September 2018 was quite the month—its political related events stimulated discussions and thoughts at a deeper than normal level. For one of my young mentees, the Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination process brought out the good and bad side of many people, so we had discussions, many discussions. The Atlantic Magazine’s June 2018 cover story, Read more
Category Growth & Development
This article got me thinking
NY Times Article: 272 Slaves Were Sold to Save Georgetown. What Does it Owe Their Descendants?
My first thought, is that the capital accrued into families, companies, or universities will all have some stain. Stain in the sense that when we use today’s standards and life experiences to judge behaviors in the past, we are bound to condemn many actions and decisions. And, once stained where do you stop labeling the influence. Read more
Baltimore mom smacked some sense into her son — and the rest of us too
The post below was well written and thought provoking. I’m glad Mary McNamara wrote it.
My emotion when seeing this video:
Child Abuse–not!
Stop Looking for Passion at Work
The title is filled with irony. The author of the linked blog post nails the discussion.
#1) Life is more than work and measurable accomplishments
#2) Time and energy are limited resources–how you spend them says a lot about who you are as a person.
#3) Passion renews you energy. If you are lucky enough to have work (providing for your household) combined with your passion, hurray for you. If you do not have work and passion interconnected, like most people, enjoy your life and the trade offs that make you happy. It’s only the people with no passion we should feel sorry for. Arguing which passion is better, well that is just idiotic.
http://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Stop-Looking-for-Passion-at-Work?gko=2b679
Listening Well and the Cause of Happiness—What my God Children Taught me
My godchildren inspire me. They ask questions, alter my perspective and in exchange I get a youthful perspective. Some parents, surly know the feeling. The godchildren that inspired this writing are 14 and 15 years old. Their persistence forced me to think—to improve my grasp of “Listening Well” and “Causing Happiness.”
Listening Well
During the Thanksgiving holiday, amidst my godchildren’s question barrage, I was asked, “What would you do if you found one million dollars?”
My reply, “I’d try to give it back to who ever lost it.”
“No, I mean what if no one was around. You just found it,” replied my godson.
Confidently, I replied, “Well, no one loses a million dollars, and doesn’t look for the money. So, I’d help them find it.”
My goddaughter, better explaining her brother’s question, jumped in, “No! No, he means, noooooobody is looking for the money. You find a million dollars. What do you do with it?” Read more
L.A. church leaders sought to hide sex abuse cases from authorities – latimes.com
Disgusting! Church leaders sought to protect their institution and pray for their parishioners. These people refused to hold others accountable for their actions, and worse, alerted no others.
The comments about “that’s not the way it was handled” are vile. I’ll burn this as a permanent reference of how not to treat people.
Not a way I wanted to start my morning.
L.A. church leaders sought to hide sex abuse cases from authorities – latimes.com.
Human Bias – Removing It?
Well, well. As a well-traveled black male, I’ve know the US environment, no the global environment, to have prejudice and bias. Not life threating hatred, but some. I believe, all humans utilize biases–The human brain works quite efficiently with biases (a topic worthy of a blog post by itself).
My key learning from the article is that sufficient racial integration has not occurred such that a broad base of Americans, see, Americans with racial differences as one of them. If the article would have reported on the racial prejudice of Black people, I suspect there would be no progress. My life experience certainly echoes the percentages quoted in the article.
As I reflect on the article, I remember the discussion Barack Obama made after the wide display of the Rev. Wright sermons. One telling point he made, “America has not integrated its churches.” Maybe that is the true evidence of integration, religious worship. The American society has focused integration efforts on schools, employment, housing and with the Affordable Care Act, health care. Maybe, just maybe, its time to effectively integrate religious worship. Now, that is a challenge.
AP poll: Majority harbor prejudice against blacks – Yahoo! News.
Unpleasent Behaviors Know No Boundaries
Everyone once in a while, we read a story or observe a behavior that challenges our mental constructs–those notions of cause and effect that support our bias and beliefs. For me, the Bloomberg story of charities and telemarketing brought me to a stand still. I just did not want to believe the greed and self-absorbed rationale that I attribute to the corporate world had invaded charitable organizations. But alas it has. Read more
Why Feelings of Guilt May Signal Leadership Potential | Stanford Graduate School of Business
I loved this article. I found it an interesting way to say that people with empathy for others, and a sense of responsibility toward promises, make great leaders. The combination of traits are hard to hone—It is difficult to care enough to get something done for others. But I like the thought.
Why Feelings of Guilt May Signal Leadership Potential | Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Morning Break
Beverly and my morning rest
After a long morning walk, and a morning jog, Beverly and I are resting at the Monaco Bar. Lovely place. And as I love about the French culture, lots of people watching. One running debate of this morning, what are the policemen doing as the direct traffic. Beverly swears the are granting permission for the roadway. Some type of permit thing. This little Bar reminds me of Redondo–Lot’s of locals. And flies. And pigeons. Some things just happen the same.
Just saw a bunch of tourist on what appeared as a kid’s train. Something I’d not do. Well tchau for now
