Personal Leadership and Collective Responsibility

The leaders one elect, be it in a nation or any organization, are a reflection of the people that elected them - what they know, what they value, how they make choices, or how empowered they are to make the choices that are best for them.

The downside to electing leaders is the common tendency to imbue in these leaders all the capabilities one wishes they had which, more often than not, fall short of what they truly possess. Moreover, we tend to think that our responsibility in the process ends with the selection, rather than following that through with supporting the leader throughout the process of governance. Indeed, after an election, a leader becomes fair game to criticism and blame, as if all that is wrong in the system is his/her doing. To be fair, criticism is one way of supporting a leader, because through it the leader gains feedback and is able to adjust his leadership as he/she sees fit. But it's different when the griping is made irresponsibly, or is made only for its own sake.

The tendency to suddenly heap all blame and responsibility to a leader is a demonstration of our seeming belief that with the election of the leader, our own part has been accomplished. It is like saying: That's it, you're now in position, now make things happen for us. 

As a member of a society or organization, that makes us passive participants to governance. In that sense, election becomes a way for us to wash our hands off from further responsibility or burden. It's a cop out!

However, to make any organization work requires the dynamic interaction and cooperation of both the leader and the led. There is a school of thought that says when we elect others to positions of leadership, we also elect ourselves to our own positions -- we just simply call our own place citizenship (as to a nation) or membership (as to an organization). And as in the leadership position, citizenship or membership also carries an equal set of great responsibility.

A leader's worth is measured on his/her every action or inaction. As regular citizens or members of an organization, what we tend to forget is that while we are not visibly measured on the same standard as those in positions with titles, our own action and inaction has as much if not greater effect on the results that a leader will or will not achieve.

Leadership is a futile exercise where the majority has no intent to follow or themselves take initiative. But indeed, it is a great leader one who is able to galvanize his/her people into action.

When we think of ourselves in this way - as ordinary citizens/members of a nation/organization but whose actions actually and ultimately define what becomes of the nation/organization one belongs to - then that will have been true power - People Power - as we once called it, as in the Philippine experience in 1986.

Such power does not have to be displayed only on monumental challenges like of 1986. Such power must be practiced in everyday life, in ones tiniest duties as member or citizen, and in fact even in ones own personal goals. No great nation or organization did zoom to the top that did not have members who recognized the power of their little efforts and turned that into collective strength from which to make its ascent to the heights of success.

Taking responsibility for what you create in your life ultimately includes taking responsibility of what you can contribute in your nation/organization. Your own journey to the top cannot be incompatible with seeing your nation/organization through to the top. That is personal leadership.

See you at the top!



Book Recommendations:
The Tao of Personal Leadership
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You
The 360 Degree Leader Workbook: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization
The Truth about Leadership: The No-fads, Heart-of-the-Matter Facts You Need to Know

Friendships and Business Partnerships: Making it Work

It seems like an ideal situation: Your friend of many years - the one who's always been there for you in important moments, the one with whom you have the most fun with or with whom you'd had so many memorable times - it seems almost a perfect idea to choose to have that friend for a business partner. Indeed - why look elsewhere for a business partner when your buddy/chum/gal-friend is right there? Now, if you are actually contemplating of doing a business with your friend, wait a moment and read this one first.

Let it be said outright: No, it's NOT entirely a bad idea to do business with your friend/s. That is NOT to say that it is necessarily easy or not fraught with risks.

The reason most would warn against doing business with friends, esp. those who've had a bad experience with such a set-up, is not that businesses with friends have a greater chance of failure. (Regardless of who you do business with, the odds of a business failing is 9 in 10.) The reason, perhaps, is that when a business with a friend fails, there is a risk that you lose more than just the business.

A business with a friend entails greater risk because apart from the money you invest in the business, you also actually invest your relationship in the business. More than risking the money, you also risk the friendship. And while money can be recouped - well, friendship, when lost, can be harder to get back. Think Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin - best buddies in Harvard - who lost their friendship over Facebook.

And so here is the advice:
If you'd like to do business with your friends, take stock of your biggest asset together (your friendship), and take steps to ensure it does not get lost in the highs and lows (or busts!) of business. Here are some tips to making it work:

1. Communication
At the heart of all the next tips is Communication. Be prepared to be always in communication with your business partner-slash-friend. Everything - from expectations, roles and responsibilities, profit sharing arrangements - should be discussed from the very beginning; and whatever else that is yet undiscussed must be brought out in the open and settled. Communication is key to ensuring potential problems are addressed before they even happen. A good and effective communication will only be possible if the element of trust is present. In the book Five Dysfunctions of a Team, the 'Absence of Trust' is listed as the foremost reason for failures in teams and businesses as it stifles communication crucial to achieving the goals of the business.

2. Agreement
Set up your rules. Agree to them, and then they become your agreements. These become the parameters of your business relationship. When misunderstandings come up, always look to your agreements to resolve it. As much as possible, agreements should be designed so that every manner or possible scenarios/problems/misunderstandings are covered. These agreements are the mechanisms that will take effect once conflicts/misunderstandings on your business arise. This way, the resolutions do not become arbitrary, and there is an "impartial" agreement that will tell you how to go about it.

3. Commitment
The 'Lack of Commitment' is identified as one among the Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Your business goals will not happen unless you treat your endeavor as a real commitment. What is a commitment? Here is how Abraham Lincoln defined it:

"Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions. And the actions which speak louder than the words. It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism."

What you invest in your business in money and time and effort is a sign of commitment. You have to honor your commitment. If you can't honor your commitment with your business partners, what hope is there that you will honor your commitment of delivering on your promises (in your product or services) to your customers?

4. Priorities
Part and parcel of honoring commitments is giving your business priority. You could have many priorities, but even if there are greater priorities, it should not sacrifice the commitments you have made. If you have partnered with anyone, esp. with a friend, giving your business priority is not just about the business; it is about keeping your word, honoring your commitments, and giving your partners and friends a fair amount of respect. Before your customers can give you priority as a preferred supplier or service provider, they'll first have to see through your results that you do in fact give your business the priority it deserves.

5. Exit Strategy
Things will not always work; and even as your enthusiasm in the beginning were off the charts, sometimes that could wane. Some better opportunity might come along; situations at work or in your personal life may change that will necessitate you to want to opt out of the business. Or maybe you're just not into it anymore.

THAT is okay.

Just make sure you do not become vague about your disinterest, or you just disappear. You still have business partners/friends counting on you. Inform your partners of your change of plans. Be unequivocal about it. And then let your exit strategy mechanisms come into play. Your exit strategy should be something that you have already spelled out and agreed upon in the beginning. The exit strategy must indicate the procedures for getting out of the business or dissolving the business entirely.

The same due diligence you exert in evaluating your business should be the same (if not greater) amount of due diligence that you apply into ensuring that getting into business with your friend will not result to a loss of the friendship.


In the end, a friendship that flourishes with a business and a friendship that stands the demise of businesses is the better return on investment.

See you at the top!

"A friendship founded on business is a good deal 

better than a business founded on friendship.” 

(John D. Rockefeller)

Book Recommendations:

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable (J-B Lencioni Series)
The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
Business Communication (Harvard Business Essentials)

Your Job Description is not your Life Prescription

Among the staple questions we tend to ask when wanting to know more about someone we are meeting for the first time is (after getting their name, of course): 'What do you do?' or, a variation, 'Where do you work (and by implication: what do you do there)?'

It's a fair question, and innocuous enough. You might be surprised though that, in certain cultures, being asked that question is frowned upon, thought weird, and a tad bit invasive.

Anyway, in the Philippines, that is rarely a problem. Except perhaps if you are asked that question and you have nothing to answer for it. Why would that be? Here are 7 reasons why one would find oneself grasping for answers to that simple question:

(1) You are unemployed.
Basically, you are a bum. You may just have come off from school and still looking for employment (which you discover is hard to find). Or you just got fired (the company was downsizing; or is outsourcing your job to a third world country) or you had just resigned (the boss was a $@#%; or office politics just ain't your thang; or the free iced tea was making you gain weight). Or you simply can't find a job that you feel you can connect to on a very deep level, you know? :)

(2) You are a stay-at-home mom/dad
You're married (or whatever) and you think that the best use of your time is to be right there with your kids to watch them grow and see to their needs. Of course, this is not a 'job' (you are happy to do it, right?), but as you would say though, It IS a full-time job! But it does seem a little weird to make this your answer when asked what you do because, obviously, the question seems to expect some sort of an employment as a reply. Nevertheless, those who have mustered courage and find no shame in their chosen role, are able to express it with no issue. And that's a good thing! We have come a quarter of a way from 'Oh, I'm just a plain housewife/houseband!' Still many others find themselves queasy saying that.

(3) Your job is confidential/secret.
You don't want the person making small-talk with you suddenly scampering away if you were honest enough to say that you are a gun-for-hire, right? Other than that, your job might just happen to be the classified variety, like a secret agent or a private investigator, or a James Bond-type. So then, what do you say? You'll probably change the topic, make something up, or at least give the other person a warning: "If I tell you, I'm gonna have to kill you."

So go make something up instead!

(4) It's complicated.
That is, your job title does not belong among these professions that need little-to-no elaboration: teacher, salesman, lawyer, doctor, etc. So you're a 'Senior Software Engineer' and, while that easily makes sense to you, apparently it begs a little more expounding, so to avoid that laborious process, just say, "It's kinda like a programmer." And then the question marks in the person's face disappear. (Or so you think.) This is different from having a really simple job whose title is merely embellished, like 'Chief Landscape Engineer' - a fancy name for 'gardener'. Although, yeah, it does complicate it still.

The late Randy Pausch - the Carnegie Mellon professor who before succumbing to pancreatic cancer a few years ago, got famous through his 'The Last Lecture' video which went viral on Youtube - shared in his book 'The Last Lecture' (an offshoot of the viral video) that while he is addressed professionally as Doctor (owing to his Ph.D., not an M.D.), when his mom introduces him to people, she says: "He's a doctor, but NOT the kind that helps people."

That's what happens when job titles are not self-explanatory!

(5) You're a C.O.O.
You know, Child Of Owner; as in, heir to your parent's vast business holdings. All you need to do is turn 21, or wait for them to hand the reins on to you once they think you're ready. If they die, it's still falling on your lap. So, in the meantime, you're sitting on your bum, and... whistling a happy tune.

(6) You're living off of your parent's trust fund.
And therefore, why bother working? Still, when asked what you do, you're at a loss for words. You don't actually want to reveal how wealthy you are; or just how idle (read: lazy) you've become just because your infinite well of riches (a.k.a. your trust fund) is financing all that you'd ever aspire to do or buy.

So in this instance, what do you say? Ah yes, that business you've been thinking about for a long time now.

But of course!

(7) You're into a LOT of things.
You could simply introduce yourself a serial entrepreneur, but you think it's limiting, because your interests are really vast and your endeavors are many. You want to be able to share them all, but the curt question 'What do you do?' does not seem to invite a kilometric and animated monologue. And because they're just so numerous, you don't know where to begin - like all your interests are racing to be uttered first! At the same time, to say that you are doing countless things might invite judgement: Ah, she's a spaghetti-brain! He does not know what he wants! She has ADD!

BUT...Why this shouldn't bother you:
Whatever it is, whatever the reasons may be, for your inability to come up with a respectable response to the plain question of 'What do you do?', it's alright. As they say: No biggie. Answer it anyway, either in the most honest way you can, or in the most creative way you can devise. Leave people to their judgements, and just be who you are.

The truth is, and you'll notice this, the answers to the question evolves as time goes by.

As you move from one job/profession/project to another, from nothing (unemployed/COO) to something (a real job maybe), from something (a stressful, unfulfilling 9-to-5, 6-day-a-week job) to nothing (a life, FINALLY!); as you strive to make something else of your life - maybe something more meaningful to you (a vocation, like priesthood, or NGO work), something legal (gun-for-hire doesn't pay, you'll find out), something healthier (that allows you to get some sleep for a change!), something you actually like (not what your parents like for you - sorry parents!); as you make conscious choices to get your life under control, living life on your own terms and living life to the FULLEST -- you.. will realize that the answer to 'What do you do?' should not be something you allow yourself to define who you are (like a job description) or be restricted by (like a four-cornered cubicle).

After all, what you do, is just one of the innumerable other things that comprise your identity. You don't have to be just one or the other. You can be ALL of it. You can be anything you want to be - now, or later, or all at the same time. No matter, it's all up to you. The moment you begin to believe that is the moment you begin to discover all your possibilities.

See you at the top!

"The simplest questions are the most profound:

Where were you born?

Where is your home?

Where are you going?

What are you doing?

Think about these once in awhile, and watch your answers change."

~ Richard Bach, Illusions : The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (1977)

Book Recommendations:

The Last Lecture

The Seed: Finding Purpose and Happiness in Life and Work

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

In the Pirates Den: My Life as a Secret Agent

Painfully Rich: J. Paul Getty and His Heirs

Jobs That Matter: Find a Stable, Fulfilling Career in Public Service

Born Rich Documentary

The Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed and Overworked

Stay-at-Home Handbook: Advice for Parenting, Finances, Career, Surviving Each Day & Much More

Digital Books, Kindle and the Death of Bookstores

Do you have an eBook reader yet, like the Kindle, Nook, and other such variations? If not, then I suggest you get one soon. Most smartphones now have apps that allow you to read ebooks, those are great ebook readers too. Let me tell why you should get an ebook reader.

Ever since Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com launched his Kindle in 2007, ushering the era of ebooks and ebook publishing, the ebook phenomenon has skyrocketed. The Kindle has proved to be Amazon's now best-selling product, such that other companies had launched their own ebook readers - like the Nook for example by Barnes&Noble, and Kobo by Borders.

Jeff Bezos: Amazon and his Kindle

If you will recall, Amazon.com made its money initially and mostly from selling books online and delivering them to customers in a fast and efficient process. Amazon was one of the most successful web company that was able to get people comfortable with buying stuff online; selling books - made of good ol' fashioned paper - was its cash cow. Why would it invest in developing a pioneering product like an ebook reader - a product that would directly compete with its own book sales? Seems counter-intuitive right? In January 2011, Amazon reported that for the first time, digital books or ebooks were outselling their paper-and-print counterparts. In May 2011, they also revealed that in 2010, they sold more ebooks than print books.

“Our vision is every book, ever printed, in any language, all available in less than 60 seconds.”

THAT is Jeff Bezos' Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) for coming up with the Kindle. By any measure, it is truly a huge goal. To come up with such a goal, and esp. a product like the Kindle, one has to be a true visionary. And no doubt, Jeff Bezos is one: He saw a future where all books could be easily accessible. To get there, he needed a device like the Kindle.

Carbon Footprints and Going Green
And it all makes sense. Apart from the increasing penchant for doing everything digitally, there is also the global trend of making products that have lesser environmental impacts. Switching to paperless books is the inevitable direction to take if we are to truly adapt green practices. Trees are saved. Energy that would have been used in the printing and delivery of paper-based books are conserved. Carbon footprint - the new buzzword of the green revolution is minimized.

Self-Publishing and Indie Authors
Consequently, there has been a steady rise of ebook authors as well, or veteran authors who now launch ebook versions of their books. And it's no longer just big names who can have their book published. Self-publishing is now very possible, as ebooks can be made easily from word documents to pdf files and converted to all the other ebook formats to make it suit the different ebook readers. And even Amazon now allows anybody to have their ebooks listed via Amazon. Publishing is now democratized, the same way iTunes of Apple has allowed music publishing democratic by allowing any composer, singer or band to sell their music (in mp3 or aac formats) via iTunes. No more need for big publishing houses or record companies before you can put your material out there. And the results for self-publishers have been very encouraging (read: lucrative), to the point that a number of them are now being signed up by traditional publishers too. (Google: Amanda Hocking)

Amazon: Death of Bookstores Foretold
I would guess that when Bezos saw how well books were selling via his Amazon.com, he already saw the potential of web stores in competing and obliterating his brick-and-mortar counterparts. And with the Kindle, he went a step further as he also will go against book publishers in effect. The result: Bookstore sales have been on a steady decline as more and more people are not only buying their books online but also buying books in digital format. Barnes&Noble tried to fight this off, even getting into developing their own ebook reader (the Nook) to stave off falling profits from sale of regular books. Because of this, they have survived; Borders - another U.S. bookstore - was not as lucky. It filed for bankruptcy in February 2011 and is slated to close down 200 stores.

Other benefits of eBooks
Books are great friends, wonderful companions, and are very very important to our intellectual growth (or even for simple brainless entertainment). BUT - they also take up so much space, gather dust, and get quite heavy in time (that is, if you have at least 5 boxes of them).

They also represent plenty of dead trees.

Much as the smell and texture of paper has become part of our reading experience, switching to ebooks is not only a step forward, but also answers a lot of problems.

As such, it is the way to go.



Book Recommendations:
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon
One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com
Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need

The Phenomenon that is Steve Jobs: Secrets to Apple's Success

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish. Those were Steve Jobs borrowed words with which he admonished the graduates of Stanford University in 2005. In that speech, Jobs related his life story, the seemingly incongruent events in his life that had armed him with the experiences that he would later use to bring success to the companies that he founded: Apple Computers and Pixar.

Steve Jobs addresses the 2005 graduates of Stanford University

In the last 3 weeks, I've been able to read 3 books that analyzed the genius that was Steve Jobs. These books are:

Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs
Inside Steve's Brain
The Macintosh Way

If one were curious about Steve Jobs and especially as to how he was able to make Apple one of the greatest tech companies of all time, these are the books to read (among several). They tell of the kind of man he is: very temperamental, a perfectionist, and an obssessive. But even if these characteristics seem like flaws, they are perhaps part of what allowed him to make happen his unique vision for every product that he and Apple churned out. Surely those characteristics are the very antidote to mediocrity and no-can-do atttitude that Steve Jobs has been known to despise.

7 Secrets to Steve Jobs' Success:

1. Simplicity
In every product that they designed, Apple and Steve Jobs was always after simplicity. Simplicity may sound too easy, but there is actually complexity in simplicity as Jobs and his team found out. It is harder to keep things simple, than to make them complex. Because he had taken pains to make things simple, the world noticed it and they are rewarded for it. Just think of the very first Ipod: elegant, simple, and a true winner.

2. Customer Experience
Apple does not do any user studies or focused group discussions to see what kind of products they should come up with or to determine how well their products will be embraced by the market. Steve Jobs is his own focused group, and if he doesn't like something, it doesn't get made. What Steve Jobs always keeps in mind is the customer experience. He treats himself like a customer, and he ensures that the customer will have the best experience with their products.

3. Design
Design was key to Apple's success - from the Mac to the Ipod, then Iphone and Ipad. The design had to be simple, sleek yet state of the art. It had to be out of the box, it had to be unique, it had to stand out. It is for this reason that Steve Jobs kept with him talented designers who helped him realize his vision for his Apple products. Design wasn't just about aesthetics; it was every bit tied with designing for simplicity and superb customer experiences.

Steve Jobs and his Apple toys

4. Marketing
Steve Jobs believes in marketing. He makes every effort to get the best marketing people and to conduct excellent marketing events - like the Mac World where he launches his latest products. He knows full well that a good product is no good if it does not sell that's why he does not neglect this aspect. He is every bit demanding in both the product development as well as in getting those products to their desired consumers.

5. Teamwork
Even while Steve Jobs is notorious for his temper, he was able to maintain around him excellent people working as a team. The concensus is that while many fear getting Jobs' ire, they also deeply respect and admire the man for his brilliance. People try to get out of Steve Jobs way, and on the other hand, they want to make sure he is made happy with their work output. Steve Jobs has an eye for talent, and he assembles a team of great people to help him realize his vision. He knows that and has applied it both in his twin jewels: Apple and Pixar.

6. Passion
Steve Jobs is very passionate about his beliefs. When he has in his mind an idea for a product, he becomes resolute in making it happen. His passion could be said to show up in his temper, his attention to detail, his perfectionism, his commitment to excellence. His life had always been about pursuing is passion, and the work that he does at Apple is definitely one of his. He values passion in both himself and the people around him. One of the reasons he was persuaded to invest in Pixar was that he saw the passion of the people there, esp. of Ed Catmull whose vision was to make the first full-length computer-animated movie. Jobs was sold to both Catmull's vision and passion.

7. Innovation
The reason Apple has carved a name for itself and has set itself apart from Microsoft and all other technology companies is that they innovate. They do not create better versions of what someone else has already made; they create new things that no one has done before; or they do things exceptionally well that they jump light-years ahead of their competitors. It is through innovation that Apple was able to conquer the music industry: from being the #1 music player (Ipod) to the #1 music retailer (via iTunes) to the #1 technology store (the iStore). He redefines industries and creates whole new products entirely.

When you come to think of it, these 7 Secrets to Steve Jobs' Success are things we have already heard of before. You'll probably find it prescribed in any good business/self-help book. There is little surprise there.

What is important to remember though is that while none of these is new, it is the faithful application that Steve Jobs made of these principles that really separated him and Apple (and Pixar) from the rest. That IS what's new - the commitment to excellence no matter what, whatever it takes. 

Like his 'Think Different' campaign, Steve Jobs is indeed the 'crazy one' who dared think he could change the world - and as we can know now, he definitely did.

Apple's "Think Different" Campaign: Steve Jobs' brainchild.

It speaks as much about him as his very own aspirations for Apple.

Book Recommendations:
Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs
Inside Steve's Brain
The Macintosh Way

Necessary Endings: Rizal, Divorce and Apple

Endings are a part of the process of life - be it in business and relationships. That's what the book Necessary Endings is all about.

By Author Dr. Henry Cloud

While reading the book, my mind was in parallel running thoughts or memories of situations - be it in my life, business or in history- where to put something to a close had become necessary. Such events always come, and always not too obvious. Often our vision is blinded by emotions, by fear, by attachment, by disbelief. It is always after the fact when the clarity of their wisdom becomes more apparent. While the subject of endings seems innocuous enough, or hardly the subject matter fit for a full-fledged book - one will be thankful that author Dr. Henry Cloud had the reflectiveness to think it worthy of a treatise.

According to Dr. Cloud, endings are as much a part of life as beginnings are. And it's precisely so that beginnings could happen that we should allow for certain things to end. To resist to end things that are not working - is to be stuck.

Rizal and Necessary Endings
It being our national hero's 150th birthday, I remembered Jose Rizal, and how through his writings, he had advocated the end to Spanish rule in the Philippines. He believed in the Filipinos' capacity for self-determination; and while even then there were still no 'Filipinos' - still no real Filipino nation to speak of - Rizal knew that given the opportunity, we will find our own identity and make a great nation for ourselves. Of course, the Spanish, stinged by Rizal's novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, wanted to put an end to Rizal - literally. To them, that was necessary, to silence the growing clamor for independence among Filipinos, and to continue the Spanish reign in the country, starting with the pesky but undoubtedly brilliant Rizal.

Rizal's execution in Bagumbayan

Rizal was shot in Bagumbayan by the Spanish in December 30, 1896. To the Spanish, Rizal's death was the fitting, deserved and necessary ending. To the Filipinos, it was only the start to the necessary and inevitable demise of Spanish rule.

The ability to spot necessary endings is a skill to be learned; an important one because it determines the velocity of our personal, professional and national growth. It determines how fast we move from one bad relationship to the better relationship (personal and professional), from one bad business to the business that actually makes it worth your while, from one bad product to the product that conquers the world.

Apple, Steve Jobs and Saying NO
In the world of Apple and Steve Jobs, the ability to say no to one product is one of their key success secrets. Steve Jobs is a genius of a man, but before the world even got to see the first Ipod, Iphone or Ipad, they have had several iterations of the same product, and they had learned to let go of versions even at so late in the game, even at a cost of millions, in order to move in another direction which they feel is the worthy path to take. That the Ipod, Iphone or Ipad have experienced tremendous success is an argument to the worthiness of the process that Apple and Steve Jobs have taken.

Steve Jobs and his Apple toys

Divorce and Happy Endings
With divorce cropping up in the national psyche as another divisive issue, and reading Necessary Endings, I am further provided an argument for why divorce must be legalized. Coming from the paradigm of 'endings and beginnings as a part of life', truly marriages must also not be immune from that fact of life. Bad marriages must have a way out; bad relationships must be given a chance to end and start fresh. It is not about being pessimistic about relationships, it is about being humane, and being realistic. Undoubtedly, some people, however much they claim to love each other, are better off apart than together. Everybody deserves a happy ending, and if it takes letting go of bad choices, then we who are capable of choice must have the freedom to make it.

When we desire a different outcome - in our life, career, relationships, and business - we must learn to let go of the things and circumstances that generated the undesirable situation in the first place. The letting go, the letting it end, the MAKING it end - are necessary to the change we desire, to the new beginnings we look forward to.

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.”
 (Richard Bach; Author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull)

Recommended Books:
Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward
Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not)
El Filibusterismo: Subversion: A Sequel to Noli Me Tangere
Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah