When the Titanic hit an iceberg, and people drowned, ultimately, the Captain was held responsible. When a train crashes headlong into another, through no fault of its own, the Conductor is held responsible. When a school has a rogue student or coach that other kids have mentioned to their superiors, and nothing is done, the Principal is held responsible. It is the one at the helm of any organization that is held responsible, when things go wrong. The Leader often gets paid more than others to stand at the top…be an overseer…and granted there are perks, and position…but there is also a responsibility to try to make sure all goes well under their stewardship. That is called Leadership.

 A true Leader wants things to go well…takes pride in what they set out to accomplish. They are not afraid to be present. They are not intimidated. They will sacrifice a vacation to tend to problems under their governance. They are passionate about their job. They can go off script to answer questions because they know the ins and outs of what they tower over. They have taken the time to learn everything they can about the ship, train, business, country, etc. that they run. It is their passion…it is their mission.

A true Leader doesn’t want shame to glare over their stewardship. They try to bring the best and the brightest together to get things done. They make folks in an organization feel that they are all working towards the same goal, even if they have differing opinions. A true Leader has the grace and finesse to make both sides feel they have won. The last thing a true Leader wants is to have warring factions under the same roof. Just like in a family, a true Leader is able to remind everyone that winning means there must be compromise.

In times of great turmoil, true Leadership is needed. Not Leaders who try to blame others for failures, nor Leaders who hide behind their past accolades. A true Leader realizes that today is more important than the past, and tomorrow is more important than today.

Carpe Diem,

Jennifer Avalon

© 2011 Jennifer Avalon

I wake up in the morning and get out of my bed (a business made my bed, mattress, and sheets) I brush my teeth (toothbrush, thank you business) I take a shower and dry myself off (thank you tub and shower installer business, and, oh yes, the water business) Every moment of my day I am interacting with a business product. I drive my car, get gas, eat lunch, work….without business, I would probably be living, well, I don’t even know where, because without the construction business I wouldn’t be in a house, and without the car business, I wouldn’t have a car. And yet there are some amongst us who put down “business”….big business, is what they often site, but the real truth is, without big business there are no little businesses, and without any kind of business, we have nothing. We might as well all go back to living in caves (if we can still find any) and hope we haven’t lost our hunting skills, and, oh yes, we better have a natural source of running water.

We foolishly take for granted what we use every day to live. And the funniest part of all is, the folks who are often against big business are the folks who can usually AFFORD to moan about big business. The truth is, “big business” hires people, pays taxes (contrary to what folks say) which means they contribute to the “entitlements” of Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid, because their workers and they are paying into those systems. Try having Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid without the businesses who pay into them with their employees….entitlements couldn’t exist! So I get really frustrated when some folks try to twist the truth about what’s going on with “big business.” Taxes are lower in communities where there is a “big business.” More people are employed, even in smaller businesses, because small businesses grow up around big businesses. That’s the way it works. Ever notice what happens when a “big business” leaves an area? The steel mills in Pennsylvania, for instance? Ever seen it? Empty storefronts…gone are the mom and pop restaurants that fed the big business workers….foreclosures spring up on the lawns….etc.etc. Domino effect.

Whenever people moan about “big business” I think of the ungratefulness they are actually expressing. Big Business can often employ people out of the country now…and why wouldn’t they, if they don’t feel the American people appreciate them anymore? And sometimes, to stay in business, they have to employ overseas. America has not been business friendly now for a few years….. which is what’s hurting our economy to its core. So beware of those who are against business….you might be very surprised by the size of their bank accounts, and/or that deed to the chalet they own in southern France. You might be shocked, actually.

Our country needs a pro-business attitude so it can get rolling again. Without that, we will never have enough of a tax base to support the things we hold dear. And we don’t need to “raise taxes on the rich,”…that will only send them elsewhere. We need businesses to not feel FEARFUL anymore about hiring people. Fear is causing this recession/depression. It’s all so simple….but you would never know it by what you hear in most of the press. Really simple.

Wake Up,

Jennifer Avalon

© 2011 Jennifer Avalon