The Cycle of Civilization in 33 Words

This sequence is thought provoking.

It takes 3:07 to watch.

What do you think? Which of the words best describes our current situation?

'Time Banks' Help Spaniards Weather Financial Crisis

 

With the financial systems in the balance, people are looking for all sorts of alternatives to get the services they need.

Time banks are where people exchange time instead of money. Work and hour and someone works for you for an hour. It doesn't have to be the same person.  For example, I could earn an hour by tutoring math to person A and then consume that hour by getting housekeeping services from person D.

Everything is done on a gifting basis, so there is no tax involved.

It is making life possible for the people in economically ravaged Spain:
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/22/161380937/time-banks-help-spaniards-weather-financial-crisis

It is available in Austin:
http://www.austintimeexchange.org/

It is a great idea!

What services can you trade?

Vision>Strategy>Tactics

These three words get thrown around a lot. How do they relate? Do other words have almost the same meaning? The basic definitions clear up a lot!

A vision is a set of ideals - not a set of laws or rules. It is the overall goal of your efforts. Vision is immensely valuable in times when the obvious path is not clear. It is a guidepost or beacon to keep us from losing our way. Two upcoming parts of my Become a Change Agent book series deals with vision.

Strategy is a general plan or way of actions to achieve the vision. A strategy explains how advantages in resources are to be best used against vulnerabilities in barriers to reach objectives.  A vision needs one or more strategies. They are also called business models, distribution channels and lines of business in the commercial world.Step 1 of the Change Agent: Framework includes developing a strategy.

Bill Carson has an excellent blog on strategy.

A tactic is the tool to implement strategy. A tactic is specific action plan implemented as one or more specific tasks. Tactics are sometimes called other names like tools, methods, templates or processes. Steps 3 and 4 of the Change Agent: Framework go into tactics.

An Example

Rapid software development is the vision. Agile Development style is the strategy. Scrum, Pivot and Iterate are tactics. I write a lot more on this subject in my upcoming book, Become A Change Agent: Drive the positive change you want for yourself and the World! Part 3: The Framework.

Visions, strategies and tactics have something in common: they are meant to be used over and over again.

What is your personal vision?

Annie Griffiths is a Change Agent

I was privileged to attend a program by National Geographic photographer Annie Griffiths last night. She has single-handedly done more to advance peace and ease human suffering than most of us can even imagine. Her photography reminds us of the beauty this World has to offer.

Annie has photographed people and nature in more than 100 countries. Her portfolio is so huge that it is virtually impossible to look at her work without recognizing at least a few of the photos.

She discussed finding your vision and your passion. Her talk titled "A Camera, Two Kids & A Camel" was captivating!

An interview

Introduction to Leadership

 Part One of Become a Change Agent: ended by describing vision as the cornerstone of your leadership. Part Two dives straight into the nature of a vision because you can’t lead without an idea of where you are going! This series of blog posts will act as the bridge between Parts One and Two.

Chapter 3 even lists the negative trends that we readily see in today’s institutions and the “leaders” that manage them. Now is the time to ask…

What is a leader?

A leader organizes and directs people in a common direction. It may be toward a goal or a series of goals. Leaders and Managers are different; even though there is some overlap for managers of people. It is possible to manage a process, a service or inventory. You can only lead people. Managers have titles, budgets and infrastructure. Their authority is granted from a higher authority. Leaders have followers and their authority stems from their actions and skills. Leaders have roles.

Leaders lead from the front. They are doers, not managers. Those that follow them know they pull their weight and give more because they can see what the leader is doing – not cowering in a corner office. True leaders embrace their followers as equals. They celebrate the accomplishments of those they lead and freely give away credit.

Two critical components of leadership are transparency and the ability to present a coherent message. The leader’s vision may be huge and complicated. Presenting the parts in “digestible” pieces is key. At the same time, the pieces must both make sense and fit together in an easy to understand and follow format. This is the message or the vision in an easy to communicate form.

Transparency means that people know what a leader is doing. There are 2 levels of transparency, internal and external. External transparency is communicating concrete and verifiable facts that indicate the leader and organization are playing by the rules and executing on their plan/vision.  This must be balanced against the needs to protect the confidences that have been entrusted to the leader. Leaders cannot openly talk about the organization’s “special sauce” – the special knowledge that makes the group’s deliverables unique.

Yet another aspect of transparency is a leader that openly owns his/her own mistakes. This has the added value of helping the group avoid repeating that mistake!

 

Leaders must vigilantly guard against falling into the ego trap. True leaders are constantly complemented because they are effective. Flattery can be addictive to the ego. The best way I know to preserve humility is to understand where the ego fits in the self. (A description of this is found at the end of my report on Models. You can get a free copy by subscribing to my mailing list.)

 True leaders lead with passion and love. Passion is an intensely positive attitude toward the leader’s vision and goals. Love is the genuine affection the leader feels for his followers. Leaders that fake either of these traits will be exposed in the long run!

Is there more than one kind of leader?

The short answer is yes, there are several kinds of leaders. Here are a few of the important types of leadership.

Business leaders lead organizations that produce goods and services for a profit. The leader may be over a small business or a specific unit of a large business. Large organizations tend to be run by professional Managers that don’t necessarily fit the description of leadership listed here.

Non-profit organizations are also run by leaders. These organizations tend to provide services that cannot be expected to earn a profit as defined by Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. They must operate by a specific set of rules to qualify as non-profit organizations.

Community and political leaders tend to have common goals. They organize for the good of a specifically defined group such as the citizens of a city or a defined interest group. Their primary concern is the well-being of the people they both lead and serve.

Thought leaders strive to be at the cutting edge of new ideas. They both observe and create new methods and technologies. Thought leaders are recognized for innovation by their peers, typically in a specialized business environment. Most people additionally consider thought leaders as mentors that deliver value to customers in the form of innovative ideas.

Want more about Leadership?

Kevin W. McCarthy has written a couple of great books on the subject. He takes the subject of both personal and team leadership on in much more detail than I do.

On-Purpose Leader

What is coming in the next post in this Leadership Series?

The next post deals with visionaries and why they never go out of style.

 

Get my new Kindle book now!

Become a Change Agent:

Drive the positive change you want for yourself and the world!

Part One Understanding Change

http://amzn.to/QJ1yqX

 

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http://bitly.com/UDp7Ie

Be the change...

Review of Become a Change Agent: Drive the positive change you want for yourself and the world! Originally posted on Amazon.com on October 25
- by Occupy Texas

There are some very interesting positions posted here. Unfortunately, some are posted without reason or explanation. For example, he stated that our founding fathers believed, rightly, that democracy was undesirable. He offers no justification or explanation. What is desirable? A Plutocracy? An oligarchy? Who gets a voice? The rich? The college educated? Who decides who gets a voice, the ones with the largest guns? One aspect of our lack of direct democracy(The author errs in saying that direct democracy is undesirable, not in saying that we lack it.)is the Electoral College, which resulted in a candidate who had received fewer popular votes than his opponent being pronounced president by the Supreme Court. Thanks to that lack of direct democracy, the whole world paid and hundreds of thousands died. The people will make themselves heard, if not through the democratic process, then some other way.

Which brings me to the second disagreement I have with the author. He called the Occupy Movement disorganized and without goals. Like above, the author was partially correct. The Occupy Movement began as a reaction to what the people saw as grievous wrongs and the uprisings in the Middle East and Madison Wisconsin. The resulting anger caused Zucotti Park and the subsequent occupations of 1500 other towns and cities. As the author said, there was no planning or organization before the occupation, just a spontaneous expression of anger and passion.We went on that way for over nine months, but during that time, Occupy Philadelphia was organizing a national gathering in Philly, scheduled for Independence Day. At that gathering, the Visioning Statement was drafted. This was a list of our demands. The top ten demands, which are rank ordered, are (1)clean water, air and food, (2) free education for all, (3) no war, (4)a sustainable human society, (5) a culture of direct democracy, (6)free universal healthcare, (7)local food production, community gardens and permaculture agriculture, (8)economic equality, (9)localized economies and (10) a world where basic needs are met.