A Thanksgiving Toast: Here is to Uncertainty!

As I spent my first Thanksgiving abroad in 5 years, I couldn't but help to feel homesick, lonely and missing out on what is arguably the best US holiday in the annual calendar. There have been many blogs and articles about what Thanksgiving is, its origins, and how Americans come together in a very special way during this last Thursday of every November, so I won't bore you with another version. However, I did want to share with you a wonderful piece from the New York Times that my cousin Ric sent me. It captures the Thanksgiving spirit but also brings to light some of the discussions we have been having recently on the 6 Basic Human Needs, particularly the need for uncertainty (which some of you are still resisting based on your e-mails to me!).


So thank you Uncle Ric for sharing this piece with me and thinking of me as you all sat around the table in Orange County this Thanksgiving. I wish I was there with you! Happy Thanksgiving to all and lets raise a glass to what the future will bring, unbeknownst to you and me...

Published November 25, 2009

EDITORIAL

A Thanksgiving Toast

Sitting down with friends and family today, there will be thanks for the steady currents, flowing out of the past, that have brought us to this table. There will be thanks for the present union and reunion of us all. And there will be prayerful thanks for the future. But it’s worth raising a glass (or suspending a forkful for those of you who’ve gotten ahead of the toast) to be thankful for the unexpected, for all the ways that life interrupts and renews itself without warning.

What would our lives look like if they held only what we’d planned? Where would our wisdom or patience — or our hope — come from? How could we account for these new faces at the Thanksgiving table or for the faces we’re missing this holiday, missing perhaps now all these years?

It will never cease to surprise how the condition of being human means we cannot foretell with any accuracy what next Thanksgiving will bring. We can hope and imagine, and we can fear. But when next Thanksgiving rolls around, we’ll have to take account again, as we do today, of how the unexpected has shaped our lives. That will mean accounting for how it has enriched us, blessed us, with suffering as much as with joy.

That, perhaps, is what all this plenty is for, as you look down the table, to gather up the past and celebrate the present and open us to the future.

There is the short-term future, when there will be room for seconds. Then there is the longer term, a time for blossoming and ripening, for new friends, new family, new love, new hope. Most of what life contains comes to us unexpectedly after all. It is our job to welcome it and give it meaning. So let us toast what we cannot know and could not have guessed, and to the unexpected ways our lives will merge in Thanksgivings to come.

Perspectives - The Wall Street Bonus Scandal

There has been a lot of controversy about the enormous bonuses going to various folks in the financial industry. The population at large is pretty angry that bankers are handing out tens of billions of dollars after running the world economy into the ground and then accepting bailout money from the taxpayer. There is a lot of pressure from the public to curtail those bonuses, and lawmakers are marching to the beat. Of course like any good public lynching, the media has been fueling the public’s fire and casting an A-List of evil culprits in Goldman Sachs, Citibank and a host of other Wall Street and City names. And while I agree the public has a right to be mad about the kind of sums these companies are paying out, I believe there is a lack of perspective from the media, the politicians and the public in general. In fact, a 360-degree view of the bonus scandal is appropriate.

There are essentially 2 views currently being debated in the Press: one that vilifies Goldman Sachs and others for paying such vast amounts of bonus to so few in an industry principally responsible for the collapse of the global economy, and the other that defends these bonuses in the name of capitalism. In fact, some would argue this is about socialism taking on capitalism. Unfortunately, nothing can be more inaccurate than labeling either of these views as socialism vs. capitalism. It is over simplistic journalism that is popular and convenient given we are going into a big election year on both sides of the Atlantic in 2010. I would like to offer a couple of different perspectives on the bonus fiasco.

People - Part II The Need for Certainty and Uncertainty (6 Basic Human Needs)

Welcome back to the second in a series of blogs on People. In my previous post (4 Nov, 2009) I introduced the 6 basic needs that our brain has intellectually: certainty, uncertainty, significance, love and connection, contribution and growth. Understanding the 6 basic needs is key for leaders to manage their people and for the individual to better understand their relationships. Lets focus on the first two needs in this post, the need for certainty and the need for uncertainty.

Russians Play Chess, the West are Playing Monopoly

One of the perks of being a Nomad is you get to meet interesting and diverse people everywhere you go, and hear and see what they think about current events which offer a different point of view. We may not realize it, but we are in the midst of some huge shifts in world politics and geo-dominance. The world is changing around us at a speed never before seen. I like to stop sometimes and ask people from different backgrounds what they think of things that are happening in the US and the West in general, that impact all of us. The responses are always insightful and give food for thought, given we in the West don’t always think through the consequences of our actions, policies and sometimes in-action, to the rest of the world. This is both irresponsible and dangerous given we have created a global economy that we have been the engine to for over half a century.

This weekend I had brunch with a senior Russian diplomat in Brussels. It was a social affair and given I didn’t ask his permission to blog about our conversation he shall remain nameless. The discussion was very interesting and it was a breath of fresh air to hear about how things have evolved in Russia and the former Soviet states, as well as to learn about the continued challenges the region and its people face. And in case you were wondering there was no vodka involved, just good tea. But what was really intriguing was when I asked the question ‘What do Russians think about President Obama and his Administration?’

The Choice of Giving

I was reminded this weekend about one of the greatest attributes of Americans. Americans give more to charities, causes, aid and relief, and non-profits than any other nation in the world. The statistics on this fact are mind boggling, and moreover this high level of giving has been going on for over 60 years. But what makes Americans stand out when it comes to their generosity?

This weekend I was back in Pittsburgh for a number of events that included the wedding of two close friends and the 10^th Anniversary of the non-profit organization I am on the Board of, The Coro Center for Civic Leadership. I also attended a dinner hosted by the McGuire Memorial, a non-profit organization in the Pittsburgh area that I was not familiar with but is well known for its annual golf outing hosted by ex-NFL star Tony Dorsett, quite an event in the Pittsburgh social calendar for the past 15 years. Both the Coro event and the McGuire Memorial dinner really highlighted America’s obsession with helping others who are in need. You can find more information about Coro and the McGuire Memorial Foundation at these links www.coro.org and www.mcguirememorial.org.

What is interesting about America’s culture of generosity is that it is primarily driven by its people not its government. This is a stark difference to the majority of other nations in the world who tend to ‘budget’ for aid and assistance through government organizations. In fact, until ex-President George W. Bush’s second term in office, the US government had one of the lowest rates of aid and assistance records in history. U2 lead singer Bono spearheaded the effort to convince President Bush to change this track record and much to his credit he did. The US government is now one of the largest donors of aid and assistance to the world since 2005 thanks to the work of Bush and Bono. However, no other nation in history has given so much to charities, non-profits and the like than the American people. Why is that?

My firm belief is that it comes down to the freedom to choose to give, supported by a culture of creating wealth and abundance. American people are free to choose to give to any cause they wish, and it is this freedom that drives up the scale of giving. Americans have enjoyed relatively low taxes for the past 25 years, and this policy of low taxes and creation of wealth has left many Americans in a position to give. And give they do. Here are some key stats from the National Philanthropic Trust to ponder:

·      - 89 percent of households give

·      - The average annual contribution for contributors is $1,620.

·      - According to Giving USA, American giving reach a record high in 2007, with donations totaling $314-billion.  Giving has since dropped by 2% to $308 billion in 2008.

       - Charitable giving accounted for 2.2% of gross domestic product.

·      - Historically, charitable giving rises about one-third as fast as the stock market.

·      - 86 percent of wealthy donors said they are most motivated to give by the notion of "meeting critical needs" and 83 percent said "giving back to society" is motivational.

It is this freedom to choose to give that is the key driver behind American generosity. This is very different to many other nations and cultures where giving is a social obligation taught at very young ages, no different than paying taxes or bills. Americans give because they want to, not because they have to, and it is this important nuance that is behind this massive scale of giving.

Sister Mary Thaddeus Markelewicz is the Executive Director of the McGuire Memorial in Western Pennsylvania, and runs a 500-person organization just like a CEO runs a company. Her track record over 21 years of transforming a small non-profit into the magical place that McGuire Memorial is today is frankly remarkable. Sister Thaddeus, as she likes to be referred to, told us a story at Sunday night’s dinner that I think captures the spirit of America’s giving culture. The story goes something like this: one day a man meets God and asks what is the difference between Heaven and Hell, Lord? The Lord shows the man to two doors. He opens the first and motions the man inside. The man sees a room with a big round table. The table has a big pot of delicious smelling stew in the middle. There are a dozen people sitting around the table and they are physically disabled, having short arms and looking very very gaunt and unhealthy. They have long wooden spoons and try to feed themselves the delicious stew but their arms are too short for the long spoons and hence why they look so gaunt and in poor health. The man is very distressed by what he has seen, and the Lord says this is Hell. The man then steps into the second room and the setting is much the same, a big round table, a big bowl of delicious smelling stew and a dozen physically disabled people sitting around the table. But this time the people look very healthy and happy, smiling and laughing with each other unlike the other room. They have the same long wooden spoons and short arms, but it is a very different picture from the previous room. The man steps out and the Lord says this is Heaven. The man says ‘I don’t get it’. The Lord responds that in the first room the people are so preoccupied with feeding themselves that most of the food is wasted because of their short arms and long spoons, resulting in the ‘hell’ we see. But in the other room, the people have focused on feeding each other, using the long spoons to help and care for each other, hence well fed and healthy, resulting in ‘heaven’.

I think the story speaks for itself. Choosing to give is a powerful thing. And giving is not just about your wallet, it can be your time and your intellectual property. Many non-profit organizations need the help experienced people can bring to help them achieve their goals. A few years ago I decided I wanted to give back and chose to focus on three areas – Leadership, Education and Foreign Affairs. They are personal areas of interest. Serving on the Board of Coro fills my Leadership box, I am still looking for the right opportunities to give back in Education and Foreign Affairs. If you have any ideas please give me a call or drop me an e-mail. The goal is to make a difference and with Coro I know we are making a difference. Coro Alumni have gone on to do great things, and there are many examples of these given over 1000 young leaders graduate from the various Coro programs in across the US each year. But the key to me is that I chose to help Coro and that has made all the difference.

People - Part I The 6 Basic Human Needs

People. People, People, People. You hear companies say it all the time. “Our people are the best.” Or another favorite is “Our people are the most important thing.” I even worked with an operations leader once who used to refer to our people as ‘people assets’. He was Detroit bred so he gets a pass from you touchy feely crowd. But unfortunately statements like these are more often buzz words without concrete meaning. I will be writing a series of blogs on people in the coming weeks and months because I believe now more than ever in corporate history there are opportunities for people to make a difference and for companies to differentiate with their people. And I fundamentally believe we can use the learnings from the dynamics of people management in the business world in our own personal interactions with people, be it family, friends or perfect strangers.

So where to start? The subject of people is as broad as the philosophical question ‘Why?’ Did you ever get that question as an essay in philosophy exams? I was fortunate to come across it twice in my academic days, once in high school and once in college. As my classmates scribbled away hundreds of words in response (this was pre-laptops in the class room sadly) I answered the question ‘Why?’ with ‘Because!’ the first time, and ‘Why Not?’ the second time. I won’t disclose my grade just yet but here is a hint - both teachers gave me the exact same grade. Now you might ask what does this little story within a story have to do with people? Okay, to bring this all back to the subject I have to tell you my grade to both those questions…I got 100% on both exams. As shocking as that may seem looking back, the point I’m making is simple, to the point and concise are almost always the best way forward. The same should be applied to people.

So how do you take one of the most complex, sophisticated and arguably intelligent animals in the universe and make them simple? I have always believed the answer lies in understanding what the fundamental needs of a human being are, and then catering to those needs. Its that simple.

I’m going to digress one more time by talking about me – I have a diverse background and my career is similarly broad. My experience can be described as a general manager with core skills in sales, business development (yes the two are different), operations and customer delivery. I am also a consultant in several areas of expertise. I am really good with customers and I am a very compelling salesman. But my biggest spike is people. That is what I do best. I assemble the right team of people and I make them perform at the highest levels. It has become a passion for me and to try and be as successful as I can with people I have studied the question ‘Why do we do the things that we do?’. I want to understand how does the brain work and why do humans act the way they do? (I’d like to pause here to call out one of my readers, lets call him Larry which is not his real name. Larry has become my ‘grumpy old man’ reader, like those two guys from the muppet show. He always writes me after my blogs to voice his opinion and I truly welcome and value them. I have asked him to post his comments but he is a bit shy I guess. Anyhow, Larry wrote me after my last blog to say I always talk about myself in my posts so I wanted to apologize to Larry up front for talking about my passion for people. Sorry Larry.)

So let me wrap up this first posting on people by saying this – to manage people successfully its not enough to set up a people culture in your organization and be positive all the time. In business there are times when we have to do hard things and say hard things. To get this right in the heat of battle its important that leaders and followers understand what makes people tick. I believe this means understanding the 6 basic human needs that the brain has. I’m not talking about sustenance or water, but rather the basic intellectual and emotional needs that each human being has, no matter how old, what nationality, what profession, where they live etc.

The 6 basic human needs are:

1)          the need for certainty;

2)          the need for uncertainty;

3)          the need to be significant;

4)          the need for love and connection;

5)          the need to contribute;

6)          the need to grow.

Think about these 6 and tell me if you think the list is incomplete. But I warn you, its not. We will dive deeper in understanding the 6 basic needs in my next People posting. Until then, be good to yourself wherever you are today…I’m boarding my plane to Newark. Cheers!