The Art of Caring Confrontation-Solutions for Fort Hood and Columbine shootings?

“When everyone in an organization accepts responsibility, shows respect and holds each other accountable to do the right thing through caring confrontation, everyone wins.” Gus Blanchard

One of the most overwhelming negative feelings a person can have is that of being put-down and shunned. The outsider feels alienated and lonely, not being accepted, loved, or respected by others. Such mental maps and feelings can have a major effect on the way a person views the worth of their lives and how they interact with their culture and fellow citizens. Let’s look at two recent mass shootings– Walter Reed-Fort Hood and Columbine. It all started for Maj. Nidal Malik at Walter Reed Army hospital in Washington,D.C.  He had difficulty making friends. The doctor seemed aloof and distant said one of his colleagues. Girl friends or a possible wife search ended in no connection. His religious beliefs supported the male role of domination and authoritarianism.  He began to see the world in a dualistic manner –you were either a believer or condemned to Hell. Patients were complaining about his questionable therapeutic practices and strange conversations. His colleagues saw warning signs.  The precipitating factor for Maj. Nidal Malik action seems to be his frustration and anxiety about his pending deployment orders to go to Iraq. He wanted to be excused from serving in Iraq because of his Muslim beliefs. In addition. fellow doctors at Walter Reed, who had worked with him for four years have reported that from the beginning he had not made a very good first impression and the staff had many discussions about his performance and suitability to become a full fledge psychiatrist. The medical staff was very worried about this guy and yet no one step-up in caring way to stop him from being promoted and moved on to Fort Hood. He lacked interpersonal skills and was perceived uncooperative ( late for work many times) and unfriendly. He did not do a good job as a psychiatrist in training, was repeatedly warned, you better shape up, or, you know, you’re going to be in trouble. Trouble never came. He continued to be late for work, did badly in his classes, seemed inattentive to patients and outspoken and  belligerent about being Muslim, For example he once gave a lecture at Grand Rounds one day that really caused concern because on the rightness of suicide bombing and wrongness of the US occupation. This incident freaked a lot of doctors out. Where dozens of the medical staff come into an auditorium, and somebody stands at the podium at the front and gives a lecture about some medical or academic issue or clinical practice;  you know, what drugs to prescribe for what condition. But instead of that,  Hasan gave a long lecture on the Koran and talked about how if you don’t believe, you are condemned to hell. Your head is cut off. You’re set on fire. Burning oil is burned down your throat. This lecture was not about educating or informing his audience about the Koran or Muslim culture because he came across as a “true believer” in the support of terrorism. When questioned by an audience member about his position and views he stared the guy down. We now know the rest of the story about his promotion to Major and his being passed on to Fort Hood where his stress, alienation and angry intensified because of harassment and rejection of requests to be re-classified as a conscienious objector so Irag deployment would be haulted.  No one cared enough to confront these issues in an assertive and constructive way. He was left on his own to grow his “paranoid” theories of his fellow soldiers being his enemey and anger toward them and their way of life increased. And now many suffer and grief for the 13 soldiers gun down that horrific day at Fort Hood.

Eric Harris, one of the shooters at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999 wrote in his suicide note to the community, “Your children who have ridiculed me, who have chosen not to accept me, who have treated me like I am not worth their time are dead.” A classmate of Dylan Klebold, the other shooter, said, “Dylan really felt unloved. He wasn’t so bad. He was lonely.” Incidentally, both Harris and Klebold were A students.

The Fort Hood and Columbine shootings are  an extreme case of alienation and  irrational thinking  erupting into violence against innocent others. We will never know how other aspects of these mass murder’s  relationships, families, and mental health and psychological makeup affected them or tipped the scales into anger, shooting and tragedy.

We will continue to debate how such tragedies can be averted and how much of a role organizational culture, interpersonal rejection and individual perceptions play in these tragedies. we know that an atmosphere that nurtures respectful relationships and confronts inappropriate behavior in caring, assertive and forth right ways can make a difference in stopping senseless, irrational, violent and  destructive acting out but it takes someone with courage to stand-up and confront them in a caring but forceful way. 

All across the world, people shoot “zingers, sarcasm, put-downs and disrespect one another daily. The consequences of these actions can go beyond a general feeling of unhappiness among the scorned and alienated targets, causing these outsiders to become paranoid, angry and engage in violence, or join extremists groups to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance.

Caring and Responsibility Check: Case of Maj. Nidal Malik– Leadership Failure at Walter Reed Army Hospital

” In caring I commit myself to the other; I hold myself out as someone who can be depended on. If there is an acute break in this relation because of my indifference, irresponsibility or neglect of my duties, I feel guilty, as if the other were to say,”Where were you when I needed you,why did you let me down?”  Milton Mayeroff, author of book entitled On Caring, 1971.

The disaster at Fort Hood again shows the inability for some people to see a problem, confront it and take responsibility for constructive action. Envision for a moment you and your colleagues sitting around the conference table at Walter Reed Army hospital discussing and reviewing an employee who has been demonstrating bizarre behavioral problems. Someone brings up the point that the Dr. X, who is in training to be psychiatrist, is unable to communicate and connect effectively with patients who are suffering from anxiety and PTSD. Another colleague brings up the fact that Dr. X is a practicing Muslim who has been sharing his anti-war and extreme Islamic views during a recent Grand Rounds presentation. Somebody else speculates on his mental stability and his ability to be in touch with reality (psychosis). It is a tragic observation and apparent that nobody in the room wants to deal with these inconvertible truths of instability, acting out and irrational thinking of Dr. X. The question becomes what are we going to do with him? 

Empathy Development–Finding the Courage to Live New Experiences.

A person of wisdom knows that the task of becoming a leader is never finished. It’s an ongoing process of growth, development through experiences. It involves the courage to take risks, try new experiences and ponder insights gained through the unpredictability  and ambiguity of living. We live in times of change and uncertainty. Many seeking new answers to old problems, others trying to hold on to power, others just fed-up and may seek escape from stress and anxiousness in painful and unhealthy ways. The doom and gloom of the economic crisis, the deterioration of moral values and standards, the hurridiness and pervasiveness of the digital lifestyle, and the fragmentation of traditional societal institutions are not only inducing anxiety but also inspiring a search for simplicity and morally grounded in less material value systems. Consumption-driven wealth and status are being replaced by identity, belonging, and a strong desire to contribute  — or to experience — something “meaningful” rather than to acquire more stuff. Trust and reputation are no longer enablers for the exchange of goods, services, and information, they are replacements for them. Values are the new value. Meaning is exceeding customer expectations. The job of leadership today is not just to make money. It’s to make meaning and provide value through valuable experiences. The courage to live a new life experience and to capture it for others has been a strong and important journalistic technique for many years. For example, John Howard Griffin’s compelling book  Black Like Me . 

Apply Constructive Living Principles for a Meaningful Personal Change–Principle 1 and Exercise for Change

“They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” Andy Warhol

By using Constructive Optimism Living Process to face your problems and identify opportunities you can directly affect ways to act and create meaning in your life. By putting in place this powerful process you will put choice at the center of your life. You will become more responsible for creating your attitude  and behavioral response to life’s situations. It will no longer be acceptable to use the excuse that it is the stress around us or the situations we are in at home or work that “force” you to act or not act in certain ways. Each of us chooses our path. We behave in certain ways like ignoring, running away, blaming others, getting angry, if – only thinking , getting stuck, or just plain giving up because we don’t want to take responsibility. We do have the power act in more satisfying and meaningful ways to create a more integrative and balanced life. This Constructive Living Approach can help you feel more in control and better about yourself . In essence you begin to feel more loving and worthwhile which is one of the core ingredients of living a more fulfilling and meaningful life.

Health Care Reform–Obama’s Hail Mary

Where has President Obama been on pushing for a robust Health Care Reform (HCR)? The wait and see what the Congress produces approach is now in the 11th hour and President Obama needs a “hail mary pass” to produce a bill that will pass. We now have “pro-life” and “anti-immigration” blue dog dems fighting amongst themselves.  This “laissez-faire” approach to leadership has left a void filled by “status quo” dems to “do nothing Republicans”. Let’s review view this failed strategy that now threatens Obama’s presidency. We stand on the brink of having a Bill Clinton or a true reformer like FDR. As a progressive, independent I would prefer FDR’s style or LBJ’s to this let’s see what happens hands off approach by Obama’s team. Where is the passion and committment displayed and talked about during the campaign?

Negotiators–Creating Win-Win Agreements

” Whenever people exchange ideas with the intention of changing relationships, whenever they confer for agreement, they are negotiating.”  Gerald Nierenberg, author of Fundamentals of Negotiating 

What do you think of or visualize when you hear that organizations, two CEO’s or a husband and wife are negotiating such and such…? Most research says that most of us think of a formal process of trying to win an argument, win the contract, or play the game of “tough guys don’t back down” and use an aggressive approach to get our way. Most of us experience these interactions as hostile, conflict riddled, or end in I win-you lose game. 

Challenge your Stuckness and Fears–Tips for Personal Change

“Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.”–Ralph Waldo Emerson

 ”Effective leadership begins with presence and self-awareness.  Knowing your impact on others, what motivates you (purpose), understanding and playing to your natural strengths and accepting weaknesses are critical keys for successfully communicating and connecting with others.   Brain researchers and psychologists tell us that self-awareness is not an inborn trait but a complex capacity people develop through life experiences.   It requires reflection, intuition and an ability to accept and process feedback from others.  It requires openness, an ability to deal with ambiguity and acceptance of  and caring for others.” MWH

Alignment Principle

It is natural to feel apprehension when speaking in front of a group, particularly a group of peers.  A certain level of anxiety is actually necessary for you to perform your best. The key is to use this anxiety to your advantage, harnessing it to make you dynamic and animated. The physical symptoms of anxiety are very similar to that of excitement. If you can train yourself to interpret your symptoms as excitement, instead of nerves, you are well on your way to using the anxiety to your advantage. So, how do you do this?

Sales Pitches,Pinches and Strategic Proposals

” Most people would rush ahead and implement a solution before they know what the problem is and a plan for solving it.”  Mark W.Hardwick, Ph.D. Quality Selling through Quality Proposals, 1991, Minehan Quality Press. p 23.

Many business development and sales initiatives fail because the client’s needs and expectations were not met during the sales process. I call these events–sales pinches. Some of the pinches include: lack of information gathering and poor call preparation, poor analysis of the client’s problem, lack of information before writing a proposal, presenting solutions before listening and understanding, and presenting solutions from your point of view rather than the buyers.

Sales proposals can not be a cookie-cutter approach but needs to be experienced by the buyer as a sincere and customized approach to information gathering and problem solving. The solution we offer must be seen as a “valued proposition”. Here are a few of the missed steps and pinches that are inherent in a sales process: sales associates as pressing for a sale–often called the hard sell that is experience as insensitive to customer needs. Such an ego-centric process usually involves boiler-plate proposals and misaligned sales presentations. These efforts primarily focus on the sales professional’s and the selling organization’s goals of what the buyer needs, while the customer-centered process presents information, solutions and proposals that understand and are empathic to the buyer’s goals and expectations. When a sales step such as a presentation and proposal doesn’t close the “Needs and Expectations Gap” – the alignment between the buyer’s expectations and the seller’s sales approach – the potential client has little reason for listening and buying your pitch. We can’t be successful if this happens to often in our selling efforts.

 Writing a Customer-Centered Proposal Facilitates the Sales Process

A customer-centered sales process provides the sales professional an opportunity to help the buyer understand clearly the solution proposed and benefits of buying from you. The writing process itself adds clarity to the sale. It helps the sales professional through the sales process because it:

•  Prompts, and in some cases even forces, the sales professional to gather sufficient and accurate information about the buyer’s current situation and organization; through this process, the sales professional builds a rapport with the buyer and identifies and comprehends buyer expectations, needs, wants and problems
•  Requires and accurate description of the product or service being sold and defines its specific financial and non-financial benefits for the buyer; here the integrated presentation and proposal can eliminate reasons not to buy and meet  buyer  needs or offer solutions to difficult problems.
•  Includes a complete explanation of how the product or service will be installed, produced, implemented , delivered or introduced for the buyer; here the sales professional can use the presentation and proposal to answer the buyer’s questions and show value of the seller’s solutions.
•  Describes the business aspects of the deal, the buyers of the deal, the buyer’s expectations relative to such things as the seller’s staffing levels, roles, responsibilities, timeframes, fees/prices, and in-voicing schedules.
• A customer-centered communication process meets and often exceeds the buyer’s expectations.

Writing activities are integrated with selling activities. Activities in which the buyer partners with the sales professional by providing information, confirming needs and objectives, and evaluating proposed solutions and strategies.

How Important Are Proposals?

An increasing number of buyers are becoming more sophisticated and want to see specific, concrete proof points supporting the claims made by marketing literature and sales presentations.

For these buyers, there is simply too much at stake to take a risk on anything less than the best possible solution. In spite of these buyer attitude changes, many salespeople and organizations continue to discount the importance of integrating sales proposals and presentations. They view proposals as minor

Obstacle compared to building relationships and face to face communications. The truth is that an integrated communication strategy will include an excellent presentation and proposal. Creating this integration is not any easy process.  In reality, aligning sales activities is extremely difficult process which includes strategic thinking, asking good questions and understanding client’s goals.

A proposal is critical to the success of the sales professional and the organization. It represents the culmination of all selling activities—rapport-building, sales calls, demonstrations, negotiations, and presentations. A sales process generates revenues to cover the cost of sales, creates a profit, and continues the existence of the organization.

Furthermore, the content and quality of a sales proposal is equally important because it:

•  Stays in front of a buyer long after the sales professional is gone
•  Sells in the absence of the sales professional
•  Communicates all aspects of the sale
•  Gives the internal contact a document to sell within the client’s organization
•  Reaches the final decision-maker, even when the sales professional cannot

Every step of the sales process directly reflects the sales professional’s and the selling organization’s abilities and the concern for delivering excellence. In today’s competitive world, can anyone afford to jeopardize even one sale with poor communication processes; such as an excellent proposal and presentations.

Process with Structure: The Strategic and Winning Sales Proposal

Everybody, it seems, is selling a twelve-step program guaranteed to help us become successful in some aspect of our lives. The problem is that most of us rarely get past step number five. The good news for those of us in sales is we don’t have to go past that fifth step to craft a winning sales proposal. Many proposals drift from point to point, and yet might never hit upon the issues that drive a potential customer to a buying decision. With a well-organized and strategic proposal, broken down to five proven sections, you can go from offering cookie-cutter solutions to providing customer-driven solutions that significantly enhance your chances of closing big deals.

These five sections in a strategic sales proposal are interrelated and customer-focused. They categorize information and provide a logical sequence of information and ideas.

In summary, the structure for a strategic and winning proposal contains five main sections: 

1. Background Information

This section identifies the buyer’s current situation-related strategy and improvement opportunity—the buyer’s unresolved problem or wanted opportunity. This section must reflect your empathy for the buyer’s situation and pain. It must demonstrate a thorough understanding of the buyer’s business, particularly the function or functions associated with the improvement opportunity. More importantly, the section must document the findings of the buyer-seller improvement opportunity or pain removal analyses. It must include the buyer’s key performance indicators;  such as– current revenues, cost, and productivity levels as they relate to your proposed product or service solution.

2. Proposed Solution

This section presents the buyer-specific product or service application—how you can add value by helping the buyer achieve the improvement opportunity. This section must provide the buying decision makers with a clear understanding of your proposed solution and describe how it will help achieve the profit improvement opportunities identified in the Background Information section. It must also demonstrate your ability to define a realistic application for their proposed products or services to fit in the buyer’s business. Further, this section must present the decision makers with compelling reasons to make a change.

3. Implementation Management

Section Three discusses your company’s methods for implementing the proposed product or service. This section should describe your standard implementation methods or project management practices. It should define the steps, phases, and activities that your company normally follows when implementing the proposed product or delivering the proposed services. This section also should include estimated project or engagement resource requirements and timeframes. It provides an ideal opportunity for you to overlay the buyer’s unique implementation requirements with their standard business methods or quality assurance issues. The result is a custom project plan that indicates you have thought through the how, who, and when.

4. Why Us?–Seller Profile

This section discusses your company’s qualifications and business practices. Of the five proposal sections, this section contains the most standard wording. However, it does not mean the section represents boilerplate; rather, it means that its contents will require the fewest changes for use with different accounts. Much of the information contained in this section requires considerable thought and effort to develop. However, once developed, you will find that you can easily tailor this section to fit each unique sales situation.

5. Business Issues

This section groups all business-related items for ease of review and reference of  prices, expenses, and in-voicing schedule. One of this section’s primary goals is to avoid buyer surprises after the sale. Therefore, you should clearly document all the business issues regarding the proposed solution.

Finally, while it may take twelve steps to quit drinking or lose 150 pounds, you can significantly enhance your sales proposals in only five concrete and responsive sections. When you put those five sections together, you have the opportunity to open eyes and move your prospect into seeing the value your team brings to the problem or opportunity and move this sales campaign into the win column.

 

 

 

 

Poem Embracing Life: Meaning through Idiosyncratic Experiences

” Life is not constructed like a building–it is like an ocean. We don’t create it we immerse ourself in it to discover and experience it.” Dr.Mark

Every thought you have,

Every feeling you feel,

Every action you take is an experience—

Some experience are short-lived–powerful and long-lasting.

Others are long and never impactful,

Experiences are not good or bad–they just are.

Impact remains to be defined by us.

Others are part of everyday routines or special activities.

The key ones focus on survival, safety, suffering and fun.

Some are long and routine,

Some boring and depressing,

Some are painful and unforgiving.

And some are uplifting and fun.

Sometime experiences seem interconnected and other times random.

Maybe that is what meaning in life is –just a bundle of moment to moment experiences.

Filtered by thought, reflection, emotions and impulsivity.

Meaning provided by our own idiosyncratic perceptions–accept them and life is renewed every second.

Challenge and fight them –you join “the figure it” out crowd.

Search, searching and searching for unreachable answers–

You cross the threshold when acceptance and ambiguity drives your search.

Life can not be choreographed as a dance… and yet embracing faith, luck or chance may ease the pain and be your guide for living a changeable and fresh experience…

Health Care Reform “People before Profits”–President Obama’s Time is NOW!

” It is to late in the day for the House of Reps to buckle-in on the Public Option or the Senate to kick the can down the road for the States to decide on Health Care Reform.  The “Blue Dog” Democrats and the party of “NO” Republicans are winning by stalling and not caring. I don’t understand their lack of moral conscientious. How can you not care about 144 people/day dying or 44,000/year dying who don’t have health care insurance. Watering down the Public Option is putting the Health Care Reform at risk because if it doesn’t work the President will be scapegoat as the one who failed. These devious plans to defeat Health Care Reform need to be challenged by the Obama team. The Obama team seem to want any bill so they can say they did something. What do I want to see? 

The Puzzle of Motivation–Carrot/Stick vs. Intrinsic Meaning

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/618

If you have not discovered the TED talks you are missing one of the best forums for ideas in business and life now available. I am including this video from Daniel Pink’s speech at TED  because in thirty years of consulting, it is the best  explanation of what works in motivating others. I am always asked by seminar participants–How do you motivate others? My answer has always been less than adequate. You can’t motivate individuals for the long-term. As a manager you can only create the right positive conditions and climate so people can use their strengths to do their best work. Enjoy the clip and share what are the best motivators you have found that work. Motivation and excellence is in our hands as leader-managers so chose the right methods or lose great talent.

New Constructive Optimism and Meaning–The Frankl Effect

 

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“no matter how difficult the path may be, choosing to give up, before one has had the chance to fly, only holds the human spirit back…Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”  Victor Frankl

Critical Questions for Living a Life of Constructive Optimism and Meaning.

Critical Conversation Tool: Socratic Questioning

Socrates once said, “I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” Have you ever experienced the Socratic way of teaching–asking participatative questions to challenge learners to think and discover the answers? This method gets people more involved in learning through critical thinking and makes the learning more relevant to their lives. Socratic questioning illuminates the importance of questioning in learning.  Socrates stated that questioning was the only defensible form of teaching. It illuminates the difference between systematic and fragmented thinking. It teaches us to dig beneath the surface of our ideas and not just memorize stuff for regurgitation on an exam. It teaches us the value of developing questioning minds to cultivate deep learning. The art of Socratic questioning is intimately connected with learning because the art of questioning is important to the excellence of thought. What the word “Socratic” adds to the art of questioning is depth and interest in assessing the truth or  information about others and the situations they are confronting. Other people are afraid that by asking questions they will look weak, ignorant, or unsure. They like to give the impression that they are decisive and in command of the relevant issues. They fear that asking questions might introduce uncertainty or show them as uninformed or incompetent. They like being perceived as the expert. In fact, asking questions is a sign of strength and intelligence – not a sign of weakness or uncertainty. Great leaders constantly ask questions from many different people and are well aware that they do not have all the answers. Some people are in such a hurry to get things done that they do not stop to ask questions because it might slow them down. They risk rushing headlong into the wrong actions.

To find Meaning in Life–Try Constructive Living Principles

“In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.”
Eric Hoffer

Let’s start with, Dr. David K. Reynolds, past Director of the To Do Institute for Constructive Living, in Los Angeles.  Dr. Reynolds has written many books such as, Playing Ball on Running Water, where he explores Morita ideas on living with attention and awareness to what is controllable and what is not in living a constructive, productive and fulfilling life.  The CL  process and principles are a blending and adaption of Eastern lifeways in Japan of Shoma Morita (Morita Therapy) and Ishin Yoshimoto ( Naikin) to Western culture. The principles of Constructive living provide the opportunity to bring control and meaning to your life through a practical and realistic life of service.  The CL method is a step-by-step process for changing thinking, understanding attitudes, beliefs, feelings and behavior, that is, how a person thinks and feels about, understands, acts and relates with themselves and others.  Every day all of us have problems and opportunities to deal with and try to resolve. The CL model is a way of understanding and approaching your problems and feelings in an enlightened and organized way so you can cope and handle them with more effectiveness and efficiency. Here are the essential components of the model:

1. Be clear on your purpose.

2. Accept and understand your feelings and emotion.

3. Do what you need to do!!!!  (sounds a bit like the Nike ads)

The process of CL highlights ways to approach and handle problems and feelings in life.  CL provides the opportunity to find methods for making better decisions and choices. CL teaches you new skills and provides powerful tools to show you how to clarify your thinking and how to act when what you are doing is not satisfying or effective for you and is causing functional life issues and negatively impacting your energy, sense of meaning and relationships with others.

In CL the individual is responsible for their choices and own behavior. Excuses, projection, denial, and blaming are confronted in a caring, yet forceful way. We do this by telling and accepting the truth in the “here and now”. Remember there are things we can control in life and things that are beyond our control. Figuring out the differences is one of the challanages of CL. The environment around us, peer pressure or situations at school, work, or home are only part of the reasons we act the way we do. Yet each person creates their own unique life by how they think and choose to behave. 

If you are a committed and a determined “seeker”,  the quality of your life has nothing to do with excuses, unresolved conflicts,  or distant negative experiences. It has everything to do with  the HERE AND NOW–YOU. YOUR ESSENCE AND PASSION FOR LIVING A MEANINGFUL, CONTROLLABLE  and CONSTRUCTIVE LIFE. It has to do with your thinking, choices, behavior, and impact–The pressing question: What is controllable and uncontrollable in your life?

 Reflection Activity: Pick one action that needs doing on a regular basis: (running or walking, eating healthy foods, self-improvement through meditation, doing the monthly bills, calling three potential clients, writing a blog, walking the dog,etc.) Chose a set time of the day and do the activity at the same time each day for one week. Record the day, time, activity and your reflections in your daily journal.

Reflection quote: “Focus on living well regardless of how you are feeling at the moment.”  Dr. David K. Reynolds

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Reflection #21: A Model for Leadership– Alan Grayson a Profile in Courage

“Words are like heavy burdens for some. Like rocks or weights on your back. If birds talked they might not fly.” 

President Obama is carrying a heavy burden in trying to live up to his lofty words–Change You can believe in, Yes, we can etc and now the  Nobel Peace Prize adds to the expectations. An example of “high expectations” is Health Care Reform.  His promise during the campaign season on Universal Health has morphed many times during the last nine months.  At first, the talk was about the need and right of all Americans to Health Care through an ambitious and long over due single payer system like “Medicare for All”.  The “Single-payer” idea was thrown under the bus before it was even given a chance, then a public option to provide competition for insurance companies is being attacked by opponents as a government takeover and a Co-Op Health System was too hard to figure out. So, the latest compromise being discussed is to just let the States choose whether to adopt a public option or not. What a mess is created when there is little leadership shown on driving a simple, clear, and consistent message.  As we all know words are cheap, but action and follow-through are hard because it requires courage, risk, and an understandable message delivered over and over again.

Obama and his team seem to be ready to settle for any bill so they can  justify the time and political capital spent on this intractable problem. Maybe they need to reflect on this powerful message from Eric Hoffer, long time change philosopher and longshoremen. Hoffer said: “In human affairs every solution only sharpens the problem, to show us more clearly what we are up against, there are no FINAL SOLUTIONS.”  

President Obama the time for leadership is now. Leaders Serve Period, so no more waiting for others to carry the burden of action. You and your team must step-up, people are dying everyday. The following speech by Alan Grayson, House Rep from Florida, demonstrates the assertive and “profiles in courage” we need. Please Mr. President show this to your team and stop fiddling around.