Kerri is pointing to a speed reading test. So I took it:
You read between 850 - 900 words per minute. Virtual Speed Reader. (The average rate is between 200 - 250 words per minute.) It is assumed that you did not skim the words nor fail to understand the meaning of what was read.
Not bad….
Boston is a city with a troubled past when it comes to race relations. But during my time here, I’ve seen nothing other than growth, opportunity, and community involvement from government, civic leaders, and community leaders to continue to improve race relations, crime, and other key issues in Boston.
But since Jesse was in town this week for the convention, he has to strut about, as the Boston Herald reports today:
Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the city’s black leaders are spitting mad over racial potshots the Rev. Jesse Jackson took at the city of Boston yesterday.
“Jesse’s talking trash and blowing smoke. This is Jesse’s showboat,” said the Rev. Eugene Rivers, chair of the National Ten Point Coalition and one of the city’s most respected leaders on racial issues.
Jackson stoked the Hub’s racial fires yesterday as he headed into the FleetCenter on the second day of the Democratic National Convention, saying Boston has yet to live up to its promise as a center of racial justice and equal opportunity for minorities.
“There is such a class gap between the haves and the have-nots,” Jackson said. “If you look at inner-city Boston and the suburbs, it’s like there is a doughnut and then there’s the doughnut hole.”
Jackson added that Boston falls short of being a model for urban democracy around the country.
“Boston must work even more diligently at being the academic center it is, at being the shining light on the hill,” Jackson said. “This can be the city with an urban agenda that becomes the ideal for all of America.Boston ought to aspire to no less.”
But there’s more to this story, you see. Jackson has apparently never once challenged, reached out, or consulted with Mayor Menino on any racial issues - or any other topic for that matter.
But Menino immediately fired back at Jackson, calling his statements not only “unfounded” but “unfair.”
Menino added that in the more than 11 years he has been mayor, Jackson has never called or reached out to him in any way on racial issues or any other topic.
“It’s nice he comes into our city and makes a statement like that,” Menino said with more than a hint of sarcasm.
I’ve met Menino. He’s not one to stand by idly and let Jackson get away with something like this. Nor should be.
It’s the politics of racial destruction all over again. I’m glad to see Menino and Reverend Rivers standing up to his smoke.
It certainly feels like my blogging these days has been either feast or famine. I’ve spent the better part of the last few weeks leading our efforts to prepare for the Democratic National Convention - and have spent these last few days working in our operations center.
Not that interesting, I’m afraid, but it has certainly kept me busy.
More blogging to come in the coming days.
Those of you that know me, know that I am not a fan of Senator Ted Kennedy. He is the senior Senator of the state in which I reside and other than that, I don’t really have much kind to say about the man.
I watched his speech tonight, and while most of it went as I expected from the Senator, I was rather impressed with this section of his speech:
The roots of that America are planted deep in the New England soil. Across this region are burial grounds, many so humble you find them without intending to. You’re in a town like Concord, Massachusetts, or Hancock, New Hampshire. You’re visiting the old church there, and behind the chapel you find a small plot. Simple stones bearing simple markers. The markers say ”War of 1776.”They do not ask for attention. But they command it all the same. These are the patriots who won our freedom. These are the first Americans, who enlisted in a fight for something larger than themselves — for a shared faith in the future, for a nation that was alive in their hearts but not yet a part of their world.
They and their fellow patriots won their battle. But the larger battle for freedom, justice, equality and opportunity is our battle too, and it is never fully won. Each new generation has to take up the cause. Sometimes with weapons in hand; sometimes armed only with faith and hope, like the marchers in Birmingham or Selma four decades ago.
Sometimes the fight is waged in Congress or the courts; sometimes on foreign shores, like the battle that called one of my brothers to war in the Pacific, and another to die in Europe.
Now it is our turn to take up the cause.
One of the things I am most amazed by, as I walk the streets of Boston, or find myself out in Concord, or Lexington, or as I pass by the Old Granary Burying Ground, is that I’m walking the same places that these men walked - trodding the same ground that these men walked - and looking over the same sights as they did - though they are much different now.
They were the men who stood at the bridge in Concord, Massachusetts and refused to yield:
Senator Kennedy is right. As you walk through the town square, you’ll spy the church just off of the village green. You’ll be drawn through the front doors, off to the side, and then out the door that leads into the church plot out back. You’ll spy the more modern stones of recent years - but you’ll be drawn to the dull white one at the edge of the field. And there, you’ll come face to face with a man that died in 1775.. or 1776.. or 1777.. and you’ll hear his call from beyond.
That’s one of the wonders of living in this place where our country was born as an idea in the heads of men like John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, John Hancock, Sam Adams, Paul Revere… and many others.
A few days ago, Lex made a posting about Zero Tolerance and accountability - in his case, about the Navy’s stance on the drug issue - but, more generally, about accountability overall.
I am fortunate, I think, to work for a company that takes accountability very seriously. As a mid-level manager, accountability is a large part of my job. And yet, it is something that took me many years to truly understand - and an issue that I see many of my peers struggle with as they try to achieve the results expected of them in their job.
My own sense of accountability in the workplace came from my first real job out of high school, with the Fountain County Sheriff’s Department. During my tenure there, a deputy was suspended for five days without pay for not following proper procedures that had been laid down by the Sheriff. It was a tough punishment, but one that the Sheriff clearly felt was required given the infraction.
When I first became a manager in 1995 in Columbus, Indiana - accountability wasn’t my strong point. It’s easy in most cases to sit down and talk with someone about an ethical issue - theft, fraud, sexual harassment, etc. The issues are clear cut - and almost everyone realizes that this behavior is wrong. It’s far more difficult to sit down with someone, look them in the eye, and talk with them directly about their shortcomings as an employee - or as a manager. And took me years to both fully understand - and to develop the self-confidence and courage needed to do it effectively.
And there’s still room to grow.
I’ve been promoted a few times since then - and I’ve learned that the stakes are higher the farther you move up the chain. In my current role, if I sit down with a direct report and talk with them about their performance - I’m no longer dealing with an entry level hourly employee - I’m talking to a mother or a father - someone with years invested in this corporation - and who is likely the breadwinner for their family. Most of my team owns a home. Almost all of them are married - and half of them have children. Dealing with someone’s lack of performance now could result in a serious issue for many people.
The counterbalance though, of course, is that it must be done. The great leaders on a team want the team to be held accountable - because they’re only as good as the weakest link on the team. They want to be held to a high standard - but more important - they want to win. And to do that, they want only the best as a part of their peer group.. their team.
And it’s my job to help create that environment for them.
And unfortunately, that means sometimes I have to fire people. It’s not fun… in fact, I hate it. But I do it.
But like Lex, I take it as a personal failure. Particularly if I brought them into this company. It means I made a bad hire, I did a bad job with their training, a bad job coaching and mentoring them along, a bad job developing them, a bad job supporting them, or just a bad job leading them.. or some combination of these…
I originally had something in mind on how to end this entry, but in the midst of everything else I had going on tonight, I can’t remember what that was.. so we’ll end things here.. Accountability is a key part of being a leader - but it requires appropriate self-confidence and some courage to be willing to do the right thing.