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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Initiative, improvement in your organization
Over the past six
months, I’ve per
formed health assess
ments in a variety of organi
zations.
The leaders who ask me
to conduct this intervention
realize that the organiza
tions are not making the
progress that is possible.
If their organizations were
characterized by extensive
initiative and improvement,
they’d be handling many
new opportunities.
It’s not every day that
organizations have an out
sider come in and talk with
employees about the quality
of their leaders, about how
reliable their operations are,
and about how they might
improve their culture, rela
tionships and results.
Though I ask about what is
working well, human nature
How to handle domestic violence
Dear Mr. Rockefeller,
I reported my boyfriend
for abuse because we
were fighting. Now I
want to withdraw the
charges but the police
insist on keeping it open.
What can I do?
Dear Reader, Your question
is particularly timely, given
that October was Domestic
Violence Awareness Month.
I have two questions for you
- Why did you fight and why
do you want to withdraw the
charges?
Domestic violence, as dis
cussed last week, is a pat
tern of abuse, as opposed to
a one-time incident. I suspect
your boyfriend has probably
been abusing you for several
months, since the abuse has
escalated to a physical level.
Maybe you NEED these
charges fully prosecuted to
protect you from him?
I asked, “Why did you
fight?” to figure out if you
started the fight or if you
just feel this way because
you are trapped in an abu
sive relationship and it has
diminished your sense of
self-worth?
Exploring why things hap
pened, and looking at your
own behavior, will help you
figure out what to do. If you
genuinely started things,
you might need counseling
to figure out why you acted
inappropriately; if you only
feel that you did, you might
need counseling to break out
of the cycle of violence.
If she last comment is true,
I am particularly concerned
for you. Breaking a cycle of
violence is extremely diffi
cult for a survivor. You are
probably isolated, as your
boyfriend has told you that
your mother is selfish and
only wants to hurt you, that
your friends are immoral
harpies, and that all you
should need is his love.
He plies you to adopt this
Local student
attends camp
Special to the Journal
Amy A. Davidson attended
the Air Force Junior Reserve
Officer Training Corps
Aerospace and Technology
Honors Camp at Arizona
State University and Luke
Air Force Base in Phoenix.
The Air Force has nine other
approved Aerospace and
Technology Honors Camp
sites for the high school
cadets attending in 2006.
Cadets attending the camps
are in the top one percent of
110,000 Junior ROTC cadets
worldwide; only 500 cadets
were selected and actually
attended the honors camps.
Selection of students/
cadets to attend the honors
camp is very competitive.
They must have a minimum
grade point average of 3.0, be
rising sophomores, juniors
or seniors enrolled in col
lege-prep mathematics and
science courses, have lead
ership ability, demonstrated
an interest in pursuing tech
nical and aerospace-related
careers, and be U.S. citizens.
She is the daughter of Angie
W. Davidson of Habersham
Lane, Perry.
tends to cause employees
to focus on the things that
could be better.
After a day of interviews,
I am often surprised at two
things.
First, there is usually a
nagging problem or two
that several people identify.
These situations often affect
many people and reduce pro
ductivity, quality or reliabil
ity. The conditions seem to
have been tolerated for quite
some time.
Second, employees tell me
about situations within their
own areas of responsibil
ity that could be improved,
but are also being tolerated.
Often, the individual has
every right and authority
to tackle this problem and
eliminate it, yet no initiative
has been taken.
I remember reading in
attitude of isolation with
meaningless platitudes
(right before telling you how
worthless you are) and with
simple gestures you take as
love, like buying you flowers
or a puppy, but which are
only gifts to bribe you into
joining him in a sick rela
tionship. Perhaps you feel
have no one to turn to for
advice.
This sense of aloneness is
likely driv
ing you to
want to
drop the
charges
so you can
take your
boyfriend
back.
How can
you bear
his guilt
laden col-
n
' < .
Jim Rockefeller
Columnist
lect calls from jail? He sounds
so sincere in his promises
not to do this again. How
will you pay the bills?
Who will tell you what to
do? You may have forgotten
how to “be your own per
son;” you have let yourself
go “soft” after being beaten
(verbally, if not physically)
into submission.
What, then, are your
options? Dropping the charg
es is not one of them, as the
decision whether or not to
prosecute is in the hands of
the District Attorney’s Office
or the Solicitor’s Office.
Ultimately, if this the first
time that your boyfriend has
been charged with beating
Assessing Your
Leadership Skills
-SBS person
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House of Representatives
Succeeding with Change,
Tony Eccles’ 1994 book, that
Toyota employees submitted
Dennis Hooper
Leader" Building
Leaders
do employees in your orga
nization tolerate problems
that frustrate many folks?
Further, why do employees
in your organization endure
less than desirable situa
tions in their own areas of
responsibility?
The puzzling thing to me
you, he is probably unlikely
to receive a prison sentence,
unless you press for jail time.
However, if you do need help
and protection, the Judge
WILL probably sentence
him to prison. You can also
obtain a Family Violence
Protective Order with the
free services offered by the
Safe House at 92,‘1-6294 and
HODAC at 953-5675 or by
hiring an attorney.
But, what you MUST do
is figure out a way to regain
some self-esteem, so that you
can move on to a better life
and let the system treat your
boyfriend with the justice
he deserves - its not your
fault, its not your problem,
PLEASE live your life with
head held high!
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 prac
tice since 2000. His website,
www.rockefellerlawcenter.
com. offers more answers
to your legal questions and
archives of past articles. E
mail your comments or con
fidential legal questions toaj
r@rockefellerlawcenter.com.
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F. Dennis Hooper
Certified
Leadership Development Coach
Building leaders and
organizations of excellence
(478) 988-0237
LOCAL
2 million
sugges
tions in
one year,
and that
85 per
cent of
them were
adopted!
Wow,
that’s
encourag
ing!
So why
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is that when I dig deeper
into these situations, they
can usually identify specific
steps that they can take! So
why haven’t they done so
already?
Most organizations have
ingrained ways of doing
things.
Everyone involved takes
the existing methods for
granted. These practices
often become unconsciously
established as boundaries in
the minds of the employees.
Innovations require an
ability to see beyond the
existing circumstances. The
simple act of my asking
questions about the situ
ation stimulates creative
thinking about improvement
options. It’s not unusual for
improvement to start hap
pening before 1 ever deliver
my findings!
LETTER
From page qA
Houston County so you
won t be faced with back
door property tax increases
caused by periodic property
re-assessments. He 11 seek to
add code enforcement offi
cials to enforce environmen
tal standards and protect
our environment to ensure
our children have clean
air to breathe and water
ways free of silt and debris
for recreational activities.
Braswell pledges to have
no business interests that
conflict with his duties as
county commissioner.
He will continuously
seek to provide all citizens
with the representation
they desire and to listen to
any petition brought for
ward by his constituents.
There is only one candi
date who will bring forth
new ideas to solve old prob
lems that current county
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Glenda is a life insurance specialist with 19
years experience. Glenda has been living hi
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
life insurance analysis.
Though it seems that the
individual should have the
power to make improve
ments, it has not been
obvious to the individual.
Sometimes the culture does
not emphasize looking for
improvement opportunities.
Sometimes entrepreneurial
thinking and taking initia
tive have not been encour
aged.
In your business, are you
willing to invite workers to
think, “What would I do if
this were my business?” Are
you willing to collaborate
with the workers to provide
the resources they need to
innovate?
I conduct organizational
health assessments where
leaders want improvement.
However, leaders have the
ability to build initiative
and improvement into their
commissioners refuse to
address. I am proud to sup
port this outstanding com
munity activist who served
in Vietnam and prior to
retirement from the Air
Force was awarded mul
tiple decorations for meri
torious service. I urge all
voters to vote for Braswell
for an opportunity to build
a better Houston County
that protects the inter
ests of all its citizens.
Change is at hand and
never has change seemed
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Jackie Whitley
welcomes
Glenda Cohen
to her
Cotton States
Insurance Agency at
1217 S. Houston Lake Road
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2006 ♦
organization before 1 ever
show up!
Successful leaders create
an environment where oth
ers excel in using their tal
ents, experience, and skill.
If you are not already there,
imagine yourself in the posi
tion of an outside observer.
Take a fresh look at your
operations and the relation
ships between the managers
and those who do the work.
Ask what would be
required to inspire initia
tive and improved thinking
about what is so familiar to
everyone working there.
Dennis Hooper is a
Certified Leadership
Development Coach, helping
you build organizations of
excellence and future lead
ers. Dennis welcomes your
e-mails at dhooper2<ajuno.
com.
so refreshing.
David E. Wittenberg,
Kathleen
Subscribe
today
Call 987-1823
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