Hi Everyone! This is going to be a quick post, but I just wanted to let you know about The Members Project, from American Express. Essentially, it is a project where American Express will donate $1 for every cardholder who joins and donate it to a charitable project that all of the members vote on. Check it out and spread the word!
-Jason
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
We Don't Need Another Hero
(OK, first an aside. I read an article in the Harvard Business Review titled the same as this post by Joseph Badaracco, though I only have a few notes from it in my notebook. So I would say this post is inspired by that article but probably doesn't have much to do with it.)
We live in an overly dramatized world. Blame it on the media, blame it on ourselves, but gosh darn-it this over dramatization of life has done a lot to do precisely the opposite... create apathy.
Think about it... I would have to say that we have become a country of whiners. Since when did "running out of non-fat, non-dairy, non-sugar creamer at Starbucks" become an earth shattering crisis? I've seen people flip out over such trifles. I would sum this trend up as "If there aren't explosions going off, blaring sirens, or gratuitous nudity... we're not going to pay attention." And as such people have used exaggeration and hyperbole and every sort of explosions, sirens, and nudity to get others to pay attention to them. (Marketers seem to be the best at this).
We've become desensitized to the point that of becoming passionless. We seem to be saving up our efforts and energy for some sort of Grand Mission, like "solving poverty", "curing AIDS", or "becoming a millionaire"... But we don't bother to get our asses off of the couch and exercise, or turn off the TV and read a book, or even take the 1 hour out of our lives every year to get out and VOTE.
I agree with the Joe Badaracco, that we "don't need another hero". Instead we need the everyday people who get up in the morning and give it their all despite all of the obstacles, whatever the season. We need people who will work within the system that we are in and bend the rules in order to get things done, but don't break them outright unless we are truly ready to change them (not just when it's convenient). We need people who will take up a mission and stick with it until it has been completed.
So have a think about it. Sure, the firebrands screaming out "Revolution NOW" may be popular, but when times get tough they will fizzle out quickly. As Thomas Paine famously said, "These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it Now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph."
And as always comments are welcomed and appreciated.
-Jason
We live in an overly dramatized world. Blame it on the media, blame it on ourselves, but gosh darn-it this over dramatization of life has done a lot to do precisely the opposite... create apathy.
Think about it... I would have to say that we have become a country of whiners. Since when did "running out of non-fat, non-dairy, non-sugar creamer at Starbucks" become an earth shattering crisis? I've seen people flip out over such trifles. I would sum this trend up as "If there aren't explosions going off, blaring sirens, or gratuitous nudity... we're not going to pay attention." And as such people have used exaggeration and hyperbole and every sort of explosions, sirens, and nudity to get others to pay attention to them. (Marketers seem to be the best at this).
We've become desensitized to the point that of becoming passionless. We seem to be saving up our efforts and energy for some sort of Grand Mission, like "solving poverty", "curing AIDS", or "becoming a millionaire"... But we don't bother to get our asses off of the couch and exercise, or turn off the TV and read a book, or even take the 1 hour out of our lives every year to get out and VOTE.
I agree with the Joe Badaracco, that we "don't need another hero". Instead we need the everyday people who get up in the morning and give it their all despite all of the obstacles, whatever the season. We need people who will work within the system that we are in and bend the rules in order to get things done, but don't break them outright unless we are truly ready to change them (not just when it's convenient). We need people who will take up a mission and stick with it until it has been completed.
So have a think about it. Sure, the firebrands screaming out "Revolution NOW" may be popular, but when times get tough they will fizzle out quickly. As Thomas Paine famously said, "These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it Now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict the more glorious the triumph."
And as always comments are welcomed and appreciated.
-Jason
Monday, May 07, 2007
Charisma and Leadership
I originally wanted to title this post "Charisma versus Leadership" but... on second thought, I don't believe the relationship between charisma and leadership to be adversarial... though often times people confuse one with the other.
For example, I will use the archetypal example of Hitler being someone with great charisma, but I would argue that he was not a "leader" but merely a demagogue. He gave rousing speeches that played off of the base emotions and prejudices of a downtrodden German public. However, he never really thought about what the people really wanted. He was selfish and thought about what he wanted (to be the "emperor" of a 1000 year German empire).
But wait, you might ask, "But didn't he say things like wanting to bring prosperity to the country?" To that I would answer, "Yes, of course he said those things." But did he really bring about what he promised? Wouldn't the logical thing for a leader during those times be to encourage the people to continue along a path to revitalization, even though the road ahead may look tough and the rewards far away? I would think so.
Today we can see similar things in our everyday lives. We might point to the CEO's and CFO's of the Enron's, the Worldcom's, Tyco's, and the Global Crossing's of the world, who broke the rules to "make more money for investors", but in the end were grabbing as much cash as they could to line their own pockets. The more political among us may even point to our current administration and the war in Iraq as another example of demagogues taking on the guise of leadership.
OK, so before you go off screaming "Ahhhh! charisma is bad!" hold on for one minute. First of all I never said that. Secondly, charisma is actually a very good and useful tool in leadership. This is because people are by nature social and emotional creatures. (See MySpace and Facebook as examples of humanity's thirst for social interaction). We like to see what our friends / peers / acquaintances are doing... and more often than not monkey see monkey do. Our emotions also play a big part of our lives. Have you ever tried to convince someone about an emotionally charged topic, oh I dunno like stem cell research, using pure logic? It's not gonna happen. But if you for example used a story about about a child stricken by some terrible disease that could possibly be cured through stem cell research... I'd expect you to be at least some-what more successful.
This is charisma, that ability to connect with people and eventually to influence and persuade them to take up your vision and follow your plan. Leadership, though would use charisma to influence people stick to the team's plan to make the vision happen.
For example, I will use the archetypal example of Hitler being someone with great charisma, but I would argue that he was not a "leader" but merely a demagogue. He gave rousing speeches that played off of the base emotions and prejudices of a downtrodden German public. However, he never really thought about what the people really wanted. He was selfish and thought about what he wanted (to be the "emperor" of a 1000 year German empire).
But wait, you might ask, "But didn't he say things like wanting to bring prosperity to the country?" To that I would answer, "Yes, of course he said those things." But did he really bring about what he promised? Wouldn't the logical thing for a leader during those times be to encourage the people to continue along a path to revitalization, even though the road ahead may look tough and the rewards far away? I would think so.
Today we can see similar things in our everyday lives. We might point to the CEO's and CFO's of the Enron's, the Worldcom's, Tyco's, and the Global Crossing's of the world, who broke the rules to "make more money for investors", but in the end were grabbing as much cash as they could to line their own pockets. The more political among us may even point to our current administration and the war in Iraq as another example of demagogues taking on the guise of leadership.
OK, so before you go off screaming "Ahhhh! charisma is bad!" hold on for one minute. First of all I never said that. Secondly, charisma is actually a very good and useful tool in leadership. This is because people are by nature social and emotional creatures. (See MySpace and Facebook as examples of humanity's thirst for social interaction). We like to see what our friends / peers / acquaintances are doing... and more often than not monkey see monkey do. Our emotions also play a big part of our lives. Have you ever tried to convince someone about an emotionally charged topic, oh I dunno like stem cell research, using pure logic? It's not gonna happen. But if you for example used a story about about a child stricken by some terrible disease that could possibly be cured through stem cell research... I'd expect you to be at least some-what more successful.
This is charisma, that ability to connect with people and eventually to influence and persuade them to take up your vision and follow your plan. Leadership, though would use charisma to influence people stick to the team's plan to make the vision happen.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
The Power of Appreciation
So this is advice that your mother probably gave you when you went over to your best friend's house way back in kindergarten "Remember your pleases and thank-yous". Unfortunately too few people follow this advice after they've "grown up" and become an adult.
Now I don't mean the gratuitous, "Hey Bob, please do this for me, OK? Thanks," and walk away routine. This is a terrible habit that many people have gotten into. Now a days, people will play passive aggressive games by adding a "thanks" to the end of any request. This totally defeats the spirit of appreciation.
Now let's start from the beginning. One of the most basic of all human needs is the need to be appreciated. You know it and I know it. We all want to feel as though we are valued, and that our efforts have been worthwhile.
Just the past weekend, I went back up to school, just expecting to enjoy a performance by NBC's Last Comic Standing, Dat Phan. However, during the introductions there was a brief awards ceremony where I received an award for my work with the Asian Pacific American Caucus in helping make Introduction to Asian American Studies a permanent course. I was really touched by the gesture and didn't really know what to say. I had done this simply because it was something that I believed in. I didn't "need" to receive the award, but now I feel much more motivated to continue doing more of the same things. (I'm not a psychology major, but I think this all has to do with something like rewards and punishments... and it works).
On the other hand, I have all too often felt under-appreciated by those who call themselves "leaders". How many times have you had something "dumped" on you like the situation above? (These also usually include impossible deadlines, such as "yesterday"). How do you think you would feel if you had other work to do, plans for the evening, a throbbing headache, and your boss comes to your cube asking, "How long will it take for you to do this?" You respond, "Two hours". To which he or she responds, "I need it for my meeting in half an hour... please get it done... oh yeah and I'll try to remember to finish your performance review by sometime next week... thanks." Yeah, not such a great feeling.
How about if instead of that, your boss came to your cube and asked "Hi, how are you doing?" You respond, "Not too bad, just pretty busy finishing up this analysis for the big project we're working on." He or she asks, "So hey, I was wondering if you could do me a big favor. How long do you think it would take for you to do this... I need it for my meeting in half an hour?" You think for a moment and say, "Gee boss, I don't think I could get all of that done by then... it might take me an hour and a half... maybe an hour if I really rush."
"Oh, really... hmmm... well how about if I try to get you these numbers and we don't worry about making these graphs..." you boss offers. Encouraged, you say, "Yeah, I think we can get this done, I'll ask Sally to help me this one part and I think we can get it all figured out." "Thanks Bob, you're a real lifesaver! I'll be sure to add an extra positive note in your performance review for next week!"
So let me break this down for you. In the end, maybe this boils down to Habit #5 "Seek first to understand then to be understood." In the first situation, the boss did not try to understand Bob's abilities or the other situational factors, he didn't seem to care. However, in the second situation, the boss made the effort to understand everything, and had the flexibility to make it happen.
So, I want to thank all of you for reading, and please leave me any feedback in the comments section. I hope you all come back soon!
-Jason
Now I don't mean the gratuitous, "Hey Bob, please do this for me, OK? Thanks," and walk away routine. This is a terrible habit that many people have gotten into. Now a days, people will play passive aggressive games by adding a "thanks" to the end of any request. This totally defeats the spirit of appreciation.
Now let's start from the beginning. One of the most basic of all human needs is the need to be appreciated. You know it and I know it. We all want to feel as though we are valued, and that our efforts have been worthwhile.
Just the past weekend, I went back up to school, just expecting to enjoy a performance by NBC's Last Comic Standing, Dat Phan. However, during the introductions there was a brief awards ceremony where I received an award for my work with the Asian Pacific American Caucus in helping make Introduction to Asian American Studies a permanent course. I was really touched by the gesture and didn't really know what to say. I had done this simply because it was something that I believed in. I didn't "need" to receive the award, but now I feel much more motivated to continue doing more of the same things. (I'm not a psychology major, but I think this all has to do with something like rewards and punishments... and it works).
On the other hand, I have all too often felt under-appreciated by those who call themselves "leaders". How many times have you had something "dumped" on you like the situation above? (These also usually include impossible deadlines, such as "yesterday"). How do you think you would feel if you had other work to do, plans for the evening, a throbbing headache, and your boss comes to your cube asking, "How long will it take for you to do this?" You respond, "Two hours". To which he or she responds, "I need it for my meeting in half an hour... please get it done... oh yeah and I'll try to remember to finish your performance review by sometime next week... thanks." Yeah, not such a great feeling.
How about if instead of that, your boss came to your cube and asked "Hi, how are you doing?" You respond, "Not too bad, just pretty busy finishing up this analysis for the big project we're working on." He or she asks, "So hey, I was wondering if you could do me a big favor. How long do you think it would take for you to do this... I need it for my meeting in half an hour?" You think for a moment and say, "Gee boss, I don't think I could get all of that done by then... it might take me an hour and a half... maybe an hour if I really rush."
"Oh, really... hmmm... well how about if I try to get you these numbers and we don't worry about making these graphs..." you boss offers. Encouraged, you say, "Yeah, I think we can get this done, I'll ask Sally to help me this one part and I think we can get it all figured out." "Thanks Bob, you're a real lifesaver! I'll be sure to add an extra positive note in your performance review for next week!"
So let me break this down for you. In the end, maybe this boils down to Habit #5 "Seek first to understand then to be understood." In the first situation, the boss did not try to understand Bob's abilities or the other situational factors, he didn't seem to care. However, in the second situation, the boss made the effort to understand everything, and had the flexibility to make it happen.
So, I want to thank all of you for reading, and please leave me any feedback in the comments section. I hope you all come back soon!
-Jason
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