Leading People the Black Belt Way

No vacation policy? Are They CRAZY?!?

2010-09-03T07:33:00.001-05:00

Here's a radical leadership strategy:

Hire good people, and then trust them.

Netflix has done so, even going to the point of eliminating their vacation policy:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/7945719/Netflix-lets-its-staff-take-as-much-holiday-as-they-want-whenever-they-want-and-it-works.html

Something to think about.

One more way greedy leadership hurts the bottom line

2010-04-17T08:22:00.000-05:00

TIME magazine reports that Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries is getting paid $4 million to NOT use the company plane for personal reasons.

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1982247,00.html?xid=rss-nation-yahoo

TIME magazine:

"Through the Great Recession, few brands struggled as much as Abercrombie & Fitch, the company that sells preppy, casual clothes to teens and young adults. While other retailers were slashing prices to attract consumers, the company was still pushing $90 pants, and stuck to its "aspirational" marketing campaigns featuring half-naked models. The tone-deaf strategy backfired: in 2009, the company netted just $254,000, essentially running at breakeven, compared to a $273 million profit in 2008 (and a $476 million take during the heady days of 2007). Same-store sales were off 23% last year; between the beginning of 2008 and the end of 2009, Abercrombie's stock price fell 56%. While the stock is up 41% in 2010, and same-store sales have ticked up during the current retail rebound, Abercrombie & Fitch is still buried in a deep hole.

So it would make good business sense — or at least just require common sense — for Abercrombie & Fitch chairman and CEO Mike Jeffries, who in 2008 received $71.8 million in total compensation, according to research firm the Corporate Library, to plow some money back into his company. After all, CEOs around the country have taken drastic pay and perk cuts to better fit the tenor of these tough times. For the good of Abercrombie shareholders, and the company's battered image, Jeffries, named one of the five Highest Paid Worst Performers of 2008 by the Corporate Library (his 2009 compensation has yet to be disclosed), is one guy who could use some scaling back."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1982247,00.html?xid=rss-nation-yahoo#ixzz0lMaa0MgE

... just one more way CEO greed hurts the bottom line. Just as I pointed out in LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY.

2009-04-17T18:37:00.002-05:00

More Empirical Support for Leading People the Black Belt Way

2009-04-15T07:00:00.003-05:00

Here's more empirical support for Leading People the Black Belt Way. This time, it's from Reuters Health, which reports,

"Poor team spirit at the workplace may do more than drag down morale, it can make people depressed, according to the findings of a new study published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine."

The study also showed an increased risk for anxiety, as well.

So here's how it works.

Emotionally UN-intelligent leaders create emotional disengagement throughout an organization.

Emotional disengagement undermines team spirit.

Poor team spirit makes people depressed and anxious, thus driving up healthcare costs and decreasing productivity.

In these tough economic times, can your organization afford increased costs and decreased productivity?

I thought not.

Blog Feature ...

2009-03-18T06:28:00.000-05:00

I was featured on a blog yesterday ....

New Managers Dealing with Former Peers

2009-01-28T13:39:00.003-05:00

In these tough economic times, some leaders are finding themselves being promoted above their peers ... and wondering how to deal with the fall out.

The best way to deal with former peers?

Be emotionally intelligent.

By using emotionally intelligent leadership skills, new managers can successfully transition from employee to manager.

*****

How do you handle friendships if you're now the boss?

Talk it through with your former peer. If you're interested in maintaining the friendship, be clear about when you're being "the boss" and when you're being "the friend."

Be willing to listen to what the experience of having a friend who is now a boss is for your former peer.

********

How do you respond to requests for special treatment?

Be honest. Say what you are able to do ... and say what you can't do.
If your former peer keeps pushing, adopt the "broken record/CD" strategy. Listen to what the person is saying, but continue to repeat your position in a non-defensive way ... "I'd like to help you out Bob, but I'm not able to do that for you."

*******
How do you manage the former peer without creating resentment,
especially if there is a performance problem?

Be pro-active. Don't wait until a problem develops. One of the first items on your agenda as a new manager should be to meet individually (if possible) with each of your former peers. In that meeting, have specific conversations about your interest in not having resentment in the department over your promotion. Then listen.

*******

Are you a new manager who wants to know more about how to handle former peers at work?

Email or call me for a consultation.

President Obama & the Black Belt Way

2009-01-27T11:16:00.003-05:00

It's still early in the process, but from all accounts, President Obama seems to have a leadership style very similar to the Black Belt Way.

In his first formal television interview, given to an Arabic-language TV network (Obama's choice of network speaks volumes right there), Obama said that he instructed former Senator George J. Mitchell, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East:

"What I told him is start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating," Obama told the interviewer.

Change the words "the United States" to "American business leaders", and you have the common stance of leadership in America.

Leaders ... want to succeed during these difficult financial times? Take a lesson from President Obama.

Listen.

Men, Power, and 2009

2009-01-06T14:53:00.002-05:00

It’s 2009 … and men have it tough.

Throughout Lake County and Cuyahoga County, around Northeast Ohio and across the country, many men are faced with increased stress, strain and struggles.

What can be done about it?

I’m honored to announce that I will be conducting a men’s workshop entitled, “The Power of Men,” with Dr. Phil Belzunce, Ph.D., N.D. at the world-famous Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.

Here’s the description of the workshop:

The Power of Men: Masculinity, Contact and Gestalt

Join a group of men in exploring how Gestalt principles inform our work. You'll investigate the power of embodied presence; effective integral strategies to use when working with men; the value of being relational in a culture that defines men in isolation; and issues of shame & belonging. We will improve our skills in working with other men, as we become more powerful men in deep contact with the world around us. Incorporating Gestalt methodology with inner work, outer connection, body process, engaged dialogue and lecture, this workshop is perfect for therapists, coaches, managers, supervisors, organizational leaders, and any man interested in exploring the power of men.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify three (3) strategies for working more successfully with men in American culture;

• Describe how relational, Gestalt-based, methodological interventions can decrease conflict while enhancing men's performance and health;

• Articulate the importance of understanding patterns of shame and belonging when leading men in therapy, coaching and/or in the workplace.
The cost for this weekend workshop is $125, and CEU’s are available.

I invite you to join Phil and I as we explore “The Power of Men” with men from around Northeast Ohio and the country.

Here’s a workshop flyer you can download.

Here’s a link to the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.

2009

2009-01-06T07:08:00.001-05:00

2008 was a year of disastrous leadership.

Let's hope 2009 finds more leaders willing to purse emotionally intelligence leadership practices like Leading People The Black Belt Way.

Leadership Book on College

2008-12-23T08:27:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I wrote about public libraries carrying my books. Last night I received an email from a reader who purchased my book LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY: CONQUERING THE FIVE CORE PROBLEMS FACING LEADERS TODAY at the bookstore at the University of California-Berkeley.

Leadership Books in Public Libraries

2008-12-22T14:54:00.002-05:00

Public libraries across the nation continue to purchase my books.

I recently heard from an interested reader who found my book The Way of Leading People: Unlocking Your Integral Leadership Skills with the Tao Te Chingin a public library in San Marcos, Texas.

Holiday Blues ...

2008-12-22T08:11:00.002-05:00

Wow. What a holiday season for businesses.

Toyota Motor Corps, one of the world's leading manufacturers of automobiles, is predicting a fairly significant loss ... it's first annual loss. Ever.

Retail sales are down. Significantly.

... and the U.S. government has no idea how banks are spending the $700 billion bailout we gave them.

Economically, this is shaping up to be a very difficult season, and 2009 will probably follow suite.

Unemployment Blogs

2008-12-17T12:55:00.000-05:00

As more and more leaders are dealing with issues around unemployment, a number of unemployment blogs are cropping up.

I find Unemploymentality to have interesting perspectives.

Looking for a Motivational Leadership Speaker?

2008-12-16T17:58:00.002-05:00

Want your organization to learn more about tomorrow's leadership strategies today? Are you looking for a motivational keynote speaker for a leadership event in 2009?

Timothy H. Warneka, author of LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY: CONQUERING THE FIVE CORE PROBLEMS FACING LEADERS TODAY and THE WAY OF LEADING PEOPLE: UNLOCKING YOUR INTEGERAL LEADERSHIP SKILLS WITH THE TAO TE CHING is an nationally recognized leadership expert and an in-demand speaker. An expert on Emotionally Intelligent leadership as well as the interconnection of spirituality and leadership, Timothy H. Warneka is an experienced inspirational speaker who provides powerful leadership insights to:

* Business leaders;
* Health care leaders;
* Life Coaches;
* Leadership Coaches;
* Tomorrow’s leaders at colleges and universities.
* Retreat Centers

Drawing on the power of Emotional Intelligence, Mr. Warneka will show your audience cutting-edge leadership science in ways that are entertaining and fun. Mr. Warneka speaks at:

* Professional conferences;
* Organizational conventions;
* Staff Development days;
* Team Retreats.

Timothy H. Warneka can customize the presentation your organization needs … anywhere from a 30 minute motivational speech to multiple days of in-depth leadership training.

Contact Mr. Warneka today by calling 440.944.4746

Review from the HINDU Business Line

2008-12-12T16:45:00.000-05:00

LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY: CONQUERING THE FIVE CORE PROBLEMS FACING LEADERS TODAY continue to gain stature around the world.

This book review just came in from The HINDU Business Line:

"Start Listening

Unlike the ineffective leader, when a skilled leader hears something he doesn’t like, he stops talking and starts listening, even more so than he was previously, writes Timothy H. Warneka in Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the five core problems facing leaders today.

You can’t learn anything about what’s going on in your organisation if you’re always talking, and trying to argue someone out of a perspective, Warneka advises. “If you ask a person whether or not he or she feels empowered and the answer is ‘no,’ then quietly ask ‘why’ and listen to what is said. You will inevitably learn something you did not know.” If, on the other hand, you become defensive and begin arguing how empowered the person should be feeling, then you were not ready to ask the question in the first place, the author avers.

Useful guidance."

Swallowing Economics

2008-12-08T18:43:00.001-05:00

Economics was one of my least-favorite courses in college, and I've tended to shy away from economic books since then. Given the enormous financial upheavals of the past six months, I've decided I better brush up.

Economist Paul Krugman impressed me during several of the pre-elections debates I watch on the media, so I've decided to start with him. When I start reading an author, I try to start with their early work and come up to date.

Hence, my notes on:

THE AGE OF DIMINISHED EXPECTATIONS
By Paul Krugman (1990).

“The beginning of action must, however, lie in understanding.” (p. xii)

There are only three important factors for the US economy:
1. Productivity.
2. Income Distribution
3. Unemployment

“Indeed, for the median American worker there has been no increase in real take-home pay since the first inauguration of Richard Nixon.” (p. 1)

“When Ronald Reagan was elected, the supply-siders got a chance to try out their ideas. Unfortunately, they failed.” (p. 16)

"[During the '80's] The ranks of the extremely well-off were reinforced by the vast fortunes made by traders and investment bankers on Wall Street and by huge increases in executive compensation. Meanwhile, the amount of sheer misery in America has surely increased much faster than the official poverty rate, as homelessness and drug addiction have spread." (p. 20)

“The 1980’s have been an era in which fabulous fortunes have been made in corporate finance.” (p. 154)

“Americans no longer expect much from their economy or from the politicians who manage it.” (p. 169)

“Looking back from the year 2010, we will surely marvel at our stupidity in 1990.” (p. 170)

Circuit City Files Bankruptcy ... Here's Why

2008-11-11T10:17:00.000-05:00

Circuit City announces bankruptcy . An article by AP states in part,

"Circuit City, which has had only one profitable quarter in the past year, has faced significant declines in traffic and heightened competition from rival Best Buy Co. and others. The company laid off about 3,400 retail employees last year and replaced them with lower-paid workers, a move analysts said could backfire, hurting morale and driving away customers."

Boy, did that strategy ever backfire.

Why did it backfire?

The executives of Circuit City ignored the importance of emotional intelligence. By laying off their highest-paid floor staff and hiring low-paid workers, they demoralized the sales staff, creating an enormous amount of emotional disengagement (for more on emotional disengagement, see my book LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY: CONQUERING THE FIVE CORE PROBLEMS FACING LEADERS TODAY).

As a consequent of emotional disengagement on the part of the sales staff, service suffered. I can personally attest to this, as several recent trips to Circuit City left me frustrated by either the unavailability or incompetence of the sales staff.

I'm not alone in these thoughts, either. This article by TIME magazine has the following to say about Circuit City's service:

"For many consumers, however, Circuit City's most obvious failing was its customer service. In March 2007, it announced plans to lay off its highest-paid hourly employees, including salespeople, and replace them with cheaper workers. That same year, then CEO Philip Schoonover received some $7 million in compensation. It may come as no surprise, then, that a quick Web search on "Circuit City complaints" brings up hundreds of thousands of entries."

A word to the wise to CEO's: Rather than focusing on your yearly bonus, focus on building emotional engagement in your staff ... especially those in sales.

A Brilliant Election Year Marketing Strategy

2008-10-15T18:24:00.000-05:00

7-11 has nailed a fantastic election marketing strategy, one that they've been running for years now.

Check it out.

It's brilliant because it ...

* gives people a choice
* has a tie in with USA Today newspaper
* sells more products
* is repeatable every four years.

... and SO much more!

Hats off to 7-11 for a brilliant marketing strategy.

Leadership and Emotional Intelligence

2008-10-01T07:33:00.000-05:00

If anyone doubts the importance of Emotional Intelligence for leaders, one only has to look at the emotional responses to the economic crisis of the past week.

Do emotions impact the bottom line?

Without a doubt.

Leadership in Economic Crisis: Seven Steps

2008-09-30T09:40:00.000-05:00

I've had several clients contact me about the psychological implications to the current economic crisis. Many leaders want to know how to handle this crisis in an emotionally intelligent way.

My advice?

Treat this crisis the same as any other crisis.

Leaders need to:

1. Keep calm.
2. Breathe.
3. Think clearly.
4. Get support for yourself.
5. Gather consensus.
6. Don't rush decisions.
7. Act decisively once decisions are made.

More Evidence of Employee Emotional Disengagement

2008-09-25T09:50:00.000-05:00

This article at CNN.com discusses the impact of 'daylighting' or people working more than one job at the same time.

The article by Ron Dicker states, "Many Americans are squeezing two jobs into one shift -- moonlighting by day, as it were -- as a hedge against a sagging economy or to maintain their style of living."

... and ...

"Shoehorning a second career into the same shift as your primary job is tricky -- and ethically questionable. Some workers do it with the approval of their superiors. But many do it in defiance of company policy (the main reason most "daylighters" interviewed preferred to remain anonymous) frustrating managers and human-resource executives."

As I wrote in my book LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY: CONQUERING THE FIVE CORE PROBLEMS FACING LEADERS TODAY, research consistently shows that between 70% - 80% of employees are working at far less than peak capacity because they are emotionally disengaged from their jobs.

The culprit? The epidemic of poor leadership across corporate cultures.

As long as leaders continue to ignore the emotional impact of their emotionally unintelligent leadership processes, daylighting will continue, erroding the emotional connection of employees even more.

Einstein said ...

2008-09-22T13:23:00.000-05:00

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius, and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction."
~ Albert Einstein

Sometimes Leadership Means Saying "No" ...

2008-07-30T09:23:00.000-05:00

Saying "no" as a leader can be a smart move.

Especially if your company is attempting to take on a well-established giant.

Take Dell Computers, for example. Reuters News reports that Dell has plans to take on the ever-popular Apple ipod. From a story based on a Wall Street Journal report,

"... the music player which Dell has been testing features a small navigation screen and basic button controls to scroll through music play lists, the Journal reported."

The story recalls Dell's previous failed attempts at leveraging the MP3 market:

"[Dell's device] would connect to online music services via a Wi-Fi Internet connection, and Dell would likely price the model at less than $100, the Journal said. Dell's first foray into the music market in 2003 was a huge disappointment. It withdrew from the music-player market after its DJ Ditty player failed to make major inroads."

I am predicting that this will be another failed attempt on Dell's part. There is little to separate their new MP3 player from the ipod, except for pricepoint. The mp3 market is already saturated with players in the $50 - $150 USD range.

With little to distinguish their product, I would have encouraged Dell's leadership to have said "no" to this project.

Time will tell.

... another thought ....

2008-07-11T15:41:00.000-05:00

"One must work and dare if one really wants to live."

- Vincent Van Gogh

Interesting Quote

2008-07-11T15:34:00.000-05:00

"I must continue to follow the path I take now. If I do nothing, if I study nothing, if I cease searching, then, woe is me, I am lost. That is how I look at it — keep going, keep going come what may.

But what is your final goal, you may ask. That goal will become clearer, will emerge slowly but surely, much as the rough draught turns into a sketch, and the sketch into a painting through the serious work done on it, through the elaboration of the original vague idea and through the consolidation of the first fleeting and passing thought."

- Attributed to Vincent Van Gogh

You're Invited ...

2008-06-20T11:00:00.000-05:00

... to an Open House at the Cleveland Aikikai (Aikido school) in Cleveland, Ohio.

If you're interested in the leadership approach that I discussed in my book Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today, then you owe it to yourself to visit the Cleveland Aikikai next Saturday, June 28, 2008.

Here's the information:

Cleveland Aikikai

Evolved from the ancient arts of the Samurai, Aikido is a modern martial art that emphasizes peaceful, non-violent conflict resolution – ending the at-tack without harming the attacker. While most martial artists are taught to only use their training in the event of an unprovoked attack, Aikido is also considered a spiritual path of self development with self defense techniques designed to prevent injury to the attacker. There are no competitions or tournaments in Aikido and students of all ages and physical abilities progress at their own pace.

• Aikido Demonstrated by Adults & Children

• Iaido—the art of drawing and cutting with the Japanese Sword

• Snacks & Refreshments

Date: 06/28/2008
Time: 10:00 AM—2:00

Located in Cleveland Heights on Mayfield Rd just west of Warrensville Center Road
Date: 06/28/2008
Time: 10:00 AM—2:00
For more information, call 440.725.9494

You can download a flyer here.

Don't miss this wonderful opportunity to learn more about Aikido!

Keynote Speaking in California

2008-04-29T06:59:00.003-05:00

Hi all!

I've been busy these past couple of days, presenting a keynote address in Long Beach, California. (I'm typing this at LAX as I wait for my flight home.)

I spoke to a group called the California County Information Services Directors Association (CCISSDA). The title of my speech was:

Collaborative IT Leadership: Are You Pushing, Pulling or Actually Leading People?

Great group of people ... and Long Beach is a beautiful city. I'm hoping to vlog a bit more when I get the chance.

My brother Patrick Warneka ... a professional photographer ... came along to shoot photos. Here's one of me from the night of our arrival.

Personal learnings from this trip? Breathe, stay flexible and listen carefully.

New Media Interview - The Black Belt Way

2008-04-21T22:32:00.000-05:00

I was recently interviewed at Web Wise Business by Chris Curtis. Chris and I talked about "Martial Arts Mindpower for Business."

Here's the interview:

Enjoy!

Tim

A Loss to the Music World ...

2008-04-21T21:45:00.001-05:00

I often listen to music when I am working. I particularly like blues and jazz, both style as mellow or rockin' as my mood permits. I've been super busy with business, so I was sadden to hear of the March 2, 2008 death of Toronto guitar player Jeff Healey.

One of my favorite tunes Jeff played with the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughn (not the best video quality in the world):

...and here's a heart-felt goodbye to Jeff, written by Nathalie Vanderheyden

My thoughts and prayers go out to Jeff's wife and children.

Today I'm Featured ...

2008-04-08T11:56:00.000-05:00

... on this terrific writing site.

Enjoy!

Contrarian Success ...

2008-04-04T10:03:00.000-05:00

Successful leaders understand that following the "latest and greatest" is not always the pathway to success.

Take Craigslist for example.

According to this article from ClickZ, points out the Craigslist, an on-line classified ad website, is poised to make over 81 million dollars this year.

The article quotes Classified Intelligence Principal Peter Zollman describing Craigslist as "...looking at a Web site from 1996," but there's no sense in fixing something that isn't broken. "They could change the look and feel," he said. "But, for many people, that wouldn't be an improvement...It's a very dated look and that's the way they want to keep it."

So while so many other companies scramble to increase their on-line sales with the latest and greatest technology, the leadership of Craigslist clearly follow a contrarian position:

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Investigating the Possibilities of Apple's Macbook

2008-03-21T13:22:00.001-05:00

I've been in the market for a new laptop computer, and several colleagues have suggested the new Macbook. After spending an enormous amount of time researching my choices (I've been using Windows-based computers for years), I've decided to make the switch to Apple.

Read my blog about transitioning from Windows to Apple

http://www.vistarefugee.com

Patrick is On the Move!

2008-02-25T15:52:00.001-05:00

Some people have emailed about contacting Patrick for some photography sessions. He's in the process of moving to a new loft space, so he's off the radar for a week or so.

Feel free to check out Patrick's powerful photography.

U.K. Blogger Focuses on LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY

2008-02-25T15:07:00.000-05:00

Josh MacArthur, a Management Consultant from the U.K. has some interesting comments to blog about my book, LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY: CONQUERING THE FIVE CORE PROBLEMS FACING LEADERS TODAY.

Mr. MacArthur (who I do not know) writes a fascinating blog called, "MacArthur's Rant: Human Resources, Organisations, and H.R. 2.0".

Visit Mr. MacArthur's blog here.

Tim

Writer Geek Side Note: Is "Organisation" with an "s" a British spelling? I've never seen it that way.

Embodied IT Professionals

2008-02-21T14:52:00.000-05:00

I had an insight while I've been preparing my keynote speech that I'm giving for the 2008 Spring Meeting of The California County Information Services Directors Association:

Leaders seem to only get upset at the IT department when the technology causes problems. Otherwise, IT is mostly invisible...

In the same way, most leader only pay attention to their bodies when the body causes problems.

For leaders, ignoring one's IT department or one's embodied experience is a certain recipe for problems.

Want to Talk to Humans?

2008-02-18T08:29:00.000-05:00

The bane of every business leader ... especially small business leaders ... is having to "talk to the computer." You know the scenario. Your on the road and you need to get something done. You call that major company, and you are told to say a number ... after number ... after number. How frustrating!

Call IVR, or Interactive Voice Response, by geeks in the know, leaders simply know it as a colossal time-waster.

You don't have to waste time anymore with this very cool website called

Get Human

This is a great site, and doesn't cost a cent to use.

I recommend it for every leader as a great time saver!

Self-Defense for Leaders, Corporate Travelers, & Mental Health Professionals

2008-02-15T08:20:00.001-05:00

AP Press posted an article on the tragic death of New York psychologist Kathryn Faughey, who was brutally murdered by her office, possibly by a client.

The article states,

"An attacker slashed Faughey 15 times with a meat cleaver and a 9-inch knife in her Manhattan office Tuesday evening. A psychiatrist who worked in the building, Dr. Kent Shinbach, came to Faughey's rescue and was badly injured."

Clearly the work of a sociopath in a rage, the article noted,

"Police also recovered three knives at the scene, including a 9-inch knife and a meat cleaver that were apparently bent from the force of the attack."

Sadly, these violent people are out there.

Leaders, Mental Health Professionals and Corporate Travels need to know what to do. Tim Warneka, CEO of The Black Belt Consulting Group, black belt martial artist and author of several best-selling books including: Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today; and Healing Katrina: Volunteering in Post-Hurricane Mississippi; and The Way of Leading People: Unlocking Your Integral Leadership Skills with the Tao Te Ching; and Black Belt Leader, Peaceful Leader: An Introduction to Catholic Servant Leadership has a program that fits your needs.

Tim Warneka offers Self-Defense Keynote Speaches & Training for Leaders, Corporate Travelers and Mental Health Professionals.

Let's keep Dr. Faughey's family in our prayers.

Our Leadership Books Featured by Midwest Book Review ... for the SECOND TIME!

2008-02-12T11:55:00.000-05:00

Important Book Reviewer Features Brothers’
Leadership Book for Second Time

Updated Chinese Leadership Classic Chosen by
Midwest Book Review for MBR Bookwatch Magazine.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Tim Warneka at 440.944.4746
P.O. Box 20
Cleveland, OH 44092
Tim [at] asogomi [.] com
http://www.asogomi.com

Cleveland, OH – February 11, 2008. Asogomi Publishing International and the Midwest Book Review are pleased to announce that Asogomi’s The Way of Leading People: Unlocking Your Integral Leadership Skills with the Tao Te Ching by brothers Patrick Warneka and Timothy H. Warneka has been selected for the Midwest Book Review on-line review magazine, MBR Bookwatch. This is the second time that Midwest Book Review has featured The Way of Leading People. The first time the book was featured on the MBR website was in the August, 2007, Small Press Bookwatch.

Patrick and Tim Warneka, the co-authors of The Way of Leading People are real-life brothers (Tim’s older). The Warneka brother’s interest in Chinese leadership strategies stems from the fact that they are both black belts in the martial arts. Patrick’s is in Tae Kwon Do while Tim holds ranking in Aikido. Tim Warneka contributed the writing, while Patrick Warneka added his award-winning photographs.

“We’re very proud to have The Way of Leading People selected by the Midwest Book Review,” said co-author Timothy H. Warneka. Keynote speaker and leadership expert Tim Warneka is author of several leadership books including the best-selling Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Leadership Problems Facing Leaders Today, and Healing Katrina: Volunteering in Post-Hurricane Mississippi and his newest book on Catholic Servant Leadership entitled, Black Belt Leader, Peaceful Leader: An Introduction to Catholic Servant Leadership. Tim’s book’s have sold around the world, and Tim is a well-known motivational keynote speaker across the country.

“The Midwest Book Review [MBR] is a well-known champion of independent presses,” observed Patrick Warneka. “Getting recognized by MBR is fiercely competitive, and I’m pleased that The Way of Leading People had the rare honor of being chosen for the second time.” Patrick Warneka is an award-winning photographer based out of Chicago, IL. One of the “Top 100” photographers on Art.com, Patrick’s past clientele have included The University of Michigan, Colgate and several prestigious law firms from the greater Chicagoland area.

Patrick and Timothy Warneka have recently announced their availability for keynote speaking. “We’re the only actual brothers we know of who provide keynote speeches together,” noted Tim. The Warneka brothers have made themselves available for speaking on creativity and the creative process. “Writing and photography both require creativity,” observed Patrick. He went on, “We know there are many conferences, associations put on by writers, photographers, graphic designers, painters, singers, musicians, dancers, martial artists and other creative types who are looking for qualified keynote speakers.” An experienced keynote speaker himself, Tim said, “Patrick is hilarious … and creative. You can see his creativity in his photographs. I know I’m his brother, but I personally think he’s a genius at photography. I’ve been trying to get him into keynote speaking for some time, and I’m glad he’s finally agreed.”

Here is the text of the review in full:

“’Let's play Follow the Leader!’ Perhaps you remember playing this game when you were younger. Didn't we all want to be the leader? In fact, were you disappointed when you weren't chosen to be the leader? We can't all be leaders all of the time. Imagine if we all wanted to be leaders in the workplace. You can't all be leaders as there has to be some followers. Perhaps you have been placed in a position of being a leader and aren't quite sure what qualities a leader should possess. What should a leader do in order to have his followers walk alongside him to success?

Are all leaders always successful? No, they aren't. It is a smart leader who realizes his mistakes, makes changes and leads others in the right direction. "The Way of Leading People" seeks to convey the Tao Te Ching method of leadership. It is over 2500 years old but remains effective to this day. Not only can these principles be utilized in business, but also in relationships and life.

"The Way of Leading People" is a soft-cover manual. This is not a textbook by any means. It is written in very easy-to-understand language and is sure to help any of its readers. There are 81 sections in content. Each section is written in poems with the ideas of Tao Te Ching clearly presented. Each section has black and white pictures of large skyscrapers and other abstract art to add to the ideas. It is sure to make you think and evaluate just what a successful leader is. This is an excellent book for anyone who is currently a leader, hopes to be a leader or is a follower who wants to help his leader become more effective. "The Way of Leading People" would make an excellent addition to the reference section of libraries of businesses and families alike.”
END

Need an author or book cover picture? Download your complimentary photos at:
http://www.wayofleadingpeople.com/pressroom.html

To read the February, 2008 Midwest Book Reviews, MBR Bookwatch, visit here:
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/feb_08.htm

To read the August, 2007 Small Press Bookwatch Review, visit here:
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/sbw/feb_07.htm

To learn more about The Way of Leading People: Unlocking Your Integral Leadership Skills with the Tao Te Ching, visit the book’s website here:

http://www.wayofleadingpeople.com

For more information about Catholic Servant Leadership:

http://www.catholicservantleader.com

For more information about Patrick Warneka’s award-winning photography:

http://www.patrickphotography.com

For more information about leadership keynote speaking and other leadership development opportunities, contact Tim Warneka at 440.944.4746 or visit him on-line at:

http://www.blackbeltconsultants.com

Is Dilbert Right?

2008-01-31T13:30:00.000-05:00

I'll confess: I love Scott Adams' Dilbert cartoon. So much what Scott reflects in his cartoon are truths that I see on a daily basis in organizations. Sometimes Scott Adams's humor is so right on target that I wonder if he had a camera hidden in the organization I was at.

In his newest book, "Dilbert's Guide to the Rest of Your Life: Dispatches from Cubliceland," a quote that stood out for me is found on page 53:

"If you steal a little bit of money,
you are a criminal.
If you steal a lot of money,
you're a leader."

In these days after companies such as Enron, WorldCom, so many people believe this to be true about leaders.

Prove them wrong. Discover the Black Belt Way.

Seeking a Creativity Keynote Speaker?

2008-01-22T22:22:00.000-05:00

Are you hosting a Creativity conference in 2008? Are you connected with a photography association, writers conference, martial arts exhibit or other creative event?

If so, you know that finding a keynote speaker is a HUGE task.

What if you knew not just one, but two excellent keynote speakers? And what if you could get two keynote speakers for what you would usually pay to get just one?

Well, now you can!

The creative team (and brothers!) of Patrick & Timothy Warneka, co-authors of the best-selling THE WAY OF LEADING PEOPLE: UNLOCKING YOUR INTEGRAL LEADERSHIP WITH THE TAO TE CHING, are pleased to announce their availability for keynote speech presentations in 2008!

For more information on THE WAY OF LEADING PEOPLE, visit the book's website:

http://www.wayofleadingpeople.com/

(Their mother must be so proud!)

An award-winning professional photographer, Patrick Warneka consistently ranks in the TOP 100 Photographers at Art.com website. You can learn more about him here. Patrick's breath-taking photographs form the centerpiece of THE WAY OF LEADING PEOPLE.

Co-author Timothy Warneka is an award-winning author of several internationally-acclaimed leadership books, including LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY: CONQUERING THE FIVE CORE PROBLEMS FACING LEADERS TODAY and BLACK BELT LEADER, PEACEFUL LEADER: AN INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLIC SERVANT LEADERSHIP and HEALING KATRINA: VOLUNTEERING IN POST-HURRICANE MISSISSIPI. Learn more about Tim here.

To celebrate their Keynote Speaking partnership, for a limited time you can get TWO Warnekas for the cost of ONE. For keynote speaking rates and additional information, please visit here.

Just think of the media buzz you'll create when you have a pair of actual brothers keynoting your event!

The Warneka brothers are booking now for 2008! Please call 440.944.4746 or email:

TWarneka [at] blackbeltconsultants [dot] com.

Looking for a Keynote Speaker for 2008?

2008-01-22T22:13:00.000-05:00

Planning a conference, retreat or annual event in 2008?

You know that selecting your keynote speaker is the most important part.

If you are planning an event for 2008, then you should consider leadership expert Timothy H. Warneka.

Every keynote Mr. Warneka presents is carefully created drawing from recent advances in Adult Learning strategies, Emotional Intelligence and principles from the revolutionary non-violent martial art of Aikido. Mr. Warneka's highly interactive approach will keep your participants engaged in the exact material you want covered!

An experienced keynote presenter, some of Mr. Warneka's most often requested keynotes include:

* Leading People the Black Belt Way

* Developing the Integral Organization

* Powerful Productivity Through Coaching

* Five Black Belt Strategies for Leading Diversity

* The Emotionally Intelligent Leader

* Three Secrets of Black Belt Leaders

Don't see the topic you're looking for? Email Mr. Warneka directly or call him at 440.944.4746 and find out how easy it is to have a customized keynote topic created just for your organization!
Mr. Warneka's 2008 calendar is filling up! Be sure to book him ... before it's too late!

To download Mr. Warneka's Keynote Speaker sheet and to learn more about how you can bring Mr. Warneka to your next event, please visit here.

You can contact Mr. Warneka by calling 440.944.4746 or by emailing him at:

TWarneka [at] blackbeltconsultants [dot] com.

Interesting Documentaries

2008-01-18T16:28:00.000-05:00

If you're like me, you're always interesting in learning more about something. Here's an interesting site for watching video documentaries:

http://www.freedocumentaries.org/

Have fun!

Interesting NEW MEDIA Commentary

2008-01-18T16:23:00.000-05:00

For those leaders who are watching the "new media" emerge and evolve, here's an interesting commentary from PBS:

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/

The new media shift is happening. Pay attention.

Citizen Journalism

2008-01-18T15:53:00.000-05:00

With the amazing advances in technology in the last 5 years, things are possible to do now that were never possible before. Witness the rise of what's being called Citizen Journalism, where everyday people with video recorders and other technology can create and distribute their own journalistic masterpieces (okay, not all of them are that hot, but hey, the technology is new!).

One fascinating site that is distributing the citizen journalism information is THE UPTAKE (found at http://www.theuptake.org/).

A fascinating trend that leaders will certainly be keeping an eye on.

Pricing Points & Perceived Value

2008-01-15T07:54:00.000-05:00

This interesting item in from Yahoo news ...

In a recent research study, people where given two samples of wine and told that one was expensive and one was not. The participants were then asked to rate the wines. People consistently rated the more expensive wine better. The problem is ... both samples were from the same bottle of wine.

Not only did the people self-report, they were also physiologically measured on an MRI. According to the article by Randolph E. Schmid,

The testers' brains showed more pleasure at the higher price than the lower one, even for the same wine, Rangel reports in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In other words, changes in the price of the wine changed the actual pleasure experienced by the drinkers, the researchers reported.

When people pay more for things, they perceive it as higher value. Perhaps we should call this the "Starbucks effect."

CEO's See Selves as Overpaid, Doing Well

2007-12-20T07:16:00.000-05:00

Yahoo News reports that in a recent survey taken by BNET.com reports that 64% of CEO's view current CEO pay scales as excessive (in contrast, 77% of employees believe CEO's to be overpaid).

Even more importantly, 50% of CEO's said that their leadership style was effective while only 38% of employees agreed.

These statistics are in line with my observations in my first book LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY, where I discuss the impact on the bottom line of poor leadership.

Catholic Servant Leadership

2007-12-04T14:53:00.000-05:00

I'm very excited about my newest book that is coming out in January, 2008. It's entitled Black Belt Leader, Peaceful Leader: An Introduction to Catholic Servant Leadership.

You can learn more at the website:

http://www.catholicservantleader.com

Peace,

Tim Warneka
Author: Black Belt Leader, Peaceful Leader: An Introduction to Catholic Servant Leadership

Integral Leadership Book Makes Earthpage Blog!

2007-11-02T11:25:00.000-05:00

Our new integral leadership book, The Way of Leading People: Unlocking Your Integral Leadership Skills with the Tao Te Ching -- a modern interpretation of the Tao Te Ching -- by Patrick Warneka and Timothy Warneka has been selected to be featured on Earthpage's blog.

You can read the blog here.

Are You Giving Your Customers What They Need?

2007-11-01T12:41:00.000-05:00

Amazon, that seller of everything on-line, recently did an amazing thing:

They gave their customers what they needed.

If you're like me, you use Amazon reviews quite extensively. Amazon reviews allows me to make a more informed purchasing decision because I can read feedback from people who are actually USING the products (Reading through the reviews, it's amazing how many things seem to NOT work with Microsoft's Vista OS.)

Always on the cutting edge, Amazon recently rolled out capabilities for video reviews. Problem was, hardly anyone was using them. So Amazon came up with a brilliant strategy:

they gave away free video cameras.

That's right. Amazon gave away $179.00 Flip Video Cameras. And they were smart about it ... they gave them away to people who consistently post reviews.

In other words, Amazon had set up a sales channel that wasn't working. Rather than abandon it, they chose instead to support it by giving people (customers, in this case) the materials they needed to get the job done. (I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall listening in on the negotiations between Amazon and Pure Digital, the makers of the Flip Video Camera!)

I got mine. Best of all, the give-away happened at a synchronistic time for me. Recently, I've been reviewing options to move into providing videos for my customers. The Flip Camera gives me an easy way to begin explore the digital video arena.

For years, I've been a big fan of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. I was a fan even when the naysayers in the late '90's said that Amazon would never amount to much. This camera give-away continues to support my belief in Amazon, and not just because I got a free camera. Rather, it is strategic moves like these that shows how Amazon is continuing to provide their customers a better way. Strategies like that will always win in the marketplace.

Go, Jeff!

BOTTOM LINE: Superior leaders make sure they give their customers what they need. It's called great customer service.

The importance of "emotional baggage" for leaders

2007-10-21T09:50:00.000-05:00

A leader recently emailed me about the importance of leaders dealing with "emotional baggage" - emotional leftovers that can arise as anger, frustration, etc. years after an event. This leader wanted to know how emotional baggage from the past might hurt him in his leadership role today.

His question got me thinking.

Whenever leaders ask me this question, I use the metaphor of physical wounds. If I'm cooking in the kitchen, and I cut myself with a knife, I may have to get several stitches. If the wound heals properly, two years down the road there will be a scar. If the cut is still festering and oozing disgusting fluids two years later, I am going to get the cut treated, because left untreated, that festering wound can make me very physically sick.

This analogy holds for leaders' psychology. If I go through an event that leaves emotional scars, what is called "emotional baggage" is what happens when our emotional wounds are festing and oozing emotional pus. The feelings of anger, frustration (or whatever feeling you experience in relation to this past events) ARE the emotional pus.

The best response when this "emotional pus" occurs is to manage the emotional wound with a coach. Working with a coach can help drastically descrease (or even remove) this emotional baggage.

So what happens when leaders ignore when their emotional wounds are oozing? They infect others around them, decreasing emotional engagement and employee performance.

Bottom Line: Effective leaders take care of emotional baggage from the past because they know doing so will make them even better leaders.

Leading the Next Generation of Employees

2007-10-19T07:38:00.000-05:00

Some Kansas State University professors and students are creating an interesting buzz in discussing the state of students today. You can watch the video on YouTube. The KSU blog is here.

A fascinating discussion of a vision of students today ... critical information for any leader will be hiring in the foreseeable future.

Best Leadership Practices .... Part 2

2007-10-18T06:17:00.000-05:00

In part 1 of this blog, I talked about keeping it simple. In part 2, we'll talk about another mission-critical task for leaders:

changing your consciousness.

Just as children learn to crawl, then walk, then run, so too do adults have developmental tasks they must achieve. These days, many psychological researchers including Robert Kegan and Ken Wilber are pointing out that the largest developmental task is broadening your consciousness.

Clam bake, anyone?

In a recent report in Nature magazine, scientist have discovered physical evidence that early humans held the technology to have a clambake ... over 164,000 years ago, which is far earlier than scientists had thought.

While is appears to be child's play today, the ability to have a clambake required a certain level of consciousness development. According to the article, it actually took thousands of years for that clambake technology to become widespread.

Unfortunately, we don't have 1,000's of years for new levels of consciousness to emerge. The well-established threat of global warming, and our continued use of violence to solve problems has put us on a race with the clock. There's no guarantee that humanity will survive.

Emerging levels of consciousness, referred to as post-rational (which I wrote about in my book The Way of Leading People: Unlocking Your Integral Leadership Skills with the Tao Te Ching) are what will get us out of this mess.
To be effective, leaders need to be on the forefront of consciousness development.

We'll talk more about consciousness development in the near future.

BOTTOM LINE: Best leadership practices for the 21st century include leaders developing their consciousness

New Leadership Prints!

2007-10-17T10:51:00.000-05:00

The Black Belt Consulting Group has teamed up with ImageKind to provide you with cutting-edge leadership prints. If you are interested in prints containing themes about Aikido, Integral Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, Conscious Leadership and other important leadership themes, be sure to visit:

http://timwarneka.imagekind.com/

Best Leadership Practices: Keep It Simple

2007-10-17T09:49:00.000-05:00

Best leaders keep it simple. In this terrific article by from The Chronicle of Higher Education, University of Virginia professor John D. Arras offers several simple and insightful leadership practices.

While professor Arras is writing about leadership in the classroom, his words can easily be applied to leadership in any organization. His thoughts on "teach thinking" (every position ... even in the same field ... needs people who can think); "Keep it Real" (every leader's goal); and "Paying it Backward and Forward" (You have great leaders in your life who taught you the ropes, didn't you?) should be required reading for every leader.

Bottom Line: Great leaders keep it simple.

How to Become a More Powerful Leader.

2007-10-15T11:54:00.000-05:00

Want to know how to become a more powerful leader?

Be willing to say, "I don't know."

Over the weekend, I got to watch the amazing movie "We Are Marshall," which tells the story of the Marshall University (W.Va.) football team who died in a plane crash in 1970 ... and how MU rebuilt their team.

Actor Matthew McConaughy plays Coach Lengyel -- the man who took the job that nobody wanted. Lengyel had to deal with the pain and grief of those who remained after the crash ... and the conflicting emotions that people held.

At several key points in the story, various characters ask Lengyel important questions, and Lengyel has the strength to answer simply, "I don't know." No psychobabble. No B.S. Simply, "I don't know."

BOTTOM LINE: When faced with emotional turmoil and chaos, powerful leaders have the internal strength to say, "I don't know."

Cleveland School Shooting

2007-10-11T06:41:00.000-05:00

My blogging is timely, it appears. My last blog was about "fundamental attributional error" that is often made around violence. Yesterday, there was a school shooting in Cleveland, Ohio at SuccessTech, an alternative high school. In the report by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, they report the chaos that ensued with the shooting. The Associated Press reports that the student had "mental problems."

All of which supports my previous premise that simple answers are rarely correct answers.

Leaders should understand this.

Bad Apples? A Fundemental Attribution Error Leaders Make

2007-09-28T09:08:00.000-05:00

Many leaders I've worked with often make the mistake of labeling "problem" teams or departments as "hopeless" or "worthless". By seeing the problem as occuring at the individual level rather than the organization level, these leaders are making a mistake.

A fundamental mistake.

Referred to by social scientists as a "fundamental attribution error," this error occurs when leaders attribute the source of problems to personal defects/flaws, while ignoring the larger systemic factors as play.

In an excellent article entitled, "Bad Apples or Sour Pickles?
Fundamental Attribution Error and the Columbine Massacre" authors Gary K. Clabaugh & Alison A. Clabaugh point out the fundamental attribution error that many leaders, including the FBI, made around the Columbine school shooting.

Bottom Line:
The next time you're tempted as a leader to blame the "bad apples," have the courage to step up to the plate and consider the organizational and systemic factors that might be supporting the "problem" behavior.

Are Aikido principles Effective? They’re Good Enough for the 21st Century Marines

2007-09-21T08:14:00.000-05:00

Are Aikido leadership principles effective? The U.S. Marine Corps. thinks so.

When the U.S.M.C. wanted to bring their soldiers into the 21st century, they tapped psychologist Richard Strozzi-Heckler, an Aikido instructor and leadership expert from Marin County, California, to bring Aikido principles to the Corps. Richard documented his experiences in his fascinating book, “In Search of the Warrior Spirit.” I read "Warrior Spirit" several times through while I was researching my "Leading People the Black Belt Way" book. I I highly recommend "Warrior Spirit" for anyone interested in leadership. (Which is why I am very proud that Richard was willing to write a foreword for my latest leadership book, "The Way of Leading People: Unlocking Your Integral Leadership Skills with the Tao Te Ching.")

In the past several years, the program that Richard began has been institutionalized into the Marine Corps. Currently called the Marine Corp Martial Arts Program taught out of the MACE (Martial Arts Center of Excellence), over 45,000 soldiers each year are taught some of the core underlying principles of Aikido.

The focus of MACE is three-fold:
1. Character development
2. Mental Discipline
3. Physical Discipline

The MACE program is being continuously refined and revised … and yet Aikido principles remain at their core.

Aikido leadership principles … if they are good enough for the Marine Corps, they’re good enough for YOUR organization.

Lonely employees, Emotional Engagement, and the Bottom Line

2007-09-14T10:50:00.000-05:00

A new article entitled "Genes Get Lonely Too" from Newsweek by Sarah Kliff reports the growing body of research that demonstrates that the experience of loneliness can cause people to become ill.

Importantly, the research shows that it is not only the actual state of being lonely, but the perception of being lonely can also trigger illness. The article states ...

" ... loneliness actually changes how the body functions at a molecular level. The research links feelings of social isolation to an alteration in the activity of specific genes—ones that put lonely people at higher risk for serious disease. And the study, published in the current issue of Genome Biology, also points to the startling fact that it is the perception of loneliness that triggers the adverse health conditions, independent of how much social interaction an individual actually has. Even someone with hundreds of “friends” on Facebook or at the office might think of herself as a lonely person."

So why is this study important for leaders? A simple syllogism:

Employees who are emotionally engaged work are not lonely.
Lonely employees are more likely to become ill, negatively impacting the bottom line.

Therefore, one way to improve the bottom line is for leaders to increase the emotional engagement of their employees.

How do leaders increase emotional engagement?

Many increase emotional engagement by reading my books, Leading People the Black Belt Way and/or The Way of Leading People

BOTTOM LINE: Lonely employees (read: emotionally disengaged employees) are a symptom of serious problems in your organization. Effective leaders improve their bottom line by increasing the emotional engagement of their employees.

Destroying Trust with the iPhone

2007-09-10T11:51:00.000-05:00

Did Steve Jobs make a historic blunder?

When asked about cutting the cost of the iPhone $200 (from $599 to $399), Steve Jobs offered up the rather lame excuse:

"In a letter on the company's Web site, Jobs acknowledged that Apple disappointed some of its customers and said he had received hundreds of e-mails complaining about the price cut.

Jobs added that "the technology road is bumpy," and there will always be people who pay top dollar for the latest electronics but get angry later when the price drops.

"This is life in the technology lane," Jobs said in the letter Thursday."

Mr. Jobs is playing with fire here: his customer's trust. Apple Computer has done a significant amount of work in the past decade to win it's small but vital marketshare from Microsoft.

Playing with your customer's trust might be the surest way to tank Apple. By dropping the price so soon after the much heralded iPhone roll-out, Steve Jobs is risking:

1. Highly dissatisfied customers ... who will be that much more reluctant to return.
2. Having new customers delaying their Apple purchases in hopes of even further price cuts.
3. Negative media buzz putting off customers who were riding the fence.
4. ... and so much more.

Bottom Line: Cutting the price of the iPhone this close to the release date was a dangerous strategy that will more likely HURT than help Apple's bottom line.

Even if you're not in the business of providing the latest technology, every leader should make certain that their business processes are not alienating more customers than they attract.

New Video about My Newest Book ...

2007-09-06T14:29:00.000-05:00

Here's a video preview about my newest book, THE WAY OF LEADING PEOPLE: UNLOCKING YOUR INTEGRAL LEADERSHIP SKILLS WITH THE TAO TE CHING:

... or click here:

More Research Supports LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY...

2007-07-29T20:53:00.000-05:00

A new survey from Salary.com suggests that workers who are emotionally disengaged from their work are less productive. Which is exactly the point I made in my first book LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY (the research in support of this point was overwhelming when LEADING PEOPLE was published ... and continues to grow.

The survey, as reported in Reuters, found:

"... about six in every 10 workers admit to wasting time at work with the average employee wasting 1.7 hours of a typical 8.5 hour working day.

it then went on to say:

The reasons why people wasted time were varied with nearly 18 percent of respondents questioned by e-mail in June and July said boredom and not having enough to do was the main reason.

The second most popular reason for wasting time was having too long hours (13.9 percent), being underpaid (11.8 percent), and a lack of challenging work (11.1 percent).

Leaders who are serious about building their bottom line will take note: emotional engaged employees are always better for the bottom line. Always.

As a leader, what have you done today to build emotional engagement?

We are family ... part II

2007-07-29T10:10:00.000-05:00

Previously, I wrote about the National Geographic article that described research showing how humans came from one source. Now Andrea Manica of the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology recently announced genetic research conducted that suggests human came from a single point in Africa. The article, by Ben Hirschler reported in Reuters on July 19th, 2007, continues and says,

The genetic evidence has always strongly supported the single origin theory, and now results from a study of more than 6,000 skulls held around the world in academic collections supports this case.
"We have combined our genetic data with new measurements of a large sample of skulls to show definitively that modern humans originated from a single area in Sub-Saharan Africa," said Andrea Manica of the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology.

Research continues to show that we are ... literally ... biologically related to each other. The person down the street and the person around the globe are all distant relatives. Every leader should think on this.

All things Harry ...

2007-07-20T07:30:00.000-05:00

As this weekend is the release of the 7th and final Harry Potter book, you can read about my blog on Harry Potter and Emotional Intelligence.

Enjoy the book.

Mindful Empiricism...

2007-07-13T12:59:00.000-05:00

A new meta-study released today reports the difficulty in drawing conclusions about the efficacy of meditation practices, inlcluding mindfulness.

With the headline of "Meditation Won't Boost Health: Study," the media immediately gets it wrong. Scientific research cannot say something "can't" be done; good research reports that there is no strong connection between two factors.

The meta-study, conducted by Maria Ospina and Kenneth Bond of the University of Alberta/Capital Health Evidence-based Practice Centre, in Edmonton reviewed a number of studies into meditation and took other researchers to task for essentially designing flawed studies.

Personally, I am convinced of the importance of meditation training. While it certainly is not a magical cure-all, I am certain that once meditation is studied under rigorous scientific conditions, it's impact will be validated.

I applaud the Evidence-based Practice Centre for pushing the boundaries of scientific studies forward!

Fascinating discussion of plagiarism

2007-07-06T08:33:00.000-05:00

As an author and coach/teacher, I am following with keen interest the current discussion on plagiarism.

I just came across this fascinating article by Malcolm Gladwell about plagiarism from the New Yorker. The article is from 2004, but still very relevant. Use YouTube to listen to the various songs when he gets to the discussion about plagiarism and music.

This is relevant for leaders as Mr. Gladwell opens up the discussion about looking at something seemingly as cut-and-dried as plagiarism.

Great stuff!

Tim

Generational Decoding Resource

2007-07-05T09:27:00.000-05:00

Want to know who Buddy Rich is? Do you know the words to the "Oscar Meyer Wiener" jingle? Curious about what band Michael Stipe is in?

Baby boomers. Generation X. Generation Y. Millenials.Today there are more generations in the the workforce than ever before. Trouble is, different generations have completely different points of reference. Important generational icons for one age group might be completely unknown to another.

The answer? Use Wikipedia.

An on-line open-source encyclopedia, wikipedia is an excellent resource for explaining all things cultural. As an open-source encyclopedia, wikipedia is open to input from everyone (including you!), so I would suggest caution in believing the specific facts that are given in any particular entry.

While perhaps not the best tool for research, wikipedia can quickly give you specific answers to cultural minutia that you hear around the water cooler.

BOTTOM LINE: Great leaders stay open to learning about what is important to each of the generations they work with.

answers:

a. Buddy Rich was a famous big-band and jazz drummer.
b. "Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Wiener, for that is what I'd truly like to be ..."
c. R.E.M.

Mindfulness Works!

2007-07-02T11:11:00.000-05:00

In an article from Live Science, researchers have discovered empirical evidence to support meditation and other mindfulness practices.

The article by Melinda Wenner describes new reseach completed at UCLA that,

"Brain scans show that putting negative emotions into words calms the brain's emotion center. That could explain meditation’s purported emotional benefits, because people who meditate often label their negative emotions in an effort to “let them go.” "

According to the article, the study's lead author, UCLA psychologist Matt Lieberman describes the study in these words:

“In the same way you hit the brake when you’re driving when you see a yellow light, when you put feelings into words, you seem to be hitting the brakes on your emotional responses,” Lieberman said of his study, which is detailed in the current issue of Psychological Science. "

Read the full article here:
http://www.livescience.com/health/070629_naming_emotions.html

BOTTOM LINE: Superior Leaders Practice Mindfulness.

Mindfulness on the Outer Banks ... a complimentary download.

2007-06-27T07:33:00.000-05:00

Mindfulness -- the ability to powerfully attend to the present moment -- is an important skill for every leader.

I recently had the opportunity to spend some time vacationing on the beautiful Outer Banks in North Carolina. During my vacation I was able to spend some time being mindful on the beach near Duck, North Carolina.

I recorded two mindfulness coaching sessions for leaders that I'm making available here. Both session were recorded right on the North Carolina beaches in Duck, so you'll hear the rolling surf and the wind and even a sea bird or two calling out as they fly overhead.

You are welcome to download either version and keep it in your iPod or other mp3 player for those times when you are stressed out as a leader. Also, please feel free to share these mindfulness moments with friends, co-workers and colleagues.

Short Version:
This version is about 2 minutes in length. Perfect for those times in-between meetings when you need an emotional boost. Download it here.

Long Version:
This version is about 15 minutes total. It's perfect for your morning commute or when you are waiting for that delayed flight. Download it here.

Enjoy!

2007-06-12T18:31:00.001-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Tim Warneka at 440.944.4746
P. O. Box 20, Cleveland, OH 44092
Tim@asogomi.com

http://www.asogomi.com

Seeing the Light:

Patrick Warneka's Photograph

Selected for International Photography Website!

Cleveland, OH, -- June 12, 2007 – When professional photographer around the world need supplies, there’s one place they go: Calumet Photographic. This week Calumet selected Patrick Warneka’s photographic work entitled “Millennium Night” for their exclusive “Photo of the Week.” “I am honored to have my work listed with the outstanding photographers that frequent Calumet,” said Warneka, a professional photographer and co-author of the newly released The Way of Leading People: Unlocking Your Integral Leadership Skills with the Tao Te Ching.

“I am excited that others can share in the beauty that I see around us in our daily lives,” said Warneka, whose clients include Colgate, University of Michigan and others. “The photo that Calumet selected was very similar to my photos in The Way of Leading People,” he said. Warneka’s new book, co-authored with his brother Timothy H. Warneka, updates an ancient Chinese leadership text for today’s global culture.

Warneka, a professional photographer who lives in Chicago, Illinois, says that his passion involves photographing urban landscapes. “There’s something very powerful about the structures around us,” he noted. “When the light is right, it’s that power I capture in my pictures.”

To view Warneka’s “Millennium Night”, visit Calumet’s website at:
http://www.calumetphoto.com

Warneka’s website can be found at:
http://www.patrickphotography.com

More information about Warneka’s book can be found at:
http://www.wayofleadingpeople.com

END

Need an author or book cover picture? Download your complimentary photos at: http://www.asogomi.com/pressroom.html

Tim Warneka selected as presenter at International Creativity Conference!

2007-06-07T12:07:00.000-05:00

I very excited to announce that I'll be presenting at the 2007 International Creativity Conference at the world-famous Gestalt Institute of Cleveland!

Here's the information .....

***************************************************************

Black Belt Keynote Speaker Selected to Present at International Creativity Conference

Motivational Speaker Blends Martial Arts, Emotional Intelligence for Creating Success

Cleveland, Ohio – June 8, 2007 – Black Belt Keynote Speaker Timothy Warneka has been selected as one of only 20 international speakers to present at the International Creativity Conference at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. Warneka, co-author of the new book The Way of Leading People: Unlocking Your Integral Leadership Skills with the Tao Te Ching will present “Celebrating Flow: How to Manage More Creativity than You Can Handle” for the conference being held in University Circle August 8 – 11, 2007.

“The conference planning committee for Gestalt & Creativity: An International Conference is pleased to welcome Mr. Warneka to the celebration,” says Sarah Toman, Ph.D, an Associate Professor at Cleveland State University and a member of the Creativity Celebration Planning Committee at the Institute. “I’m very honored to have been chosen to present to members of the world-wide Gestalt community,” said Warneka, a visiting faculty member at the Institute.

The conference features Margherita Spagnuolo Lobb as keynote presenter. Ms. Spagnuolo Lobb hails from Italy and is the editor of Creative License: The Art of Gestalt Therapy (Springer Verlag, 2003).

The Gestalt Institute of Cleveland was founded in 1954 by some of the earliest students of Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, Isadore Fromm, and Paul Goodman. It is the most well-established and largest institute in the world dedicated to the study of Gestalt theory to work with individuals, couples, families, groups and organizations.

The Institute’s website explains that the term Gestalt is a German word that means a complete pattern or perceived whole. “A Gestalt approach strongly encourages looking at the big picture,” states Warneka, who uses these principles in his keynote speeches for organizations. The president of the Black Belt Consulting Group, Warneka also holds black belt ranking in the revolutionary non-violent martial art of Aikido. “Gestalt and Aikido complement each other beautifully, and they both very creative.” observes Warneka.

A professional keynote speaker and author of several books, Warneka explained that creativity is a central theme of leadership. “My latest book, The Way of Leading People draws on 2500 year-old wisdom from China that explains how to be more creative as a leader,” stated Warneka. The book is available through the publisher Asogomi Publishing International as well as on-line book sellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Creativity Conference will be held at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland on August 8 – 11, 2007.

For more information about bringing Warneka to keynote for your organization’s next event, visit:

http://www.blackbeltconsulting.com/resources.html

For more information about Warneka’s books, visit the publisher at:

http://www.asogomi.com/

To learn more about Gestalt & Creativity: An International Conference visit the website for The Gestalt Institute of Cleveland’s at:
http://www.gestaltcleveland.org/index.html

-END-

Permission to Reprint

Need an illustration or author photo? Book cover and author images are available at:
http://www.asogomi.com/pressroom.html

Going International with Asogomi Publishing International

2007-06-07T08:06:00.000-05:00

My micro-publishing company is now truly international! Here're the details...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Micro-Publisher Lands Deal with Key International Publisher

Micro-Publisher’s Best-Selling Leadership Book Vaults into International Market

Contact: Timothy H. Warneka at 440.944.4746
P.O. Box 20
Cleveland, OH 44092
Tim@timwarneka.com
http://www.timwarneka.com/

Cleveland, Ohio – June 6, 2007 – Micro-Publisher Asogomi Publishing International announces landing its first international agreement with Pearson Education India. Pearson and Asogomi recently signed an agreement for Pearson to publish Asogomi’s best-selling book, Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today. Written by Asogomi’s president, Tim Warneka, Leading People the Black Belt Way describes the Black Belt Way, a new approach to leadership that draws from the science of Emotional Intelligence and principles from the revolutionary non-violent martial art of Aikido.

“It is an honor to be able to work with an illustrious publisher such as Pearson Education,” commented Warneka, who founded Asogomi in 2005 in order to bring more sophisticated leadership approaches into the field. Pearson Education won the Foreign Rights for publishing Leading People the Black Belt Way after a heated bidding war with another publisher in India. “We are quite happy to have won the bid for such an important leadership book,” reports Sonal Sharma, a representative of Pearson.

To learn more about Asogomi Publishing International, visit them on-line at:

http://www.asogomi.com/

Warneka’s books are $19.95 (paperback) and $29.95 (hardback) and are available from Asogomi Publishing International. Or send your business card and a check (U.S. fund only) payable to Asogomi Publishing International, P.O. Box 20, Cleveland, Ohio, 44092. Or call 440.944.4746.

The books are also available from your local bookstore as well as from on-line book sellers such as Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) and Barnes & Noble (http://www.bn.com/).

-END-

Permission to Reprint

Need an illustration or author photo? Book cover and author images are available at:
http://www.asogomi.com/pressroom.html

Latest Book Release!

2007-06-01T10:19:00.000-05:00

In co-operation with my brother Patrick Warneka, I am very proud to announce the release of my newest book!

Our book, entitled The Way of Leading People: Unlocking Your Integral Leadership Skills with the Tao Te Ching is the result of an exciting collaboration between Patrick's photographs and my writing.

Here's some information about the book from the publisher, Asogomi Publishing International:

Are you ready to lead people into tomorrow? Every generation has its leadership classics, but did you know that one classic surpasses them all? Only the TAO TE CHING—written in China over 2500 years ago by the celebrated scholar Lao Tzu—has been translated more often than any text except the Bible. Succeeding as a leader in today’s global economy requires your understanding of Master Lao’s practical leadership wisdom: accept what is; flow with the natural order of things; be alive to the present moment.

Prepare yourself for some pleasant surprises. Authors Patrick Warneka and Timothy H. Warneka—leadership experts and martial artists—have updated Lao Tzu’s classic leadership strategy, aligning it with today’s global realities. With a powerful foreword by well-known author Richard Strozzi-Heckler, THE WAY OF LEADING PEOPLE is the perfect gift for that special leader in your life. Inspired by the modern urban landscape, THE WAY OF LEADING PEOPLE will unleash your integral leadership skills ... while teaching you how to successfully lead people into tomorrow.

For more information about the book, or to download some examples of Patrick's fantastic photography, visit the book's website at:

www.wayofleadingpeople.com

Is "Process Worship" Killing Your Organization?!?

2007-05-24T22:48:00.000-05:00

process worship (proc-es wur-ship): 1. The act of valuing 'the way things are done' over any actual outcome. 2. Strongly adhering to bureacratic rules even in the face of disaster.

In an article on yahoo today, a report requested by the U.S. Pentagon reports that U.S. Marines on the front lines in Iraq are not getting the supplies they need due to bureacratic entanglements.

The report was supposed to be presented in March 2007, but according to the article by Richard Lardner,

"The presentation was canceled by Marine Corps leaders because its contents were deemed too contentious, according to a defense official familiar with the document. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it publicly."

Is your organization suffering from process worship? As a leader, how do you know?

You can find out in the same way this report did: by asking the operators in the field. Whether you have an international sales force or your entire team works out of one office, you can learn about bureacratic SNAFU's if you listen openly to the people on your front line.

Bottom Line: Smart leaders eliminate process worship because it slows their organizations down. In today's global economy, slow organizations are ineffective organizations.

Leading People the Black Belt Way book review...

2007-05-14T14:25:00.000-05:00

"If you’re looking for a goldmine of timeless leadership treasures, you’ll want to add Leading People The Black Belt Way to your collection..."

So begins this review of Leading People the Black Belt Way by Lora Adrianse.

Other excerpts from Ms. Adrianse's blog include:

"... This book is a great investment because it’s jam packed with hidden gems. It’s so content rich that he could have easily broken it down to several smaller, simpler books. Warneka clearly put his heart and soul into this piece of work..."

... and ...

"... If you couldn’t put down Daniel Goleman’s books on emotional intelligence, you’re likely to be thrilled with this book. On the other hand, if you found Goleman’s books to be great reference material versus engaging and inspirational, you’ll likely feel the same way about this one..."

You can read Ms. Adrianse's full blog here.

Bellowing Dinosaurs: The Perils of Listening to Academic Advice

2007-05-11T12:44:00.000-05:00

College people are smart, so college professors are even smarter, right?

Not always.

Today's world is moving fast (you know this), and many tenured academics have not been in the workforce for 10, 20 or even 30 years. Insulated (and often isolated), these educational professionals have the job security of tenure have very little incentive to change the status quo. In fact, it is often best for them to protect the status quo, because that is what will keep students headed in their direction, keeping them employeed.

Tenure is killing today's academic world. But that's a discussion for another time.

With the rotting infrastructure that tenure can create, more often than not the voice of academia is the voice of the dinosaur, who, like Tyrannosaurus Rex in the movie Jurassic Park, would bellow loudly at anything that threatened the status quo.

Like newspaper reporting.

My brother (and co-author of a new book) Patrick just alerted me to an article on Yahoo News about James Macpherson, editor and publisher of the two-year-old Web site pasadenanow.com in Pasedena, California who is outsourcing stories to reporters in India.

Entrepreneurs, as many of you know, are a hearty breed who need to be flexible and adaptive ... everything that academics are not.

Mr. Macpherson, our entrepreneurial hero in this tale is reported as saying (all quotes are from the article, which was written by AP writers Justin Pritchard and Matthew Rosenberg):

"I think it could be a significant way to increase the quality of journalism on the local level without the expense that is a major problem for local publications," said the 51-year-old Pasadena native. "Whether you're at a desk in Pasadena or a desk in Mumbai, you're still just a phone call or e-mail away from the interview."

Amen, Mr. Macpherson! Good for you for recognizing the reality of the global community in which we live!

Now, let's look at what the dinosaurs say:

"Nobody in their right mind would trust the reporting of people who not only don't know the institutions but aren't even there to witness the events and nuances," said Bryce Nelson, a University of Southern California journalism professor and Pasadena resident. "This is a truly sad picture of what American journalism could become."

Spoken like someone who has known an institution for far too long. These days, most employees, including reporters, stay at their jobs these days for less than 5 years. So where are the nuances?

Let's continue...

"It is a shaky business proposition as well, said Uday Karmarkar, a UCLA professor of technology and strategy who outsources copy editing and graphics work to Indian businesses. If the goal is sophisticated reporting, he said, Macpherson could end up spending more time editing than the labor savings are worth."

Why? Professor Karmarkar seems to be implying that Indian reporters are not capable of sophisticated writing. Rather elitist, no? There are no reporters in India who can write? Um....does Professor Karmarkar understand we're living in a global village?

I say, "GO, James Macpherson! Bully for you for being willing to innovate!"

Bottom Line: The next time you read about an academic pontificating--especially when said blathering has to do with the cutting-edge of business development--beware. Remember that many tenured faculty are little more than bellowing dinosaurs: low on practical marketplace experience and high on protecting the status quo. Listen to what they have to say, but take it with a LARGE helping of salt.

Science Confirms Human Relatedness

2007-05-10T22:27:00.000-05:00

The media must have missed this one in its strident attempts to catalog the latest Paris Hilton escapades....

A very important story for all leaders appeared in the March 2006 issue of National Geographic (okay, I'm writing this in May, 2007 ... I'm a bit behind in my reading. :-).....

In an article called "The Greatest Journey," National Geographic research James Shreeve states:

"Scientists now calculate that all living humans are related to a single woman who lived roughly 150,000 years ago in Africa, a "mitochondrial Eve." She was not the only woman alive at the time, but if geneticists are right, all of humanity is linked to Eve through an unbroken chain of mothers." (p. 62).

This is ground-breaking, earth-shattering information. Each and every one of us -- every single human you pass today -- is related. The taxi cab driver who drove you to the airport is a distant cousin. The CEO's secretary is a long-lost aunt.

This information is revolutionary because science has now confirmed what most World Wisdon Traditions have been saying for years ... that we are all part of the same family, or, as Mr. Shreeve states in his article, "Increasingly refined DNA studies have confirmed this opening chapter of our story over and over: All the various shaped and shaded people of Earth trace their ancestry to African hunter-gatherers." (p. 62)

So, you might ask, what difference does this make for leaders? I'll suggest that the difference is enormous, because it brings up this very important question:

Now that you know everyone on the planet is related to you, will you treat people the same way you did before?

Think about it.

Leading the Earth...

2007-05-08T09:39:00.000-05:00

On my Healing Katrina blog, I discussed an article about global warming. You can read it here.

Bottom Line: Great leaders take the Earth and future generations into account when they make leadership decisions. Poor leaders do not. It's that simple.

Cleveland Bridges NOT Falling Down...

2007-04-30T15:26:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday morning, my family and some friends ventured down to the area around the Cleveland zoo, where the city had announced that they were going to demolish a bridge that was almost 100 years old.

For those of you who have never been to the Cleveland Zoo, when you walk through parts of the zoo, you walk under this enormous old bridge. I remember being very young walking under that bridge.

I will miss that bridge ... there was something strangely comforting about walking under the shade of that structure on a hot and sunny visit to the zoo.

But back to Saturday.

Over 700 pounds of explosives were supposed to be detonated at about 8:00 a.m. EST, causing the bridge to collapse in about 5 seconds.

The problem was: it didn't happen that way. It took several attempts to blow up the bridge, and my understanding is that part of it is still standing today, three days later.

Here's a video from YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g_ndpXYRp8

The lessons for leaders?

How something is planned and how that same plan is execute are often two very different things. Emotionally intelligent leaders plan for such a series of events.

Leaders and Maps

2007-04-20T09:30:00.000-05:00

In November 2007, the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History will be presenting what promises to be a spectacular cartography exhibit entitled "Maps: Finding Our Place in the World."

As reported by Yahoo News, the exhibition promises to focus on how maps reflect the reality of the mapmaker.

As the article quotes:

'"Any map," said exhibit curator Robert W. Karrow Jr., the Newberry's curator of maps, "even a modern map, even the most scientifically rigorous modern map, comes packed with a whole bundle of cultural propositions that regulate how it's going to look."'

Why is this important for leaders?

Whether you are leading a team of explorers across the Polar Ice caps or managing a team of lawyers in New York City, every leader needs to be aware of their own 'cultural propositions'--which I called worldviews in Leading People the Black Belt Way. These worldviews can be particularly damaging to organizations when leaders use them without examining them.

As a leader, how aware are you of your 'cultural propositions'?

The fate of your organization may rest of your answer.

A must-read book for every leader!

2007-04-18T06:51:00.000-05:00

I'm very excited! Dr. Riane Eisler, an author who's work has profoundly influenced my own, just announced a new book entitled The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics. I've even had the priviledge of speaking to her and I've found her to be warm, caring and deeply committed to making this world a better place.

Based on what I've read about Dr. Eisler's book, it's sure to be important reading for every leader.

The Real Wealth of Nations is available on Amazon and through other booksellers right now.

Here's the announcement about The Real Wealth of Nations:

FOR RELEASE APRIL 16, 2007:
BESTSELLING AUTHOR RIANE EISLER INTRODUCES THE REAL WEALTH OF NATIONS: CREATING A CARING ECONOMICS

Los Angeles--April 16, 2007-- Dr. Riane Eisler first captured world attention with her bestselling book, The Chalice and the Blade. With her new book, The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics (Berrett-Koehler Publishers; ISBN-13: 9781576753880, $24.95, April 2007), she offers a new way of thinking by transforming "the dismal science of economics" into a practical plan for solving global warming, poverty, and terrorism. Hailed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as "a template for the better world we have been so urgently seeking," by business guru Peter Senge as "desperately needed," and by Gloria Steinem as "revolutionary,' The Real Wealth of Nations proposes a "caring economics" that is more cost-effective, humane, and sustainable.

"My work has been moving more and more toward practical solutions," said Eisler. "Present economic systems, both capitalist and socialist, aren't solving our problems - from chronic poverty and environmental devastation, to the loss of good jobs in the US and the stress put on families by the absence of decent parental leave. We have to start with basics: that the real wealth of nations isn't financial; it's the contributions of people and nature."

The Real Wealth of Nations details a new strategy for an economic system that gives visibility and value to the most essential human work: the life-sustaining work of caring and caregiving whether it's done in the home or the workplace. Eisler cites powerful statistics regarding the real value of the unpaid work in households. A 2004 Swiss government survey reported the value of this work at 162 billion Euros or 190 billion dollars (US) - 70 percent of Switzerland's reported gross domestic product. Salary.com estimated that a fair wage for a typical stay-at-home parent would be $134,471 (US) a year. But while this is compelling, Eisler says that there is much more that we have to pay attention to. In The Real Wealth of Nations, Eisler provides examples of how the current economic system in the US is achieving negative results: In its 2004 Global Competitiveness Report, the World Economic Forum found that the US trailed the much smaller Finland in economic competitiveness, which Eisler shows is largely due to the fact that Nordic nations, where women have higher status, invest in their human capital, starting in early childhood and the US does not. According to a 2006 CIA report, the US ranked 42nd in child mortality, behind Cuba and many other poorer nations because money is allocated for prisons, weapons, and wars, and not healthcare, childcare, and other caring activities.

Eisler provides in her book a structure for business leaders and politicians to transform our economic system into one that values human effort and nature and leads to improved levels of health and education among people of all socioeconomic strata, reduced employee turnover and absenteeism, environmental health, and greater productivity for businesses and our country. She provides hard evidence to show that companies with caring policies achieve a higher return on their investment for shareholders. For example, one study showed that offering employees childcare yielded a return on investment of 521 percent in four years.

Eisler, who as a child fled Austria with her family during Nazi occupation, has been on a lifelong quest to probe the human condition, examine the root causes of many of society's challenges, and provide solutions for them. Her other books include the award-winning The Power of Partnership and Tomorrow's Children, Sacred Pleasure, a reexamination of sexuality and spirituality, and Women, Men, and the Global Quality of Life, which documents the key role of the status of women in a nation's general quality of life.

Eisler holds degrees in sociology and law from the University of California, taught pioneering classes on women and the law at UCLA, and is a founding member of the General Evolution Research Group (GERG), a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science and World Business Academy, and a commissioner of the World Commission on Global Consciousness and Spirituality, along with the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and other spiritual leaders. She is co-founder of the Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence (SAIV), www.saiv.net and president of the Center for Partnership Studies, www.partnershipway.org, dedicated to research and education. She is also the author of over 200 essays for both popular and academic publications.

The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics will be available April 16 at major booksellers everywhere.

When Will We Decide to Protect Ourselves....

2007-04-17T08:43:00.000-05:00

Population of Great Britain & Wales: 53 million.

Number of homicides involving firearms last year: 46.

Population of New York City: 8 million.

Number of homicides involving firearms last year: 579.

The difference? Gun control laws.

What's it going to take, America?

Cherry Blossoms & Leadership

2007-04-16T16:11:00.000-05:00

I had a speaking job in Washington, D.C. this past week, so I took my family along. We spent the weekend with my kids (ages 12 and 9) touring the Mall. I saw the WWII monument for the first time, and was powerfully moved in showing my children the Vietnam Memorial and the Korean War memorial. At the Vietnam Memorial, a park ranger gave one of the best presentations I have ever heard in my life (and I give keynote speeches and train people for a living!). There was also a vet from Maine who shared a few stories about his time in Vietnam.

All in all, a very powerful experience. I was deeply moved by the many people who sacrificed their lives for a greater purpose.

After visiting the Mall, we walked over to the FDR memorial (and saw a few waning cherry blossoms!). The FDR memorial reminded me the powerful sweeping changes that a leader ... and a people ... can achieve when they set their hearts to it. In my lifetime, we've never seen such sweeping changes that FDR and others wrought ... and in my humble opinion, we need such sweeping changes now more than ever.

As a leader, what are you giving your life for? Most of us do not have the honor of laying our lives down for our country or our families, but many leaders have -- in their own quiet ways -- equally important impacts on the future generations.

As a leader, make sure you give your life for what matters to you most.

On Creating a Corporate Culture of Fear

2007-03-30T12:48:00.000-05:00

Are employees in your organization afraid?

If so, as a leader new research should give you a reason to worry. This month the Journal of Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience published a research article entitled:

"Learning fears by observing others: the neural systems of social fear transmission"

in which the authors discovered "...that fear acquired indirectly through social observation, with no personal experience of the aversive event, engages similar neural mechanisms as fear conditioning."

Which essential means that if your organization supports a culture of fear it will impact the bottom line. For example, if employee "A" has a run-in with an emotionally dysfunctional leader, not only will employee's brain begin to re-wire into a fear response, other employees's brains will also begin to re-wire into a fear response.

Fearful employees are emotional UNintelligent employees. Fearful employees are at higher risk of becoming emotionally disengaged with your organization, which creates a signficant drain on your organization's bottom line.

For those readers who are interested, you can read the full abstract of this important research article here.

BOTTOM LINE: Any Organization with a Culture of Fear is an Unprofitable Organization.

The Integral Equivalent of Teaching Emotional Intelligence...

2007-03-26T13:35:00.000-05:00

A Norwegian TV show recently posted this very funny skit on YouTube. My IT colleagues who work at various HelpDesks find it hilarious. From an integral coaching perspective, I find the same thing happens when I'm coaching people in building their Emotional Intelligence...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFAWR6hzZek

Enjoy a laugh today!

:-)

Tim

A Ph.D. in .....what?!?

2007-03-26T11:58:00.000-05:00

A colleague recently told me that she was going to get her Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship ...

... and she's never owned a business.

Is it me, or is that a little weird?

She's going to learn about the rigors of the marketplace by sitting in a classroom and writing a dissertation?

IMHO, she'd be better off starting her own business.

Everyone who has owned a business for more than five years qualifies for a Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship.

Living for the 70's....

2007-03-20T17:23:00.000-05:00

When I consult with organization, sometimes the process requires me to interview various employees up and down the management chain.

I was recently consulting for a mid-size company, and as I walked around I consistently heard employees proudly say:

"We do things here the same way we did them 30 years ago!"

one variation even went:

"We do things the same way we've been doing them for years ... except that we have email now!"

(Honest. Someone actually said that.)

Um...............

See the problem?

Unless you're a maker of 70's fashion, doing things the same way you did them 30 years ago is a serious problem. Processes that are 3 decades old are not points of pride--they are red flags that something has been seriously missed.

BOTTOM LINE: Emotionally Intelligent leaders listen carefully for signs of stagnation in their organization. Stagnation means the same thing as "someone else will eat our lunch".

Harry Potter as Leader

2007-03-09T13:48:00.000-05:00

To learn more about the leadership qualities of Harry Potter (and to read my predictions about "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", the final book in J.K. Rowling's best-selling series), visit my blog about Harry Potter here.

Whew! Finally back!

2007-02-21T15:45:00.000-05:00

Hi all!

My apologies to my regular reader ... been experiencing some technical difficulties, but they seem to be resolved.

I'll be back to blogging regularly quite soon!

Regards,

Tim

GREAT Idea, BAD Execution....

2006-12-04T18:04:00.000-05:00

"What IS this?!?"

My client, Karen, flipped the envelope across the desk with disgust. The long white envelope slid to a stop in front of me, with the word "Karen" written across it in a beautiful feminine script.

"What's wrong?" I asked Karen.

"The president of our company just sent us all holiday cards."

"...and...," I asked, more than a little puzzled.

"The cards are embossed inside with the president's name and the name of our company."

"So what's bugging you?" I asked, still confused.

"THE PRESIDENT PROBABLY NEVER TOUCHED THESE CARDS!" Karen shouted. "I expect to get these kind of cards from my car dealer ... but the president of my own company?"

"Well," I offered, "at least she signed your name on the envelope."

"Our president," said Karen quite dryly, "is a man."

****************

Karen's frustration points out a common dilemma among employees these days. So many employees--from division managers down to line-staff--are starving for personal recognition. By sending these coldly embossed (albeit beautifully) cards to his employees, the president of the company was blowing his chance to build emotional engagement in his company ... and the bottom line will suffer.

Great leaders recognize the importance of personal recognition. While few company presidents have time to sign Christmas cards by hand, leaders in organizations need to be careful...because--as in Karen's case--sometimes a Christmas card can destroy emotional engagement rather than build it up.

(above names and details have been changed to protect confidentiality).

BOTTOM LINE: SUPERIOR LEADERS PAY ATTENTION TO MAKE SURE THAT BAD EXECUTION DOES NOT DAMAGE A GREAT IDEA.

Holiday
Christmas
Leadership
Emotional Engagement

A Little Nonsense Now and Then.....

2006-12-04T18:03:00.000-05:00

...is relished by the wisest of people.

'Tis the holidays, and nothing says "Christmas" more than the Transiberian Orchestra and someone with too much time on their hands....

Watch the video.

This scene always brings a smile to my face.

BOTTOM LINE: Smart leaders make time for silliness and humor.

tags:
Leadership
humor
Transiberian Orchestra
Christmas lights

A Little Nonsense Now and Then.....

2006-12-04T17:22:00.000-05:00

It's SO Satisfying....

2006-11-27T13:42:00.000-05:00

"The quality of relationships has a far bigger effect [on happiness] than quite large rises in salary..."

These are the words of economist Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in England. A recent AP Science article discussed the connection between money and happiness. While many leaders seek to build salaries at the expense of relationships, the latest research is now showing that relationships have a larger effect on life satisfaction than money does.

While there is nothing wrong with making a 6-figure (or better) salary, wise leaders make sure they take an emotionally intelligent approach to their income ... by focusing on the importance of their relationships.

PLUS, as I mentioned in Leading People the Black Belt Way, a better way to lead is to use Both/And thinking. For leaders, it's not the question of either building better relationships OR making high salaries. The better question that leaders can ask themselves is .... "How do I do both?"

The answer: focus on relationships.

When you focus on relationships at work, you'll have employees who are more emotionally engaged. Emotionally engaged employees are more productive, which is better for YOUR bottom line.

BOTTOM LINE: Smart leaders focus on building better relationships. Better relationships create emotionally engaged employees ... which improves your bottom line.

tags:
Emotional Intelligence
Money and Happiness
Emotional Engagement

A Ounce of Prevention ... or a Pound of Financial Loss?

2006-11-24T17:41:00.000-05:00

Say it isn't so.

The retail giant Walmart didn't know that lots of people were going to be visiting their website today?!?! In this AP article, Walmart's website crashed due to too many visitors.

Memo to Walmart Execs:

People tend to shop on the day after Thanksgiving (aka "Black Friday").
A lot of people.
Might want to build up that IT department a bit.

My guess is that Walmart won't be releasing figures on the financial damage (hint: average the total web sales for hours), but the figures could easily run into the millions. Imaging losing millions of dollars in sales because your website is down. Now imagine you have an IT department the size of Walmarts.

An ounce of IT prevention could have prevents a pound of financial loss.

BOTTOM LINE: Great leaders pay attention to the ounce-of-prevention rule.

tags:
Walmart
Black Friday
Cyber Monday

Sometimes the customer is NOT always right

2006-11-20T08:33:00.000-05:00

If the customer is always right, then the makers of both Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii would have stocked a lot more games.....

...and gotten less publicity.

As large as these corporations are, it seems impossible to believe that they couldn't make accurate market forecasts. The reasonable conclusion to draw, then, is recognizing that "coming up short" is an effective marketing strategy.

Imagine how much it would cost to create a marketing campaign that almost everyone would be talking about. Far too much money.

Instead, by keeping distribution of these games relatively limited, these gamemakers have received extensive media coverage as the media talks about ...

... people waiting all night in lines.
... game consoles going for over 400% retail on ebay.
... the hue and cry over people not getting one.

BOTTOM LINE:Smart leaders know receiving media coverage that money can't buy is one brilliant reason to realize that the customer is not always right.

tags:
Playstation 3
Wii
Ebay

Core Problem #5 ... in the news

2006-11-06T08:49:00.000-05:00

In my book Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today, I wrote about Core Problem #5:

Organizations lose viability when they follow the old structures that serve people at the top first.

Here's a perfect example of Core Problem #5 in the media. In his OpEd column, Washington Post columnist Colbert King writes about Colin Powell's book My American Journey as well as Bob Woodworth's State of Denial.

In his column, Mr. King explores Colin Powell's beliefs that his generation of military top brass would never make the same mistakes that were made in Vietnam.

While I respect General Powell tremendously, clearly he was wrong. Mr. King points out how we are making the exact same mistakes in Iraq.

What went wrong? Did General Powell's generation go bad?

Not by a longshot.

As I point out in Leading People the Black Belt Way, it's not the people, it's the system. Corrupt systems create corrupt decisions. By having a military and political system that serves people at the top first, we will all be paying for the mistakes made in Iraq.

Don't make the same leadership mistake.

BOTTOM LINE: Great Leaders create healthy systems.

tags:
Bob Woodworth
Colbert I. King
Colin Powell

Kickin' it on Amazon...

2006-10-30T11:52:00.000-05:00

HEALING KATRINA has been re-released with a new sub-title. It's now available on Amazon.com.

Here's the new cover:

tags:
Katrina
Hurricane
Volunteering

Ebay goes MySpace ...

2006-10-23T13:44:00.000-05:00

On-line powerhouse Ebay recently launched its own version of MySpace, calling it "My World".

With the ease of duplicating digital processes, few processes stay proprietary very long these days. Will Ebay dillute its brand too far by offering things people don't want? Or will Ebay become even stronger?

No one knows.

This is important, so I'll say it again: No one knows.

In my book, LEADING PEOPLE THE BLACK BELT WAY, I talk about leading through the power of mistakes and limitations. In order to succeed as a leader, you need to be willing to make mistakes. Ebay's MY WORLD might be a global success or a phenomenal flop, but the leaders of Ebay should be commended for being willing to take risks.

BOTTOM LINE:Powerful leaders take risks.

tags:
Ebay
My World
MySpace

Want Marketing? Send Children Towards the Gun...

2006-10-14T07:59:00.000-05:00

According to Yahoo News,A security firm that trains schools has announced that they are training children to ATTACK any person carrying a gun that enters a school.

According to the article, the spokesperson for the company stated:

"Getting under desks and praying for rescue from professionals is not a recipe for success," said Robin Browne, a major in the British Army reserve and an instructor for Response Options, the company providing the training to the Burleson schools.

That kind of fight-back advice is all but unheard of among schools, and some fear it will get children killed.

But school officials in Burleson said they are drawing on the lessons learned from a string of disasters such as Columbine in 1999 and the Amish schoolhouse attack in Pennsylvania last week.

My professional opinion:

As a marketing strategy, Response Options is brilliant. They are getting media coverage like nobody's business, above and beyond what other security firms are getting.

As a strategy to keep our children safe? Response Options completely misses the boat. They are completely ignoring developmental psychology, crisis intervention research and trauma responses.

My prediction: In the event of a school shooting, schools that train their children to follow Response Options's "attack-the-shooter" strategy will wind up with a higher number of dead kids on their hands.

BOTTOM LINE: Strong Leaders Pay Attention to Psychological Research

tags:
School Shooting
guns-in-schools
school violence

Who's Cleaning Up This Mess?

2006-10-14T07:40:00.000-05:00

According to the API News Service, wild animals are becoming quite a problem in New Orleans (and, most likely, other areas of the South impacted by the 2005 Hurricane Season. The animals have been moving in after the storms (or were blown in), including, the article notes:

In suburban Kenner, Cherry Robinson found snakes in her yard, while a man in another part of town found deadly brown widow spiders, a cousin of the black widow.

"You used to have to go deep in the woods to find brown widows," said Jayme Necaise, an entomologist with the Audubon Nature Institute Insectarium, a museum scheduled to open next year. "Now we're finding them all over the place. Along with swarms of flies, roaches and mosquitoes."

The degree of trash and abandoned buildings this article refers to would seem to indicate that there is more clean-up to do than we have been led to believe.

Who's leading the clean up?

BOTTOM LINE: Strong Leaders Always Clean Up Their Messes

tags:
New Orleans
Hurricanes
2005