Book Excerpts

What do they call you?

Hey stupid! It’s not what they call you; it’s what you answer to. Were you ever with a group of friends and heard someone yell “hey stupid?” Did you turn around? Did you do so because you answered to “stupid” or were you just curious who “stupid” was? Have you ever been called a name that was particularly unflattering so many times that you began to accept it? Have you been called something behind your back like the crew of the PT 73 boat in the 1960’s TV Show McHale’s Navy called the captain “Old Lead Bottom?” In Six Heads, I mentioned some of my former colleagues calling me “A-Shawn” because they thought I was giving away grades. That was not who I was, and I had the data to prove my students were as successful as or more so than those of other instructors. The trick was to dispel the rumor and prove who I was was not what they called me.
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The Good Shepherd

In today’s world of technology, social media, and long-distance communication, leaders need to be good shepherds. What is a shepherd (sheepherder)? A shepherd is a person who leads a herd of sheep or followers. Sheep can be led anywhere --- even to slaughter, by a good and trusted shepherd. Hopefully, you won’t be leading your followers to slaughter, but prosperity and the “promised land.” A good shepherd will want to make sure the herd stays together and survives until their resources are needed --- including their wool and meat.  
 
A good shepherd knows that each and every sheep is important and lets none go astray. If a sheep goes astray, a good shepherd will even leave the herd to bring the stray back to the group. No sheep is disposable, and every sheep is critically important. Each sheep is so important that shepherds often will train and use sheepdogs to assist in managing and directing the sheep. Good leaders, like good shepherds, know when to bring in assistants and lieutenants to get and keep team members focused while the leader tends to larger concerns. In Congress, the party leaders have party whips to keep the rank and file party members in line to support party policies and decisions.
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Choose Your Moment

On Valentine’s Day 2018, there was a second Valentine’s Day Massacre. Instead of being done by gangsters, it was done by a crazy (my word) teenager with a grudge against the school that kicked him out. The mass shooting took the lives of 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. As big of a tragedy as it was, fewer died there than in Las Vegas (58) in 2017 or Orlando (49) in 2016 at their massacres. There have many deadly days in America since then too. Even though fewer lives were lost, the Parkland shootings happened during a legislative session in an election year. The Florida Legislature and Governor could not hide from the thousands of students, parents, concerned citizens, and members of the press during their session. Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature and executive branch offices of government defied their National Rifle Association (NRA) backers and voted to ban bump stocks which essentially turn semi-automatic rifles into machine guns and raised the age to buy rifles from 18 to 21 to match the age to buy handguns. All of this happened in less than a month. The advocates for these gun ownership measures chose the right moment and did not waste the crisis. They struck while the proverbial iron was hot to get their agenda through. They also had children as the advocates who were in the crosshairs lead the charge.
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