Category: Leadership

Entrepreneurs who become billionaires took a lot of risks, found huge success, and acquired fortunes that should last for generations. Some people take issue with those roughly 800 Americans (0.0000024 of the population) – pointing out how much greater compensated they are than the employees who actually do the work.

They have a point, as the $112 trillion held by billionaires is more than twice the total wealth of the bottom 50 percent of households combined. Ownership of professional sports teams, $200 million yachts and private island playgrounds reinforce the image of the overpaid, spoiled, out of touch, mostly male, 99% white, elite.

Often, though, those same billionaires do plenty of good for the rest of us: giving to the arts, sponsoring university buildings, funding medical research, contributing locally and nationally to those in need.

Many signed The Giving Pledge to contribute a majority of their wealth to charities upon death, including Warren Buffett, who will (eventually) give away 99% of his net worth. Heck, the cofounder of Duty Free Shoppers – now 90-year-old Charles ‘Chuck’ Feeney – took it a step further, giving it all away while living, donating more than $8 billion, which left he and his wife $2 million in their retirement nest egg.

Then there are the three dreamers who envision a new frontier… colonization of faraway places. Richard Branson soared to an altitude of 53 miles on July 11. Jeff Bezos took it further this morning… past the Karman line that divides earth’s atmosphere and space. Elon Musk put down a deposit on Branson’s Virgin Galactic – although he’s said to be staying grounded, focused on reducing space transportation costs.

Exploration is expensive. Columbus’s journey would cost $40 million in today’s dollars. The Mercury-Apollo program totaled $280 billion in 2021 dollars. The U.S. spends $3 billion yearly to support the International Space Station. Yet, exploration may be etched into the core of humanity… dating to the first caveman who decided to cross that flowing stream and see what was on the other side of the hill.

On July 20, 1969 – 52 years ago today – Neil Armstrong took his ‘one giant leap for mankind.’ Years later, one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, Walter Schirra, who was seated next to Walter Cronkite on CBS for that historic event, wrote: “Moon and back. We did confirm a round trip from the very beginning. And ‘moonandback’ is one word. No hyphens. No commas.”

I know where I was that Sunday at 9:56 p.m. Texas time. Something tells me my yet-to-be-born great grandchildren will watch even more amazing achievements in space.

There are a few essential, ‘big things’ when it comes to nurturing children into adults. Teach them to love. Help them to learn. Keep them safe. Make them self-sufficient. Accomplish those and you’ll glide joyfully into the empty-nester phase of life.

When the ‘Big Freeze’ hit the Austin area earlier than expected two weeks ago, our youngest – a first-year high school English teacher in a nearby district – texted to let us know she was leaving school early and making the typical 20-minute drive to her apartment. This would be her initial experience navigating icy roads.

About 45-minutes later, she texted to say she came upon a single-car accident near her complex and the young driver and his passenger were sitting in her car – masked-up – to have heat in the 25-degree weather. While police eventually arrived, with so many cars on the road as everyone left work early, an ambulance couldn’t get to them.

One of the occupants had a serious injury, so Kirsten took it upon herself to drive them to a hospital. After some treacherous road navigation, she dropped them off, texted us she was heading back to her apartment and eventually made it home, just as darkness set in – more than two-and-a-half hours after departing the school.

Since a parent’s work is never complete – even when all the kids are grown – I admit to having anxious thoughts during all this of ‘hope she doesn’t get Covid’ and ‘two young men in a car with a young woman.’ Yet, everything turned out fine.

My lasting thought? We raised her well.

Once upon a time, I worked in sports television. (Can a quarter century really have passed since my last show?) One of the announcers I worked with – this is about 1986, so it’s 35 years ago! – provided me sage advice. The former college basketball coach said, “Never stray too far from your strengths.”

That’s something I remembered during three subsequent career moves: first into travel, then franchising and finally coaching. While those are different industries, the common thread for me is working with others to maximize what they inherently do best.

At our travel company, that meant motivating employees to pursue our vision. In franchising, ‘better’ involved training new and veteran franchisees how to use their strengths to grow their businesses. As a coach, my role is to ask powerful questions that allow leaders to explore their own thoughts and find answers for their challenges.

Early on during engagements, I ask clients to express their Super Power. “What is your biggest strength?” It’s a wonderful exercise for an individual to pause and identify the one thing that makes them most valuable to their organization and team.

So… what’s your Super Power?

Every four years, America pauses at Noon ET on January 20 to observe the swearing in of the president:

I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God.

Immediately before this, the vice president takes a longer oath:

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same: that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

So much of a nation’s unity is tied to imagery: flag, anthem, monuments, buildings. Beyond chosen symbolism, it is how citizens respond during moments in the timeline of history that define a culture. The American Revolution. The Civil War. The Great Depression. World War II. 9/11. 2020.

Every inauguration is historical by definition. Yesterday’s ceremonies for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris seem more significant for many reasons. When those in a future era reflect back on how we addressed the many challenges before us during this, our time, in history, they will judge us on what we do from here. Starting today. Continuing tomorrow. Ending somewhere down the road.

How will you make this a better place for all?

These are the rest of the 10 things I learned during 2020…

Breaking Fad – After talking about it for several year, we finally ‘cut the cord’ this summer and entered the streaming era. Of course, we then needed to increase Internet speed by adding fiber optics… and since our TV’s are older, we had to purchase a Roku. Then it turned out one TV isn’t compatible, so we ordered an over-the-air HD indoor antenna for local channels. After testing a free week of Hulu, we settled on YouTubeTV for the major networks. Everything works great; however, when you add in Disney+, Peacock, Prime and Netflix, the cost trends right back toward the amount we were paying for cable. We’ll be dropping a few in the New Year.

Century Mark – He broke into the Majors in 1942. Then he enlisted in the military and served three years during World War II. He made it back to the Bigs in ‘47, playing 11 more seasons and for seven of the eight American League teams. Ted Williams said he “was the most underrated and clutch hitter I ever played against.” After retiring he became a baseball executive and was president/GM of the Texas Rangers for a time, which allowed me to start a lifelong friendship with his son Paul. On December 15, Eddie Robinson – the Oldest Living Former Major League Baseball Player – turned 100. He started a podcast a few months ago, which proves you’re never too old to try something new.

Lasting Legacy – One hundred years from now historians will still be writing about the 2020 Global Pandemic, just as they continue to chronicle World War I, the War of 1812, the South Sea Bubble and the Mayflower. There will be books about how governments handled their responses, how so many suffered, how elected officials and citizens took sides. All that is for others to reflect on down the road. This year taught me that what we think we know changes quickly. There is another ‘something big’ down the road that will impact our grandchildren. My hope is that when that time arrives, they learned some things from us, and they, too, will have faith, discipline and patience, to see the challenge through to the other side.

Gift Giving – Covid greatly increased the numbers of those in need; right now, one in five people in Southeast Texas don’t have enough to eat. In lieu of client gifts, once again this year, we contributed to a nonprofit that is doing wonderful things in our local community. The Houston Food Bank distributes fresh produce, meat and nonperishable items, and prepares nutritious hot meals for kids. Each dollar donated provides three meals and they are currently serving more than 90,000 households each week in 18 area counties.

I’ll conclude with a quote about the most wonderful time of the year. This one courtesy of Agnes M. Pahro: “What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future.”

Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. Seasons Greetings. Here’s hoping the world gets well in 2021… and continued success in all things.