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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
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Second Baptist
Church, 2404
Moody Road,
was recently
recognized
by Keep
Warner Robins
Beautiful
with the
Beautification
Award of
Excellence.
Pictured from
left are Terry
Duemberger,
KWRB,
Arthur Head,
KWRB, Burt
Whitehead,
Don Rainwater,
Mary Eater,
KWRB, Clint
Johnson and
Jack Steed,
KWRB.
Submitted
Sun Trust Bank-
Houston Crossing
was recently rec
ognized by Keep
Warner Robins
Beautiful with
the Business
of the Month
Award. Pictured
accepting the
plaque from Steed
is Lynn Yawn,
Branch Manager.
Also pictured are
Joyce Ballard,
Tonya Boyd,
Diedre Hugley,
Wes Griffin, David
Carr, KWRB,
Ron Weigle, Area
Manager and
Cheryl Taylor,
KWRB.
Submitted
Keep Warner Robins
Beautiful recently recog
nized Sylvia Rogers with
the Home of the Month
Award. Pictured Hazal
Hagan and Jack Steed,
KWRB.
Submitted
Why use so many mental models?
I love it when a client (or a
reader) asks me a tough
question that causes me
to pause and consider. Often
my immediate response is “I
don’t know - let me think
about it and I’ll get back to
you.”
That phrase is a good one,
by the way. If you are a
leader, it should be among
your sentences that are easy
to say. Just be sure to get
back to the person, or your
credibility will suffer!
Recently, I was on a tele
phone coaching call with an
individual who is growing
in powerful ways. Near the
end of our conversation, he
asked, “Why do you use so
many mental models?”
I didn’t know how to
answer right away. I asked
for time to think about the
question and promised to
respond next time we talk.
This article will be his
answer.
He’s made such terrific
progress in a short time! He
says he’s never experienced
a teacher or a mentor who
stimulated him to think in
these new ways about his
behavior. He now under
stands his effect on people in
ways he’d never previously
considered.
We all have mental models.
Every leader. Every worker.
Every parent. Every strug
gling person. Every success
ful person.
We don’t know where or
how we learned our men
tal models. We usually don’t
even know they are pres
ent. Still, they silently work
under the level of our aware
ness, influencing our behav
ior in ways we don’t even
realize.
Mental models are why
many competent people are
not able to explain how they
do what they do. Perhaps
you’ve observed an artic
ulate speaker, or a gifted
Looking good
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artist, or someone who can
look at an income statement
and accurately proclaim the
health of that organization.
You stand in awe and ask,
“How do you do that?”
All too often, the expert’s
response is “It just comes
easily to me.” Not a very sat
isfying or helpful response
Dennis Hooper
Leaders Building
Leaders
mental models are usually
unexamined and untested.
Experts are particularly
susceptible to this truth,
because mental models are
so self-validating. We easily
produce the evidence to jus
tify our perceptions.
Most leaders in today’s
organizations have been
placed in that position
because they were quite
good at what they did before.
Many leaders think they see
things as they are. They
believe that they are objec
tive in their ability to mea
sure and discern. Dictatorial
leaders are especially cer
tain that they perceive and
understand every situa-
DAVID OVERTON JEWELERS
905 Downtown Carroll St. • Perry
tion accurately. (After all,
the word is SUPERvision,
right?)
All of us, including leaders,
are self-deceived. By inten
tionally questioning their
mental models, leaders can
remove the distorted glasses
and see the same situation
in a very different light.
According to Charlotte
Roberts in Peter Senge’s The
Fifth Discipline Fieldbook
(p. 239), “This discipline
[mental models] offers the
highest leverage for change.
Though it seems to some
to be strictly an intellectual
exercise, with little relevance
to the ‘real world,’ it is prob
ably the most practical of
the five disciplines....We see,
perhaps for the first time,
what we have done to our
selves and others through
automatic or incomplete
thinking.”
With new insight, leaders
can generate and test new
options for their decisions
and behaviors.
Dennis Hooper is a
Certified Leadership
Development Coach, helping
leaders build future leaders
and organizations of excel
lence. You may contact him
at dhooper2@juno.com.
if you are
trying to
learn that
skill, is it?
Part of
my job as
a coach is
to chal
lenge the
way my
client’s
process
informa
tion. Our
Prime Rib
Seasoned to Perfection
1-75 Exit 136 • 987-8877 38863
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MH1.W425
Elected judges have big impact
Dear Readers, For
the past two weeks,
I have discussed
issues about voting luws;
this week I would like to
concentrate on something
slightly different - judicial
elections. Lost in the swirl
of the political mudslinging
is the important decision
about judges we all have
to make when we go to the
polls.
In Georgia, most judges
(Supreme Court, Court of
Appeals, Superior Court,
and State Court) run in
purportedly non-partisan
elections, meaning that
they have no designated
party affiliation.
In contrast, the Federal
Judiciary are appointed
for life and not subject to
election. Other states have
other mixes such as reten
tion elections (where voters
decide to either retain, or
not, retain a judge, with
or without another choice
on the ballot) or having
judges serve for a speci
fied term of years. But, in
Georgia, judges have to
run for re-elec, ion every
six years - Supreme and
Appellate Court - or every
four years - Superior and
State Court.
Until a recent United
State Court opinion, judi
cial elections were extreme
ly sanguine - judges could
talk about their careers,
qualifications, and general
judicial philosophy, but the
cannons of ethics prohib
ited comment on specific
legal issues.
That all changed, how
ever, after a 2004 legal
challenge to these judicial
cannons restraining judi
cial campaigning in the last
election.
LETTER
From page 4A
Therefore, neither the
employers Social Security
“contribution” nor your
personal Social Security
“tax” is “your” money safe
ly tucked away in a Trust
account awaiting your
retirement. There are no
personal Social Security
“accounts” and you have
no Constitutional “entitle
ment” to any Social Security
taxes or any other U. S. tax
dollars!
Bottom line, FDR and
the Democratic Party never
intended to establish a
social security trust fund
“for the aged.” The entire
concept was a fraud to
convince the public to go
along with a tax increase
while the Nation was still
suffering from the “great
deprecation”; therefore, all
social security “benefits”
are nothing more than a
gigantic pyramid pay off
scheme which is running
out of victims (tax payers)
to replenish the excess tax
money which has been
spent year after year.
This national social
welfare program has
been perpetuated by both
Parties and it’s about to
bankrupt the country
and unfortunately; the
Medicare “insurance”
program is another great
.. .s'';,
if /" $
6-month CD
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THE BANK OF PERRY
For your convenience, our bank's lobby is open front 9:00 a.m.- Moon each Saturday.
Now, it is pretty much
of a free-for-all, as the Ist
Amendment right of judicial
candidates permits them to
speak openly, should they
so choose.
Thus, the “gotcha” poli
tics that we see in the cur
rent batch of disgusting
political ads may soon defile
judicial elections making
our judicial system target
ed for political purposes,
instead of electing the best
qualified judges.
The result of this “new”
ii
Jim Rockefeller
Columnist
of our judiciary to assure
that “right-minded” justices
are elected. Some might not
think this a problem, but
it is, and you can see this
evil cancer in Justice Carol
Hunstein’s fight for her
judicial life.
Hunstein has a long his
tory of being involved in
championing and improv
ing our judicial system and
judiciary. She graduated
from law school in 1976,
served as a Superior Court
Judge from 1984 to 1992,
when she was appointed to
the Georgia Supreme Court
by then-Gov. Zell Miller. Her
opponent, Mike Wiggins,
has been an attorney since
1985 and his most signifi
cant professional experi
ence has been serving in
the Bush Administration
from 2001 to 2006; first
Democratic socialist pyra
mid scheme in the same
boat.
The Democrats set up
both of these tax programs
and they are still playing
the public for suckers in
the “entitlement” aspect
and are still getting away
with it.
Even when their own
President Clinton pub
licly urged revision, the
Democrats did nothing!
Perhaps a socialist nation is
the goal of the Democratic
Party and if a 50 percent
or higher income tax rate
or a 100 percent increase
in “Social Security” taxes
is required to finance their
socialist programs ... OK!
However, there is a way
out. The solution is the
Fair Tax which allows you
to keep all your money,
provide for your own
retirement, pay the cur
rent Social Security costs,
and will allow the disas
trous Social Security pro-
Assessing Your
Leadership Skills
-SBS/person
F«rg(.l ' 1
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accurate as of the date oj this advertisement. Some restrictions may apply.
Minimum deposit amount SI,OOO. An early withdrawal penalty may he imposed.
1006 Main Street, Perry • 478-987-2554
www.bankofperry.com
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2006
as an Assistant Attorney
General and then in
2005, as Principal Deputy
General Counsel for the
Department of Homeland
Security. Wiggins’ personal
history does not describe
him having ever appeared
in a courtroom.
So, you have a well
pedigreed Supreme Court
Justice running against
a judicial neophyte; you
would think this would be
an electoral mismatch. But
Wiggins’ campaign is well
financed by the National
Chamber of Commerce and
Texas PACs, masquerading
as Georgia special inter
ests groups with innocuous
names.
The sole purpose of this
outside funding is to elect
a partisan justice dedicated
to supporting corporate and
special interests, instead of
being an unbiased jurist.
Justice Hunstein, then, is
forced to respond by raising
over a million dollars, many
of which will come from
attorneys or organizations
who might very well have
interests in cases that may
come before the Georgia
Supreme Court.
This election, then, will
decide the nature of future
elections - think carefully
about this when you go to
the polls next month!
Warner Robins attorney
Jim Rockefeller is the for
mer Chief Assistant District
Attorney for Houston County,
and a former Assistant
State Attorney in Miami.
Owner of Rockefeller Law
Center, Jim has been in
private practice since 2000.
E-mail your comments or
confidential legal questions
to ajrCqrockefellerlawcenter.
com.
terri
tory for
judicial
elections
is that
powerful
monied
interests
are lead
ing an
assault
on the
freedom
gram to be phased out or
changed into a real volun
tary retirement program
free of Congress.
It is a pity Jim Marshall
is solidly against the Fair
Tax and apparently agrees
with the Democrat's vlsipn
of eventual tax increases,
which will turn our nation,
both politically and eco
nomically, into a Socialist
state.
Of course Marshall can
righteously say; correctly,
that nothing like this will
happen on “his watch.”
where do you stand Mr.
Collins? What is your vision
for the Nation in this mat
ter after your “watch”?
Roger Young, Warner
Robins
Best Cooks
In Perry!
«*een derby
F. Dennis Hooper
Certified
Leadership Development Coach
Building leaders and
organizations of excellence
(478) 988-0237 dhooper2ySjuno.com
Superior
Rates!
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