Newspaper Page Text
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Why can’t I ‘just do it’?
Those Nike commer
cials show an athlete
performing a feat that
my body just won’t let me
do. You know the ads - they
end with a stylized check
mark and words in bold let
ters: “Just Do It!”
Unfortunately, leaders
rarely find it that easy. They
have good ideas, but imple
menting them - ah, that’s
something altogether differ
ent! Putting ideas into prac
tice is a challenge for many
of us.
The Nike commercials
make “execution” sound like
it’s a one-time effort. The
truth is there are at least six
individual stages of execu
tion, and success is elusive
at every one!
Make a decision. First,
you choose from among
the many other alterna
tives what action to pursue.
Realistically, of course, you
could do nothing. That’s the
easiest approach. It requires
no effort and no resources.
Further, taking initiative
carries with it risk of criti
cism if the action fails, so it’s
safer to just do nothing.
Then there are all those
other alternatives. When
you select a specific action,
you forego the remaining
lost opportunities. What if
one of those options might
have yielded a better out
come? You subject yourself
to criticism when you decide
to pursue only one specific
action!
Make a plan. Rarely does
“winging it” result in a suc
cessful outcome. “Anything
worth doing is worth doing
well,” right?
If the action is to involve
more than one person, then
there needs to be some coor
dination of effort. The steps
required to move from where
we are to where we want to
go need to be orchestrated.
Here’s where everybody has
to agree who will do what by
when.
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Start. All we’ve done to
this point is think and talk.
To make progress, you actu
ally have to DO something,
right? Once you start, all
the things you overlooked in
your plan become evident.
So, you take a step back
ward, thinking anew about
all those things you had for
gotten!
Continue. Anything
that’s going to be of lasting
Dennis Hooper
Leaders Building
Leaders
With the leaders I support,
we’re talking about major
enhancements that can’t
be accomplished in just one
day.
Sometimes it’s easy to
think “Hey, this isn’t going
to work anyway!” Just
giving up is the easy way
out. But you’re committed,
right? Stick with it! You’re
you going to see this thing
through, even when the
going gets tough!
Assessing Your
Leadership Skills
-SBS/person
*
1/
# ! 1
Jessica Richardson
OF SCIENCE
SwSffl v
HOUSTON COUNTr.-GA^ai,,
Fall Classes Begin August 20
ON CAMPUSES IN MACON & WARNER ROBINS
Contact the Office of Admissions:
471-2800 or 1-800-272-7619
maconstate.edu
Finish. Oh, how easy it
is to start projects. Can you
finish them? After all, inter
ruptions keep diverting our
attention to other matters!
It’s so hard to get back to
a project that we used to
consider important. The pri
ority of the moment holds
our attention. “We’ll work
on that tomorrow” becomes
our fallback position day
after day, until the project is
covered in cobwebs.
Complete the effort.
We’re not done until we’ve
put all the tools away, com
pleted all the paperwork,
and notified everybody who
needs to know about the
changes. This step involves
linking everything we’ve
done into the ongoing sys
tems of the larger organiza
tion.
Is there any surprise that
“execution” of good ideas
is a problem for leaders?
Figure out where the hang
up typically occurs for you,
so that you can transform
your good ideas into produc
tive improvements!
Dennis Hooper is a local
leadership development
coach. With his skills, we
don’t need to go to Atlanta to
hire an expensive consulting
firm to improve our organi
zations. Contact him at 478-
988-0237 or dhooper2@juno.
com.
value will
take some
time. The
Nike com
mercials
show an
athlete
participat
ing in a
sport that
maybe
consumes
a couple
of hours.
Subscribe today!
Call 987-1823
F. Dennis Hooper
Certified
Leadership Development Coach
Building leaders and
organizations of excellence
(478) 988-0237
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COMMENTARY
50146
dhooper2@juno.com
Vick facing uplill legal battle
Dear readers, As you
may recall from last week,
Michael Vick and three co
defendants are alleged to
have participated in inter
state gambling and dog
fighting. They are accused
of having executed over a
dozen dogs, as well as train
ing and fighting dog 3 under
the “Bad Newz Kennels”
criminal enterprise. The
executions and staged fights
supposedly continued up
until as late as April 25.
• Strangely silent from this
indictment is any mention
of Vick’s cousin, Davon
Boddie; he is not named
as a co-defendant or wit
ness. Yet, Vick’s troubles
began, not with a dog-fight
ing investigation, but with
Boddie being arrested April
24 for drug charges. This
arrest led to execution of a
“drug” search warrant at
Vick’s Moonlight Road prop
erty April 25. When author
ities arrived, they found the
kennels, 58 dogs and signs
of a dog-fighting operation.
In early June, local authori
ties, and then in early July,
Federal authorities,
returned with warrants
directed at the dog-fight
ing; remains of executed
dogs were seized, in addi
tion to other incriminating
evidence. »
, ' GEORGIA
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THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA
Circumstantially, this
suggests crimes were com
mitted on Vick’s property;
but we can expect the legal
fight will center on proving
M
Jim Rockefeller
Columnist
ajr@ rockefellerlawcenter.com
can expect the bulk of this
proof to come from testi
mony of cooperating wit
nesses, either individuals
with other charges (such as
Boddie), the CWs described
in the indictment, or Vick’s
co-defendants. Cooperating
witnesses receive leniency
in sentencing in exchange
for their testimony.
In Federal Court par
lance, this “deal” is known
as either a “5(k)” or a “Rule
35,” which are filed by the
government after the wit
ness testifies; if the govern
ment (not the judge) feels
the testimony is not help
ful, the witness receives no
leniency consideration. As
you can see, such witnesses
Rachel Renner, C.L.T.
(478) 329-0291
www, middlegeorgiafamilyhealty.com
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2007 ♦
are completely controlled
by the government; there is
very little likelihood these
witnesses will stray from
whatever statements have
already made to the gov
ernment.
Recently, one of the co
defendants, Tony Taylor,
pled guilty in exchange
for leniency. Vick could be
offered this same opportu
nity, e.g., to enter a guilty
plea and cooperate against
his co-defendants. If Vick
were to take this route, the
judge could be permitted to
“depart downwards” from
any sentencing require
ment, and even to the point
of avoiding all prison time
- it is almost certain, the
way Federal sentencing
works, guidelines would call
for Vick to be sentenced to
prison, if convicted without
a s(k) or Rule 35. Hence,
the incentive to “flip” will
be almost irresistible.
Taylor claims Vick
financed the entire opera
tion. As part of his plea, he
will be required to testify
against Vick and the other
co-defendants, if called to
do so.
Does this mean the gov
ernment has a strong case?
An indictment is just a piece
of paper; still, it is
See LA W, page 6A
Vick’s
involve
ment, as
opposed
to his
media
fueled
image as
only an
“absen
te e ”
land
lord.
W e
Gently Restoring
Beauty ...
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