The Evolution of American Concerns!

Part of connecting to people is knowing what concerns them - knowing where their anxieties lie! The ironic thing about the U.S. is that there has been a fundamental shift in the last year away from focus of many Americans on the Iraq War and our national security, to concern about the economics of this country. This occurred first because of the mortgage crisis and second because of energy prices, and their impact on food and seemingly all other prices.

Today, it seems like a distant memory when most Americans were concerned most about whether the "Surge" would work or not, whether Iraq would continue to spiral down, - for those times now do seem many years past. The time now is measured instead by the moments when we have to fill up our tank, buy groceries, pay some new surcharge or fee - all which are required to cover the energy crisis we now find ourselves. This is the new economic reality inescapable for the bottom 95% of Americans. However, this change in the American concerns struck me only recently while watching Lifetime's Army Wives. I realized that the concerns of last summer when the show was first aired really do seem so far away - when the show's cliffhanger involved a possible terrorist attack on the post.

However, then it got me thinking. In WWII, the economics at home were far worse than they are now - when "Victory Gardens" were the way of most households had to deal with severe food and energy shortages. These were also the way that average Americans made their impact for the "War Effort!" Our ancestors worked as a country through the problems of WWII and the residual issues of the Great Depression with much more vigor than we seem to work now. The reality is that we still have airmen/women, soldiers, sailors and marines in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thanks to failed policies of the current Administration, we also are less secure in the world, with more enemies and fewer allies. While the economics must be understood and addressed by each household, we must also remember that the security of this nation is still uncertain. Are we so much weaker from those Americans who pulled together in 1941-1945, and weathered a much more severe storm?

No! This is the time that we Americans must not become more isolated - but less isolated - from the communities we are in. We must pull together under our proud flag - and understand that both our security and economy are important to our common ground. We must remember that for those still in harm's way, or those who would be called upon to defend us in the event of another terrorist attack, security issues must be addressed - and we must also cultivate allies in the world. As one community we must also find ways, each of us, to reduce the use and reuse our resources locally - whether it is conserving water, energy, or food - buying locally, learning to garden/farm, and supporting local merchants whose goods are local and do not require transportation. We must find ways to increase our energy efficiency, and redirect our American lives which have for too long been carefree of such resource issues. These sacrifices are no less than our parents and grandparents made in WWII. Our time is now to show such similar heroism.

The real question that exists for us Americans is this - do we see this as the moment in time when we strike out in new directions, or hold on to the old ways? Do we come together as Americans - regardless of our party affiliation and solve tough problems, or do we allow our great political experiment that we started in 1776 to die a slow and ignoble death? Do we allow these to be the worst of times, or do we see them as opportunities for this Country and its Ideals to shine once more, again, brightly - as we learn to take up a new place in the world? Such necessities of our times don't require less connection to the world outside the US, or less connection to the communities we find ourselves, - but require that we connect more. What will history say about the 21st Century? You, my reader, are in as good a position to help write that history as anyone.

How will you help define our times - as the best of times - or the worst? In this matter everyone gets to decide equally.

Always, Always take someone with you to the Hospital ER!

Recently I had an interesting experience. I found myself going to the ER with an intense pain in my side and needing to have it checked immediately out of concern for a rupture that would lead to peritonitis. Granted if I had listened to my wife, I would have gone to my primary care physician more quickly, but I figure I pulled at least "a 1/2 guy, with some splash." While the triage could have been more effective once we arrived at the ER, I found myself playing good cop to my wife's bad cop - when we were trying to get my vitals taken. My wife was helpful in speaking up for me.

In this day of the health care field being under assault for rising costs and finding ways to make strategic cuts, modern ERs don't have the hustle and bustle that the NBC show, ER, tends to display. Duplicate equipment costs money, so they don't seem to have too many extra machines around - such as blood pressure machines. They aren't going to have as many staff on duty as once they might have - all in efforts to control costs I am sure. However, that means it is even more important that you have an advocate with you at the ER or hospital until you are lucid enough to watch and react for yourself.

My experience is telling of this. After we finally had my vitals checked, the ER found that I did have a strong need for immediate care. They put me on IV antibiotics, morphine for the pain, and otherwise started diagnosing and treating me. I found that the ER nurse would come in with the a machine to check my blood pressure, and then take it with her to check someone else in another room. I seemed to have been stabilized, was propped up on a gurney without a cuff or call button on me, and was waiting to allow the contrast to absorb in my digestive system for an hour before they could take the CT scan. No one was immediately around except my wife. After 40 minutes, I had been doing decently well when quickly I started feeling first more tired, then nauseous, then really nauseous, ... then the sense that my skin was on fire, started sweating profusely, and feeling far worse than I have EVER felt in a matter of moments. At the beginning of this, my wife ran to get the nurse quickly. This was all going on as they run back into the room.

When the nurse came in, her first concern was that I was having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic, which was not unreasonable given my medical history. They flattened me out on the gurney and put the blood pressure cuff on me; I was still feeling really bad. My wife, though, quickly suggested to further raise my feet even higher while they were cuffing me to check my blood pressure. Right before my feet were elevated, I had dropped from about 148/95 to 71/50 - which they called a "vagal." I quickly started feeling better once my feet were up. It was then that the nurse indicated the danger of such dramatically falling blood pressure - kidney failure, followed by other organ failures, and then death.

If my wife had not been there, I would not have had someone to run and get help quickly, and independently be assessing the situation. Given the position I was in - propped up in the gurney - if I had passed out without anyone there, I easily could have been found after 10-20 minutes or so - which could have been fatal. At a minimum, my wife probably saved my kidneys, and potentially my life by being there - getting help and assessing the situation as well. Part of connecting with people is making sure you know enough people to ask to go with you to the ER. For those with amble family nearby, they will serve. If you are someone without a lot of family nearby, then definitely start having those conversation with close friends and agree to be there for each other.

While I am sure the lawyers who read this will be assessing blame, it is MUCH easier to avoid the problems or deal with them quickly before the consequences occur - than judge people for years afterwards. For me, I am doing better after spending several days in the hospital. There luckily was no rupture and I am slowly on the mend.

SUBSEQUENT ADDENDUM:

At the time of this incident, as I reported above, the term the hospital used with me was "Vagal." Sometime after that, a friend who is a physician first used the phrase, "you might have been a little septic" when he heard the story. At the time, the term "sepsis" was not in my vocabulary and it went right past me.

However, several months later in January 2009, a Brazilian model died suddenly in an ER in Brazil when she presented with what they thought was simply a urinary tract infection that was severe. Within days, she went into "septic shock," lost consciousness and never regained it. In the days that followed, because of sepsis, she developed gangriene set in and they had to amputate her hands and feet to try to save her life. They did not and she died a few days later. I began to look into this incident since it had a lot of similarities on the front end to my experience, and made me very appreciative that my outcome was different.

http://www.newser.com/story/48813/amputated-brazilian-model-dies.html

The concern about sepsis, septic shock, and any other "true" shock became very real to me. I believe based upon my vitals I likely was on the beginning part of septic shock when I had a "vagal" and I was fortunate not to go into full blown sepsis. When these occur, a cascading organ failure can start that is difficult to stop - leading to hypotension, loss of consciousness, kidney and liver failure, brain damage and DIC, followed soon after by death. I was on IV antibiotics, fluids and morphine for 40 minutes at the time and I had pretty fast care when I went into shock, thus ensuring that I did not suffer oxygen deprivation to the brain or other organ failure.

If you do not fully understand the nature of "sepsis," and want to know what to look out for, please consider watching this video by the Sepsis Alliance, a non-profit educating people about this danger. If you go into an emergency room with the possibility of a severe infection, consider expressing "I am concerned about sepsis," and if they don't seem to know what that is, find someone there who does. http://www.sepsisalliance.org/resources/video/emergency/

Similar concerns also exist for other true shock conditions, whether it originates as septic (vasogenic), anaphylactic, or hemorrhagic (cardiogenic, hypovolemic, or neurogenic) shock. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000039.htm.

See also,

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/432650-overview.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/827930-overview.

"Sometimes you are the windshield, sometimes you are the bug!"

I like the above saying since it characterizes life well - that some days might be bad, but the next day might be a good one. The saying is as much about perserverance as anything else - about not to give up no matter how hard life seems to try to knock you down at times. Be smart, keep plugging away, and see that connecting is always a good move.

Have you ever been driving in the slow lane, you are in a hurry and the traffic all seems to be passing you up. Finally, after you get tired of being left behind, you change lanes, only to then see that your prior lane is now moving faster and ... once again you are in the slow lane. Some of those times, I even change back - only to find out - yes, I am in the slow lane AGAIN. AARG! Sometimes in the back of my head I start thinking, "why is the world against me on this!" Finally, I will try to just let go of the situation, and simply say to myself, "well, I will get here when I get there, I guess!"

The people who ultimately succeed are not the people who always succeed, but are people who can learn from failure or struggles, know when to hold them, know when to throw them, know when to walk away, and know when to run! Granted, an old line from Kenny Rogers, but still a good one.

Many of you might have seen the movie, Sliding Doors, with Gwyneth Paltrow. The thing I liked about the movie is how it went through the nearly parallel lives of one woman in two scenarios - what would happen if you hadn't caught that train and each event impacted the next. In one of the lives, Paltrow's character seems to always be getting the hard times, while the other geting the better ones, sometimes they shift. At the end, the character who seems to have had the best time - ends the worse.

Going back to that slow lane scenario, what if there is a cop ahead and ... if you had decided to speed in the "fast lane" and then you got a ticket! I have had times when I was getting slowed down and somewhat frustrated by it -- only to find out it was because ... yes, there was cop ahead. "Man, glad I didn't try to go into the fast lane that day!"

Maybe if you had ended up in the fast lane, you would have been in the middle of a huge accident. On one occasion on I-35 here in Austin I was going north in mid-afternoon pre-rush, when the cars are packed, but they are still hauling - and a 10 car pileup occurred literally seconds before I came along. I almost wasn't able to dodge through the scene since I was on it at 60 mph ... except the exit lane was right there and I was able to swing out to avoid hitting anything. As I went through, most cars involved where pretty badly crushed. The lane slower by seconds may have been in fact the lucky lane that day!

Part of connecting to the world is that you will put yourself into more situations where you can seem to fail or simply not connect well on particular days. It can be a day where everyone seems to be "against" you, and it can even shake the best people's confidence. Just tell yourself repeatedly, "sometimes you are the windshield, sometimes you are the bug!" Be smart, keep plugging away, trying to improve where you can, and don't give up on yourself or your opportunities - but learn wisely from them. Often life will have a way of turning things to your advantage, if it has not already been looking out for you by putting you momentarily in the slow lane!

Have you offered to help someone today? Part II

Rather than trying to connect primarily by asking new people to help you, consider ways you can help them. If you want to really connect with people, a LOT of people, and achieve your goals - try this method. While it is not a short-term strategy, it is very effective.

Connect to people and organizations that are just neat, and those who you are more likely to want to reciprocate the connection back to you. I would suggest finding a skill set you are good at, which provide value and is easy for you to provide, and do so. For me, the skill I have that helps people and organization is photography.

For the last decade I have done a substantial amount of event photography for non-profits, trade associations and political campaigns - all of it free or only for reimbursement. It is great practice and often fun. At a minimum, the experiences, stories, and contacts I have received are a huge value to me. Some of these include photographing Hillary Clinton within the "bubble" of the U.S. Secret Service for 3 hours in 2005.

I also have repeatedly photographing Sen. Barack Obama for several events, along with many other national figures.






More locally, I was able to photograph for Texas State Sen. Kirk Watson twice at the Austin City Limits Festival events, last year with Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison, and also with Robert Earl Keen.

More recently, I offered to photograph my friend Erin Ivey and her group "Grand Hotel" [see also the photograph in Part I at the top], at the Driskill Hotel. I have provided Erin and Rolf some great photos they can use, and I think they are destined to break out. Erin and Rolf are just neat people and I was glad to help them. Listen to their music at:
http://www.myspace.com/grandhotelonline

This last week on Friday, I was also able to photograph a closed reception for Qiao Hong, Consul General of the Houston Consulate for the People's Republic of China, as a courtesy for the Austin Asian community. The weekend before, I photographed the "Heroes" event the weekend before that, for the Central Texas Chapter of the American Red Cross. Both neat events.

I have even been able to photograph Sarah Butler as Mother Ginger during the Nutcracker from backstage at the Bass Concert Hall. That was pretty neat, too!! For the Butlers, I have repeatedly offered my photographic skills in humble "thank you" for the great things they do for the arts in Austin, and for me in particular. I am a Knight of the Symphony because of the Butler family.

What talents do you have and who can you offer to help by volunteering your time? Ask yourself that question and then find ways to help! It is an excellent way to get great opportunities and connect to the very people you seek.

Have you offered to help someone today? Part I

Often I have noticed that people seem lost in their efforts to connect to others - particularly when they want help. Often when we need help the most - we feel desperate, and we are too quick to assert our needs over the needs of the other people around us. Another huge stumbling block is the interest in only having the other person provide help, and not ensuring reciprocity.

While it might seem counter-intuitive, this is a bad move to assert one's own needs too aggressively. This tendency, while seeming to be direct, is actually somewhat selfish and unproductive. You are essentially saying, "hey, I don't know you, or don't care about your situation, but you ought to help me because I am me." Unless they already like you for whatever reason and are willing to help you for their own reasons, you probably will not get what you are seeking on the short-term, and may even have sacrificed great long-term benefits.

Why? Because you have not honored the need to develop a relationship or friendship with others that will be true before making the ask for help. My wife, a non-profit development officer, has helped me understand these principles from a development perspective. My wife would tell you that "people don't give to causes, they give to people." People connect best by developing a relationship first - based upon common goals, common beliefs, common attraction, whatever. Even with people who are most generous with their time, they are often going to be hit up by too many people, and you have to ask yourself if your cause or need is more worthy then those they already support. Maybe! But until you know more facts, maybe not! And even if it is, it may well take time and experience before the prospect might agree.

Here is an example I have experienced. A non-profit called me up and said, "hey, give to us because we are a good cause!" although I have no prior relationship with them. Often in such instances, I indicate that we have already given to many non-profits and are currently tapped out. In some of those occasions, I had overly zealous non-profit solicitors get abrasive or simply insistent that they are the most worthy cause. The more effective way to develop that relationship as the solicitor is to say sincerely in response to such rejection, "Thank you so much for being involved and what you do in the community!," and then giving them contact information in case they might be interested in your mission in the future. You might not get their $$$ that time, but the next time they would regard you well - and might contribute or help in some other way.

I don't think asking for help is a bad thing, but definitely soft sell the ask if the relationship is still maturing - and I might suggest putting it in generic terms. Try saying, "I am trying to find people to help me do X; if you know of anyone who might be able to help and don't mind, let me know!" Also, make sure to measure the ask against what they might reasonably be able to do. If the ask is small, you might make it - but still be gracious with a "no." If they are in a position to help, they might. If the ask is a big one, avoid asking people you don't know well, if you can. If you feel you need to ask people who you do know well, I would even suggest saying, "You probably can't help me and I understand but I am desperate and need X. Do you know someone who can help?" In other situations if the relationship is a strong one, you are in a better position to be direct, but if you get a "no" in any circumstance, find a way to lighten the mood immediately so they know your relationship is still strong. You want them to know you care for them regardless of whether they help you at that instance!

While the above utilized analogies to non-profit, the tips by no means are limited in that context. They, however, are enlightening about "what not to do!"

Tune in to Part II for a better way to develop relationships, by offering to help instead!

Can you have a leader without a team?

Recently in an answer I posted to a question on Linkedin, I provided some thoughts on whether leadership is born or bred, part of nature or nurture. I felt that this was an appropriate point for this blog, as well, since leadership is all about connecting. To be a leader you have to have a team - or else there is no one to lead.

Often leaders miss the importance of connecting with those around them, and often may focus on the importance of their own ego of being "the leader" and their own success. With leadership, though, the focus has to be on the leader's team, not the leader. To be an effective leader, one also have to be skillful at connecting to others. The successful leader (regardless of their skill sets and natural ability or even training) must understand this point first and foremost.

Some might argue that certain leaders have superior genetic tendencies that help them succeed. I don't think it is unlike athleticism. Some people are going to naturally excel at sports, but others might struggle to get to the same point. However, as much of one's success is as much about one's heart and passion, which can also be a kind of natural talent. The ones who are born with the most natural ability, if not carefully crafted, often fail in the end. It is their own egos of not wanting to learn (and assuming that they know it all - the star "ball hog") that keeps even naturally gifted people from being able to connect to their team. Such individuals ultimately fail in leadership - despite exceeding talent. If you are someone without a team willing to follow, can you really be a leader? All of us can learn to improve our leadership. Thus, a component of leadership has to be nurtured and must certainly be learned.

There are definite qualities of leadership that do arise from genetic tendencies, but I think like the senses, other tendencies can often make up for talents that are lacking - if one learns to use such substitute abilities. For example, empathic leaders will effect their team in a different way, than someone who is a stoic leader. Each may be as effective, with the right team and in the right circumstance - if they are able to adjust their natural tendencies to achieve the same goal - which is to motivate their team to succeed. Like a parent, a leader also cannot always use the same methods for every teammate. Each individual may have to be led differently. If a leader lacks a skill set needed to succeed, he or she must also understands his or her limitations and empower a lieutenant to support that weak area, so he or she still can success in the mission. Thus, sometimes it is about empowering a leadership team to lead the rest. Good leaders often give the credit for success to the team, and take the blame of failure on themselves - as a method of empowering the team.

At the end of the day, a successful leader must set aside the ego and individualism of leadership and see how to engage the team. The leader must be certain to have everyone in the right position for their own talents, empower them to achieve their objective, and motivate them effectively to want to do so. Even with this, though, it is all about the team, not the leader. Whether you are ultimately the leader, the lieutenant or the follower, ... it is all about connecting.

Where have all the good Jedi gone?

It is funny that often the most powerful archetypes are ones that, while inspired by myth or imagination, have a powerful ability to inspire reality for change. One of those that impacts Gen-X strongly is that of the "Jedi." Many of us were in the waves of movie goers who went to the original "Star Wars" in either 1977-78, since the movie ran for months at the Theatre. We grew up in backyards with sticks imagining them to be light sabers - many of us wanting to be the Jedi, while some wanting to be Darth Vader.

However, for those that know much about the original source of many of the aspects of the story for George Lucas, you know that much of these themes he developed were taken from prior film or mythology - since those archetypes often are classic. For the generation before, it was the Lone Ranger. For the generation before that, it was Elliott Ness and G-Men against Al Capone. Each generation has its own version of these types, whether it was Patriots and Red-coats or some other group. Often the view that inspires the mind is not the actual historical view of these characters, which may be lost, if they were based on true fact, at all, but on the story telling of those facts. The Jedi were probably as much tied to the Musketeers as to modern fantasy.

But when we "grow up," do we have to loose that belief in things greater than ourselves - do those times of our childhood play have to be left completely behind in adulthood? I say no!

What do the adult world think of such a notion? They often buy into it, as well. It was repeatedly said that former Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff of the Texas Senate was its "Obi-Wan Kenobi," by no less reputable source than Texas Monthly. For all the praise that is often heaped onto the story of Sen. Ratliff's efforts there to balance politics for so many years, this one reference by Texas Monthly often conveys the message of his noble approach to politics like no other. Why? because popular culture often underlines the way we see our society, and even how we may see ourselves in that society.

In the current time, at least, our society seems to have lost the belief in heroes and the ability of some to raise up and do great things for noble and self-less reasons. With all the heroic individuals who might be identified in the press, often as quickly the hubris or simply humanity (and failings) of those heroes are the next story lead. If Anakin Skywalker were a real person now, you can imagine the headlines "SKYWALKER GOES DARK, VADER IS BORN" would hit the press - and it would lead the news cycles everywhere.

But just as with that series, maybe it is time for a generation that was raised on the original innocence of Chapter IV to see that "A New Hope" might still be possible. We might still see ourselves not simply as people with faults and foibles, which we are, but also as people who are also capable of greatness and who can champion our own hearts and spirits - to be Jedi again. It was not lost on the Scottish and Irish warriors that often the theatrical would inspire the ferocity of their armies in reality - with War Pipes (bagpipes) playing on the hill. Maybe it is time once again that we allow no less significant an archetype to inspire us also to greatness.

"I want to be a Jedi Knight, like my father before me." Luke Skywalker

jtp.