“Tell Congress to Pass the High School Athletics Accountability Act….Today is National Women and Girls in Sports Day — the perfect time to go to bat to achieve equity for girls and women in sports!” read the headlines in the American Association of University Women’s (AAUW) e-mail I received earlier.  And the organization has a reason for support action on this topic:  “Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs which receive federal funding assistance, has made great strides in breaking through barriers for female athletes. But today, 40 years later, there is still work to be done — particularly at the high school level.  High schools girls continue to face discrimination in scheduling, equipment, facilities and overall participation opportunities.”

It seems natural to continue to share information about women and girls in sports today.  Yesterday I read a post by Justine Siegal that included the headline at sports.yahoo.com that 7-year-old Anna Kimball kicked off baseball team just because she’s a girl.  Justine says that the child has “the legal right (and the moral one) to play baseball” and that her organization, Baseball for All, will fight decisions like this.  Read my previous post “Baseball for All:  Justine Siegal’s Mission” for more information about Justine who last year and for the first time in the major leagues, pitched batting practice for the Cleveland Indians.

Benefits of Playing Sports

Research in the last ten years has shown that girls who participated in sports as children reap benefits as adults.  In “As Girls Become Women, Sports Pay Dividends” (The New York Times, 2/15/10) Tara Parker-Pope writes that “A large body of research shows that sports are associated with all sorts of benefits, like lower teenage pregnancy rates, better grades and higher self-esteem.  But until now, no one has determined whether those improvements are a direct result of athletic participation.”

Tara-Pope presents the results from two studies by economists that provide “the strongest evidence yet that team sports can result in lifelong improvements to educational, work and health prospects.”

Betsey Stevenson, an economist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, found that “increasing girls’ sports participation had a direct effect on women’s education and employment.  She found that the changes set in motion by Title IX explained about 20 percent of the increase in women’s education and about 40 percent of the rise in employment for 25-to-34-year-old women.”

Robert Kaestner, an economics professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, focused on the long term health of women and “compared rates of obesity and physical activity of women who had been in high school in the 1970s — as Title IX was taking effect — with similar women from earlier years.”  The results weren’t startling but significant since “He found that the increase in girls’ athletic participation caused by Title IX was associated with a 7 percent lower risk of obesity 20 to 25 years later, when women were in their late 30s and early 40s.”

Sports Management and Ownership

“Winning is an attitude, an attitude in all you do,” said Rita Benson LeBlanc, Owner/EVP, of the New Orleans Saints during a telephone interview I conducted with her for the November 2006 newsletter of what is now branded as The Little Pink Book for professional women.  Women are not just earning top roles in sports management they are investing in owning major league sports teams.

LeBlanc was eight when her grandfather Tom Benson assumed ownership of the Saints. As owner and EVP of the New Orleans Saints football team, LeBlanc’s responsibilities for marketing and business operations include creating the revenue to pay the multimillion-dollar contracts for the 99 players on the team along with then organizing a major effort to restore the city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.  When I asked LeBlanc then where she saw herself in ten years, she said, “In 10 years, I’m owning and operating a Super Bowl championship team.  Male or female in the NFL, we all want that championship ring.  I then asked her if she wanted to be Commissioner of Major League Football and she replied, “When you run a team, you don’t think about running them all.  The owners are the bosses; the commissioner keeps everyone on the same page.  I prefer owner to commissioner.”

Sheila Johnson is a billionaire who together with her former husband Robert Johnson started Black Entertainment Television (BET).  Johnson is very active in business and philanthropic work—plus sports teams where she has taken on leadership roles and invested in three professional sports.  According the article “Sheila Johnson Slams BET” (The Daily Beast, April 29, 2010), “She is president and managing partner of the Washington Mystics of the Women’s National Basketball League, and also owns substantial stakes in the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals. The owner of several hotels and a PGA golf course, she is building a luxury spa and convention center on a 347-acre tract in horse country in Middleburg, Virginia, where she also has a farm and indulges her love of all things equestrian.”

Happy National Women and Girls in Sports Day!  Women and girls in sports seem to be here to stay!

“The Impact of Technology on Workplace 2020” was the title of the final written assignment by students in my “Organizational Behavior” class that ended in late December.  After receiving Fortune Magazine’s January 16, 2012 edition, I’m not certain I will assign that same topic again since my students can find a lot of detailed information in one source.

“The Future Issue:  What’s next in technology, energy, banking, medicine, offices, education…” is a good overview of looking into a crystal ball of what 2022 holds for us.

For instance, the double pages on “Brave New Work:  The Office of Tomorrow” begin the narrative with this:  “Walk into a corporate office a few years from now, and you’ll be struck by how much it physically resembles the office of today.”  On the pages you see a typical layout of corporate offices with callouts to what are new ways of doing business—and ordering lunch—with advanced technology.  As for employee behavior, there will be a new kind of team building since “the challenges the world throws at them will change rapidly and unpredictably, team members will have to share certain psychological traits, especially flexibility, adaptability, and resilience.”

Colleen Leahey forecasts in “What—Me Retire?” that people will work into their golden years.  It’s a financial must for some people, a habit for others, and a community center for the rest.  Not one of my students mentioned what to do with the older worker but I know from the article that “The U.S. Labor of Statistics estimates that 13.2 million workers 65 and over will office hours in 2022, up from 7.3 million today.”  Make way, Millennials, for the Baby Boomers that are not going away soon!

When I look into my crystal ball as to what I’ll be doing in ten years, I see the same routines of writing, teaching, coaching, etc.  As an entrepreneur, I have the flexibility to work from home already and travel when going to a speaking engagement.  But instead of an in-person presentation will I be able to sit at my computer and deliver my talk through my PC?  Of course, privacy is a major, major issue of the future.

I suggest that you read the additional Fortune tellers so you, too, can see what just might be in store for you and how you can prepare for entering that space.

Certain primitives bind their skulls with strips of hide so that their heads grow “on the bias”.  When these wrappings are removed, the first flow of blood is extremely painful.  In our society, many people bind not their heads, but their minds, and as result of this tourniquet on their imagination, their thinking is biased and their opinion hidebound.  To remove the wrappings and permit a flow of new ideas is painful here too, and their narrow-minded clans are careful to avoid it. 

Every once in a while when going through papers I’ve kept from my college years, I come across a mimeographed half-page handout in purple ink that my Social Welfare professor gave out in the class I took at Long Beach State College in California.  It is a reminder to keep an open mind.

After reading an endless number of political articles recently, I thought this is the time to share these words of wisdom that encourage people to be open to growth, to see the world from different perspectives, and to think in terms of innovative ideas rather than rigid rules.

Taking off the tourniquet of an individual’s imagination, opens a mind to new and creative ideas, unbiased thinking, and a rational opinion.

It is a process that everyone can find of benefit.

“Writing to Be Heard” was posted on July 16, 2007, the first time I used my blog.  After writing hundreds of posts since then—especially this year—I decided to share my favorite posts of 2011 with you.

The posts below all have a story behind them, a reason to share the information, and a desire to help you on your career journey.  The posts could have been written to address an issue that came up during a coaching or consulting meeting, a topic that was discussed in a management class I teach at the Zicklin School of Business, an opportunity to expand horizons, etc.  The focus of each one is categorized by one or more of the tiles above the post which include Career, Coaching, College, Culture, Economy, Health, Leadership, Life Business, Management, Technology.

Below is a month-by-month list of posts that I hope you will find relevant, inspiring, and even fun.

January 17:  Are You Afraid of Feedback?  The topic emerged from two different threads.  The first was to offer guidance to decision-makers who were working with a very resistant executive.  The second was the loan of an academic colleague’s DVD on feedback.

February 21:  The Price of Ignoring Corporate Culture  As I told my students in an “Organizational Behavior” class, teaching corporate culture is my favorite unit to teach.  It is because of the environment executives create and how it impacts employee’s behavior.  In this particular case, the executive did not take into account his behavior in an established culture.

March 10:  Women’s Month 2011: Shake the World  To acknowledge the progress women make in a range of fields, I wrote about their accomplishments including that of Justine Siegal who had fulfilled her dream of throwing batting practice for the Cleveland Indians in spring training.

April 4:  Lasting Impressions  I am impressed by the number of people who even when we have not seen or spoken with one another for months or years, still remember me and the work I do.  The need to make a good first—and subsequent—impact on everyone you come in touch with is an important part of career development.

May 27:  Shakespeare in a Management Classroom  In April 2010, I attended a workshop on teaching Shakespeare in the workplace.  To my delight and my students’ reluctance, I developed a class session on emotional intelligence by having students get on a stage with a partner and recite excerpts from scenes in Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet, their favorite because they get to yell!

June 17:  Ten Guideposts on Your Reinvention Highway  Exploring a new career can be stressful and tiring.  Since I have reinvented myself a few times—I like to call it evolution—I share ideas on how to practice active patience to realize a new career.

July 7:  Holistic Professional Resume  In addition to teaching a business course, I also teach a program called “SuperCharge Your Career” at Zicklin.  What I don’t see on many resumes is Activities or another heading that can fill out the profile of a candidate and give an interviewer a sense of their lives outside the company.

August 30:  Career as a Farmer:  Sasha J. Farkas  Not everyone wants to work in an office in New York or any urban environment for that matter.  USA Today’s headline on December 26, 2011, “More Young People See Farming Opportunities,” confirmed that those in their 20’s and 30’s who have been downsized or unable to get a job, are seeking ways to survive on a farm.

September 13:  LockerDome:  The Facebook of Team Sports  Gabe Lozano, Co-Founder and CEO of a website for young athletes, read my post Women’s Month 2011: Shake the World and left a comment.  That comment led to a conversation, two interviews—his and Justine Siegal’s—and my own profile on LockerDome’s social media site.

October 29:  Disability:  A Second Career for L.I.R.R. Workers  Last year, I wrote about the ethical behavior of Long Island Railroad workers who claimed disability when they were obviously fine since they played golf sometimes daily.  Recently, I read that the cost of disbursing those on disability can be close to $1 billion.

November 12:  Walking Meetings  One of the many takeaways I had from reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson was learning the pleasures of a walking meeting.  A friend gave me that opportunity and I’m very grateful for it.

December 24:  Dear Santa:  My Wish List  It had been ages since I wrote a “Dear Santa” letter so I put tongue in cheek and infused my humor into the serious requests I made for the greater good—and not just the sweater and earrings I hoped Santa would bring!

Thank you for your time to browse and read my posts.  Looking forward to writing more in 2012!

Very best wishes for a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Santa, below is a list of the gifts I am wishing for this year.  Okay, they aren’t the sweater, the earrings, and the other things that are going to be easy for you to deliver tonight.  What I want is a more rational and reasonable government, sensible executives who have the opportunity and a responsibility to spend their money on the greater good rather than one more private jet, and everyone who will fulfill the mission of being caretakers for our country.

Wish #1:  First on my list is my wish that President Obama “show not tell.”  Although I posted my request earlier this year, I’ve not seen a change in Obama’s approach to his re-election campaign.  Instead of using his power to influence, educate, and guide his followers through the economic disaster by doing what needs to be done in a more aggressive way he is using the money he’s raised for a series of ads, videos, town halls, picnics, black-tie dinners and other campaign activities.  Trust me:  even if he stopped promoting himself in traditional ways, the media will be producing tons of stories about how he is disrupting the way it has been done.  With all that money and time available to stay in his office, he could focus on the greatest priority:  jobs for the unemployed.  For instance, instead of the re-election coffers paying for Obama t-shirts, pins, caps, etc., he will be creating jobs!  My suggestion to Obama is “to be rational about what needs to be done and don’t pander to a constituency that might vote for you and sacrifice those who had voted for you.”  Please see what you can do, Santa, to have Obama rely on his actions not on his rubbing elbows with the Wall Street people who contributed to the state of the economy and the now “not-working class.”  This wish comes with a bonus:  you will find Obama not in D.C. but on vacation in Hawaii.

Wish #2:  Second on my list is an example of what needs to be done to reawaken the slumbering American Dream.  Fortune Magazine selected Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz as their 2011 Business Person of the Year.  Santa, I suggest you sit back with a cup of coffee, maybe a Venti Iced Caramel Macchiato (whatever that is), and read the Fortune article by David A. Kaplan to get an idea of how Schultz was so disgusted with Washington that he stopped making campaign contributions to incumbents in either political party.  Now that’s a positive action, one that quickly found more than 140 corporate executives followed in Schultz’s footsteps to help develop a healthy economy.  Schultz is my type of guy since he is quoted in Kaplan’s article as saying during a conversation with President Obama that, “I’m much more concerned about America than the Democratic Party.”  His concern motivated Schultz to form “Create Jobs for USA”, “a grass-roots private fund that will make loans to small businesses in underserved markets across the country….All the money will go to the non-profit Opportunity Finance Network, which supports 180 community-development financial institutions.”  Schultz donated an initial $5 million; he and his wife are planning to give more to the non-profit.  A child of the American Dream—he grew up in the projects in Brooklyn—Schultz is now worth $2 billion.  Santa, please find a way to spread the news of Schultz’s contributions and put the ideas into the hearts and minds of others who will be able to support the unemployed—and underemployed—to start or continue to fulfill their dreams.

Wish #3:  Here’s the last gift I want, Santa.  My gift will be reading The New York Times without numerous boring and redundant articles about the republican candidates for president.  It’s too much to ask that the campaign season be drastically reduced; I’ll save that wish for another year.  Now I’m tired about endlessly reading about the mistakes candidates have made during a debate, the historical errors when those who have glanced at one paragraph are trying to sound educated and they are not, and all the endless drivel that takes up space.  The only piece about the republican campaign that should remain in the paper is the column by Gail Collins.  I’m not alone in being fascinated by how many ways she can structure a paragraph around the fact that Mitt Romney tied his dog to the top of his car on a trip to Canada.  Collins is the most entertaining writer on the campaign trail and I think she deserves to be given an award for her creativity.  Can you do that, Santa?

Thanks for your consideration of my wishes, Santa.  Enjoy a good journey tonight.

P.S.  Just in case you’re in the area, I’ll put out some cookies and a glass of milk. 

P.P.S.  The sweater and earrings will be most welcomed.

‘Tis the season for individuals of many cultures to give and receive gifts to their business colleagues.  Since mine is a blog about understanding corporate culture while working to be a leader, I have posted the first of a series of ‘gift’ ideas and will continue these posts during the next week—all framed in the context of a business environment.

Two of my very best friends have given me gifts of music.  One gift was a ticket to go with my friend to hear Joshua Bell play Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center.  The other was a gift certificate from the TKTS Ticket Booth to see a Broadway production at 50% of retail price and my opportunity to see the winner of the Best Musical 2010 Tony Award:  Memphis.

The last time I listened to music at Lincoln Center was in the summer when I enjoyed hearing a range of bands play—including one from New Orleans—during the Midsummer Night Swing.  Last week when Joshua Bell began his beautiful playing surrounded by a spectacularly large symphony orchestra and Daniel Harding, a very physical conductor, I almost expected to hear him break into a blue grass tune and not Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto.  That thought receded quickly while I was transported into Bell’s world of magnificent music.

Bell’s bio on his website states that he was first noticed when he was 14 and his career began to bloom after that.  He “has enchanted audiences worldwide with his breathtaking virtuosity and tone of rare beauty. His restless curiosity and multifaceted musical interests have taken him in exciting new directions which have earned him the rare title of ‘classical music superstar.’ Often referred to as the poet of the violin, Bell is the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize and is the newly named Music Director of The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.”

While watching Bell and the others on the stage, I thought “How long did it take to master the concerto?”  “How can he remember every note, every pause, every moment of being onstage with only the conductor to guide if not him then the orchestra?”  My management hat went on and I wondered how to translate Bell’s dedication to his career to my clients, colleagues, and students.  To try over and over to hit the right pitch in conversations, to keep everyone in tune on teams, to stay centered during a presentation the way Bell did as he wound up an amazing performance that brought a standing ovation and many ‘curtain calls.’

This week, I was exposed to another type of music:  the Broadway musical.  The show’s description on the web reads, “Inspired by actual events, MEMPHIS is about a white radio DJ who wants to change the world and a black club singer who is ready for her big break. Come along on their incredible journey to the ends of the airwaves—filled with laughter, soaring emotion and roof-raising rock ‘n’ roll.”  In my opinion, that of the man on vacation from Denmark sitting next to me, and a very good audience agreed completely.  It is a brilliant and moving show of an historical period of America.

One reason that I chose to use my gift certificate on Memphis was that last February I attended a panel presentation on the “The Production Process” part of CUNY’s series on “The Business of Theater” and afterwards posted Managing the Business of Theater.  The three panelists were involved in Memphis so the discussion focused on the beginnings and evolution of this show.  Friends and even my students encouraged me to go see the show.  I’ve very glad that I did.

If you are still looking for a very special and thoughtful gift, think of all the performances that producers have created for you, the performers who have invested their time to practice until perfection, the opportunity to experience a live production that you will not forget.

Yesterday, I wrote two posts about workplace 2020, the topic for one of my students’ written assignments in “Organizational Behavior.”  I chose the topic of “The Impact of Technology on Workplace 2020” because I know that it will challenge individuals to reflect on what and how technology will be part of not just work lives but also personal lives.

Technology as I define it in the context of the assignment refers to electronic computers, devices like smart phones and tablets, programs, applications, etc.  When I was reflecting on what life will be like for me eight years from now, I realized that I had come through an earlier technology revolution embracing new tools that made me more efficient and effective—plus I got so good at it that I developed and delivered training programs on the same tools.

Technology can be seductive and make you do what you don’t want or need to do.  And that is what concerns me about the future of technology: it is taking over our lives and telling us what we have to do.  For instance, today I received an e-mail from Apple telling me that I can now move my MobileMe email, contacts, calendar, files, etc. from MobileMe (a program that didn’t work for Apple but they still let me pay for it) to iCloud where I can get free storage.  That is, I can make the transition if I update my PC to Windows 7.  Unfortunately, that won’t work because I don’t intend to get Windows 7.  From my perspective of using the program at Baruch where I teach, Microsoft made ‘7’ too complicated and less intuitive.  My solution is to stay with the operating system I have now and use my external hard drive to back up my files.

Below are five more reasons that we all need to think about the implications and seduction techniques of the future that Microsoft, Apple, Google, IBM, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. and others are developing and offering—or mandating—you buy and learn how to use at work and at home.

1.  Expect a more transparent environment.  How will your current use of the Internet change—or will it?  What about privacy issues?  Will our information on the Internet be forced to be even more transparent so that there is little if any of a person’s privacy left?  “Facebook Agrees to F.T.C. Settlement on Privacy” appeared in the New York Times on Tuesday, November 29.  The Federal Trade Commission accused Facebook “of ‘unfair and deceptive’ business practices, (and) the government announced a proposed settlement that compels the company to obtain consent before making changes to users’ privacy settings.”  According to a similar Times article about Facebook’s activities in 2009, “the commission contended that Facebook, without warning its users or seeking consent, made public information that users had deemed to be private on their Facebook pages.”  The caption to go along with the story reads, “Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, said in a blog post Tuesday that the company had made ‘a bunch of mistakes.’’  Mistakes?

2.  Manage the role of technology in the workplace.  Yesterday I came across an article at Yahoo! News from ABC News on “Tech Firm Implements Employee ‘Zero Email’ Policy.”   “CEO Thierry Breton of the French information technology company said only 10 percent of the 200 messages employees receive per day are useful and 18 percent is spam.”  The hope at Atos is to eliminate all internal emails in 18 months then mandate that 74,000 employees “communicate with each other via instant messaging and a Facebook-style interface.”  There are many benefits to this approach within an organization, most of all to limit access to personal e-mail or to Facebook.

3.  Develop a skill set to be prepared and relevant.  And that skill set is broken down into how to manage people and use technology.  One of my past students wrote that an important skill in 2020 is managing people.  Yes, it is important to learn new and updated technology.  But it is also important to be able to interact with colleagues in person or online.  During training sessions on “Technical Writing” that I taught at a Social Security Office, I heard from more than one attendee that individuals were not to talk with their team leaders or managers.  Instead—even if they were just one or two cubes away from the person they wanted to see—the manager said to send her an e-mail, a regular routine in the department.  Employees have needs and feelings that often cannot be translated to an e-mail.  Technology is already causing people to lose their jobs; the people who are still employed should be respected and treated as a contributor to the greater good of the organization.

4.  Working from home or modules in strip malls.  Are large corporations downsizing themselves?  Is it time to invite more and more employees to work from home—or a temporary small office in a mini-mall or similar location when a meeting needs to take place?  My students are energized thinking that they will be able to work from home and take care of their children.  Work-life balance may fit one’s personality but not everyone is wired to work from home—and I don’t mean the electrical connections.  If you are self-directed and have an entrepreneurial attitude working from home can be great.  There are people, however, who are people people and need to be around colleagues in order to feel that they are at work.  There are also the disorganized or attention deficit individuals who meander from one room to another, watch TV, eat at odd times of day—or spend so much time on taking care of family members that they can’t get complete their work assignments.  Once they go into work, however, they feel at home.

5.  How to balance technology with a personal life.  “A Silicon Valley School that Doesn’t Compute” appeared in the New York Times on October 22.  The description of the school’s curriculum does not include one tool that you’d expect at an elementary school:  technology in the form of computers.  Who sends a lot of students to the Waldorf School so that their children can experience and manipulate the real world without being focused on a computer screen?  The answer is the same technical executives who work for companies that are selling hardware, software, and peripheral items to schools throughout the United States and beyond.  It seems like they are doing one thing to educate their children to the best of their abilities but turn around to not believe in the same pedagogy for the larger population of students.  As an educator, this doesn’t make sense; well, it could make a lot of ‘cents’ for those who are selling the technology to schools.

Going forward, I will continue to use technology in a responsible way so that I don’t lose my identity and I will always remember that people are what make an organization—and the world—sustainable.

SpongeBob

It is a perfect day in Manhattan for the 85^th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, for my trip to Westchester to enjoy a traditional turkey dinner with wonderful friends, and for taking the time to say “Thank You.”

When I was a child in Los Angeles, I would get up early on Thanksgiving morning.  Mom was already making stuffing and preparing a 22-pound turkey she’d soon put in the oven.  Once the large bird was cooking, she had time to get the ingredients together for pumpkin and pecan pies then begin the process to make Parker House rolls and other delicious food that would be feeding anywhere from seven to fourteen family members.

My part on Thanksgiving took place in the early afternoon when I helped my sisters with setting the table and finding enough chairs for the Hendersons.  However, since I was up early and watching TV, Mom probably gave me sweet potatoes to peel.  Every once in a while, Mom would leave the kitchen to stand next to me so she could watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  The parade led off at 9:00 a.m. in Manhattan which meant we could start watching the broadcast at 6:00 a.m. since there was no delay on the channel we were watching.  Mom was born and raised in Manhattan and her watching the parade was a tradition she followed—and I inherited.

Snoopy

Since 1987, I’ve lived in New York and frequently watch the Macy’s balloons get blown up the night before the parade then the next day I go out in the cold to see Sponge Bob, Snoopy, Ronald McDonald, and other balloons float over the onlookers.  Today when I went out, it was in the mid-30 degree range but that didn’t stop me.  I walked over near Columbus Circle and started to feel the push of the estimated 3.5 million people who were also watching the parade as I walked along 57^th St.  A total stranger who got a little lost suggested that I move to a side street where cars were parked.  I followed her and found a perfect view of the balloons while getting warm from the overhead heater in the awning of a hotel behind me.

Later today, I’m going to be with long-time dedicated friends and their children who call me Aunt Leigh.  There will most definitely be a feast of fragrant and delicious dishes and wonderful conversations—plus maybe a game or two of CLUE.

Balloons that remind me of Mom and friends who invite me into their home are part of my Thanksgiving—but not all of it.  “Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action” is a quote I found by W.J. Cameron and is a meaningful thought I take seriously.  I don’t give thanks on just this day; I give thanks when they are warranted and by habit.  In fact, I may say “Thank you” too often for some people; I just want them to know that they have been of help in my life.

Kung Fu Panda

Also, before I begin my day or leave my home, I recite a poem by ee cummings, a poet whose work is poignant without punctuation.  It starts, “i thank you god most for this amazing day…”  god can be a deity, the universe, a greater significance, something or someone who you feel can hear you.  What reciting three or four stanzas of the poem gives me is the time to be aware that I am alive and grateful to have my health, wonderful people in my life, and work that I love.

This year I am particularly grateful for the numerous friends who were there for me when I had major surgery in early October.  My surgeon was excellent and I am healing.  But friends, family, colleagues, students, and others are making me whole.  I know that the reason my recovery is going so smoothly is because of the thoughtful people have reached out to me with a telephone call, e-mail, meal, card, flowers, etc.  I am thankful for their caring.

Now it’s your turn.  THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO VISIT MY BLOG AND READ THIS POST.  My hope is that all goes well for you and yours—and that you have many reasons to be thankful today and always.

When recovering from major surgery, you have to relax and ask others for help, take naps to revive your energy, and enjoy walks that get longer each day.  My recovery is going well, especially because one way for me to relax is to read some good books, scan magazine articles looking for the relevant and outstanding ones I want to return to later, and go online to find the Opinion pieces in The New York Times.  Below are the most interesting ‘reads’ that span interest for a variety of ages from those their twenties to those moving on in life.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson captured my attention and engaged me for five days from page one until the end of the text on page 571.  The ‘official’ biography of Jobs includes details from his eating habits to his volatile behaviors to his finding a type of peace when he introduced Apple’s revolutionary products.  I’m glad that I read it.  The list price is $35 but I got it through Barnes & Noble for a total with discounts of $16.54.

Jobs’ death and the book have generated a plethora of written stories and articles, interviews on the radio and TV, and commentaries and reviews on the book itself.  I agree with Joe Nocera (The New York Times) that Isaacson seemed that the author was too gentle on Jobs.  Criticizing, demeaning, and insulting competitors, colleagues, and employees—plus friends—was outrageous untamed behavior.  Yet, that area was treated in a gentle way.

Following the look of the cover of Isaacson’s book, Fortune Magazine put a similar picture of Jobs on the November 7, 2011 cover and in large print offered:  “Steve Jobs:  The Biography—An Exclusive Excerpt from Walter Isaacson’s New Book.”  Note there were four additional covers after the first one; a creative approach to leading with different stories in different media areas.

The next book I think I’m going to read is First Family:  Abigail and John Adams by Joseph J. Ellis, the Pulitzer Prize-Winning author of Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation.  As he did in a similar fashion in Founding Brothers, in First Family Ellis “brings America’s preeminent first couple to life in a moving and illuminating narrative that sweeps through the American Revolution and the republic’s tenuous early years.”  Ellis is a wonderful author who can give you an enlightening reading experience.

I bought Full Circles, Overlapping Lives:  Culture and Generation in Transition by Mary Catherine Bateson about five years ago but didn’t pick up the book until my recovery.  A cultural anthropologist and the daughter of the renowned anthropologist Margaret Mead, Bateson “…helps us think about the great divide that we all live with but few discuss: the enormously different life experiences of members of different generations” according to Deborah Tannen, author of You Just Don’t Understand.  Since I enjoyed that book, I decided to find another by Bateson.  Composing a Life was the book I wanted but when I went to buy it there was a newer and more interesting book:  Composing a Further Life: The Age of Active Wisdom.  In the description on the back cover says that, “She redefines later adulthood as an opportunity to understand our deepest priorities and potentials and challenges us to use it to pursue new sources of meaning and ways to contribute to society.”  Note: there is a Margaret Mead Film Festival from November 10-13 at the Museum of Natural History.

In addition to reading, I read most of the magazines that I get by subscription and were given to me cover-to-cover.  In the Atlantic, I read “What, Me Marry? — In today’s economy, men are falling apart.  What that means for sex and marriage” by Kate Bolick.  I sent a link of this very interesting essay on changing demographics and society’s culture to the young women in their early twenties and their mothers.

Another excellent article was “Hacked!” by James Fallows.  After his wife’s e-mail account was hacked, he took “A trip to the inner fortress of Gmail, where Google developers recovered six years’ worth of hacked and deleted e-mail, provides specific advice on protecting and backing up data now—and gives a picture both consoling and unsettling of the vulnerabilities we can all expect to face in the future.”  A fascinating and informative read that makes me wonder the safety of all that is on the web.

MORE:  For women of style and substance (translated: over 40) was one of the three magazines that a dear friend of mine brought to me.  A compelling article was Your New Job Security Starts Here by Virginia Sole-Smith who feels that “A stable work future isn’t about finding a lifelong employer.  It’s about being able to land the next professional opportunity—which means mastering the digital job hunt.”

Working to be a leader requires being kept up to date and I’ve had time for that during my recovery—and more.  I’ve also had time to think about how I am going to compose my further life.

Perhaps its time for Occupy Wall Street to refocus its energy and take a look at the $1billion and more that Long Island Railroad (L.I.R.R.) workers are hoping to use to fund their disability careers while playing golf, doing aerobics, biking, etc.  When people are desperate to find jobs that can support their families, it is irresponsible to hear about perfectly healthy and unethical workers ‘earning’ money that is not warranted.

“Ethics on the Long Island Railroad” is the title of a post I wrote last December about “A Disability Epidemic Among a Railroad’s Retirees” by Walt Bogdanich, (The New York Times, September 20, 2008).  In 5,000 words, the article described how retired L.I.R.R. employees as young as 50-years-old would retire, go to the same doctor colleagues used, then—as 97% did in some years—apply for and receive disability.  Since there was a low bar set for those who could receive disability, the retirees could spend their time, for instance, playing golf on publicly funded links.

Two recent articles on this same topic in The New York Times describe the arrests and the costs of the ethical violations of retired workers who treated disability as a second career.

According to “11 Charged in L.I.R.R. Disability Fraud Plot” by William K. Rashbaum and Mosi Secret, (October 27, 2011), “The fraudulent payouts in the scheme, officials estimate, could end up costing a federal pension agency more than $1 billion if fully disbursed.”

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation took ten of the defendants into custody early on Thursday morning.  Those in custody included:  seven former railroad workers—including a former union president; a former federal railroad pension agency employee who helped the workers file claims; a doctor who ‘certified’ the employees were disabled even though they could play golf regularly, take a 400 mile bicycle ride, do aerobics for hours, etc.; and a doctor’s office manager.

Rashbaum and Secret write that, “A sampling of hundreds of cases approved by two doctors showed that $121 million had been paid to workers whose disabilities were either fabricated or exaggerated, according to court papers, though the total was quite likely more. It was unclear if officials would try to stop the payouts, or could even legally do so, before the disbursements hit $1 billion.”

After talking about the “Ethics on the Long Island Railroad” in my management classes, one of my students raised his hand and asked me a very good question:  “Did the employees have to pay the money back?”  I didn’t have a definitive answer then.  However, the second recent article, “Disability Filings at Rail System Remain High, Despite Attention to Abuses” written by Michael H. Grynbaum (October 28, 2011) gave me a partial and overall disappointing answer.

Grynbaum wrote, “On Friday, the general counsel of the Railroad Retirement Board, Steven A. Bartholow, said he had no comment on the matter.  Later, an agency spokesman, Michael P. Freeman, wrote in an e-mail that in any case of proven fraud, previously paid benefits would be ‘subject to recovery’ and benefits would be cut off. But he declined to say whether the agency would conduct any type of internal review.”

It is interesting to note that, “After The New York Times reported in 2008 that virtually every employee of the Long Island Rail Road had applied for and received federal benefits for occupational disability, the retirement board said it would enact new measures to protect against fraudulent claims.”  Since 2007, the number of claims has been reduced to about half.  However, “Of 189 workers who retired last year, 110 applied for occupational disability benefits, according to figures provided by the railroad.”  It is indeed disappointing that the number is still higher than the usually disability rates for railroads of 20 to 40 percent.

My question now is, how many other railroad or other workers have claimed disability but are perfectly healthy to live their second careers?