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Archives For January 2011

In Memory of a Dear Friend

joe —  Sun 30-Jan-11

Dear Friends,

I write this column with a very heavy heart as yesterday I learned that the most gentle, kindest friend I have ever known took his life.

Candle.jpgI can’t pretend to comprehend how such a thing could happen to such an incredibly smart man except to note that life is beyond the grasp of intelligence.

I can’t comprehend how someone so kind to life could have life be so unkind to him except to discover that the Beatles were wrong and that we aren’t guaranteed to receive all that we give.

I can’t comprehend how someone that sought with all that he was to rediscover his faith would ultimately lose faith in himself.

Life cannot be described any better than what you believe in. We all believe in something, even if it is that life has no meaning. It is in that belief that forms all of our hopes or anguish.
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In Higher Ground , , , ,
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No Question, It’s Personal

joe —  Sat 15-Jan-11

Dear Martin,

MLK.pngI was thinking about you this past week, being your birthday and all and wanted to thank you for one of the many great life lessons you taught me.

You once wrote

The nonviolent resister does not seek to humiliate or defeat the opponent but to win his friendship and understanding…The nonviolent resister seeks to attack the evil system rather than individuals who happen to be caught up in the system.

While I love the concept and try very hard to incorporate it into my life, it has been a struggle. I still fail often despite my best intentions.

The problem is that it is so much easier to muster up the energy to fight a bad idea when I can put an enemy in front of it. Hating an idea is so much easier when I can see Glenn Beck or Bill Maher’s face. It’s personal then and when it gets personal I have more fight in me.
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In Higher Ground , , , , ,
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It’s Not You, It’s Me – or not

joe —  Sun 9-Jan-11

Unhappy.jpgThere are a lot of good reasons why people can suck at their jobs. One of the biggest may be you, their manager. Yet it is very possible that the entire rest of your team may have had a fantastic year for the very same reason – you, their manager.

So is the problem you or your poor performing employee? Yes and Yes or possibly No and No or maybe Neither. Some situations may require you to back away from assigning blame and instead look at the environment.

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In Leadership , ,
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