Don’t let the talking heads or the stock market get you down

Yesterday was rough for Americans. We had the rug pulled out from under us again as our hard earned and hard saved 401(k), pension and IRA dollars were snatched out of our accounts. The stock market took a dive into the deep end of the pool.

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As the stock market was crashing, I was spending my afternoon with Mother who may have broken her foot. (waiting on x-rays for confirmation) A can of Pledge furniture polish fell off the table and on the top of her foot. She’s 87 and as tiny as Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree; so it didn’t take much for her foot to swell and turn a bright blue. We were in the doctor’s office as we waited for nearly 2 hours to see the doctor. Then off they sent us for x-rays. I got there at 4:45 and they were closed! The hours on the door said 7:00-5:00 but they decided to close early! (An example of great customer service in our new era of healthcare.) I put Mother back in the car and off to the hospital for the x-ray. We waited in the waiting room for a while and then she was wheeled into the x-ray area so we could wait in the hallway for a while. Eventually the x-ray was completed; we picked up take out for dinner and collapsed at home for the evening. Everywhere I went the buzz could be heard about the stock market crashing and how it would affect them. I had a lot of time to talk to these medical workers and one sweet woman in the Chinese restaurant as I waited for our take out. I can tell you one thing – they are not blaming our President. They are blaming the Democrats and Republicans for not being able to talk and work things out! Here are some of their talking points:

• If the rich people would just give up a little money, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
• If everyone could just get along, it would be okay
• People need to tone down their anger and discuss things
• And my favorite from the sweet woman in the restaurant: “Why can’t we get free medical care like they have in Cuba?”

I wasn’t sure if my head was going to explode from watching our retirement tank or from listening to the “got it from MSNBC news talking points” of the people I met. I didn’t even try to reason with them. I had run out of steam at that point and all I wanted to do was get home, curl up in a fetal position and eat my pork fried rice. After Mother got settled with her foot elevated higher than our debt ceiling, I was finally able to get in a good cry. There’s nothing like a good cry to get you ready for the battle ahead. First and foremost, after listening to the talking points from the general public and the hateful liberals on the left, let the Tea Party talking points now be known:

• Obama is America’s leader and the buck stops with him. When you become the leader of an organization or a country – whatever happens on your watch – you own it. Period.
• The Republicans did talk and did negotiate. They even got Tea Party members to go over to the “GOP dark side” to facilitate negotiations.
• The Democrat-filled Senate failed to take up important legislation passed by the Republicans in the House and THEY stopped the debate.
• The Tea Party IS NOT responsible for this mess. We sounded the alarm about out of control spending and how our grandchildren would pay for their policies. You can’t blame the firefighter for the fire.

In my career, I have worked with CEOs and their executive teams. I’ve seen a lot of well run companies and every now and then a surprise shows up and impacts the organization. I remember one company who was hit by a huge surprise that almost took the company down. The owner of the business did the following:

1. Rolled up his sleeves and got to work (he stopped golfing, hunting and vacations)
2. Called in his staff and told them the bad news while giving them assurance that they would survive this surprise as he smiled and kept an optimistic spirit (while praying for divine guidance)
3. Asked his staff to help him by looking for ways to cut expenses
4. He stopped spending too and set the example for others to do the same
5. Got on the phone with his creditors and negotiated new terms of repayment
6. Called in a turnaround specialist who helped him see things more clearly
7. Asked his staff to take cuts in pay after he cut his pay in half first (he restored their cuts when the company was whole again)
8. His team looked for new business and cut their prices in order to get the contracts
9. Sought financial help from those who believed in him and his company
10. Never gave up on his company, his people and his reputation in the industry
11. Had a party with ALL the people and celebrated when the final payment was made to the last creditor. We watched him build a bonfire and throw in the contract that was finally complete.
12. Learned from his mistakes

That ladies and gentlemen is what a real leader does -- if they care about their company, their country or their own personal reputation. This is also the behavior the American people are looking for in their leader. We are sick of speeches and we are sick of the talking heads who agree with the President’s mantra. We are also sick that our retirement will now take a hit for his lack of leadership. We always knew our grandkids would be affected but now he’s done it to us and that will be the cause of his demise in November 2012. The American people are looking for leadership and if Obama wants to be a leader, the story of how the CEO above saved his company would serve him well. Of course, Mr. Obama will run to what he thinks will fix this mess – raising taxes. That will not do it! If my client had raised prices to get more work, he would not have kept his company alive. Instead, he looked at waste in the company first and Obama should do the same. Americans have a list of areas he can cut before taxes are raised. He can start with a few in the “alphabet” departments of our government: EPA, DOT, DOE, and on and on. The Tea Party may be blamed for our downgrade by the bobble-heads on the left but the American people know it isn’t so. The membership of the tea party is growing daily because this is the only place people can find real leadership and reality based-conversations. The truth belongs to the tea party movement and the whining belongs to the left. As for the GOP, not sure what their place is but hope they find it soon (hint: talk to the tea party guys). As a new day dawns, be encouraged that the God of our founding fathers is still the God of today. He will see us through these difficult times. Please lean in to Him if a can of Pledge changes your life today or you decide to sit in a fetal position until this crisis is over! The world needs America -- so get your crying over with and put on your big/girl pants. America didn’t raise no sissies and the world needs Leadership! Action Item: As the election season heats up, I thought it would be good for us to describe our next President. Please issue your comments below and we’ll compile a Presidential Template. We can then use it as we listen to the next batch of Presidential talking-heads and try to find the best one who can fix this filthy-mess they will inherit. I’ll start with just a few of my own thoughts:

• Courageous
• Constitutional scholar
• Patriotic
• Wise
• Loves God

Have a great day and don’t let the talking heads or the stock market get you down!