Women Becoming Self Sufficient In Liberia

I met with the founder of an organization called, “Foundation For Women”, which is a microcredit organization. They are principally helping young women become self sufficient in Liberia. I was told about a woman named Emily Peal, who is a native Liberian, that left that war torrent country when it was led by a vicious dictator, the notorious Charles Taylor. Emily was living in a suburb in northing San Diego when the new president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected. She then sold her home and went back to help build Liberia and help lift the 3 million people there out of poverty. She has established a micro finance institution and has hundreds if not thousands of women becoming self sufficient as entrepreneurs. It constantly amazes me how many people do heroic things everyday. People with no power no money and no permission. What an inspiration!

ADP Work Making the World a Better Place

George is an inspiration to all of us, and an example of fulfilling the American Dream in his work on a daily basis.  He has discovered what his talents and traits are, what to invest his time in, and has become an expert in his field earning top honors rather than just settling on being an average high school teacher.  Thank you George for sharing your story and allowing us to share it with others.

I know you don’t know me, but you are a huge inspiration in my teaching and in my life.

My name is George Herring.  I am an English teacher in Mechanicsville, VA.

Three years ago I was asked to teach 11th grade English. I’m not a teach-by-the-book type. I wanted something vibrant, thought provoking, and relevant to move my class forward.

“The American Dream” is a theme we are required to teach in the class, so my first impulse was to use that as a theme for the year. I researched and researched…finally stumbling onto your site.

I was overwhelmed. It was perfect! Your message was perfect! The class became totally about them…and we only used the books (Grapes of Wrath, Great Gatsby, and A Raisin in the Sun…along with a ton of independent reading) as launch pads into bigger discussions about life. Most American Dream stories are stories of failures…so your positive energy is the perfect balance to the dark tales of failed American life.

You would think…that after seeing your video…it might be too corporate oriented to move these kids…but they are enormously concerned about their future…concerned about making a big choice that they will later regret. The change you speak of is SO IMPORTANT…and THEY GET IT. Not one or two students…all of them walk away with something.

My wife…moved by your words…took the video into her office and presented a series of brown bag lunch discussions with it…it was enormously successful…in weird synchronicity she presented to one of my student’s dads. This girl is in special ed and has some very big emotional disabilities…one of them is that she isn’t really talkative…dad came home and started talking about the American Dream at dinner…imagine his shock when his daughter burst out with equal energy regarding the same message! She knew your name and she could talk about what your presentation meant to her. Incredible!

My wife and I also converted your presentation into a Christian adult Bible study…since most of the change you are suggesting is truly of a religious nature. We spent lots of time pouring through scripture to see if Life, Liberty, and Happiness are evident…they are!! Our class really moved the group…a few told me they are looking at life through a different lens now. We just finished teaching it about three weeks ago, and are being asked to teach it again.

Back to my English class…part of my American Dream unit is for students to seek out someone they respect and interview them…talk with them for about a 1/2 hour…and to talk about things that come out of your presentation. This has brought out some of more touching moments in the class. Just this year a student reluctantly chose her mother…and in the middle of the interview suddenly saw how wrong she had been to resent her mother over the years…and suddenly realized how much she loved her mother…and this girl broke down in tears said it was a moment that brought her family back together. I could really go on and on…it’s just that committing to your message…and pushing students to see themselves…it has reaped rewards that go wayyyyyyy beyond the requirements of 11th grade English.

I was picked as Teacher of the Year for my school this year…in no small part because of your program.

I am amazed Facebook has given me an opportunity to reach out to you…I really never thought I would have the chance in my life…and let you know how much I appreciate your passion and vision…and to also let you know how much your work has made this world a better place.

Thanks for reading, George Herring.

Why Do You Work?

I was hit by a flaming arrow by a Forum piece in USA Today last Monday written about God (The God Choice).  It was written by Barbara Bradley Hagerty whose new book is Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality.  Her book asserts that all of us are confronted with a nagging choice.  Under scenario one all of human consciousness resides inside the three-pound slab of meat called our brain.  In this scenario, the meaning of both the universe and our daily life, our family, and anything else we might care about are the results of brain chemistry.  All meaning and all morality is made up.  All reality is material.

The other choice is to look at our brains’ design as a radio receiver capable of receiving inspiration and wisdom from a source beyond our personal biology.  Furthermore, this greater wisdom is constantly being broadcast whether we tune into it or not.  Neurological research on people who meditate, for instance, develop parts of their brain that enables them to reduce negative stress, improve sustained contentment and creative responses to challenges.  This she proposes is like putting a big antenna on our inner radio so we can receive clearer, deeper and more inspiring wisdom from a source beyond our brains.  Why should we believe this?

Well, the truth is no one knows what consciousness is.  What we do know now is that people who have had all brain wave activity cease in their brain due to a medical procedure can still experience complete consciousness even when they are brain dead!  (See the case of Pam Reynolds).  The implication is that our unique human consciousness appears to exist independent of our physical brains.  Wow.

So what’s spiritual meaning have to do with our daily life?  It turns out, plenty.  I was conducting a training of a global brand name company last week for a group of senior sales executives who were dealing with the brutal impacts of unrelenting stress performing at a high level in this crazy economy. One of the questions I asked is “Why Do You Work?”  As the answers flowed it soon became apparent that we work to live rather than live to work.

Then I asked, “What makes life worth living?”  In the many decades of doing this kind of work the answer is always the same.  The people we love make life worth living. Relationships are at the core of meaning because healthy relationships require us to go beyond our self-interest.  They ask us to love when people are acting unlovable.  They ask us to understand, to listen, to encourage, to be loyal and committed even when it’s inconvenient.  Especially when it’s inconvenient.  It’s relationships of love that give us the glimpse of what’s possible when we authentically connect with another.  It is then when we feel the energy of selfless love instead of the grimy world of survival of the fittest.

So is love real, or is it just the result of brain chemistry and DNA?  Well, again, it’s a choice.  For me hell would be believing that life was meaningless and that love was a mirage.  It means that patiently listening to a grieving friend is meaningless self-indulgence.

Heaven on the other hand, begins when I have a moment of intense presence with someone I love.  In those moments heaven crashes over me in an ecstasy of profound gratitude that connects me to every element of the universe.  And in those unique moments I feel oneness.  Is that made up?

Of course sophisticated brain scans can identify the parts of the brain that light up when people feel this transcendence.  Some cynics believe because we’ve discovered the human antenna that there is no need to consider the source of the divine music.  It seems no matter what they insist, life has no absolute meaning.  But what if life does have meaning?  What if the common human experience of love is what makes life worth living because love is real?

My choice is to believe it’s more real than anything else.  My choice is to believe it’s more real than the economy, politics, retirement, a job, the Internet or my personal stresses and disappointment that the world does not conform to my agenda.  That is my choice because it is my experience.  What’s yours?

“The Original Surf Gangster”

I was walking in from surfing this morning with my little beanie on. My dermatologist insists I keep my head covered in the summer time. Otherwise, skin cancer will take over my skull. As I was walking up the beach this older guy looked at my surfboard with flames and my bad boy headgear and said, “Whoa, the original surf gangster!” I have been called a lot of things in my like but never a surf gangster! Do you think it will stick?

A Great Tragedy For A Tragic Figure

The Michael Jackson death is certainly a tragedy for a tragic figure. Back in the 80’s I new Jimmy Osmond, the youngest member of the Osmond’s, who was a concert producer and produced Michael Jackson in his concerts in Japan. Michael had a huge following in Japan. Jimmy told me about how really sad his personal life was. One time, he bought out an entire amusement park, so that he could actually go on some rides because he couldn’t be out in public in any way, and participate with others the way you and I do. So at that time Michael’s constant companion was a monkey. Jimmy said probably the saddest thing was to see Michael sit all alone on these thrill rides in a Japanese amusement park. The price of sane is one of the highest prices anybody must pay and to have it at such a young age as Michael did. The amount of programming and the demands of others and other people telling you what you are and who you should be is just a constant stream of soul deadening pressure. I have nothing but compassion for Michael Jackson and wonder who I might be if I lived under that kind of pressure. He was certainly one of a kind talent and certainly deserves to rest in peace.

Responsibilities of Business Leadership

Recently I was sad to read that although business schools are making a sincere effort to promote ethical and moral leadership in their students, it’s having a hard time gaining popularity. The Harvard MBA graduating class of 2009 was invited to take a pledge to strive to act with honesty and integrity, to try to create sustainable prosperity, to oppose all forms of corruption and exploitation, and to take responsibility for their actions. Amazingly only 20% of the graduates opted to make this commitment formally. That’s not to say that 80% are immoral self interested greed geniuses, it just speaks to the low level that MBA training has gotten to. When MBA schools started 50 years ago, their courses were viewed with values and leadership responsibilities. Today they’ve shifted into trade schools to enable bright young men and women to simply figure out how to make money. Because we have 1,200 MBA schools who turn out most of the leaders who run our biggest institutions this is more than a small problem. A Harvard business professor, Rakesh Khurana wrote a book about the history of business education called, “From Higher Aims to Hired Hands.”  When he gives speeches on the subject of business schools he says that the audience primarily squirms in their seats with the idea of professionalizing the responsibilities of business leadership. There is something deeply wrong with this picture. It is time for a mental revolution; a revolution of thinking about the responsibility of leading any organization to create a future of sustainable abundance. Surely our best and brightest should be leading this revolution instead of dragging our feet!

Lance Armstrong Foundation – “Never Say Die”

Yesterday I was shown the Live Strong collection, which is part of the Nike commitment to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. It has raised nearly 100 million dollars to fight cancer, and is truly one of the best examples of honest cause marketing in the world. 100% of the proceeds and the sales from the Lance Armstrong collection go to the cancer foundation. It gives it a really terrific commercial venture because the collection is very energetic and beautiful, and really carries the “Never Say Die” message extremely well. Retailers love it. It shows you that when a company is really committed to something from a strategic sense that they can really make a difference!

Regualar Guy Making His Difference

Yesterday, on Fathers Day I went surfing and as I was walking down the steps to the surf spot I ran into a guy named Robbie who has had a surf school for about twenty two years. We struck up a conversation, and he told me that he had a program called Happy Barrels. This Happy Barrel Foundation teaches surfing and takes people surfing who are paraplegics and quadriplegics. He does activities with them almost every month. My thinking that you can save the world right where you are, and everybody can make a difference is true. Who would have thought somebody running a surf school would even think of such a thing, let alone do it? Robbie is just a regular guy making his difference.

Deluxe Corp Webinar

I did the Deluxe Corp webinar for banks and I was really seeing the praises of credit unions and community banks, and for the good they are doing for their communities, and the good they are doing for their depositors. Some of the large bank executors that were on the line, I think maybe got a little offended that I might be anti big bank. It’s not that I’m anti big bank just because they are big. There are really good people in all banks. I do think that banks can really help lift people or they can plague them. When industries get so out of line that legislation is required to reign in some of the more obnoxious practices that they use against their own consumers to maximize what’s called, financial yield, then we just have to look at those policies and look at the thinking that created those policies. So I’m not anti anything, what I am for is a sustainable future for everyone.

Community Banks and Credit Unions – Amplifying Their Voice

I’m doing a webinar this morning for hundreds of community banks and credit unions. This is making me smile. They are one of Americas best-kept secrets. They loan the deposits of people in a community, back to the members of the community to help build businesses, and self-reliance. They help finance small businesses, houses and responsible consumption. They have a completely different business model than the big name brand banks. Most of which get sucked in banking as a casino game, gambling with out money. I wish community banks and credit unions were much more aggressive in telling their story. A credit union is a bank that depositors actually own. What a novel idea. It’s been around for 150 years. I’m going to see if I can get them to amplify their voice.

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