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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL When encouraging input brings bad ideas A reader contacted me, asking about my fre quent encouragement that leaders solicit input from the people doing the work. When he tries this approach, some of the sug gestions are not helpful. “Your articles focus on the positive potentiality without examining what a leader does with bad input. I don’t mean criticism, as that could be healthy. I mean bad ideas. Those giving an opinion assume that the ideas will be implemented.” “When leadership rejects these opinions, there is often a backlash. People wonder why you bothered to ask their opinion in the first place. ” I appreciate this request. I do advocate seeking ideas from those who know the process best. As he noted, a leader damages his or her credibility by asking for sug gestions and then ignoring or rejecting them. So how does a leader handle bad ideas? My first thought is that the leader should thank each individual for his or her cre ativity, regardless of the qual ity of the suggestion. More than anything, you want to encourage everyone think ing about improvement. You want to keep those ideas coming! Ask the individual to expand on the idea, consid ering what successful imple mentation will bring regard ing improved reliability, reduced variation, improved Become aware of domestic violence Dear Readers, October is “Domestic Violence Awareness Month” an opportunity for ALL of us to reflect on how we treat our loved ones. Domestic Violence is not just about horrific murders; it is about the almost-daily verbal or physical abuse we exact on others, particularly our chil dren. It is a sick tax on our society with typically 95 percent of survivors being female; male survivors suf fer silently because of social mores and taboos. These comments are not mere hyperbole; studies show domestic abuse occurs in the U.S. once every nine sec onds or 2-4 million instances annually. In one study, near ly one-third of American women (31 percent) overall reported surviving Domestic Violence. Sadly, every day nationwide three women are murdered by a husband or boyfriend. This frequency is mind numbing. Domestic abuse is the single leading cause of injury to women, more than the combined annual totals of all rapes, muggings, and auto accidents. It is typi cally accepted that up to 30 percent of all women with physical injuries (15 per cent to 25 percent of preg nant women) report to the emergency room because of domestic abuse. Societal financial costs are astounding. Domestic vio lence reportedly accounts for almost 15 percent of total crime costs - or $67 bil lion annually. Amongst sur vivors, 37 percent reported a negative impact on their work performance, e.g., absenteeism, tardiness, ter mination, or lack of promo tion, over 56 percent report ed being late for work or leaving early at least five times a month, and 54 per cent missed at least three full days a month. According to 74 percent of employed Great Deals Free AD for items under SSO Call 987-1823 for details quality, reduced waste, etc. Additionally, ask what the suggestion might cost, not just in dollars, but also in required downtime, safe ty risk, increased mainte nance, quality reduction, etc. The chances are that the indi vidual will not have consid- Dennis Hooper Leaders Building Leaders ered all of the implications of the proposed change. Ask the individual to think in more detail about the idea. Ask him or her to make detailed notes about the potential benefits and the downside risks. Close the conversation by asking if you can return in a week and compare thoughts. Make no promises other than that you will think about the idea, too. I sug gest that you write down as much about the proposal as you can, including who made the suggestion and when (date and time). Be sure to put the recon nect in your calendar. Failing to come back and have the followup conversation will significantly hurt your cred ibility! This situation presents far more than just the accep tance or rejection of an idea. Yous job as a leader is to look for opportunities to develop survivors of domestic vio lence, their abusers harasses them at work, thus, expos ing co-workers to their pri vate hell. Domestic violence is about a mutual sickness of “power and control.” A batterer has low self-esteem and smoothly romances a survivor. After he feels he owns her, i.e., after marriage, child-con ception or childbirth, or cohabi tation, he starts to Sk Jim Rockefeller Columnist doubt the survivor’s com mitment. To ensure her alle giance and to assert con trol, he starts to demean her, telling her how worth less or incompetent she is. Ironically, he physically beats her down in order to bolster his own self-worth. All of this conditions the survivor to believe that she is “unlovable” and, once she accepts this false premise, she is trapped. Every time the batterer crosses the line, she accepts him back as he promises to treat her like a queen, starting a cycle of violence that repeats itself over and over. Her self esteem plummets, driving her away from family and friends and into a hellish financial and social isolation. Often, only when her chil dren are injured, or authori ties threaten to take them away, does the survivor stir from her self-immolation. Indeed, the biggest trag edy of Domestic Violence is the physical and psychic damaged visited upon our jSo you wanna be a horseshoerJ I or maybe just watch and learn t from a Master Farrier, Chris Gregoryi I Sat. Oct. 28 th ' FREE CLINIC at loam-4pm ( I East Coast Horseshoe Supply Co. j 2235 US Hwy. 41 H. Perry, GA 31069 ) I Call for details 478-218-5922 f your team members. Though this particular suggestion may not play out, your larger responsibility is to nurture creativity and stretch the individual’s will ingness to assume responsi bility. So, go away and do the same thinking you’ve asked the individual to do. Make detailed notes on both the advantages and disadvan tages. When you come back a week later, let the individual share her or his additional thoughts first. Listen closely, making notes. Then it’s your turn to share. Offer the positive ben efits you’ve identified first. If your conclusion, however, is that the idea won’t work, tell the truth and be specif ic. Be gentle, as the person likely will be disappointed. Nothing is gained, however, by pretending the proposal has value if it doesn’t. Close the conversation by thanking the individual again for the initiative and willingness to offer the idea. Encourage future improve ment suggestions. Place your notes in a file for this individual. When future initiatives are offered, you’ll want to remind your self of the idea history. Further, this suggestion might be more relevant at some future time. Dennis Hooper is a cer tified leadership develop ment coach, helping you build future leaders and organizations of excellence. You can contact him at dhooper2@juno.com. children; adults may choose violent relationships, but exposing innocent children to violence is despicable. Child abuse is 15 times more likely to occur in families where a parent is battered. As adults, children who grew up with a twisted sense of familial love, become adult drug-abusers, criminals, high-school drop outs, victims (or batterers) of abuse, rape and other sex ual crimes, in percentages between 50 percent and 300 percent greater than chil dren who grew up in “safe” families. Some experts feel that the existence of child hood Domestic Violence is a prime predictor of success as an adult. What do we do? Report Domestic Violence and talk to a survivor walking away from it, ending her isolation and hopelessness. Help the batterer recognize the evils of his anger, instead of rein forcing his sense of entitle ment. But, most of all, sup port our local Safe House at 923-6294 and HODAC 953- 5675, and stop the violence! 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 confi dential legal questions to ajr@rockefellerlawcenter. com. Famous Homemade Cinnamon Rolls green dertr 1-75 Exit 1M • 967-M77 fWfta LOCAL Heel pain has many causes People of all ages are troubled by heel pain. Heel pain can be caused by the way your feet move or by the way your legs and feet are built. It also can result from an iryury or a medical prob lem that affects your entire body. For many people, heel pain is part of aging. Through years of daily wear and tear heel pain appears. Your heel pain may have started days, weeks, or even months ago. It may have started as a dull ache that didn’t last but now you feel intense pain every day. For some people as the days goes on the heel pain worsens. For others, it’s a sharp jab that strikes every time the heel touches the ground. Heel pain may be the worst when you get out of bed in the morning causing you to hobble for a few steps or a few minutes. Heel pain can make standing or walk Strategic lunch with A Pentagon press lunch with the secretary of defense is a rare priv ilege, especially for a colum nist from fly-over country. I’ve watched Don Rumsfeld perform on tele vision. He treats stand-up press conferences as spar ring rings, where he’s the heavyweight champ and reporters are lightweight chumps with glass jaws. Maybe lettuce and toma toes mellow Big Don. Rumsfeld seems much less combative with a salad plate plopped in front of him. As the lunch and conver sation progressed, I noticed he never picked up a knife, but I’ve no doubt the man can wield sharp cutlery. The glint in the eye is the clue. Sgt. Ist Class Bowen - the Korean War vet who taught Cadet Bay how to use a garrote - had the same steely gleam. I left it to the Beltway journalists to ask those per sonality-juiced queries that generate sensational gossip. Here’s an example: “Mr. Rumsfeld, are you going to resign after the election?” Since my scribbled notes include a splotch of aspara gus soup, I’ll have to para phrase the SecDefs snarl, “I certainly wouldn’t tell you if I were.” Undeterred, I decided to ask a question that goes to the heart of America’s ability (or inability) to win long-term, multidimension al 21st century wars. My question: “Mr. Secretary, based on our experience in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the limited interagency and non-governmental orga nization (NGO) partici pation in that operation, how do you see ‘Unified Action’ evolving for future conflicts?” Forgive the military jar gon - at one time I was Col. Bay - but the ques tion is essential. » mkstmm w ■ % H Glenda is a life insurance specialist with 19 years experience. Glenda has been living in Warner Robins for 30 years and recently retired from Liberty National Insurance Company. Call Glenda at the office at 988-7960 or 954-5403 (cell) for a Use insurance analysis. ing unbearable. Anatomy of a foot step Your foot is made of many parts to support your body and carry its weight. The intersection of the ankle and foot is where many of these parts come together at the heel. Each part of your foot plays a role in support ing you. Together these parts form a work ing sys tem that 1L V y mm Dr. Jokhai Columnist The Foot Doctor results in movement. When your heel guides the move ment of these parts correct ly, you can stand, walk, run and jump without pain. Your heel guides each step The tension on ligaments and tendons are changed as you walk and heel moves. It also altered the lun cheon ambiance. As I asked it, I saw our very steady chairman of the joint chiefs, Gen. Peter Pace, pass Rumsfeld a careful stare. “I’ll tell you we’re bet ter at it now than we were five years ago,” Rumsfeld replied. He acknowledged that “challenges remain” in achieving Unified Action and that effective Unified Action is critical «' 4 He’s /■ right-we > ore better ■n. JK at it than Austin Bay we were. Military Affairs However, Creators Syndicate j knQW w 0 aren’t as good at it as we need to be. The politically deft Sec Def finessed the question _ and it was finesse, not dodge. The military jargon masked a heavy political hand gre nade I was rolling toward the Beltway. You think Harry Reid’s land deal or Mark Foley’s messages are big stories? How about a stinging pre election turf battle between Defense and the depart ments of State, Treasury, Justice, Commerce and Agriculture, complete with zinger accusations of who is or isn’t contributing to the war effort? I know, that’s quite a claim, which is why I need to translate the mil-speak: Unified Action means coor- F. Dennis Hooper Assessing Your Leadership Skills -SBS/person ISmI Certified Leadership Development Coach Jackie Whitley welcomes Glenda Cohen to her Cotton States Insurance Agency at 1217 S. Houston Lake Road THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2006 ♦ With the proper heel move ment, walking is easy. Tissues are relaxed an absorb impact as your foot hits the ground. As tissues tighten they pull on bones and joints, locking the working parts of your feet into the heel off position. This allows you to pull off the ground. Heel strike The only edge of your heel hits the ground first. The ligaments and tendons are relaxed, so your foot can adapt to uneven surfaces. Midstance Your weight is transferred from the heel to the center of your foot. Tension on the ligaments and tendons increase. Heel off The heels lifts and swing slightly to the inside. The ligaments and tendons are rigid, helpingyour toes push your body off the ground. Next: Ligament and ten don problems. Rumsfeld dinating and synchronizing every “tool of power” America possesses to achieve a political end - like winning a global war for national survival against terrorists who hijack eco nomically and politically fragile nations and prov inces. We are in a long, global war, where economic and political development pro grams must reinforce secu rity and intelligence opera tions - and vice versa. We’ve been improvising “joint development and security operations,” and we’ve learned from our improvisation (Rumsfeld’s “we’re better than we were”). But it’s time to quit improvising. Effective “Unified Action” requires re-engineering 20th cen tury Beltway bureaucracies - which means thought ful, sophisticated coopera tion between the executive branch and Congress. That means getting past the sensational gossip and confronting an essential issue. To find out more about Austin Bay, and read fea tures by other Creators Syndicate writers and car toonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www. creators.com. Prime Rib Seasoned to Perfection green derby I-75 Exit 136 - 987-8877 38863 Building leaders and organizations of excellence (478) 988-0237 dhooper2(« : juno.com INSURANCE. 5A 37722 3%81