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Happy Talk from Jeff Thredgold

I've subscribed to Jeff Thredgold's newsletter for probably two years now.  He's an economist who can talk about economics in an interesting, entertaining and understandable way.  He's not afraid to give an opinion or to say when he has no idea how something is going to work out.  Twice a year he does a "Happy Talk" newsletter where he only reports good news - the rest of the time there is usually a balance between dark clouds and silver linings.  I always end up forwarding that issue multiple times as it comes up in conversations and people want to see the whole list of good news items.  This time around I emailed Jeff and asked permission to reprint a few, and he quickly replied that I could.  Check out his website here and subscribe to his free email newsletter if you like it.

I had a tough time picking the items to reprint here, so check out the list on Jeff's website.  To read the list click here.  Now for some good news:

• Donations to charities were near the all-time high in 2008, with more than $307 billion donated by individuals, foundations, and corporations. As a percentage of GDP, Americans gave twice as much as the next most charitable nation…England

• Smoke-free laws in restaurants, bars, the workplace, etc. reduced the rate of heart attacks by an average of 17% after one year in those communities where the bans had been adopted

• The income of women worldwide is expected to rise by $5.1 trillion by 2013 to $15.3 trillion, an increase of one-half

• U.S. exports to China have risen roughly 24% per year since 2001, making China the fastest growing market for U.S. goods

• Violent crime declined 4.4% during 2009’s first half, versus the year before.  Violent crime overall is down nearly 60% since 1993, with violence by teens down 71%.  School violence has declined by half from a decade ago

• Flexible work schedules are now the norm for 43% of workers, up from 29% in 1992 and 13% in 1985. This allows greater flexibility for more people, especially those with children

Thank you Jeff for allowing me to share your Happy Talk!

The Leader's T-Shirt

An entrepreneur friend emailed me this week and asked to remind him of a story I once told about the leader's t-shirt.  I had told him that I liked to imagine everyone on my team wearing a t-shirt that said, "I approve of how you treat people and they should follow you" and then my name would be signed below that quote.

If the idea of having a particular person on your leadership team wearing that shirt makes you sick at your stomach, it's time for them to go.  I think the idea should really apply to everyone in the company, but let's stick with the question I was asked.  If you have someone in a management position that isn't treating people right and setting a good example for everyone else, then they need to go.

Now my friend remembered the t-shirt story differently, but I like his version too.  He thought the story went like this  "if I could put a sign on everyone’s back and some signs read – I’m really not happy here—then it’s my job to find them out so I can fix it and they can end up at the place they’re supposed to."

I think he's combining my t-shirt story with Jim Collin's stories about having the right people on the bus and the idea of "First Who."  (Here's an audio recording of Jim talking about this - take a minute to listen to it and think about it.

One of my first entrepreneur lessons learned was that not everyone is going to be happy all the time, least of all me.  Sometimes it just isn't fun, and sometimes the hard times seem to go on forever.  That's life. 

What Jim Collin's is talking about I think is when you have someone who either doesn't fit the core values you are trying to maintain or they just can't do the job, and they aren't looking like they have the potential to ever be great in their job. People don't have fun when they are in a job that they aren't really good at.  If it is a skills issue, they are either in the wrong seat on the bus and you need to help them if you can, or they are on the wrong bus entirely.  And if they don't get that, you as a manager and leader need to help them get off the bus and not let them just ride around in circles on the wrong bus.  They won't ever reach their potential if they are in the wrong position and they are probably making other people miserable without even knowing it.  It sucks to tell someone they are on the wrong bus, but as a wise man once told him, "if you don't do it, YOU are stealing their life."

 

Thanks for the free t-shirt design template from Dennis Douven at Bytedust Visual Art & Design and Bytees.nl t-shirt shop.