Management By Fear

On Christmas Eve I wrote that I have no religion. My approach is to try and do the right thing for the right reason. Generally it has served me well.

It is an approach I take to my assessment of politics. Which causes me to have no political affiliation. I am neither Democrat or Republican. Labor or Conservative. Overall I try to keep it simple.

I believe in fiscal pragmatism. Investing in the future is critical. But eventually every loan comes due. And it’s your responsibility to make sure you have a way to pay it back.

I believe in social compassion. I have lived in a country with national health care. And for all its inadequacies, it has prevented and cured unfathomable amounts of pain and suffering. A reasonable standard by which to measure any system.

I would have voted for Thatcher. Twice. Reagan. At least once. And Kennedy. I did vote for Obama. And would do so again. Change takes time. And someone prepared to fight for it. Though a plan helps.

I was not a fan of either George Bush. The former was out of time with a rapidly changing world. The latter lacks intellectual curiosity. As someone said to me once, he had no interest in governing. And that made him susceptible to manipulation.

I believe that divisiveness eventually comes back to hurt the divider. I hold the Clintons responsible for creating the political divide that engulfs this country when Hilary started talking about ‘vast right wing conspiracies.’ I hold Karl Rove responsible for turning it into a governmental strategy in which the goal is 50+1 majorities.

I don’t think I would have voted for Clinton or Gore. I’m not sure what Bill Clinton believes in. I’m not sure he does either. And Al Gore is not a leader. I believe in leadership.

I believe in the power of positive thought and action. I would much rather create than destroy. I look first for what’s working rather than what’s not.

I believe always that there are two sides to every story. Every story. Even when the story is Tom Tancredo’s. I think his anger must come from somewhere very, very personal.

I believe that whatever your political leaning it’s important to watch Fox News and MSNBC. I believe the BBC still offers the most objective coverage of the news and I’m grateful to the web for giving me access to it.

I believe that Sarah Palin’s success is a direct reflection of the fear in this country. And the personal anguish of many people. I believe I would not recommend her to any of my clients as a receptionist given her limited memory.

I believe that most of us are motivated by fear more than we want to admit. Even to ourselves.

I believe that whether you are running a country, a business or a department, you will create more of everything that you define as important if you do whatever you can to minimize people’s fear.

I believe people that use fear as a foundation of their management strategy can win in the short term.

But never in the long run.