“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” John Quincy Adams
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” Old Greek proverb
Cash for Kidneys in the Wall Street Journal today reminded me of the book “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. Excellent book. Complicated question.
The Polar Vortex set record lows across a good chunk of the nation over the last several days. From Colorado to Michigan to NYC to North Carolina to Texas. In many cases, the new records blew the old ones away. Predictably, I heard many seize the opportunity to sneer at the concept of global warming. “This ought to put a stop to all the talk of global warming.” But they are wrong. They are confusing weather and climate.
Compromise seems to have acquired a bad name lately. One associated with defeat, caving in, moral defeat, etc. But compromise is what intelligent, civilized people do to find common ground and mutually acceptable solutions. It is essential to a democracy. And it is the job of our politicians, a job at which they have failed miserably as evidenced by the morning paper. Let’s hear it for compromise! Let’s listen to each other, uncover real concerns, and work for mutually acceptable solutions in our organizations, communities, and countries.
I was in a Board meeting recently where three different phones rang loudly over the course of about ten minutes. In all cases, the person speaking politely continued, not wanting to embarrass the owner of each totally distracting loud phone. This is unfortunate because I missed several sentences and I’m sure I was not the only one. I know one of the people was expecting an important call. That happens and I trust people to use good judgment about that. His phone was out on the table where he could not miss the vibration and the sudden bright image. Why did he also need
“How old is Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks?” “Remind me to call my sister tomorrow at 6:00.” “Tell Erika ‘Please send me your flight number.’” “Schedule time tomorrow from 8:00 to 10:00 for writing.” “Where is the Dow?” I can be out walking, in the car, or at my desk and Siri does these things for me faster than I can do them for myself. How cool is that!?!? I love Siri! So glad I updated to an iPhone 5!