Accountable Citizens Updates

Meaningful Maxwell Methods

As we continue on our path that aligns with our core values, we're writing today about simplifying leadership development. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, so let's go to the source. John Maxwell is the gold standard when it comes to leadership development.

We're completing a page filled with leadership quotes from great leaders and you will see these five included in that page. Today we're highlighting them along with some context.

1.) “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” If you have kids, you know that they do what we do much more than do what we say. Example is the best teaching tool. Leaders model the team they hope to build by their daily actions. Which leads us right into...

2.) “The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda.” Your daily agenda determines your direction and your growth. This is a double-edged sword because success doesn't happen overnight, but neither does failure and neither does apathy. Failure is usually a part of the growth process while apathy is a sign of giving up. We all become exactly what we are preparing for, so the big question here is, are we preparing to succeed or not? What did you do today?

3.) “If you are a leader, you should never forget that everyone needs encouragement. And everyone who receives it - young or old, successful or less-than-successful, unknown or famous - is changed by it.” When we encourage our team, confidence grows within them, hope for success increases along with belief, and if the correct pattern is set, they will then pass the same encouragement along to someone else. When we do things correctly, those things will continue, whether we are directly involved or not.

4.) “People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude.” Some people are verbal learners and some learn better with visual methods. Your attitude reaches people as much as what you are saying. When you speak with passion and enthusiasm, you draw in the ones who will follow you. And remember, if no one is following, you aren't leading anything. Your attitude is crucial for this last point which is...

5.) “People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.” Here's something you might not know. Worthy causes don't automatically draw people to them. Great opportunities aren't magnets for explosive growth. People don't initially follow the cause or the opportunity. They follow the leader. They buy into the vision of the leader because they buy into his or her passion. They see that the leader knows the pathway to reach the goal and has passion for the journey. People follow someone who knows where he or she is going and knows why.

These five paragraphs work in organizations, in families, in every setting where synergy is sought. They will work for you. We aren't offering theory. We've used them and they work.

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I Take Umbrage

(Editor's note: Be sure to read all of Bill's comments before forming an opinion. He's clever! The link to the page he references is just below.) What

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Responding To A Reader Request

We've been asked to re-post a page about what qualities and personal traits are found in truly responsible citizens.

Here is that page.

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Different Types of Leadership for Every Situation

Learn the pieces of the puzzle that make up different types of leadership for different goals

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Deny, Defend, Depose. In The News, But Hardly New

Deny, defend, depose. Someone would have to be totally off the grid for the past week to not be aware of those three words. They've been in the news repeatedly as details emerged from the recent shooting of an executive of a huge healthcare "insurer."

Those three words, deny, defend, depose are providing new fodder for opinions and the recounting of disappointing experiences with health insurance companies around our nation. Statistics of denial ratios, corporate profits, and tacit approval from elected officials have filled social media sites and cable talk shows that describe themselves as news outlets. But we all know they are just shock-chatter personalities seeking audiences who can't look away.

And while deny, defend, depose are inextricably linked to the insurance industry and for good reason, the methodology of those words have been around for years. We have national problems that get talked about, that get tax funding poured into committees and "studies," both of which never produce results because results aren't the goal. Deny, defend, depose are words that describe effective ways to avoid responsibility and provide cover for the profitable status quo.

To solve the problem of student loan defaults, and to buy votes, we are forced to swallow the bill for "student loan forgiveness." The bill has already been paid and the universities have already spent the money. The taxpayer money.

The responsibility of paying back the loan is traded for votes. The accountability of colleges for padding degree programs that load up fluff class requirements and provide for a five or six year party are ignored. Deny the problem and defend the arrogance of sticking the taxpayers with the bill and kick the problem down the road.

Once again, parts of California are pushing for a way out of the politically motivated calamity that is driven by the elitist agenda that doesn't affect their daily lives, but does pay them, year in and year out. This effort to create a "New California" is unlikely to get very far. The elitist agenda is well-funded and deeply entrenched.

Deny, defend, depose are a type of metaphor to describe why we face ongoing problems that seem to never go away because the problems pay so well. Deny the obvious results of mismanagement. Crime, corruption, apathy.

Defend the ongoing position by muddying up the water and misleading the population. Depose by using every means necessary, including, but not limited to intimidation by supposed impartial branches of government.

So while those three words are in the spotlight now, the reality is they have been used for years. It works because too many of us are silent about it.

Maybe that will change. Maybe we'll retire the two-headed monster that has a stranglehold on the decision-making in our country. Maybe we'll unite behind accountability for our actions?

We get the chance to start that wave everyday. Today would be a good day.

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Softer Words To Lessen The Impact

We've written a couple pages about the power of words and about truth. They can be found in the page directory in the right margin. This post will be a continuation of those themes. To truly be accountable, we must recognize basic truth. At this point, we'd ask you to check out our page about common sense, found in the link below.

Common Sense Is Not Common

We ask this because today our post will be one of those that makes some folks uncomfortable. That isn't the intent. The intent is to bring truth to the forefront of responsible decision-making. Our page about common sense answers some misconceptions that could come out of this post.

Sometimes the words are changed to soften the impact. If the human element is removed, it seems more antiseptic, more "clinical."

Medical abortions involve a series of drugs. The clinical term often used is "uterus evacuation." This eliminates any human connection. From the pro-life side the same procedure is known as terminating the life of a child. Even though that child is still in the body of his or her mother.

Surgical abortions are also used for a second trimester abortion. Although there is a movement now to refer to this as an "abortion procedure." Using the word "surgical" can infer risk. Risk is bad for business.

At the end of this page, we've posted an animated video that illustrates the very straight-forward description you will read in the next paragraph. I caution you that even in animated form, the video is eye-opening.

According to an article from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists:

"After achieving adequate dilation and administering analgesia and sedation or anesthesia, D&E is accomplished by aspirating the amniotic fluid and removing the fetus with forceps through the cervix and vaginal canal.

Usually disarticulation (or dismemberment) occurs as the physician delivers the fetal part grasped in the instrument and pulls it through the cervix. A final suction curettage is often performed to ensure that the uterus is completely evacuated.

Intact D&E is a variation of D&E that requires more advanced cervical dilation, usually achieved over several days. The procedure involves the removal of the intact fetus except for possible decompression of the calvaria... The intact D&E procedure is preferable in certain cases, such as when preservation of fetal anatomy is desired."

Words That Make It Seem ...Not So Bad

"Uterus Evacuation"= This means the child is removed from the child's mother. Sometimes in pieces.

"Calvaria"= This is the child's skull.

"Decompression" means that skull might have to be crushed by a specific tool designed to break and tear away body parts. As we learn from the next video, the surgeon knows he or she did this part correctly when white fluid oozes out. This is the child's brain.

"Fetal demise"= A dead baby.

Do those clinical words make you feel better?

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How Do You Show Gratitude? Here Are Some Solid Action Steps

How do you show gratitude? We'll give you some positive actions that will lend a helping hand and also increase your own health and happiness.

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What Makes Good Leadership Qualities? Wry Insight From A Guest Author

Guest author T.O. Illustratio offers a tongue-in-check answer to the question, "What makes good leadership qualities?"

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Motivational Quotes for Students

We received a reader request to include more motivational quotes for students, following up on our page about goal setting activities for students. We included a couple of our favorite quotes in that page. The link is just below if you haven't read it yet. Today we're adding in a bunch more that we've used to add positive inspiration to young leaders.

Goal Setting Activities for Students

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me, and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” – Og Mandino

"Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle."-Christian D. Larson

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow." - Mary Anne Radmacher

“Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender; it’s holy ground. There’s no greater investment.” – Stephen Covey

“Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.” – Minor Myers Jur

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln

“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” —A.A. Milne

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." —Albert Einstein

“Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” —John Wooden

“The expert in anything was once a beginner.” —Helen Hayes

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” –Walt Disney

“The best way to predict your future is to create it.” —Abraham Lincoln

“Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” – George Washington Carver

“We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes – understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” – Ariana Huffington

“In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” – Jennifer Dukes Lee

“You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there.” – Ed Cole

"Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world." - Roy T. Bennett

"Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going." - Sam Levenson

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." - C.S. Lewis

"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path. Don’t allow yourself to become one of them.” – Ralph Marston

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

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Goal Setting Activities for Students To Develop New Leaders

These goal setting activities for students are proven steps to develop confidence, team building, and leadership skills.

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A Diary of Gratitude Will Become One of Your Best Leadership Tools

Sometimes opportunity comes from unexpected places. Read how a diary of gratitude would become an effective leadership tool born out of an example of kindness.

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A Life Well-Lived!

We're trying something a little different in this blog page. This time we'll offer a short video that speaks to personal accountability in such an inspiring way.

We've written recently about finding purpose. Today we'll offer a visual message.

Our choices determine our life path and what we give back during that life. Our choices determine what the dash between our date of birth and date of death are all about. What did we do with the dash?

What did we do to make it a life well-lived?

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My Purpose Found Me And I Didn't Know I Was Looking

(Editor's note: The two pages noted in the following reader response can be found in the links just below this paragraph.) What Is Your Purpose How To

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How To Find Your Purpose So You Never Have To Wonder "What If?"

Imagine looking back on your life and wondering, "What if I had another chance?" If you know how to find your purpose, you won't have to answer that question.

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"Develop Your Compassion"

Our upcoming page will mention both intention and action. As a prelude to that new post, I'm sharing a short message from a great little book I've dog-eared so often, the pages are crumbling on the edges. The title of the book filled with short chapters is, "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff. And It's All Small Stuff." The author is Richard Carlson.

"Nothing helps us build our perspective more than developing compassion for others. Compassion is a sympathetic feeling. It involves the willingness to put yourself in someone else's shoes, to take the focus off yourself and to imagine what it's like to be in someone else's predicament, and simultaneously, to feel love for that person.

It's the recognition that other people's problems, their pain and frustrations, are every bit as real as our own-often far worse. In recognizing this fact and trying to offer some assistance, we open our own hearts and greatly enhance our sense of gratitude.

Compassion is something you can develop with practice. It involves two things; intention and action. Intention simply means you remember to open your heart to others; you expand what and who matters, from yourself to other people. Action is simply "what you do about it." You might donate a little money or time (or both) on a regular basis to a cause near to your heart. Or perhaps you'll offer a beautiful smile and genuine "hello" to the people you meet on the street. It's not so important what you do, just that you do something. As Mother Teresa reminds us, "We cannot do great things on this earth. We can only do small things with great love."

Compassion develops your sense of gratitude by taking your attention off the little things that most of us have learned to take too seriously. When you take time, often, to reflect on the miracle of life-the miracle that you are even able to read this book-the gift of sight, of love, and all the rest, it can help to remind you that many of the things you think of as "big stuff" are really just "small stuff" that you are turning into big stuff."

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