powerfully   
• Builds Relationships   
• Develops Others   
• Focuses on "Customers"   
• Influences Impactfully   
• Thinks & Acts Innovatively   
• Values Collaboration & Teamwork   
• Solves Problems & Makes Decisions   
• Takes Responsibility & Accountability   
• Manages Projects & Processes   
• Sets Goals & Supports Goal Achievement   

Does your management pass the test?

Read more about these in Kevin's book, Remarkable Leadership.

18 definitions that can make you a better leader

When I first took this job, I started jotted down notes, regarding different ways to interpret words. I've come to believe that real leaders have a slightly different dictionary than managers, bosses, dictators, and elected officials.

Here are my top 10 definitions used by real leaders...

Attitude–A state of mind, an emotional and intellectual inclination and predisposition to actions based on what you convince yourself is the truth.

Communication–Refers to anything, verbal or nonverbal, that imparts information, thoughts, or feelings. It is a vehicle than enables leaders and followers to connect with each other and to learn about their respective worlds.

Defensive Culture–A world in which people are more concerned with their image than they are with solving problems.

Desires–Unexpected bonuses or other pleasant surprises. The items that complete a staff member's statement that begins with, "It sure would be nice if..."

Expectations—Refers to perceived entitlements, any deliverable or treatment staff considers essential to happily performing their jobs.

Fertile Workplace Culture—An environment that encourages individuals to grow, learn, and be as good as they can as employees and as people.

Harassment–Selfish behavior by someone who places more value on personal desires and interests than another's right to privacy or happiness.

Leader—A respectful and genuine person who motivates others and builds strong communication bridges by being sensitive and appropriately responsive to others' feelings and desires.

Managing–The ongoing process of developing mutually rewarding and productive relationships with staff.

Mentor–An effective teacher, counselor, or master gardener, helping others improve the quality and quantity of work.

Planned Spontaneity–Knowing in advance what you hope to gain, where you want to begin, and where you hope to end. This is followed by a patient, sensitive, flexible stream of questions and answers that leads from one goal to another.

Problem–A deviation between what is acceptable and what is occurring.

Problem-solving Culture–An environment where leaders trust followers to be responsible and worthy of respect, treating each accordingly and encouraging progress as appropriate.

Quiet Strength–Having a positive influence without making obvious one's methods: being clear about expectations and desires and then supporting staff when obstacles arise.

Risk–The potentially adverse consequences of any action.

Symptoms–Behavioral evidence of a potential problem.

Tone–Emphasis given to specific words or groups of words, created by changes in speed, volume, or pitch of speech.

Weed–A valueless, troublesome, or noxious plant growing wild, especially one that grows profusely or on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury of the desired crop, detracting from a garden's beauty and using both time and energy that could be spent cultivating those desired crops.

Weeds should always be removed as early as possible.

Presentation are not about hyperboles or widgets

Everyone, I want to apologize for not updating you as often as I usually do, but the office is extremely busy preparing for our user conference on the 29th and 30th.

More to come on that.

In the meantime—and considering the industry Tom comes from, this could be considered "presenting at a conference" related—PR Guru Tom Murphy has some words of wisdom I would like to pass on...

"[The Public Relations and Presentation industry] needs leadership, we need people to lead by being realistic, by reflecting the challenges we face such as how we can build a better understanding of our audiences and the tools we’ll use to reach them.

This is not about shiny objects, hyperbole or widgets.  It’s about world class communication, based on insight into your audience and pragmatic investments in the channels that work."

My team's success is built on Trust

Michael Hopkin reported today is his blog "Lead on Purpose" that "Trust is essential to building a successful team"—something readers of this blog have seen proven time and time again.

Michael said...

"One of the best ways to gain trust is to be up front with the people you lead. Great leaders are not afraid to admit mistakes. At first blush it implies weakness; however, admitting mistakes actually helps leaders gain credibility because the people they lead see them as down-to-earth and genuine."

A recent article in Investors Business Daily discusses the importance of winning the trust of your team. Some leaders waste time trying to win acceptance—or even popularity—with their teams, rather than being vulnerable—open, honest, and transparent—about their strengths and weaknesses.

Trust is ultimately more important than popularity.

Patrick Lencioni, one of my favorite authors of wrote...

“Ironically, pretending you’re strong when you’re not is a sign of weakness. Trust is the most important thing a leader can have. People will walk through walls of fire for you if they know they can trust you. Without trust, nothing else matters to them.”

Leaders fulfilling promises and providing feedback—on both desired and undesired behaviors—will gain the trust of their teams and strengthen their organizations.

3 Big Questions from Patrick Lencioni

You may recall that Patrick Lencioni is one of my favorite authors.

He has a new book that everyone should read.

If you take time to read The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family, please let me know what you think.

Hiding unjustified stress from your team

Someone said to me today...

"You hide stress really well."

I thought of all of the people in my life that would disagree with that statement, and then, I realized that I do act differently at the office.

Don't misunderstand me. I do try to be vulnerable and honest with my team at all times, but I also strive to guard them from the sky-is-falling types. If my team knows I am concerned, they may lose confidence in our work or in the company as a whole.

For this reason, I try to expose my stress only when I am 100% certain there is a real problem.

Steve Jobs once said...

"Remembering that you are going to die is a sure fire way to remind yourself that you have nothing to lose."

I prefer that my teams think this way.

Don't ignore the risks, but don't run away from them either.

If a team has a leader that is constantly in panic mode, no risks will be taken, no one will focus on mitigating risks, and innovation will die.

How's that for a doom a gloom viewpoint?

Leaders—any persons of influence—have a duty to remain aware of their own moods.

Yea, it’s difficult to remain positive when customers are screaming, but failing to do so will dampen the spirits and the productivity of your team—and that dampening can last for weeks.

So...

How to you control these things?

I discovered the answer in drama class back at Southeastern Louisiana University, but you can read about it from Napoleon Hill.

He said...

“Think, act, walk and talk like the person you want to become and you’ll become that person.”

“Act enthusiastic and you will become enthusiastic.”

Combining those thoughts provides a simple solution for controlling morale.

This is a quote of my own for you to remember...

"Positive ultimately means productive."

Try it, and if it doesn't work for you, I'll give you your money back.

Real leaders can save the world

On the subject of Environmental Health...

What would you say if I told you there was a conservative oil tycoon—the 117th richest man on earth!—who had a realistic plan for breaking the United States' dependency on oil and saving the world in the process?

In this blog, I love to point out great leaders.

I'm beginning to think—unless he really has a lot of people fooled—T. Boone Pickens is one of the greatest.

Liberty and Justice for all...Happy Independence Day!

 

"Liberty is the quality or state of being free; the power to do as one pleases; freedom from physical restraint; freedom from arbitrary or despotic control; the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges; the power of choice."

—Webster's Dictionary

 

“Experience hath shown, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny...Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government...Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people...A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose both, and deserve neither.”

—Thomas Jefferson

 

“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”

—Benjamin Franklin

 

“...we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.”

—John F. Kennedy