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  • Politics Is Like Hiring A Hitman
    by Scott Woods inPolitical on2020-08-13

    For me, politics is like hiring a hitman. I have values and things I care about. I care enough about them to at least bother voting for 5 minutes every year for one issue or another. And because I care at least that much, I vote for people who align with the ability to realize the things I care about.

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  • Punching Above Our Weight
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-07-24

    I believe our vote is the punctuation of our voice. Without that resounding exclamation mark, I believe our voices are just incoherent noise.

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  • BLACK PROGRESS AMIDST SOCIAL CHAOS
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-06-16

    Recent events have raised the profile of historical injustice and inequities here in the USA. The entire world has taken note of the fact that BLACK LIVES MATTER.   We invite all of our friends to engage in actions that result in the greatest movement for change in our history. It is imperative that we take advantage of this opportunity to affect a positive change by ACTING IN OUR SELF-INTERESTS.

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  • Living in a Black No-Man's Land
    by Roger Madison Jr. inOur Community on2019-10-28

    There are many narratives that define the Black experience in America in this 2nd decade of the 21st century. Our striving over the centuries of our sojourn in this nation is a tapestry of every human experience -- oppression, enslavement, forced assimilation, dehumanization, exclusion, segregation, isolation, struggle, perseverance, achievement, excellence, celebration, mourning, despair, progress, setbacks, lynching, assassination, genocide, terror, self-hatred, low esteem, pride,...

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  • Fighting Racism
    by Scott Woods inOur Community on2018-10-25

    I had a boss who was racist. Not an outright bigot, of course; her toolbox was more subtle than most. We bumped heads a lot over inconsequential things. She frequently couldn’t keep my name out her mouth. Lot of gaslighting. You know…2018 style. I tried a lot of ways to combat or navigate her issues. None of them worked, and that’s saying a lot because I’m really good at fighting racism. But at the end of the day – every day – she was my boss, I had to deal with her, and that was that. Finally I...

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Life in the Fast Lane -- Values are the fuel for accelerated results.

Moving in the fast lane means performing at a higher level. Just as an automobile performs better on higher octane fuel, so do individuals perform at higher levels with the right fuel. We cannot expect to close the gaps between our current condition without performing at higher levels. The fuel that enables higher performance for individuals is a guiding set of values. There are endless stories of ruin that accompany those looking for shortcuts -- in business, sports, entertainment, or personal achievement -- those who abandon solid values for quick success.

Many times when speaking about performing at higher levels, some think that high performance is limited to the elitists among us -- those who are blessed with an abundance of resources, who seem to have advantages over the rest of us. That is not the case.

A few years ago, Steven Covey wrote a book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." This book spawned a growing industry of followers who "got it." Success is based on some very fundamental habits that we all can adopt.

Here is a review for those who want to accelerate their performance in the fast lane:
  1. Be Proactive. Proactive people are driven by values that are independent of the weather or how people treat them.
  2. Begin with the End In Mind. Develop a principle-centered personal mission statement.
  3. Put First Things First. Identify the key roles that you take on in life, and make time for each of them.
  4. Think Win/Win. Seek agreements and relationships that are mutually beneficial.
  5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood. First seek to understand the other person, and only then try to be understood.
  6. Synergize. Through trustful communication, find ways to create a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.
  7. Sharpen the saw. Take time out from production to build production capacity through personal renewal of the physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual dimensions.
I have practiced these habits for many years, and find that they have enabled me to perform at a very effective level in a variety of situations -- family, work, organizations, business -- to name a few.

I would like to hear from you. What habits have helped you to raise your level of performance in the fast lane? Are you accelerating past the obstacles in the way of your full potential? Is something holding you back?

I'm looking forward to hearing from you.