Read a great autobiography, ‘Pour Your Heart Into It’ by Howard Schultz, currently doing a second stint as CEO of Starbucks Coffee. Maybe it’s just where I am in life, but I’m finding I enjoy and learn a lot more reading about leaders’ life experiences than reading abstract principles by them on how to be a good one (a la John Maxwell).
Schultz discovered Starbucks when he was a well-paid marketer for a large house-wares company and knew almost immediately that he wanted to give everything up for this startup. It took him a year of persistence in the face of rejection before he was offered the job of a marketer. A little later on, he became convinced that Starbucks (which was then a retailer selling coffee beans) should open sit-down cafés. The company founders however disagreed, so he left to form his own company. In the course of one year, he pitched the idea to 242 potential investors and 217 turned down his request for seed capital! Eventually, he made it, and 3 years after leaving Starbucks, he returned and bought the company. Since then, Starbucks has grown from a local business with 6 outlets to a global giant with 16,000 outlets in 44 countries and $10 billion in annual sales!
Schultz has some great gems about perseverance...
‘Life is a series of near misses. But a lot of what we call ‘luck’ is seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future... It’s seeing what other people don’t see, and pursuing that vision, no matter who tells you not to. No great achievement happens by luck... Vision is what they call it when others can’t see what you can see’
Good stuff! The only difference in approach for me would be the starting place. That’s beginning by asking God what assignment he wants you to focus on. There are many good things I could spend my life pursuing but you just know that good is often the enemy of great! Once you know you’re where He wants you, then dig in and pursue your God-given dreams with all your heart whatever comes your way.
And if at first you don’t succeed…
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Earthquake In China
I'm staggered by the magnitude of the disaster in China. The 7.9 magnitude earthquake near Chengdu is believe to have resulted in over 12,000 deaths so far and rendered thousands homeless. Just read about an estimated 900 students who were buried in their school building; no one's sure whether they're still alive.
My mind is numbed by the figures... Several years back, 200 deaths caused by a bomb here at home resulted in so much national shock & grief... 12,000 is completely unimaginable to me. I remind myself though, that these are not just numbers and statistics, but each represents a story of deep pain and suffering. My heart and prayers go out to my Chinese brothers and sisters.
My mind is numbed by the figures... Several years back, 200 deaths caused by a bomb here at home resulted in so much national shock & grief... 12,000 is completely unimaginable to me. I remind myself though, that these are not just numbers and statistics, but each represents a story of deep pain and suffering. My heart and prayers go out to my Chinese brothers and sisters.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Tribalism Is Not The Issue…
In the US for a couple of weeks… very interesting to hear the campaign rhetoric here and compare it with our own from a few months ago. And am struck by an amazing fact… Americans are just as tribalistic as we are! One of the people I’ve really enjoyed getting to know here said in a conversation that Barrack Obama is the closest thing there is to the anti-Christ. Another person, a good friend of his who goes to the same church and that I also greatly enjoyed getting acquainted to, confided that the last president America needs right now is another rich white guy or another Clinton. Sounds so familiar! I was struck by how much alike we all are … day-to-day decent, ordinary people, yet deep down driven by suspicion & ethnocentricity to self-protective stereotyping; ‘us verses them’.
Reminded me of back in the day when I made another startling discovery. Although California highways are extremely clean & orderly compared to ours, I stumbled upon a hidden, out of the way section where it seemed people littered at will. Shock on me! Also, many had radar-detectors in their cars, which detect police radar guns so that you can slow down before they catch you! And then later, Enron and Arthur Andersen as well as Watergate and Irangate before that helped me understand that American’s are not closer to the God-side of the corruption scale than us; with our Goldenburg, Anglo Leasing and Francis Thuo (stock brokerage firm that recently went under after underhand dealings with investor funds)
If Americans are just as tribalistic, dirty and corrupt as we are, then why aren’t they grabbing ‘machetes’ and killing their neighbors, drowning in dirt and being labeled as corrupt? I think the answer is simple. The law here works. In Cali, you could be charged up to 1000$ for littering on the highway. Ouch! Even though not perfect, the system here ensures that evil-doers are brought to the book - mostly. And like the much-beloved-and-mourned-for Michuki Rules taught us, even matatu drivers comply when there’s a consistent and firm message against bad driving.
Romans 13:4 defines the primary role of government as God’s agents for our (citizens) good, to execute wrath on those who practice evil. A good sign that government is working, is that evil doers (even though still present) are restrained by their fear of the consequences from doing evil!
That’s why I think one of the priorities of our coalition government needs to be setting up independent institutions that work. Let’s begin with the judiciary and police-force. Let’s overhaul our constitution so that the presidency, parliament and judiciary have clearly defined roles that regulate each other. Let’s also figure out the roles that the media and civil society should play. Entrenching tribal equations in our government and civil service is not a real solution. It’s dealing with the short-term symptoms and ignoring the genuine long-term issues.
Reminded me of back in the day when I made another startling discovery. Although California highways are extremely clean & orderly compared to ours, I stumbled upon a hidden, out of the way section where it seemed people littered at will. Shock on me! Also, many had radar-detectors in their cars, which detect police radar guns so that you can slow down before they catch you! And then later, Enron and Arthur Andersen as well as Watergate and Irangate before that helped me understand that American’s are not closer to the God-side of the corruption scale than us; with our Goldenburg, Anglo Leasing and Francis Thuo (stock brokerage firm that recently went under after underhand dealings with investor funds)
If Americans are just as tribalistic, dirty and corrupt as we are, then why aren’t they grabbing ‘machetes’ and killing their neighbors, drowning in dirt and being labeled as corrupt? I think the answer is simple. The law here works. In Cali, you could be charged up to 1000$ for littering on the highway. Ouch! Even though not perfect, the system here ensures that evil-doers are brought to the book - mostly. And like the much-beloved-and-mourned-for Michuki Rules taught us, even matatu drivers comply when there’s a consistent and firm message against bad driving.
Romans 13:4 defines the primary role of government as God’s agents for our (citizens) good, to execute wrath on those who practice evil. A good sign that government is working, is that evil doers (even though still present) are restrained by their fear of the consequences from doing evil!
That’s why I think one of the priorities of our coalition government needs to be setting up independent institutions that work. Let’s begin with the judiciary and police-force. Let’s overhaul our constitution so that the presidency, parliament and judiciary have clearly defined roles that regulate each other. Let’s also figure out the roles that the media and civil society should play. Entrenching tribal equations in our government and civil service is not a real solution. It’s dealing with the short-term symptoms and ignoring the genuine long-term issues.
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