Blog
The Politics of Capitulation
This article was originally published at AlterNet Capitulate: to surrender unconditionally or on stipulated terms; to give up resistance. When it comes to surrender, just the thought of it is chilling to a political leader on the campaign trail. Campaigns are the closest thing to war most operatives and candidates will ever experience and for the majority, they approach it with the same gusto as if their lives were on-the-line—which is essentially true in their world, as success portends a future in the limelight and failure means ending up with a briefcase full of unrealized dreams and little else. So capitulating on any issue is fraught...
Read MoreBusting Up Bake Sales
This article was originally published at The Political Carnival If someone wants an issue to be front and center in American politics—do something to make Moms mad. The Obama Administration’s latest front in the battle against obesity, is the regulation of snacks and food that are not the requisite breakfast and lunch. First up on the firing line is the beloved bake sale. In an era of dwindling resources for public schools, bake sales are often the lifeblood of parent organizations, interest clubs and students saving for class trips. While obviously not the bastion of health consciousness, they are capable of brining in serious money for cash-strapped...
Read MoreCongress May Not Deserve To Be Hired Again…But You Do!
It is not news that the public’s approval of the job Congress is doing is dismally low. Up slightly from its near single digit low-point the latest Gallup poll has it at a whopping 17 percent. Despite the pathetic performance review, at least 80 percent of those currently serving will be re-elected this November, based on historic averages. Why do we keep re-electing people we don’t believe are doing a good job? Like any employee who is slacking on the job and escapes the pink slip to return another day to collect a paycheck, we can’t blame the workforce for showing-up with a lackluster work ethic for which we keep paying them. (This is not to say that...
Read MoreLeadership Can’t Happen Until YOU Know Who You Are
Would you recognize your authentic self if you saw him or her? How would you know it is the real you? What is an “authentic self” and why in the world does it matter to your ability to lead? One of the greatest weaknesses, and almost without question at the root of all inglorious downfalls of well-known leaders, is the discomfort they have with who they truly are. Each person is born with a beautifully unique set of talents, skills and abilities and in our early childhood we bring them into the world unfettered. Yet early in our childhood we begin receiving messages, primarily from our caregivers, that reflect back what they think and feel about who we are. ...
Read MoreLet’s Move Beyond the Fear-Mongering and Power Struggles Over Immigration
This week immigration moves back into the national spotlight as the Supreme Court considers S.B. 1070, the Arizona law that encourages local law enforcement to seek out illegal immigrants, previously the purview of the federal government. Succinctly put, Peter J. Spiro, a law professor at Temple University, opines in the New York Times that Arizona “is one of several states, including Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Indiana, that, frustrated by Congress’s idling on immigration reform” have passed their own legislation. They have done so with laws which “are misguided at best, mean-spirited and racially tainted at worst,” yet “in the long run, immigrant...
Read MoreIs Work-Life Balance Really a Woman’s Issue? “Most business people want to keep people wanting more money to buy more things…”
When people go to work, they shouldn’t have to leave their hearts at home – Betty Bender The simple eloquence of a few words is often the most powerful way to describe a complex situation. As I reflected on the recent torrent of stories about the “war on women,” this quote came to mind, not because it is the antithesis of conservatives’ views, and increasingly their legislative bills, rather because it goes straight to the heart of what they most fear—a shift away the almighty dollar as the demarcation of accomplishment to a more balanced perspective on what constitutes success. The early 20th Century move to keep women from vibrant contribution outside the...
Read MoreWhy Do We Only Discuss Women’s Issues During Campaigns?
It is no secret the women’s vote is often the determining factor in many elections, including major national races. It is therefore no surprise, as we enter the throws of the 2012 presidential election, that once again the battle is on to woo women, replete with the usual trash-talking and barbed attacks that characterize our electoral process. The latest dust up occurred as democratic operative Hillary Rosen correctly pointed out the difference between an affluent stay-at-home mom in Ann Romney and the more ubiquitous every-woman, struggling to make ends meet while raising her children. Without question motherhood and career are equally important and...
Read MoreWhat Do Health Care and the Mega Millions Lottery Have in Common?
As a lifelong student of leadership, I enjoy looking at the events that capture national attention and examining what they say about who we are as a society and how we are leading in our lives. It seems nothing is as riveting as the Affordable Care Act’s three-days at the Supreme Court. The debate over healthcare or as some have dubbed it “Obamacare” has galvanized the nation along its well-know red and blue partisan divisions. How is it that the world’s most affluent country, with the most expensive health care system still has a dismal record on health care with tens of millions of people unable to access it? While I completely conquer with the assessment by...
Read MoreChoosing To Let Them Fall
In a world were parents are increasingly using their children’s accomplishments as reflections of their own, parents, teachers, and even counselors have a very low tolerance for allowing our children, to fall or fail. It starts when they are learning to walk and we gasp when they take their first big spill. Or they come home crying that they were excluded from their friends in the lunchroom or chosen last to be on the team. For most children the reality of disappointments only becomes more acute: they are not asked to the prom or kicked off the basketball team because of bad grades, the devastation of the first broken heart and the disappointment of not getting...
Read MoreStop the Insanity
Einstein’s ubiquitous quote about the definition of insanity as “doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result,” is so widely used because we see this behavior all the time, particularly in election season. Armed with enthusiasm and often more money than sense, candidates dutifully make the rounds telling crowds what everyone wants to hear—that by simply pushing the button for the “right” candidate on Election Day it will solve all our problems. Lulled into complacency by rousing rhetoric and adoring crowds, politician and public alike support each other’s lunacy by believing that what they are doing is truly making a difference.
Read More