Author: iexposedus

Circumference of Me – Chapter 10

10 See the C’s. Be the C’s ambitions

There are three C’s that managers take to the Everyday Business Bank: Cooperation, coordination, communication.

A survey of the world’s top corporate managers would reveal startling similarities among their management techniques. Without exception, even if they use different words in different ways with different emphasis, all would agree that the Three C’s are the defining differences between passable managers and ones destined to be remembered as difference-makers.

Cooperation embraces ideas that come from other people and other departments or organizations, and their value. It is not a simple give-and-take action, but a give-and-receive method of operation with far-ranging benefits. The very basis of cooperation is two-way communication — it binds groups and individuals to a central project.

Coordination between the same entities deepens the personal, intellectual, and corporate relationships between them. One group’s success hinges on the actions of the other group’s participants. It is the corporate equivalent of the group hug.

By now, you can tell the most important of the three C’s is positive and uplifting communication.

Far too many projects die horrible, screaming deaths; far too many careers crash and burn; far too many companies suffer because of people’s inability to talk to other people.

Regardless of your charismatic qualities, personal commitment to success, basic leadership abilities, vision, creativity, or multi-tasking acumen, you cannot become a great manager without the ability to accurately convey ideas to others, paint word images that can be easily seen by others, or effectively communicate verbally or with the written word.

If you are not an accomplished communicator, don’t sit around and whine internally about your shortcoming. Do something about it. Take a business communications course from a local college or university or online. Read recommended books about leadership and management techniques.

Be proactive about communication, one of the most important of all management traits.

While sheer will and determination can perform miracles, those attributes have only short-term value. Even the most gifted leader cannot be successful without working for, with, and through others. As a matter of undisputed fact, there is no one-person major company.

Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.

Great managers constantly search for ways for their efforts and the efforts of people in their department to help other departments and managers succeed for the good of the business.

Good managers become great managers by building coalitions through mutual respect, and offering assistance on common projects. Building a strong partnership on a single project can help you climb innumerable rungs on your career ladder.

Seeking a successive string of promotions and title enhancements is a sign of a focused manager. Managers only interested in bigger titles may get them, but they might be the only goals they attain, at the cost of greater and more valuable goals, like gaining deserved responsibility and respect through your ability to address challenges responsibly. Do that, and your titles will come.

A title is only as good as the character of the person who holds it.

Great managers never let their egos, turfs or quests for titles interfere with the primary goal of corporate wellness.

A mixture of a strong grasp of reality and a helpful spirit pours the foundations of strong corporate careers.

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Circumference of Me – Chapter 9

9. Company goals drive ambitions

Great managers constantly search for ways for their efforts and the efforts of people in their department to help other departments and managers succeed for the good of the business.

Good managers become great managers by building coalitions through mutual respect, and offering assistance on common projects. Building a strong partnership on a single project can help you climb innumerable rungs on your career ladder.

Seeking a successive string of promotions and title enhancements is a sign of a focused manager. Managers only interested in bigger titles may get them, but they might be the only goals they attain, at the cost of greater and more valuable goals, like gaining deserved responsibility and respect through your ability to address challenges responsibly. Do that, and your titles will come.

A title is only as good as the character of the person who holds it.

Great managers never let their egos, turfs or quests for titles interfere with the primary goal of corporate wellness.

A mixture of a strong grasp of reality and a helpful spirit pours the foundations of strong corporate careers.

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Travel Log: Greece 2019

By Ron Munden

30 May 2019: On June 11 my wife Deloris and I will be in Greece. This will be her first trip to Greece. I will be returning after 40 years. I know it was 40 years because:

The Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor, near Middletown, Pa., partially melted down on March 28, 1979. This was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, although its small radioactive releases had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public.

While this was happening in the United States, I was on a cruise ship that took me from the Canary Islands, into the Mediterranean and finally to Greece.

During that trip we visited many places but the place that still stands out in my mind is Mykonos. I have always felt I needed more time in the Greek Islands. That is what motivated me to book a return trip to Greece and the Aegean Islands. They say, “you can never go back – it is never as good the second time.” We are about to find out.

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Just Scream

By George Smith

Ever felt like you needed to just open your mouth and scream? Not just a scream, but a primal scream, an ear-splitting, guttural sound emanating from your lower intestine, tearing thought your stomach, resonating off your diaphragm and creating a noise that actually scares the virtual devil out of those around you?

That’s the way I feel today.

After almost three weeks visiting Scotland and Ireland, I came back to the United States ready to renew my affirmation and love of this country. But then the realization that this country – the 2019 version – is not the version of my youth. Nor is it the country I want for my grandchildren.

The innocence, the beauty of its people, the diversity, the respect of other religious the friendliness shown by strangers to strangers, the love of family and the belief that nothing is stronger than blood ties, is elusive, if not downright missing from the moral fiber of the country.

I came back to these headlines and stories about the world’s most important nation:■ Transgender protections rolled back■ Mississippi, Alabama pass laws banning abortions even in cases of incest and rape■ Trump flails at companies hiring foreign workers; Trump hires foreign workers■ Trump puts $20 makeover on hold; slave master Jackson gets nod over Harriet Tubman■ Mike Pence tells West Point grads to “get ready for war. It will happen.”■ Florida lawmaker says “God told me to introduce abortion legislation”■ DOJ on crash course with intelligence agencies■ Trump mocks politicians opposed to tariffs as ‘babies,’ including some Republicans■ U.S. halting visas of same-sex partners of diplomats■ Trump helped his parents evade taxes, ‘including instances of outright fraud’■ ‘Good time’ to be a farmer, Trump says as he announces $16 billion in aid.■ Trump insists Chinese tariffs will cover $16 billion farm trade aid package■ Banker charged after lending millions to Paul Manafort in exchange for Trump job■ Judge suspended over anti-Trump remarks

And the list goes on…..

What has this nation become when millions accept an emperor-in-waiting as the political messiah and millions more see him as the rise of the end of democracy in the nation?

The bottom line?  The 45th president commits horrible acts of rudeness simply because of his title and personality; he is juvenile in his use of the “bully” pulpit and his utter distain for women and anyone who disagrees with him; he is not smart in protocols of diplomacy or understands the basics of the foundations of this country (including separation of powers and the responsibilities of the different branches of government.

This self-labelled “stable genius” does not read, has no realistic sense of history, no compassion for those suppressed simply for being “different,” no comprehensive of today’s global economy and America’s place in it, and does not trust men and women who have spent decades in specialized areas of global intelligence, he has no idea of the correct use of the global economy as a deterrent to aberrant behavior by rogue nations or how the U.S. economy and politics affects the world.

And most of all, thr president does not understand nor care that he is, (almost single-handedly with sufficient help from his so-called party  friends like Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Jim Jordan and Lindsey Graham) is destroying the Republican Party.

“Republican Party” actually no longer applies to the conservative branch of politics. It is now the Trump Party, lock, stock and elephant.

Past heroes of that party – the Bush groupies, the John McCains supporters, the true followers of Reagan – are all lamenting the position taken in total opposition to compassionate conservatism, balanced budget and the paring down of big government.

As a nation we must rise above partisan politics and personal pettiness. That is not possible with Trump, a pompously pious, personally pedantic, would-be dictator in the White House.

We’ll see what this country is made of in a short 18 months.

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Things Don’t Age Well in Marshall

By Ron Munden

Recently I received a couple of calls from people telling me that I really needed to go down and look at Marshall’s Wonderland of Lights carousel.  At the end of last week, I found the carousel and took a picture.

I though that the City paid $60,000 for the carousel but I was told that the number was $80,000.  I do know that when the City purchased it, they were not aware that it had a three-phase electric motor.  There is no three-phase power available on the Courthouse Square so the City had to swap out some of its electronics before it could be used and that did add additional cost.

While I questioned the City spending money on a carousel, I agreed it was a very attractive addition to Wonderland of Lights.  That was the first year.  I was told the canopy was damaged during the disassembly at the end of 2015.  The canopy has not been used since that first year.

Since the canopy was critical to the appearance of the carousel, the City was able to turn a first-rate carousel into a third-rate carnival ride in one year.

Even though the City purchased a trailer for storing the carousel, in the last few years many of the major components of the carousel have not been put in the trailer and stored outdoors in the weather for 10 months each year.

It is my understanding that some of the gears are now faulty and must be replaced before the next WOL. Another questionable expenditure for the City.

The bad news is that Marshall will never have an attractive carousel again.  The good news is that I shot lots of pictures of the carousel before it entered Marshall’s accelerated aging program.

Look at the photos of the carousel Marshall had but will never have again.

Click here to view the slideshow of Marshall’s carousel in 2015.

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Draining the Swamp: How’s That Working?

By George Smith

Are you ready to look at the condition this country finds itself and make a determination based on facts or are you okay with a litany of “alternative truths”?

This column contains information – facts, facts and more facts – that some readers may not want to hear or even believe. Feel free to check them out; I did and if you find any figures or statements are in error as stated, call me out. Some conditions: You have to state your “facts” and source; you cannot divert the message by mentioning Hillary Clinton, President Obama or Robert Mueller.

First, let’s talk about the president: Donald Trump once stated he owned four companies that declared bankruptcy; Clinton countered that in a debate in 2016 and said the number was six. Clinton was correct. Trump’s companies that have gone bankrupt include: Trump Hotels and Casinos, three Atlantic City, N.J. casinos, New York City’s Plaza Hotel and Trump Entertainment Resorts.

Trump stated he counted the three New Jersey casino bankruptcies one as a single filing, even though they were filed separately. Regardless of the number, those bankruptcies left investors and small businesses sucking wind, with Trump declaring more than once that he was just using the existing laws to his advantage.

Trump has repeatedly stated he only hires the “best people.” Yet, he has a turnover rate of 68 percent of his closest White House advisors in only 27 months. Some key positions (chief of staff, communications director, press secretary, etc.) have turned over multiple times. The 68 percent figure is “by position”; if three or more people have held a single position (chief of staff, communications director, etc.), the multiple turnovers are not included in the 68 percent figure.

Now, about draining that swamp: Andrew Wheeler is Environmental Protection Agency director; he is a former lobbyist for the oil and gas industry; Betsy DeVoss, a former fund raiser and unabashed cheerleader for private religious schools, is Secretary of Education; Wilbur Ross, secretary of commerce, and Steven Mnuchin, treasury secretary, are both billionaires who added to their wealth substantially during the 2008 recession, are in charge of creating national economic policy. Ross kept his investments in firms that the Commerce Department oversees;

It’s hard to forget that early in the Era of Trump, 15 women claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Trump before he was president; the White House staff and website have touted First Daughter Ivanka Trump’s line of jewelry; First Lady

Melania pushed her line of jewelry and “timepieces” on the QVC channel; First Son-in-Law Jared Kushner’s sister worked hard to persuade Chinese businessmen to invest in a family development project, touting the fact that Kushner was hot stuff at the White House; Kushner and his spousal unit also received security passes first denied by the White House security clearing house.

The attorney general, William Barr, was named to the post because he was already on record as being in Trump’s corner on whether or not the president could obstruct justice. He fulfilled Trump’s hopes for him with a decidedly less-than-stellar performance in a senate hearing and then blew off the Democrat-controlled House hearing. Barr lied (not “fudged the truth,” not “misspoke’ and not “erred on the side of confidentiality” … but flat-out lied to Congress) about what Mueller’s report and the procecutor’s sentiments about Barr’s interpretation stated.

Meanwhile, the thriving industry of operating private prisons are in an economic boom with the Trump Administration’s affection for tent cities. Coupled with the nation’s zero-tolerance for illegal immigrants, and Trump’s edict of separating children from their families, the figures published for the daily cost of each detainee varies widely from upwards from $133 to almost $800 per day.

Of course, the private contactors charge what they can get and there has been little pushback from any federal official who can make decisions on the unreasonable costs. The Department of Human Services (DHS) estimates the cost of maintaining families (mother and children) together costs $319 per day; separating children from their parents and housing the children (including babies) in “tent cities,” in fenced-in enclosures costs $775 per person per night.

Okay, what is this costing you, the taxpayer? DHS reported that more than 51,300 immigrants, on average, were held in detention centers each day in fiscal 2018.

You do the math, using a combination of the figures above. I did and threw up in my mouth. Just taking the $319 figure, that would be more than $16,270,000.

Why does it cost so much and why is the government doing to keep costs down? The administration could have children stay at the Trump’s International Hotel in D.C. for a measly $575 a night, have room service and still save money.

Shoot, the Day’s Inn in El Paso is only $64 a night and a double room at Super 8 in Brownsville, Texas is only $54.55.

This administration cut taxes bigly on the wealthiest one-percent and corporations, gave the middle class a pittance and then took away certain deductions so the pittance handed out was an enlarged pittance that was so much of a pittance as to not really count for much at all.

As you have probably already figure out, this administration does not care about costs or the working economically wounded – it is not spending its money, it’s spending your’s. And this administration does not care about costs, unless it’s money coming out of the pockets of the Richie Rich’s of the high-dollar crowd.

Drain the swamp? If I was not crying, I’d be laughing.

“First, let’s take stock of where we are: The EPA is run by a former coal lobbyist. An ex-oil lobbyist heads the Department of Interior. Betsy DeVos, funder and champion of private religious schools, runs education policy. Steven Mnuchin and Wilbur Ross, billionaires who profited handsomely from the 2008 collapse, are in charge of protecting the economy. And at the Department of Justice, a top official who recommended that the federal government put more immigrants in privately-run detention centers hopped over to a job at the GEO Group, which pays immigrants $1 for a day of labor but can’t seem to find a way to prevent detainees from dying. No wonder the United States has plummeted in the corruption ranking maintained by Transparency International.”

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Circumference of Me – Chapter 8

8. The legends of warlords

Another major failing among mid-level managers is an inability to see beyond their own boundary lines. Thinking, “I am in charge of this project, and I will control it,”is simply wrong-headed. Each department is a part that exists to assist other parts so the corporate engine can runsmoothly and efficiently.

Turf protectionism was common among ancient warlords and still is practiced by nations or regions run by tribal chiefs. There are no successful companies among which turf warfare is tolerated. There is nothing worse in a business than a “virus” – a  virulent strain of egotism – created by the ministrations and manipulations of quarreling corporate warlords.

Managers who adhere to the archaic practice of turf protection, to the detriment of the company, will not be around to see necessary changes unfold.

While “turf” is strictly a boundary issue and a sincere bugaboo in the constant search for corporate success, a manager’s “territory” should be constantly scrutinized for expansion possibilities – not in the sense of “securing more territory” to feel important, but to improve the internal processes that benefit the company. In other words, how can one department help other departments in ways individual managers may not have even contemplated? And how do you accomplish that without offending the boundary issues of other managers?

Overtures must be presented in terms of mutual consideration and benefit.

“I was thinking about that interesting project you mentioned last week and how it could help the company. What if my department assisted you by . . . ?”

There is an example of the absolute best that communication and camaraderie have to offer: A word of praise, followed by an offer of assistance.

Real life. Real, positive results.

If you want to expand your territory, do it for the right reasons. If you just want to be in charge of “more”simply to expand your turf, buy grass seed.

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Why is Rep. Gohmert…well, such a presidential toady

By George Smith

Louis Gohmert is an enigma inside a puzzle wrapped in a mystery.

Just kidding. The elected U. S. representative of Texas’ First Congressional District is as easy to read as the kid’s book “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.”

This elected official simply needs to be needed, to be admired, to serve a higher power. He is one of President Trump’s most fervent and energetic public relations soothsayers. Due to his double-jointed ability to religiously bow, scrap and lick boots and posteriors all at the same time, he is a frequent guest on conservative television talk shows, radio and podcasts force-feeding conspiracy theories and right-wing pabulum. Inviting. Rep. Gohmert on a program is like tossing a slow curve to Barry Bonds back in the day…you know what’s going to happen.

In his role as Special Junior Deputy Assistant to the Senior Assistant Deputy Enabler of the President, it’s not surprising Gohmert has myriad opinions; it is no revelation that his opinions  just happen to mirror those expressed by the president. He is, in a phrase, Kellyanne Lite.


Louis Buller Gohmert, Jr., of course, tweets. (Doesn’t everybody?) He mainly tweets support for Trump, liking what he likes and hating what he hates which frequently includes anchor babies, terrorist babies, same sex marriage and, well, you know.

It is rumored that he occasionally has an independent thought but had therapy sessions to squelch those errant missives.. 

Gohmert has long been considered a loose-tongued Republican who is enamored with conspiracy theories and any rumor that is Clinton-related. He has, at various times, been castigated for his mouthings by fellow GOPers like the late John McCain, Marco Rubio, Scott Brown and John Boehner (who beat him like a dirty rug when Gohmert challenged him for Speaker of the House).

Gohment is not, by definition, a laughingstock in political circles, he is an entire season of “Oddball Comics” on the Comedy Channel.

He has at various times let his tongue cover up his eyeteeth so he could not see what he was saying; unfortunately, his words live on in infamy.

Examples:

  • Gohmert was on Fox News in a panel discussion about the international influence of Google on world affairs when he popped off with an unrelated and derogatory allegation about Holocaust survivor, philanthropist and Democratic candidate supporter George Soros. Of course, the allegation made right-wingers giddy for days. The fact that the allegation was simply not true created a need for a Fox news apology for Gohmert’s “false allegations” against Soros.
  • Three years ago, according to news reports, he said that the U.S. should not use resources fighting LGBTQ equality measures because “We’d never choose a same-sex couple to help populate the moon.” Ooooooookay.
  • In a rant about limiting the number of bullets in a magazine, Gohmert said why draw “the line at 10/ What’s wrong with nine? Or eleven? It’s kind of like marriage when you say it’s not a man and woman any more, then why not have three men and one woman or four women and one man or why not somebody have a love for an animal.”

This is the elected official that said we can’t have gays in the military because they’d be like the Greeks and give each other “massages all day ready to go into a big, planned battle, then you’re not going to last very long.”

          Rep. Gohment seems to be in a constant state of consternation. He sees liberal bugaboos and terrorists and an undermining of democracy everywhere he looks; followers of his Bizarro World thinking patterns are amazed he doesn’t have whiplash from all the head-snapping.

      Gohmert is a lawyer so it is surprising he never considers he needs evidenced to back up his claims of will o’ the wisp actions by dastardly Demos or terrorist cells ready to pounce. Of course, like his Supreme Leader, making outrageous statements without substantiating evidence is part of their normal workday; they both know that certain elements of Fox News and other conservative outlets will give them a pass and forum to push the story.

How out of touch with reality is he? He once nominated Florida Rep. Allen West for Speaker of the House. The only problem was West had been defeated for re-election.

It’s time for a change, East Texas. I grew up in East Texas in his district and now live in Arkansas. The embarrassment for East Texas that I feel is as strong as pure grain alcohol even 45 mile east of the Texas state line.

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