Caring is Sharing: Show your compassion for others during this very challenging time

This is a guest blog post from Shellye Archambeau, humanitarian, author, speaker, tech CEO and Fortune 500 corporate board executive.

 

“Noel, caring is sharing!” my five-year old granddaughter reprimands her three-year old sister, who doesn’t want to share her toy.  It’s a mantra my daughter uses to teach her children. As I witness this exchange while I “shelter in place” with them in Tampa, Florida, it strikes me that the whole world needs to be reminded of this simple concept.

What do we need to share? Compassion. Simply said, demonstrating compassion means to show kindness, caring and a willingness to help others.

Each of us is being affected in very different ways.  For some, it is a real inconvenience, but work and life for the most part continue. Our meetings have turned into video conference calls. Our normal support infrastructure has vanished, childcare, school, household help, etc…  We aren’t able to gather for celebrations such as weddings, birthdays or a friend’s successful battle against cancer. Worship, gym exercise and self-care routines are being disrupted. Our travel is curtailed. These impacts are a nuisance, but frankly not that hard.

At the other end of the spectrum in addition to the tens of thousands of people battling the virus itself, there are many people out of work or whose businesses are fighting for survival.  They are facing real hardship and there are a lot of them: hairdressers, retail and restaurant workers, performers, event planners, housekeepers, etc. The federal reserve reported last year that 40% of Americans don’t have $400 in the bank for emergency expenses. I know the government is also working on stimulus packages for Americans and business owners however the ramifications of now several months without pay will be felt significantly. If we all can take some measure to support, help, comfort and lend the proverbial hand – it will make a difference.

I had the honor of meeting and speaking with the Dalai Lama several years ago.  Compassion is one of the key tenets of his teachings.

“Compassion brings inner peace and whatever else is going on, that peace of mind allows us to see the whole picture more clearly.” Dalai Lama

Research backs up the Dalai Lama statement.  The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley has conducted research that supports the premise that leading a compassionate lifestyle improves both mental and physical health.  “The reason that a compassionate lifestyle leads to greater psychological well-being may be that the act of giving appears to be as pleasurable as the act of receiving, if not more so. A brain-imaging study led by neuroscientists at the National Institutes of Health showed that the “pleasure centers” in the brain—i.e., the parts of the brain that are active when we experience pleasure (like dessert, money, and sex)—are equally active when we observe someone giving money to charity as when we receive money ourselves!”

Now is the time to help where you can.  A couple in my Mountain View neighborhood literally started knocking on doors of neighbors who they didn’t know to see if people needed anything.  They met several elderly people who indeed needed help with grocery shopping. Another person in my Nextdoor Whisman Station community reached out to offer to talk on the phone with anyone who needs to talk to someone, to rant, combat loneliness or for any reason at all.  I’m continuing to pay my housekeeper and my hairdresser for my regularly scheduled appointments even though the services aren’t being provided. Their income is being severely impacted by the necessary Shelter in Place policies.

So, find ways to show your compassion for others during this very challenging time.

1. This can be done through donations to charities that support the most vulnerable in our society.  Such as the American Red Cross who is facing massive blood shortages due to blood drive cancellations, your local food bank, Meals on Wheels who feeds the elderly, No Kid Hungry which deploys funds to ensure that kids don’t go hungry especially with schools being closed, etc.

2. You can also financially support the Arts or your local businesses.  For those not in a position to help financially, you can give the gift of time or effort.  For example, there are thousands of people in nursing homes whose families can’t visit. Call one and offer to speak to residents on the phone.  Many high-risk people are afraid to go to grocery or drug stores. Offer to do their shopping when you go.

3. Use your influence as a leader in business, offer free coaching, support, or tools that can be readily provided to help struggling small businesses and entrepreneurs. Not sure how to get started. Check out organizations such as Score.org and businessadvising.org, both of whom provide confidential business advice through a network of volunteer business people.

4. Now is a time more than ever to be a mentor within your company and community. For example I launched online “Ask Me Anything” live sessions to provide perspectives and support to people working through professional or entrepreneurial issues.

5. Give your teams the ok to share their concerns, etc..  Sometimes people just need to be heard and know someone cares about them. There’s also a lot to be learned by just listening to the challenges and issues faced by team members.

We are in this together and together we will get through this just as we have overcome past crises.  I believe that most of us are compassionate people. Let’s all take at least one action to demonstrate it.  As my granddaughter said, “Sharing is caring”.

Reference link – https://ceoworld.biz/2020/04/10/caring-is-sharing-show-your-compassion-for-others-during-this-very-challenging-time/

APRIL 13, 2020

Shellye Archambeau is a humanitarian, speaker, author, technology company CEO, and Fortune 500 Board member.  She is the author of Unapologetically Ambitious and a leading figure in Silicon Valley. She sits on the boards of Verizon, Nordstrom, Roper Technologies, and Okta. She is the former CEO of MetricStream and former President of Blockbuster. Please follow her at http://www.shellyearchambeau.com

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The Success Formula: Success = BD+GM+F+C+P

Almost 9 years ago, I published this, my first Blog post on WINNING IDEAS. As I work with students, mentees, and other business colleagues of late, I find myself reverting to various “Fundamentals” in our conversations, this one perhaps being the most important of all.  Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

What does it take to be Successful? Everyone has an opinion on this for sure.

Success is Winning, and everyone loves Winning.

Having been a student and analyst of the subject of Success for over 40 years, I think I have boiled down the formula of what creates Success:

SUCCESS = BURNING DESIRE + GOAL MANAGEMENT + FOCUS + COURAGE + PERSISTENCE

Each of the great thinkers and each successful person has their own personal take on what it takes to achieve success, but these are the 5 essential elements.

 

Of course, I left out a couple of other important elements like Serendipity, Luck, Sacrifice, Hard Work, and others, but I believe that these “sub elements” are a part of one of these 5 essential ingredients.  For example, if you have a Burning Desire (passion), then you will make the sacrifices and work hard.  Goal Setting includes goal review, and is the roadmap to the destination.

Courage is an interesting one and we don’t hear it mentioned often, but to me, Courage is all about taking action, and stepping up and going outside your comfort zone to make things happen.  Without Courage, thought cannot easily be transformed into Action.

And what about luck?  Well, the more persistent you are, the luckier you get.  By never giving up and hanging in there, opportunities will inevitably come your way.

Persistence is my favorite, and I conclude this, my first ever Blog Post with my favorite quote:

“Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never–in nothing, great or small, large or petty–never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”   – Winston Churchill

 

 

 

 

 

 

You don’t know how good you have it!

This is a Guest blog post from Todd Youngblood, These thoughts are more applicable today than when he first published this almost 2 years ago.

Is there anyone alive today who did not hear the words, “You don’t know how good you have it,” from one or both parents during childhood? I seriously doubt it. I heard it so often growing up that I swore I would never say it to my own kids. I failed. The fact of the matter is they didn’t know how good they had it. And to be honest, I didn’t either.

Is the world today awash in problems and injustice? Yes! Is the U.S. in particular, awash in problems and injustice? Yes! Are there more, bigger, more complex, thornier problems than even before in human history? Yes!

My contention is, that’s good news!

In fact, it’s downright bizarre to me that only 6% of the U.S. population thinks the world is getting better. Seriously? Think! Of course we have lots of problems today, but they are due to the unanticipated, unintended consequences of the amazingly dramatic advances in standards of living that have alleviated or eliminated the problems of the past.

Are the problems we’re dealing with now real? Yes! Are they tough, horrifying, heart-wrenching, unfair, unethical, immoral and just-plain-wrong? Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes. So what? Let’s look at a few facts about the relentless, positive progress in our world, courtesy of Our World In Data

First, world population:

• 1800 – 0.9 Billion
• 1900 – 1.7 Billion
• 1960 – 3.0 Billion
• 1980 – 4.4 Billion
• 2015 – 7.4 Billion

That’s an increase by a factor of more than 7. Are 7 times more people alive because the overall average standard of living has been going down? I don’t think so. How about the % of world population living in extreme poverty?

That’s about as direct a measurement of improvement in living standards as you can get. From virtually all human beings living in extreme poverty to less than 10% in just 2 centuries. For perspective, humans have been around for something like 2,000 centuries. So that’s virtually everybody in extreme poverty for 1,998 centuries, and now only 10%.

How about the % of world population that is illiterate?

 

That’s from 88% illiterate to 88% literate. …along with the immense value of literacy.

How about global child mortality?

That’s 43% – almost half – of children dying before their 5th birthday to only 4%.

How about freedom – the % of global population living in democracy:

That’s less than 1% of people living in a free, democratic society to 53%. Amazing progress!

These statistics tell the story of a remarkable, inexorable and MASSIVE increase in quality of life. Let’s take a look at some numbers that put a totally different spin on this supposed problem of having so many problems. Is all the stuff we can buy to make our lives easier and better getting more or less expensive? Inflation and different currencies and exchange rates around the world can make answering this question quite difficult. So forget about how many dollars it takes to buy something. Look at cost in terms of how many hours you need to work to buy whatever it is you want.

Light, for example. Every time the sun goes down, we’re switching on the lights. What does that actually cost in terms of hours worked?  In 1994, Yale economist William Nordhaus answered the question. He calculated how much light could be purchased for 60 hours of work. Here’s what you could buy:

• 88 minutes of light from your oil-burning lantern in 1750 BC
• 10 hours from your tallow candle in 1800
• 16 hours from your gas-burning streetlight in 1810
• 72 hours from one of Edison’s early incandescent bulbs in 1880
• 1,200 days – over 3 years – from a fluorescent bulb in 1950
• 51 years from a modern compact fluorescent bulb

How about some other modern conveniences?

And these prices do not reflect the dramatic improvements in quality. In ‘59, the “big screen” TV was 21 inches. Are you old enough to remember complaining about too much “snow” in the picture? Today, not only is the fuzzy “snow” effect gone, you can see every pimple on an actor’s face as it marches across the 6 foot wide screen.

How about travel? To cross the U.S. by horse takes 70-80 days depending on the weather. Or you could hop on a jet and do so in less than 5 hours for less than $200. And for the record… I gripe and moan A LOT about my discomfort in those teeny-tiny airplane seats. It’s a bit embarrassing to contemplate the pain in my seat that would be caused by sitting on a jostling horse all day, every day for 2 1/2 months…

Forgive me for bringing some mathematics into the mix, but it’s a really good way to think about what happens when a problem gets solved. Think about a circle. A line through its center, the diameter, represents all the problems that have been solved by your society. The area inside the circle represents your standard of living. Around the circumference is where all of the unsolved problems facing your society are lurking, (Take a look at the show notes for this episode at IntentionallyVicarious.com to see an example of this and where I’m going with the idea…)

OK, here comes the math. Let’s say that the diameter of your circle is 10. Again that means your society has become aware of and solved 10 big problems. The area, your standard of living, is π r², which works out to about 79. Around the circumference, which is π times that diameter, is roughly 30, meaning your society is aware of 30 big, ugly problems.

Now… Your society functions pretty well, so it goes about solving every one of them. The diameter of your circle is now 40 – the 10 problems that were already solved plus the 30 you just knocked down. Your standard of living, therefore, jumps up to 1,275! But uh-oh, you can now see 125 new problems around the circumference you didn’t know about before.

Your society attacks those, and solves every one. Your socienty has now successfully solved 165 big problems, which rockets your standard of living up to 21,382. But here’s another uh-oh… You are now aware of yet another 450 new problems.

I think you get where I’m going with this. It’s one of those glass half-empty or half-full things. Your society has solved 165 of the earth’s biggest problems, and all you see and hear on the news and social media is how you – you greedy, selfish SOB – have screwed the needy by “creating” 450 ugly problems and inequalities while only solving 165.

NO!!!!! Wrong perspective!

So what that you’re now aware of 450 new, ugly problems and inequalities? The vastly more important point is you did in fact solve 165 old, ugly problems and inequalities and ratched up your standard of living from 79 to over 12,000. That’s cause for celebration …and more work, more effort, more achievement. Dare I say more fun?

Run through the cycle again and your living standard will be nearly 300,000. Are you going to gripe and moan about how society is sooooo much worse because you now have 1,900 ugly issues instead of only the 450 you had before? Go ahead and whine if you want to, but stay out of my life.

The fact that I, you or anyone can identify an ever-growing number of examples of pain, suffering, injustice and horror is good news. It means that all of us have collectively solved a boat-load of old problems and made life on earth better – MUCH, MUCH BETTER – than it was before. The more problems we solve, the more – and uglier – problems we can identify. Get over it!

The instant any one of us as an individual, or all of us as a culture, a country, a species; stops identifying the huge and growing number of agonizing problems that cry to solved, is the instant we are doomed.

Recognizing – KNOWING – about the pain, suffering and inequality of outcome that exists; and about how much MORE needs to be done, means that we have the opportunity to get better – MUCH BETTER – all the time.

So again… As we solve more and more problems, the more we will increase the world’s standard of living, AND the more terrible and agonizing problems we will identify. Lets get over it! And let’s get busy – stay busy – and continue our 2,000 century long habit of improving everybody’s quality of life.

 

Todd Youngblood is Executive Producer and Host of Intentionally Vicarious, which is dedicated to help you have more fun than anybody else you know! He is also Managing Partner and CEO of The YPS Group, Inc., a management consultancy focused on sales and sales management. Check out Intentionally Vicarious at   

https://intentionallyvicarious.com. Todd can be reached at todd@ypsgroup.com.