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| August 31, 2007 |
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The criticism of Senator Craig has come rapidly and with great force, and it has come from members of his own party with at least the force as it has come from Democrats. I expect he will resign from his post very soon, as well he should. Regardless of whether he is innocent, guilty, gay, or straight, his credibility (i.e., possessing competency and displaying consistency and congruency in words and behavior, such that others have a deep confidence in his or her abilities and character) is shot. He can no longer lead effectively.
But I am wondering why Senator Vitter of Louisiana, another member of the Senate’s religious right who admitted a few weeks ago that he had visited prostitutes in the past, seems to have avoided the consequences falling down upon Senator Craig. Each underlying act is illegal. Each underlying act seems to be as objectionable from a moral standpoint. Each underlying act directly contradicts the opinions and votes cast by the leader in his official position as U.S. Senator. Each leader’s credibility is in tatters. Each can no longer lead effectively.
I can’t help but wonder if the difference in treatment has something to do with the fact that the allegations against Craig deal with homosexuality and those against Vitter deal with a heterosexual vice. Is this another example of the right’s, indeed the media’s, homophobia? |
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| August 28, 2007 |
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Bob Murray, co-owner of the Utah mine that collapsed over three weeks ago, trapping six miners and killing three rescue workers, is a real piece of work. First, he claimed the collapse was caused by an earthquake, a claim soundly refuted by the government. Now he spends most of his time taking swipes at people who want to investigate whether the collapse was caused by his mine's use of the dangerous technique called "retreat mining" or by safety violations, to which his mines are no stranger, and the remainder of his time to those who are critical of coal mining in general. These kinds of reactions cause an exponential increase in the already high level of negative energy resulting from the collapse, deaths, and missing miners. A healthier response would have been along the lines of, "At this point, our sole concern is with the missing miners and their families. We do not know what caused the collapse, but at the appropriate time we will investigate it thoroughly and cooperate with any qualified interested agency. If it was caused in any way by us, we will of course take full responsibility. But right now, our sole focus is saving lives."
If I were a miner, I wouldn't work one minute for a guy like this who seems more interested in blaming, disowning, fighting, and swiping than spending time ensuring my safety and the well-being of me and my family in the event of a tragedy like this. |
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| August 24, 2007 |
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Credibility: possessing competency and displaying consistency and wholeness in words and behavior such that others have a deep confidence in his or her abilities and character.
Robert Torricelli was a U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He raised a boatload of money for a re-election campaign in 2002, then dropped out of the race amid allegations of ethical misconduct. When he quit to become a lobbyist and real estate developer, he had $2.9 million remaining in his war chest. Federal law allows a candidate in that situation to donate remaining money to charities, candidates and political parties.
Well, according to the N.Y. Times, Torricelli has been giving some of the money to the campaigns of elected officials who have influence over his, or his clients’, business interests. Apparently, there is nothing in the federal rules prohibiting such acts, but it is another example of how even our most esteemed leaders will act when given the chance to do something self-serving. If the laws don’t expressly prohibit an act, they believe, then it’s okay. Whatever happened to just knowing something is not right in your heart and then not doing it? (I know...some will say he is no longer a leader, but I don’t agree. When one has been elected to one of the 100 most powerful legislative positions in the nation and collects money from people who want him re-elected, his leadership obligations remain, at least with respect to disposition of that money.)
Look again at my definition of credibility. Do acts like Torricelli’s display consistency and wholeness such that others have a deep confidence in his or her abilities or character? Hell no! If I had contributed any money to this jerk, I’d be hounding him for a full refund. Then I’d be hounding my Congressional representatives to tighten up these campaign laws. |
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Personally, I don't like Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil, the world's most profitable and valuable company. I don't like him because I think his sponsorship of groups that deny the existence of global warming and his refusal to step one inch toward green is harmful to humanity. I don't like him because I don't agree that profits should be sought to the exclusion of all other values.
But I do respect him as a leader. I think he's an extraordinary leader. If your values are aligned with his, you ought to be investing in his company and buying his company's product. He is self-defined, forward thinking (specifically, he believes the world is not running out of oil and there is no business case for the development of alternative fuels), highly credible to his team members, investors, and customers, inspiring (in that each person on his team him sees his or her role in creating profits), energetic, focused, courageous (it does take courage to be anti-green these days), and organized. And talk about producing results. In 2006, EM earned $39.5 billion in net income, higher than any company in history. Its return on capital far exceeds its competitors.
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| August 23, 2007 |
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Bush’s speech yesterday in which he tried to use Vietnam to stir up support for his war in Iraq was shocking. Shocking it its ignorance. Shocking in its deceptiveness. Shocking in how it insults the intelligence of every American. As Lee Iacocca asks, "Where is the outrage?"
A president with a high degree of credibility with his electorate might have been able to get away with what Bush tried to pull off yesterday. But Bush’ credibility is shot. This was one of the most laughable and, at the same time, sickening things I have ever seen uttered by a prominent leader.
Bush argued that if the U.S. pulls out now, Iraq’s fate will be similar to Southeast Asia’s bloodbath after our withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975. In essence, he argues we were premature in leaving Southeast Asia.
But wait a minute! This conveniently overlooks a couple things. First, the pullout from Vietnam was anything from abrupt. It was actually a seven-year process, from 1968 (after the Tet Offensive) to 1975. All I can draw from this is that if Bush really understands history (and I know this too much of a leap), he is trying to say that even a seven-year process of withdrawing from Iraq would result in a bloodbath and a much longer presence is necessary. But he’d rather not say that. He’d rather try to fool us.
Second, Khmer Rouge would never have come to power in Southeast Asia and had the ability to cause the slaughter it did if the U.S. had not become involved in Vietnam in the first place. Likewise, the extreme instability in Iraq, as well as the creation of a breeding ground for terrorism against the U.S., were caused by Bush’s bone-headed attack on Iraq. Kind of like, "Ignore my big mistake (attacking Iraq), and let’s all learn from the mistakes of others (Johnson and Nixon in pulling out of Vietnam) that were made in trying to mitigate the mistakes of another (Eisenhower and Kennedy in going into Vietnam in the first place)." Sorry, this is too much bullshit for me. |
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| August 16, 2007 |
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| My book, The Source of Leadership: Eight Drivers of the High-Impact Leader, started shipping a couple days ago. It is now available on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, and should be in stores within a couple weeks. |
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| August 10, 2007 |
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I just read The Essential Wooden, by John Wooden, the legendary former UCLA basketball coach and perhaps the greatest coach of any sport ever. This gentleman’s record is phenomenal. 10 national championships in 12 years; 7 national championships in a row; an 88-game winning streak; a 38-game winning streak in national championship play; 12 Final Four appearances in 14 years; and 4 undefeated seasons. I’ll bet those kind of numbers will never be exceeded.
Remarkably, although he wanted to win, winning is not how he defined success. He defined success as "the peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best you are capable of becoming." In fact, scores of his players attest to the fact that he never even mentioned winning. All he asked for was a best effort.
The book contains his famous Pyramid of Success, containing the 15 elements of success, developed over many years. It also contains scores of compelling leadership anecdotes and tips. An enjoyable read and a necessary addition to a leadership library. |
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| August 9, 2007 |
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Some friends of mine in Washington are telling me they believe Al Gore is going to wait until Obama and Clinton bloody each other’s noses to the point that neither is looking very pretty, and then throw his hat in the ring for the Demo nomination. It’s an interesting perspective. The dude has made a fortune, something like $100MM, in the six years since leaving office, from various ventures like advising Google since before its IPO and now holding $30MM of options on its stock, serving on Apple’s board and accumulating about $6MM in stock options, launching the successful, viewer content cable network Current TV, the successful sale of the asset management firm he was involved with, Metropolitan West Financial, and the rollover of that cash into a new investment firm with over $1 billion under management, and, of course, his take of An Inconvenient Truth, his Academy Award-winning documentary on global warming. On top of this, he’s got the inside track on this year’s Nobel Prize as a result of his work on global warming. And when he left the White House, he was worth only between $1MM and $2MM.
So why would he want to give up all that interesting, creative, highly lucrative fun for the White House, which pays something like a paltry $400,000 annually and is proven to be the most powerful age accelerator known to humankind? Because he wanted the presidency his whole career, and it’s highly unlikely the desire has died. Because he has all the money now he’ll ever need. Because he seems to sincerely care about making the planet a better place and it must be enticing to have the most powerful office on the planet in his doctor’s kit. Because getting elected won’t be that difficult. Obama and Clinton will have done the hard work, which ironically includes messing the place up a bit so that Gore can come in with his voice of authority and common sense and clear it all up for the electorate. Gore might well be, in effect, drafted and it doesn’t get any easier than that.
What is his appeal? First, as I have said all along, this election will go to the candidate that is the most self-defined, credible leader and whom the electorate believes will get us out of Iraq quickly. Gore fits those two criteria the best. Second, America loves redemption. In this case, I think it is a particularly compelling story because the person who was given the presidency over him is seen by the majority of Americans as a dismal failure at best and a bad joke at worst.
In RateALeader.com, we included Gore in our presidential poll and, although traffic is at the embryonic stage, Gore consistently leads among Demo candidates.
As I keep saying, this is easily the most interesting presidential race of my life and becomes more so with each day. |
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| August 6, 2007 |
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So here’s a quote from Lee Iacocca’s new book, Where Have All the Leader’s Gone?
"Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course."
Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!
You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy
(thanks, but I don't need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?"
Forget about your interest in leadership. If you have any interest in the conditions affecting your life, you have to read this book. |
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