Seven Great Attributes of Good Leadership

These seven are the basic building blocks of a leader and other aspects of leadership flow from them. For example, innovation “requires the imagination to conceive of a new vision, the judgment to ensure this vision is practical and can be implemented, the empathy to anticipate how others will react to the new idea and to garner their support, and the courage to stick with a plan despite inevitable bumps in the road.” (They note that because innovation draws on so many of the seven attributes it is a rare quality among many leaders.) They are:

1. Integrity. “Integrity is the fundamental leadership attribute….Integrity is the fundamental attribute that keeps everything else secure.” Without integrity, things break down fast. Kroger CEO Dave Dillon remarked, “Integrity allows you to assume important characteristics about how things work.” As a result it fosters trust which leads to higher productivity. (See more on this on Facebook)
2. Empathy. Defined as a fundamental ability to tune in to others, it “is critical for leadership for many reasons. Combined with integrity, it drives trust. It gives followers a sense that their interests are being looked after, and this creates positive energy. Followers who sense that a leader appreciates them are motivated to carry out their duties in a more committed way.”
3. Emotional Intelligence. This is self-mastery or the ability to “perceive, control, and improve the connection between what we feel and the way we act.” It’s about self-awareness. Do I know myself? Can I control myself? Do I look for ways to improve?
4. Vision. A frequently abused term, vision starts with imagination and an inquisitive mind. “Visionary leaders are good storytellers who are capable of weaving together interesting connections.” Vision provides direction.
5. Judgment. Good judgment is good decision making. “This sounds simple enough, but the origins of how and why people make the decisions they do are actually quite complex.” It’s the ability to zero in on what’s important, see the whole chessboard, and take decisive action.
6. Courage. There is always conflict. “Leadership means being on the front line of those conflicts. It means facing conflicts, mediating and shaping them, sometimes at the risk of great personal cost or freedom.” How often does a fear of standing out inhibit your ability to do the right thing?
7. Passion. A leader’s passion or drive is important because it creates positive energy. “They attract followers and act as catalysts for the formation of highly motivated teams.” High energy and enthusiasm are signs of passion but the trick is to determine where that fire comes from and is the leader in it just for themselves. There is a balance to be maintained with the other six attributes.

The Story of how a great idea got started: Ronald McDonald House Charities

Kim Hill, Inspiration for Ronald McDonald House, Dies at 44

By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK

Published: March 9, 2011 New York Times

Kim Hill, whose childhood battle with leukemia inspired the first Ronald McDonald House, the model for an international network of temporary housing for families of sick children, died on Saturday in Orange, Calif. She was 44. Full Story.

The Golden State is made of Lead...and so are many others.

The Golden State Is Made of Lead

Pollyannas say we’ll all be going back to Cali. I don’t think so.

Tim Cavanaugh from the March 2011 issue

Good read describing just why a managed economy cannot work...

“We’ve been living in Fantasyland,” incoming California Gov. Jerry Brown announced in a December forum on the state’s dire budget situation. “It is much worse than I thought. I’m shocked.”

Amid lengthy budget crises and nationwide snickering, you might not think anybody in the Golden State could still be shielded from harsh reality. After all, spending for the current fiscal year is a mere $86.6 billion, only $300 million more than in the previous year—an increase former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger described as “essentially flat.”

State spending is down almost $20 billion from its 2008 level, but that’s still not nearly enough to get Sacramento’s fiscal house in order. In December, less than two months after signing a putatively balanced budget that had initially come in with a $19 billion deficit, lame duck Schwarzenegger—supported by Gov.-elect Brown—convened an emergency session of the legislature to close an additional $6 billion gap that became apparent after the budget was enacted. Evidence for California’s looming insolvency is all around: a state of fiscal emergency in Stockton, a potential municipal bankruptcy in Los Angeles, a government bond rating that is the worst among the 50 states, unfunded pension obligations that could run as high as $500 billion over the next decade.

A Prayer of Praise

Too often prayer's are a laundry list of wants and needs. About 2,500 years ago a man named Ezra recorded the following in the first book of Chronicles re: prayer that was spoken by King David. A prayer of praise to God which is something we often forget in our self-centered lives. Thinking about each word, the order they were state and the context (David's final public announement after 40+ years of being Israel's king is remarkable.) My New Year's resolution is to read and meditate on the Word not rush through it "buffet-style".

I Chronicles 29:10-19 (NIV) - below are the first four (4) verses.

..."Praise be to you, O Lord,
God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.

11. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory
and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in
heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord is the kingdom;
you are exalted as hea over all.

12. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler
of all things. In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.

13. Now, our God, we give you thanks and praise your
glorious name."

Good ideas to fix our Fed Budget Mess

Found the attached a well reasoned list of steps to take to restore some fiscal sanity to our nation's financial situation.

How to Balance the Budget Without Raising Taxes

The 19 Percent Solution

Nick Gillespie & Veronique de Rugy | December 5, 2010

A value-added tax, a soda tax, a gas tax, banning earmarks, freezing a portion of federal spending at "pre-stimulus" levels - there’s no shortage of ideas being thrown out to fix the country’s disastrous balance sheet, which threatens not just near-term economic recovery but the possibility of long-term growth. Like last week's report from the president's Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, most of the current plans to fix the country's finances rely more on increases in revenues than on cuts in spending. In part due to its heavy reliance on revenue hikes, the commission, charged with balancing the budget by 2020, failed to win enough votes of its own members to present its recommendations to Congress.

Which raises the question: Can America really reduce its debt and deficit without raising taxes to job-killing rates or cutting essential services to developing-world levels? The answer is not simply yes, it's that we have to.

Raising government revenue - taxes - substantially is not only bad policy, it has proven difficult and ultimately unsustainable for any length of time in the past 60 years. Since 1950, annual government revenue, as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), has averaged just below 18 percent despite every attempt to jack it up or tamp it down. Our post-World War II experience shows that if the government is going to live within its means, it can't spend much more than 18 percent of GDP. Period.

Which is one reason to be happy that the debt commission's recommendations won't be presented to Congress anytime soon. The report assumes revenue equal to 21 percent of GDP and struggles to get spending to "below 22% and eventually to 21%" of GDP. That’s a recipe for disaster that would guarantee deficits and red ink.

Similarly, former Sens. Bill Bradley, John Danforth, and Gary Hart, working with the Committee for a Responsible Budget, have offered up a plan to balance the budget by 2020 that relies on revenue hitting 20.8 percent of GDP, a level that hasn't been achieved once in the past 60 years. Republicans have not advanced any realistic near-term plans. Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wisc.) Roadmap to the American Future does not balance the budget until 2063. The pre-election GOP’s Pledge to America is worthless since it fails to provide specifics (and to the extent it does, it is no good). Read more.

The right way to reduce taxes

To Reduce Taxes, We Must Abolish Our Tax Breaks

by John Tamny, Toreador Research and Trading (VE Guest Contributor)

After preparing my taxes last year, my accountant noticed my horror and responded that “You’re not playing the game right. Buy a house with a large mortgage, have children, or do something that’s deductible to reduce your tax bill.” The accountant’s words were true, and a shining example of a wealth transfer that’s not spoken of enough.

We hear all the time about how basic income taxes, government spending and inflation are redistributive in nature, but not mentioned enough is how both political parties use the tax code to redistribute wealth to favored constituents or individuals who live as Washington would like them to. Those who don’t play the game are essentially fleeced so that those who do can enjoy a lower tax bill. Full story here

The Year The "Media Died"

A classic from Terry Kawaja