The current economic difficulties going on in America are very interesting not only because of poor policies by banks and other financial institutions, but because of poor leadership and high salaries. In the St. Louis area, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, nonbank lenders - investment firms, insurance companies and the like have sharply slowed their lending in St. Louis, bankers say, so borrowers are returning to banks. Nationwide banks restrict lending as their capital levels shrink. Bankers are seeing an influx of deposits as investors pull money out of the sickly stock and bond markets.
In the old days in major league baseball, if players had a good season, they usually received a pay raise. If they had a bad year, they would have to take a pay cut, often a large one. The Bank of America is about to go under. Interesting that their president was paid more than $20 million in 2007. Paid $20 million in one year and has led his bank to the steps of having to be purchased by someone because of poor management. The is unbelievable! But if that is happening at Bank of America, you know it is happening in financial institution all across our country.
Like everyone else in the United States, I don't know if our new president's bailout will work. I pray for him everyday as I do other leaders. Hopefully it will. But it will not work with the amount of greed that surrounds the financial world in America.
Education is another area where the salaries for administrators is out of proportion to what is paid to professors in college and teachers in elementary and secondary education. Ohio State University is being lead by E. Gordon Gee. Because he runs the largest campus in the US with more that 50,000 students and a budget of $4 billion, he thinks colleges should get more funding. Funding for what? To raise his salary? Ohio State wrote checks in the amount of $1.3 last year to Dr. Gee. What do college presidents do? The salaries for coaches in colleges is out-of-sight. Greed and more greed.
A friend of mine who used to be a college president and is a great educator when asked what a college president does by a prospective president said this: "Get out on the campus. Meet students and faculty and pick up the trash." That would be a good idea for Dr. Gee.
No matter how you slice this, the financial problems come from greed. The folks who work in financial institutions had to learn this somewhere. Was it in the universities where Dr. Gee wants more money?
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
JESUS, A REAL LEADER, MADE IT SIMPLE
Yesterday, I was watching James and Betty Robison on their program "Life Today." James used to be an evangelist who traveled the United States and foreign countries preaching the Gospel of Jesus. It appears that he was pretty successful in those endeavors; however, today he is taking a far different approach of sharing that message. The Robisons work together on their program endeavoring to help the poor in foreign countries by drilling for water. They even have Beth Moore teaching each Wednesday. Sue and I are big fans of Beth, who is a very special teacher.
The Robisons had Governor Mike Huckabee as their guest yesterday. He is such a breath of fresh air in today's economic and political environment. Sue and I had the privilege of meeting the governor at a Vitae program last January. We felt he was the real deal then and he just underscored those feelings yesterday. He reiterated some thoughts from his book entitled "Do the Right Thing." What a novel idea that is for an American politician. What a novel idea for presidents and officers of banks in America. What a novel idea for journalists in America. What a novel idea for administrators and professors in the universities of America. What a novel idea for teachers in elementary and secondary schools in America.
The governor went on to discuss something that most religions make as an integral part of their teachings: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." Jesus, of course, taught that. Gov. Huckabee suggested that if all of us would do that simple thing, there would be no need for all the laws on the book of the United States and other countries. Think about it! If we did that simple thing, I would not have to lock the doors to our house, carry the keys to my car in my pocket, lock the bank vaults at night, have no military or police. What a difference that would make for the world.
Harrison Ford appeared in movie entitled "Clear and Present Danger." In this movie, Ford was endeavoring to do the right thing and one of the men in the movie who was corrupt said to Ford: "Gray, Jack. The world is gray." There in is our problem. No right or wrong in America, just gray.
Jesus, the Robisons, Beth Moore, and Mike Huckabee understand how to solve our problems. It would be a novel idea for our politicians to learn a few simple truths.
The Robisons had Governor Mike Huckabee as their guest yesterday. He is such a breath of fresh air in today's economic and political environment. Sue and I had the privilege of meeting the governor at a Vitae program last January. We felt he was the real deal then and he just underscored those feelings yesterday. He reiterated some thoughts from his book entitled "Do the Right Thing." What a novel idea that is for an American politician. What a novel idea for presidents and officers of banks in America. What a novel idea for journalists in America. What a novel idea for administrators and professors in the universities of America. What a novel idea for teachers in elementary and secondary schools in America.
The governor went on to discuss something that most religions make as an integral part of their teachings: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." Jesus, of course, taught that. Gov. Huckabee suggested that if all of us would do that simple thing, there would be no need for all the laws on the book of the United States and other countries. Think about it! If we did that simple thing, I would not have to lock the doors to our house, carry the keys to my car in my pocket, lock the bank vaults at night, have no military or police. What a difference that would make for the world.
Harrison Ford appeared in movie entitled "Clear and Present Danger." In this movie, Ford was endeavoring to do the right thing and one of the men in the movie who was corrupt said to Ford: "Gray, Jack. The world is gray." There in is our problem. No right or wrong in America, just gray.
Jesus, the Robisons, Beth Moore, and Mike Huckabee understand how to solve our problems. It would be a novel idea for our politicians to learn a few simple truths.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
IS THIS LEADERSHIP?
If you are anything like me, you have to wonder what is being taught in business schools and homes in the United States? For those who have had the privilege to going to college and manage to secure jobs in corporate America, that is a good thing. But what are they teaching? Have colleges and American homes taught our sons and daughters to make all the money they can any way they can? Do executives in the financial world care only about themselves and have little or no feelings about anyone else? From personal experience, I can cite examples where there have been opportunities to reach out and help those less fortunate and yet the banking world is opposed to doing so. It is sad that in America, there are executives who make twice as much in one year than it would cost to help hundreds of young people begin a college fund.
The main problem as I see it has to do with greed, selfishness and poor leadership on the part of executives and boards that direct Wall Street. If Jesus were the leader of Wall Street, what decisions would He make? Would He endeavor to line his own pockets, or would He find a way to help those in need? You don't have to read very far in the Bible to find the answer to that.
In reality, if "Serving Leadership" were the mission of executives in the financial world, we would see a different America and the world. We would see poverty and try to end it. We would see folks who have great health issues and endeavor to find a way of healing. We would look at our educational system and fix it.
Rick Warren came to St. Louis and shared not only the spoken word, but gave a copy of his book "Purpose Driven Life" to every high school senior in the St. Louis Public Schools. To those few teachers who complained about his Christian message in the public venue, I would cry out "Get a life!" Dr. Fred Neiger was professor of Bible at the University of Missouri. He always said the following: "No man is fully educated until he knows the Bible." What a novel idea for universities, colleges, high schools, middle schools and elementary schools to teach. I really believe that would top any idea that is being taught today.
I am praying of Barack Obama and our leaders to be serving leaders and direct the United States toward a Godly approach to all of our problems.
The main problem as I see it has to do with greed, selfishness and poor leadership on the part of executives and boards that direct Wall Street. If Jesus were the leader of Wall Street, what decisions would He make? Would He endeavor to line his own pockets, or would He find a way to help those in need? You don't have to read very far in the Bible to find the answer to that.
In reality, if "Serving Leadership" were the mission of executives in the financial world, we would see a different America and the world. We would see poverty and try to end it. We would see folks who have great health issues and endeavor to find a way of healing. We would look at our educational system and fix it.
Rick Warren came to St. Louis and shared not only the spoken word, but gave a copy of his book "Purpose Driven Life" to every high school senior in the St. Louis Public Schools. To those few teachers who complained about his Christian message in the public venue, I would cry out "Get a life!" Dr. Fred Neiger was professor of Bible at the University of Missouri. He always said the following: "No man is fully educated until he knows the Bible." What a novel idea for universities, colleges, high schools, middle schools and elementary schools to teach. I really believe that would top any idea that is being taught today.
I am praying of Barack Obama and our leaders to be serving leaders and direct the United States toward a Godly approach to all of our problems.
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