On The Eve of the W-End: Remembering Madiba

As we have been witness to a challenging week, I thought to step back and reflect upon one of the giants of our time.       I picked up these images as a measure of motivation, hope and engagement I trust will also find so as I wish all a great W-End:






 

 

Working Away w/Thought(s) 4 the Week on #leadership, #life & Social Good

I wanted to revisit an old admonition I have at my desk daily which I look at daily: 



I also ran across the seven principles that I thought is so timely as we are dealing with such unprecedented change in our World which I trust will be part of the evolving nature of #Outsiders that I was very glad that Alan Murray  of +Fortune Magazine  noted this in his newsletter as the Democratic National Conventions is on-going in Philadelphia:

. ...Support for the twin drivers of post-World War II prosperity - globalization and digitization - is eroding. How should global business respond? Rich Lesser and Martin Reeves of BCG have an interesting piece out this morning that calls on business leaders to adopt a new "corporate leadership manifesto." It "won't be easy," they say; but failing to adopt it may mean companies lose their "freedom to operate." You can read the full piece here later today, or read my summary of their "seven imperatives" for business below: 1) Use technology to rethink globalization. In the future it must be less about global supply chains and low-cost offshoring, and more about serving the needs of individual markets. 2) Create business platforms and ecosystems that allow more people to participate. That's not just for tech businesses, but also for things like energy, with decentralized grids, or manufacturing, with decentralized supply chains. 3) Deploy technology from front to back. Business often adopts technology with a view toward increasing efficiency and eliminating jobs. Lesser and Reeves says they should start with serving the needs of customers, and work back from there. 4) Invest in human capital. The rapid pace of change requires people to constantly be acquiring news skills to survive. Companies should facilitate that re-skilling. 5) Apply a social business mindset. Business must think about the effects of their operations on communities and underserved populations. The Milton Friedman construct - that the social responsibility of business is to make a profit - is no longer sufficient. 6) Rethink compensation. Workers need a living wage, and exorbitant pay for corporate leaders, particularly when not linked to performance, undermines support for business. 7) Own the narrative. Business leaders need to do a better job explaining to the world how capitalism solves problems and creates prosperity.

On the Dawn of a New Week: Thoughts...& Other Thoughts.......and believing in Miracles......

As the new week is at hand, I decided to share some "tidbits" of thoughts over the past weeks--and as I was on Facebook, this popped up from 2010--It is this admonition that was so timely in the current challenging political environment before us:

This is as also saw this that is quite a tough admonition to live up to:

“We must admit
the vanity of our false distinctions among men
and learn to find our own advancement
in the search for the advancement of all.
We must admit in ourselves
that our own children’s future
cannot be built on the misfortunes of others.
We must recognize
that this short life can neither be ennobled
or enriched by hatred or revenge.”
~ Robert F. Kennedy

As I was trying to temper my disappointment about the tone of the Republican National Convention, I saw this from another Facebook Friend who is one of the leading schoalrs of Iranian History int he World Today about his fears as he also featured Fareed Zakaria's takedown of Mr. Trump:   

After Mr. Trump's speech, for the first time I am worried for my family and the future in this country. I am just like Fareed Zakaria. I was born into a secular Muslim family. That is part of multiple identities which I carry. As Carlo Gainzburg once wrote, to paraphrase him, he never identified himself as a Jew, until he was identified by others to be as one.

If I am to be classified, stamped or have a badge, or my family and I are to be put into some camp, in the name of security, I will leave. But before I turn in my American passport and leave, I hope others will not vote for this candidate of the Republican party. This is not about keeping the party line. It is about common decency and humanity.

What he said during his speech was in line with fascist speeches of the 1930s and 1940s. This man is devisive and destructive for this country and for the rest of the world. Government is not a business. International politics is not corporate America. Letting the army and the police into the street of America will not solve our problems. Bombing other countries will not bring security to the US and the world. It will only worsen it.

What has become to the party of Lincoln and Roosevelt?

I also begin this week with this simple and yet powerful clip from one of my favorite artists Cold Play--the race has to be finished--and that we shall: