Reality Is Reality or Wake Up America

I am a voracious reader and I enjoy many different types of the printed word. For enjoyment I prefer fiction and certainly lean toward thrillers of one kind or another. But I also read non-fiction and have just joined the local Ivy League Non-Fiction Book Club. This is a new experience for me since I have never belonged to a book club of any kind and have always felt that it was a waste of valuable time to get together with other people to discuss books of fiction. However, I was persuaded to look into this non-fiction club which held the promise of intellectual discussions on topics of importance where honest differences of opinion could occur or where different, yet viable, philosophies/viewpoints could be examined in some detail. It is this book club that has brought me to read China Shakes the World by James Kynge. It is a description, along with Kynge’s revelations from having lived and worked in and around China since 1985, of how that country has become a world economic power in a very short period of time and how that country compares to the industrial west including the United States. Kynge worked as the China Bureau Chief for the Financial Times and, as such, has a thorough understanding of economics. The book has become mandatory reading in most business classes in America’s colleges and universities.

There are a number of very disturbing comparisons between China and the United States that bother me greatly. Perhaps the most disturbing comparison is the amount of government economic control over the businesses and citizens of the two countries. I naturally assumed that being a communist country, the Chinese government owns all business and that, true to its communist philosophy, strives to distribute wealth to all citizens as evenly as possible by taxing and redistributing income to those who do not earn as much as others. Of course, this was of particular interest to me since we now have a proclaimed socialist president and congress who are setting about to do exactly that to an even greater degree than already exists in the United States. What I discovered was the exact opposite. The United States is already more socialistic than communist China and the comparison is about to widen dramatically if the president’s proposals are passed by Congress and implemented.

Without going into great detail, I will merely cite some passages from Kynge’s work to support this conclusion.

“China today is a great deal less socialist than any country in Europe; the 120 million or so migrant workers, for instance, receive no welfare at all.”

“ … the taxes the government levies on its corporations and its people can also be lower … Chinese state expenditures … come to less than half of German levels.”

“These discrepancies define the challenge China presents to the social democratic model that Europe so painstakingly constructed from the ruins of World War Two.”

“He (Emilio Camponovo, founder of one of the largest gold refineries in Europe & whose industry was virtually wiped out by the Chinese) did not blame the Chinese, he said. They were willing to work hard and they were smart. What really exercised him … was how ignorant the Italian and Swiss governments seemed to be of the nature of Chinese competition. From his perspective, the threat came less from China’s rise than from the failure of European governments to understand it and formulate policies to deal with it. For instance, he said, corporation tax rates in his canton of Switzerland were effectively over 50 percent of profits. But in spite of this heavy tax burden, the canton announced larger budget deficits year after year. … The main cause of the deepening deficit was state payments to individuals for medical treatment.”

“Healthcare was one cost. Unions were another. There were ten different unions represented among the staff who worked in the gold refinery. The red tape and the welfare payments were suffocating, he (Camponovo) said. In every company and profession it was the same story; the socialist welfare state had turned from a boon to a burden.”

“What is true, though, is that at the 16th Congress of the Communist Party in late 2002, the Constitution was amended to put private business on an equal footing with state corporations.”

“The Communist Party had to surrender considerable control to deliver the growth it needed; since 1998 it had privatized almost all of the country’s urban housing stock, made redundant (fired) more than 25 million workers from state companies, allowed hundreds of thousands of state companies to free themselves from the burden of providing medical care for employees and free schooling for their children … “

“Many of the weaknesses and deficiencies … can be traced back to China’s overarching contradiction: that it tries to run an increasingly sophisticated, capitalist economy with a political system that was designed to issue crisp commands from a single source of authority, and to be obeyed.”

“On the World Bank’s list of the twenty most polluted cities in the world, sixteen are in China.”

“And as for being a Communist behemoth, well, that is difficult for Beijing to address because although it is no longer Communist, it is still ruled by the Communist Party.”

In talking about the government owned banks Kynge writes, “The big ‘ four’ banks, which control more than half of the country’s deposits and loans, are all owned by the state. … In return, they can feel secure in the knowledge that they will never be allowed to fail, no matter how many bad debts pile up on their balance sheets. The central bank, which regulates the banking industry alongside the recently established China Banking Regulatory Commission, has a track record of bailing out the “big four” every time they need it.”

I could go on and on with quotes from this book. The point that I now make is simply this: The perception that the average citizen of the U.S. now has of China and its perception of the current U.S. government (President and Congress) is the exact opposite of reality. When comparing the U. S. and China by virtually any measure that defines government control over individuals and corporations and the redistribution of wealth from those that produce to those that do not, the United States is more communistic than China.

I wrote about the dangers of confusing perception with reality in The Leadership Teachings of Geronimo, published by SterlingHouse. The book’s very first Teaching, “One Who Yawns”: Or Perceptions Change, warns:

Geronimo’s original name was Goyakla or Go-khla-yeh, which meant “One Who Yawns.” This was not a name that anyone in the entire southwest would think was appropriate for the feared war chief. He did not receive the bloodcurdling name Geronimo (Spanish for Jerome) until years later when the Mexicans renamed him.

Teaching

Many people believe that it is true that perception is reality. Do not accept this commonly held belief. REALITY IS REALITY, and perceptions often change. You should always be wary of the perceptions that you have developed about people, companies, organizations, and situations. Once your perception has become a reality in your own mind you will act on it as such. All too often, either the perception was wrong or reality changed, but, in either case, your actions based on an old or false reality lead to incorrect decisions. This can cost your organization dearly. Therefore, be open to changing your perceptions by carefully looking at the facts and not your perception of them.

The perception that people within the United States and, indeed, most all of the world, is that China is communistic and backward and unable to rival the U. S. economy. Once upon a time this perception was true but it began to change in 1978 when reforms were put into place. Today it is not the U. S. that has “free enterprise” in a capitalistic state and an economy that is the envy of the rest of the world. It is China. It is China that is growing by leaps and bounds, not the United States.

The way for America to survive this current economic downturn and to be able to compete with China in the future is not to become more socialistic like the Europeans but to return to our capitalistic, free enterprise roots. It is not to provide free “everything” to “everyone” including medical care. It is not to tax our corporations more through the subterfuge of cleaning up our environment through a “cap and trade” giant tax increase. It is not to “redistribute” wealth from those who have worked hard to earn it to those who have not taken advantage of the opportunities America provides. That is what the old Communist China did. That is not what the new “Capitalist” China does. Wake up America. Reality is Reality.

Respect All "Two Legged Beings"

Since I am behind on writing a diary entry, I decided to compose this as I sit watching the French Open Tennis Tournament at Roland Garros tennis complex in Paris. Yesterday I watched Roger Federer barely survive a five game match against an unranked opponent and the day before was stunned as I watched the upset of Rafael Nadal who had won the last five French Open Tournaments and had never lost a match on the hallowed red clay courts. It was fascinating to watch the fierce competition but it was just as fascinating to observe the winners and losers as they were playing and during the press conferences that followed. You can learn much by observing people under stress as in an important tennis match or during a not so friendly media event. As usual, I did learn much this time as well.

What I observed from these tennis icons was something that runs counter to what one typically observes in the United States as well as the rest of the world. They spoke highly of their opponents and praised them for their play. Comments on their physical conditioning, their mental toughness, their shot selections, their serves and their overall play were common. But what impressed me the most was that they commented on how much they RESPECTED them.

Unfortunately, that is not the norm in our everyday world. Indeed, the exact opposite seems to be the rule. A few examples will support this observation. First in heading up the most disrespectful people on earth are the politicians that live in Washington and who work on Capital Hill as well as The White House. It seems that bashing your opposition because they view the world differently is the only thing that is acceptable to most all politicians. This seems to be especially true for those “in power” which, of course, changes on a regular basis. However, I believe that this disrespect has reached a pinnacle as of late. Sad but true that these politicians are supposed to be leaders and are supposed to set an example for everyone. Well, again unfortunately, their example is certainly being followed by the vast majority of US citizens.

Here are more examples. How many of us have had others curse us when we have violated some unknown faux pas such as driving too slow (or too fast) for their liking? How do we account for the stereotypical teenage disdain for their parents (as exhibited through facial expressions, gestures and words)? How many of us have sat in a movie theater with hundreds of empty seats and had someone sit directly in front of us? How many of us have had people break in line when we have been waiting patiently for thirty plus minutes? The list of disrespectful actions could go on and on.

What would Geronimo say about the state of affairs in America (and elsewhere) and among its leaders? It is covered in Teaching #84 in The Leadership Teachings of Geronimo published by SterlingHouse Publishers. Here is part of what it says.

Geronimo, like all Apaches, was taught from childhood to respect and honor all people or all “two legged beings.” He was distraught that throughout his life the “white eyes” seemed to disrespect or dishonor him and all Apaches. An aged Apache told a story that illustrates this.

Once a small band of twelve Apaches were arrested by an Army officer for having broken into a store and stolen some money. When asked if there was proof the Apaches had stolen the money, the answer was “Yes.” When asked if anyone had seen them steal the money, the answer was “No.” Other Apaches investigated the area around the store and determined that one of the horses used in the robbery had a broken shoe. They then asked the officer to come with them as they tracked the trail from the store. The tracks led toward the reservation but then veered away toward a cabin near a small town of white settlers. The officer soon discovered that the men inside the cabin had stolen the money, and he arrested them.

The old Apache commented that this sort of action was commonplace among the “white eyes” but not the Apaches. He correctly noted that it was wrong to suspect that the Apaches were responsible for the theft, and to make matters worse it made no sense since the Apaches had no place to spend the money. The officer had disrespected and dishonored the twelve Apache men.

For those who aspire to leadership roles or for those who hold leadership positions, it is vital to understand that you cannot successfully lead for long, if you do not respect those who disagree with you or who believe differently than you. By doing so, you will never attract those people to follow you. In addition, people understand that you cannot trust a person who disrespects others and many of those that initially follow such a leader will cease to do so. Politicians do not seem to understand this and that is why we turn over our
political leaders every four to eight years. This Teaching is so simple to understand, yet so hard to follow.

Do Not Be Rooted To Place

Anyone who reads my ramblings knows that I have a son who recently had a beautiful baby boy. The grandson is now about sixteen months old and not too young for concerned parents to be thinking about where to raise a family and what sort of education is available to their offspring. Certainly, this has been the thinking of our son and daughter-in-law. Up until a couple of weeks ago our son lived in the upper reaches of Manhattan where he had worked for a company for seven years. Our son had worked hard for the company having opened its New York area office and having brought in a record number of clients surpassing all of the company’s other branches. The company decided to consolidate all of its branches into a central location near San Francisco. They offered our son a promotion with more responsibility but unfortunately the same pay. This is not as bad as it sounds since they did pay him well. Nonetheless, one normally advances in compensation as responsibility grows. But I digress.

The change in the company and the thoughts about his family’s future allowed him to make a decision about what would be best for them. Being young and childless for most of the time they lived in New York, they liked the big city and all of the excitement and energy that people find there. However, their life situation had changed and so did their enjoyment of the city and what it held for a young child. They decided that New York was not a good place to raise a child and that a move to another location was indeed advisable. They decided at the same time to leave the company he had been with for seven years for a number of reasons. He then went on a job hunt during the worse worldwide recession in a quarter of a century. In a moment I will share where they wound up going but first I need to refer to a lesson in my book, The Leadership Teachings of Geronimo, published by SterlingHouse Publishers entitled Do Not Be Rooted To Place. Here is some of what is in this Teaching #94.

The Apaches were rooted to geographic location. It was literally a part of their tradition, their customs, and their culture. A Chiricahua Apache custom, for example, was to place the remains of childbirth in a wrapped cloth and to hang it from a close-by fruit tree or scrub while chanting, “May the child live to grow up and see you bear fruit many times.” ….

Thus, the land was a very sacred place that Geronimo or other Apaches would never consider leaving. … Thus, they would go to great lengths to remain in their geographic location and would resist most efforts to move them to other locations.

Teaching

It is natural for virtually all people to feel an attachment to where they live. For most of us there is a need to feel comfortable with where we live and work, to develop friendships with neighbors, and to learn to take advantage of the nearby assets – to be rooted to a place. However, there are times when that attachment can become disadvantageous to us. There are times when opportunity requires us to relocate to another place. ….

In the case of my son, there are a couple of displacement issues at hand. First, he did realize that the time and opportunity were at hand for him and his family to leave the big city for another, more desirable place. A place where they could build a new home, new friends, new work and a new, better life. Unlike Geronimo and the Apaches he refused to become rooted in place to his disadvantage.

The second displacement issue was his company’s desire to centralize their location to California and to close their various branch offices. While this may have made sense to them and for the company’s bottom line, they failed to realize (or care) that forced disruption of loyal and effective managers/leaders would cause a backlash that cost them talent and money. This was compounded by the fact that displacement with increased responsibility was not adequately compensated by the company to make the “un-rooting” at least acceptable, if not desirable. No big deal to those in California who made the decision but a huge deal for those who lived and were rooted elsewhere.

Grandsons and Tree Fighting

My grandson is now about fifteen months old. I recently had the opportunity to once again be with him when our son and daughter-in-law visited. It was great. There is nothing like seeing your own children bring love and joy into the world and knowing that you have made a lasting connection to the future of this lovely planet. As I observed him I was struck by how well the parents were doing in training him to be a good, loving and responsible person even at his young age. This has not happened by accident. They work at it. They take their job as parents very seriously and want to provide the best teaching that they can provide so that he has the maximum opportunity to be happy and successful as he grows.

A couple of examples will illustrate my point. Since our son is American his native language is English. However, he is multilingual and he is married to a charming and wonderful French woman who also happens to be multilingual. They wish to have their children have the same multilingual ability, so they started at birth with our first grandson. She speaks nothing but French to him and our son speaks nothing but English. While it will take longer for him to learn both languages, he will eventually have the advantage of conversing, reading and thinking in both languages.

While he was with us during Christmas the grandson walked (toddled) for the first few times. It was very thrilling and exciting. Of course, now he can more than toddle and he can’t wait to go wherever he can and get into whatever he sees. Clearly, he is exploring his environment as rapidly as he can. Of course, this brings the potential for mild spills and falls and breakage as well as major disaster if he is not watched on a continual basis. Most parents find a way to curtail this exploration, primarily to give themselves a rest. Not our son and daughter-in-law. They switch off often but always seem to have one or the other watching and actively exploring with their son. In other words, they not only do not try to curtail his exploration but actively encourage it and teach him many, many things as he explores. Of course, as grandparents we do not have the stamina of his parents so we watch over him for much shorter periods of time.

So, what does this have to do with fighting trees? If you would read my book, The Leadership Teachings of Geronimo, you would know. Teaching #2, Learn To “Fight a Tree”, explains the importance of learning and training whether it be for the young growing child or the young, maturing employee. Here is some of what it says.

Like most all Apaches, Geronimo was trained in the art of war from the time he was a young child. It was the belief of the Apaches that children needed to develop the skills of survival as young as possible and that they needed to continue their training until adulthood and acceptance into the band as a warrior. …. Thus, the parents were insistent on developing early in their children the strength, skills, and tenacity they would need for survival as adults. Geronimo was trained in horsemanship so that by the time he was in his teens he was an expert rider. He learned to use the bow and arrow as well as the traditional Apache lance. And, unique to Apaches, Geronimo learned to run long distances through harsh terrain without rest. It was this ability to move great distances in a short time that saved Geronimo and many other Apaches from being trapped by superior forces.

Some Apache warriors trained their sons to “fight a tree” by hitting the rough bark of the trunk of the tree and by breaking the branches in order to develop their strength. Another method they used to develop strength was to pull up ever-larger saplings from the forest. Many children were kept awake for long periods as a way of learning to master sleepiness, and some spent time naked in the snow as a way of learning to endure the cold. They would practice their ability to conceal themselves, as they would so often have to do as an adult. Geronimo commented on some of this early training. “We would practice stealing up on some object that represented the enemy, and in our childish imitation often performed the feats of war. Sometimes we would hide from our mother to see if she could find us, and often, when thus concealed, go to sleep and perhaps remain hidden for many hours.”

Teaching

Training is an essential part of today’s modern world. Much has been written about the fact that people will change jobs or occupations an average of four times before they retire. However, there are certain basic skills that are of importance in most any position, and these are the skills that one must master as early as possible. ……

It is also wise for a company to understand that training specific to a position is of paramount importance, and that it is the company’s responsibility to provide for it. …..

While this all seems common sense it is all too common for companies to mouth the importance of training and then slough it off completely or give it minor importance. Thus, little time, energy, effort and money go into training and constantly retraining personnel to become better and better at what they do. We too often pay it lip service and view it as an extravagance or a budget item that can easily be cut, especially in these harsh times of the deepest recession in over sixty years. However, the wise leader is one that understands that, except in the worst case scenario, learning to “fight a tree” cannot be put off and is best administered when the “child” is still young.

What the Execs at AIG, Merrill/Lynch, and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Do Not Seem To Grasp

Like most everyone else in the world I have been depressed, demoralized and angry about the state of the economy and about the actions taken (or not taken) by those who have guided some of the (previously) most respected companies in the world. Their failures have led to the near collapse of the world economy and many people’s 401-k retirement accounts, as well as real estate and other investments. There are many, many people who are responsible for the mess in which we find ourselves. They all need to be held accountable for their actions or lack thereof, including those in the United States Congress and in the bureaucratic oversight positions.

The most interesting observation for me from all that has happened is the failure of some of these individuals and “institutions” to understand why the American public is so angry with them. The executives at AIG, American International Group, are perhaps the most clueless of all and provide a perfect example of what executives should never do both in bad times and in good times. That is, take advantage of their positions to profit themselves over others simply because they have the power to do so.

Only arrogance can explain why the AIG execs thought they could (AND SHOULD) reap millions and millions of dollars from the company that they ran into bankruptcy were it not for the federal government, i.e. the taxpayer. When golden parachutes weren’t sufficient, they accepted (or struck) a deal with the U. S. Treasury Department (which was supposed to be protesting American citizens) which paid them millions more in retention bonuses to remain with the company that they help lead to ruin. To hell with the poor stockholder who held AIG stock which is now worthless. To hell with the ordinary worker who is begging to be able to keep his job when his company is cutting thousands of employees in order to survive the worst recession since World War II. To hell with the ordinary taxpayer who must ultimately pay for these millions of dollars to retain the very people who failed in their jobs. To hell with everyone. And yet, they do not understand that people are angry at them for their excessiveness, for their arrogance, for their abuse of their positions.

They should have read Teaching # 74 in The Leadership Teachings of Geronimo, published by SterlingHouse Publishers, which is Chieftains Should Avoid Special Privileges. Here is what it says.

Geronimo almost always led by example. Whether it was leading the charge in battle or taking his turn standing guard, he believed it was proper and fitting for him to do as he expected others to do. However, he was known from time to time to seek special privileges. One example was when he negotiated his final surrender to General Miles. In the agreed-upon arrangement, Geronimo was to be excused from all work details, assigned by the officer in charge of the reservation.

Teaching

Rank and file workers do not understand nor approve of the perquisites that oftentimes accompany leadership positions. From their point of view the leader is no different from the follower and should not have any privileges that are not afforded to all members of the organization. Wise leaders understand this and do not seek or accept such privileges.

As we can see, even in the case of Geronimo himself, leaders often yield to the temptation to leverage their power for special privileges. However, there is a difference between what Geronimo did in securing an exemption from work details on the reservation and the AIG executives. At least Geronimo did not sacrifice his fellow Apaches to life on a reservation in the middle of a hot, arid and dusty desert while he was given millions of dollars despite his defeat and allowed to move into Big Nose Kate’s Saloon and Brothel in Tombstone or any other place his millions would have allowed him to inhabit. True leaders, which are not what any of these AIG and U. S. Treasury executives are, would have understood the symbolism involved in such outlandish behavior. They would have forsaken bonuses of any kind. In fact, they would have slunk out of Dodge on their stomachs glad that they were not buried in the sand up to their necks to await the desert sun, horrible thirst and eventual death which was a favorite way for Apaches to kill their enemies.