Month: July 2014

5 Things That Will Turn Our Country Around

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Are you one of the many people that think our country is headed in the wrong direction, frustrated with The Blame Game that is played daily in Washington? Do you feel embarrassed by what other countries think or say about the United States? If you answered yes to either of these questions I am going to propose 5 things that will help get our country on the right path again. Take a deep breath…you ready?

1. Implement term limits. We have them for Governors, and Presidents, but not for Congressmen, Congresswomen, or Senators. Politics was never intended by our Founding Fathers to be a career path.

2. Reduce the maximum corporate tax rate. According to Fortune, nearly 80 companies have changed where they are domiciled this year alone, in order to beat the U.S. tax rates. Apple alone holds more than $150 billion…with a “B” overseas. Imagine what could be done if that money was able to be put to work here in the U.S.

3. Implement a talent assessment tool for all political candidates. We test potential job candidates during the recruiting process. We even want to meet the babysitter before we leave our kids with her…or him. But no one thinks to test the person whose job it will be to protect us, to speak softly and carry a big stick. Caliper, DISC, Kolbe, Forte, the list is endless. Just use one!

4. Eliminate second chances and “get out of jail cards”. If you don’t pay your taxes at 20 that’s called a mistake. When you don’t pay your taxes for years after the age of 35 it’s called deceitful and if you don’t like that word you can call it criminal. How can one hold others accountable when they themselves have crossed the line and thought it okay?

5. Require every potential candidate for a Legislative and Executive roll in government to undergo a rigorous training and education on Middle Eastern history. We’ve spent more than $1.5 trillion on wars in the Middle East since 2001 according to nationalpriorities.org and have lost nearly 7,000 lives. More than 20% of the total Federal budget is spent on the military and this is a sore subject for many. However it’s important to note that it is the ONLY area our Constitution states as a must-provide by OUR government. Have you read our Preamble lately? Our leaders need to understand history before they try to jump in and try to “fix” things. Perhaps it’s time for a realist to simply manage the risks that arise from the cradle of civilization rather than trying to change or control it.

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A New Game Show: The Blame Game

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Look around you. Put your iPhone down, stop your online shopping for just a minute, and stop posting on Facebook. Take a deep breath, look up, look around, watch, and observe. Listen to what you’re hearing…or not hearing for that matter.

A new gameshow is building both momentum and popularity amongst our Country’s leaders. It’s not Family Feud, it’s not Price is Right, nor is it Let’s Make a Deal. This new gameshow is called The Blame Game. The object is to point as many fingers as possible toward other people and escape both responsibility and accountability. The winner is crowned Teflon Don…or Donna. It’s the ultimate game for losers, and one that is gaining popularity because we allow it to. And the worst part is that there’s not just one winner…there’s many, many, many, many….

Our Country has moved toward a shallow ignorance. A state of numbness where we’ve insulated ourselves from the misguided missteps of our leaders. Everyone gets an unlimited number of “free passes” in The Blame Game, because we allow it. We give a free pass to those who inherited a mess, or those who just can’t make the tough – often times unpopular – decisions. We shrug our shoulders and continue on with our lives moving further and further away from our Country’s founding principles which include very specific references to God, power emanating from the people, a Constitution, private property ownership, and a republic rather than a direct democracy. (How many people would you guess don’t know there’s a difference?)

Our leaders of today are often times winners of a popularity contest. Great orators, sharp dressers, charismatic charmers, and savvy politicians capable of weaving in and out of distressed situations so as to not get to entangled in them whereby they must roll up their sleeves, jump in, get involved, and work toward a solution. They are a group of master delegators not for the sake of efficiency but for the sake of creating political insulation for when things go sideways.

While hope is not a strategy, I do hope (and pray) for a true leader to emerge soon. One that our Country can rally around. One who wants to be held accountable. One who makes decisions based upon their beliefs and convictions, not on polling numbers. One who possesses the character and integrity that promotes family values, personal responsibility, and self-improvement. One who other countries respect and in some cases fear…or at least know they mean what they say. Does such a leader exist? Is he or she already on the path to leadership or are they awaiting a nudge from family or friends to “just do it”? While we can wait and hope for things to get better, we should all go back and re-read our Country’s founding principles. Then and only then will we know whether our hope is possible or misplaced.

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