Leadership Poll

Last Month's Poll Results

California Dreamin'

Don't Let the Door Hit You!

Why Blame Others?
 

Results of our last leadership poll:

California Dreamin'
by Steven L. Anderson, Ph.D., MBA

A few weeks ago winter was really getting to me, so I called a friend and asked him if I could come out for a short visit.  He graciously accepted my request and soon I was on my way to California.  Shortly after getting off the plane and giving one of my best friends a big hug after a five year absence we took a drive to the beach. 

It did my soul a great deal of good to stand on the pier and watch the surf  beneath an azure sky interrupted by only an occasional puffy white cloud.  What caught my attention as I stood on the pier; however, were the forty or so surfers who were catching waves beside the pier.  It was fun to watch them work their tails off to ride the swells.  I was struck by the amount of work it took the wetsuit clad ocean inhabitants to catch a wave that only lasted a few seconds.  I conservatively estimated that they were working ninety percent of the time and enjoying the wave ten percent of the time.  “That must be a lot of fun,” I thought to myself to be worth all that effort.

As I watched the surfers I thought to myself, “This is a lot like life.”    (continued)

Don’t Let the Door Hit You
By M.J. Clark, M.A., APR

A good friend of mine was recently let go from a reputable company. Although he was told that the decision was an economic one, and not due to poor performance, he was still escorted to his desk where he could get only his coat and then escorted to the elevators. He was told he could come back on the weekend to collect his other personal belongings.

This treatment made him question what he was told about this being an economic decision. Instead, he wondered why the company didn’t trust him to collect his items and make his own way out. Did they think he would steal something?

I told this story to a couple of other friends and discovered this is a regular practice for some companies. Some friends said the same things happened to them, both during this economic downturn and also in the past.   (continued)

Why Blame Others?
By Katherine M. Sprague, Psy.D.

 “When you blame others, you give up your power to change."  -Robert Anthony

In the beginning of August I completed a Half Ironman in Benton Harbor, Michigan.  A Half Ironman is a triathlon that entails swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles and running a half marathon(13.1 miles).  Needless to say, this is a challenging race that requires a lot of training and preparation.  In addition, it requires a degree of mental toughness to endure its length.

Unfortunately, three days before the race, during an easy four mile run, I severely injured my lower back.  At that point I was unsure if I would be able to compete.  I rested, iced and sought treatment from a physical therapist before leaving for the race.  Despite the pain and subsequent hesitations, I made the decision to compete.  In hindsight, I should not have raced because I was eventually diagnosed with a lumbar sprain that required two months of physical therapy; however, it was difficult for me to let go of the training and preparation I had done throughout the previous three months.   (continued)