Let me first point out that this is the second one of these things that I’ve written. I looked at the post I put up a couple of weeks ago and I think this one is very similar but I still want to go with this one:
My routine is the same every morning (that may seem obvious, that’s why it’s called a routine but I love the phrase solely due to this irony) and do the same thing: I toss some beans in the grind and brew, microwave my turkey sausage, toast my whole-wheat, reduced-fat english muffin and channel surf for awhile. Due to the confluence of a sputtering economy and presidential election the top topic of debate is “What’s wrong with America?” Are our best days behind us?” “Does capitalism still work?”
Allow me the priviledge, as the author, to tell you the answer up front and then build my case. The answer is no, America is not broken. Listening to these shows makes me want to crawl through the TV and grab Steve Doocey or Joe Scarborough by the lapels and shake some damn sense into them. There’s nothing wrong with the country or the system. The problem is with the people who are running the show. Our President is no leader. The leadership on the hill is divided and neutered, mostly devoted to advancing their own fortunes.
Likewise the problem with the economy isn’t that businessmen like me are shaking in our boots about a tax change or increase in a fee. Sure, we don’t want to pay more in taxes or fees – who does? However, what’s killing the economy is that nobody is driving the bus. Our leadership in Washington have setup a economic feedback loop that will be excruciatingly difficult to break. Businessmen stop investing and spending money when clues start to emerge that things are looking bad and the leadership really don’t know what they’re doing. Healthcare change? Sure, what’s the proposal? oh, there really isn’t one….Bank regulation? You bet. they’re rotten bastards who are responsible for the mortgage crisis. How are we going to do that? Oh, Congress is supposed to bring a policy proposal to the White House? Really? These conversations start all around the country over shared cups of coffee early in the morning and grow from there: “What the hell is going on in DC?”
Our Country needs leadership. Real leadership. Someone who is unafraid to lead on the issues that need a firm hand. Not waffle or conduct focus groups or who talks a lot about “leadership”. Someone that just does it. Now, don’t confuse any of this with the “get the government out of your way” baloney. I’m all in favor of that but that’s not the message. The message is: decide what you’re going to do and get about it. Stop flailing around and move it. However, from Rick Perry’s contempt for intelligence to Barak Obama’s endless flailing there just isn’t anyone in the running yet that’s going to fix this thing.
The best summary of the situation I’ve heard came from a person who has been a house wife for the past 45 years. She’s very traditional in her thinking – she has very firm and traditional expectations of the roles of the sexes in society but she’s also run her own small business for the past 10 or so years. My mother surveyed the field of candidates on both sides of the fence and put it like this: “We need a man to run the country”. Indeed.
August 31, 2011 at 11:13 pm
Meanwhile, the Feds are driving the bus off the cliff:
Martin Guitars got raided in TN for bringing in wood from India that was unfinished – although by Federal Regulations it was acceptable to do so. India had no problems with it. DOJ has hauled Martin Guitars to court and in the proceedings, the Fed has said if Martin Guitars exports jobs to Malayasia, the whole issue will disappear.
Feds are jumping up and down over the deal between AT&T and T-Mobile threatening to haul them to court. Of course, Fed is ignoring the fact that in the deal papers, AT&T will be bring 5,000 jobs of T-Mobile back from overseas.
And now, the ever loving National Labors Relation Board, who must have watched one too many Jimmy Hoffa movies, has issued a final rule last week that ALL private sector employees whose workplaces fall under the National Labor Relations Act will be required to post the employee right to unionize notice up with all the other required notices. The NLRB “logic” is that many employees protected by the Act are unaware of their rights, and posting the notice will spread word to “increase knowledge” so the employees can exercise their right to unionize. Naturally, the SEIU is praising it, and the NEA is jumping on the bandwagon (me thinks they do to avoid the investigation into their practice of how they handle union dues). Of course, others are screaming at the top of their lungs the NLRB Rule does not address, nor provide crossreferences to other laws, of what an employee is to do if they are being coerced or if the employee wants to de-certify as a union member.
Can’t wait to hear the BS over job creation next week.
September 1, 2011 at 11:25 am
Jean has always been the one to make a point bluntly. No dancing around the issue. The main issue is the vast majority of the politicians seem to be in it to win the next election, so will not rock the boat but pander to the the lowest common denominator. This country has been through many rough patches in its history but the people have always managed to rise. Economic downturns and upturns have been part of the cycle of life.
The lack of leadership stems from the bottom up. Too often, we stick with current officeholder rather than make a change because of the pork a senior member can bring back home.
September 2, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Who can argue with a Mom? I grew up with the common sense “you make your bed and you sleep in it,” “everything comes out in the wash” and vinegar-solves-all. Energy crisis? Put a clothesline in your backyard. How different all our local, state and federal government offices would be if Tuesday morning all the Bettys and Gladyses and Minnies of the nation showed up to deep clean. Man, indeed. We need a Mom.
September 2, 2011 at 10:19 pm
Pondrerings on Leadership:
Throughout the lead in of this post, is talk of “leadership”, and agree there is none present. Politicos, pontifications, who’s got the most marbles – but no leadership. Although, excellent examples abound of what Deming refers to in his Total Quality Mangement as “The Seven Deadly Sins”.
To clarify though, management is not Leadership – it is a subset as management is an application of Leadership traits, principles and compentencies. Leadership, by definition, is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.
Within Leadership, there are three levels: Direct – Organizational – Strategic. “Direct” is at the operational level. “Organziational” is either the structure of organizations, the systems, or the processes. “Strategic” is what is needed at the global, regional or national perspectives. Sometimes the highest tier of Stragetic blends with the next tier of Organizational because in order to accomplish the mission, you have to fix the systems, etc.
Congress and the President forget they live in the world of Strategic – the world of the Global/Regional/National levels. Instead, they want to be too much in the Organizational, and seeming more so to want to be in the Direct. Best example of muddling in the direct is the variety of mandates that come down, and at the Local Government level which must operate at all three levels, has to bear the brunt of it; especially when those mandates are unfunded. Extending mandates further, same could be said for the General Assembly who should be operating in the Strategic and Organizational Level. Both elected bodies should be providing the means for the Direct Leadership to provide the Most Effective/Efficient Organization.
But far too much politico and pontification abounds at just about every level of government. A situation arises, the people speak, politicos speech about it, and not one person stands up as in: “We need a man to run this country” or “decide what you are going to do and get about it”. A real Leader, after hearing the people and then tolerating the politico would then apply the Leadership Process of – Assess, Plan, Implement and Evaluate.
The first thing a real Leader would do is say to everyone “STOP…March in Place!” In military parlance, the command is “Mark Time, March!” Politico consequences aside, take control and say the next step is the parties involved will be brought into a room, and in the assessment say, some smart people who have no alligeance to party but only to resolving what is best are brought in by that Leader. No photo-ops, no speeches, no grandstanding – if you want those, a Leader whould toss you out and find someone who can do it without the nonsense. Then, the Leader would have a “rolled up shirt sleeve” worksession – a military expression from the days when rank was worn on sleeves and you rolled your sleeve up over your rank, so it is Leaders focusing on the issue, not a hierarchy. Dialogue it out and the Leader can come out with the best solution, not one that makes it appear the issue went away, or appears to no longer being an issue.
An example of great leadership I learned in the cradle was about General Lewis B. (Chesty) Puller. When he walked off the landing craft onto Guadalcanal, he asked where the Japenese where…and someone handed him a map. After looking at it and turning it every which way, he then tossed it aside and said he couldn’t read the map, just point out where the enemy was. After hands went up, he said “Ok, let’s go get them”. True leadership – no nonsense, no briefing – just get the smart people together and go for it.
September 3, 2011 at 9:37 am
Some of What’s Right with Manassas
(From 9-2-2011 press releases)
1)A new Virginia Department of Aviation Impact Study reveals
that in 2010 the Manassas Regional Airport contributed the
following to the economies of the City of Manassas and PWC:
– $234.6 million in overall economic activity
– $69,873,000 in payroll
– 1,056 jobs
( Manassas Regional is, by far, the busiest General Aviation
airport in Virginia. It is home to 400 based aircraft and 23 businesses.
In 2010 the airport had over 95,000 operations.)
2)The City of Manassas is the winner of the top honor,
the President’s Award 2011, in the Virginia Municipal League
Achievement Award Competition. The City won the award for
its Neighborhood Services program, community organization,
volunteerism and neighborhood improvement projects, including
1 By Youth, Week of Hope, and Neighborhood Improvement Circles.