Fortune Magazine Features SAMM and SMLI This Week - Don't Miss It!

An animal-loving reporter at Fortune magazine caught wind of our charity, Save A Mexican Mutt, and sent a photographer to San Miguel de Allende last month. The article appears in Fortune on the newsstands Monday, June 16.

You can see the online version of the Fortune article here: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0806/gallery.Fortune40_after_work.fortune/3.html

If you are interested in learning more about the plight of homeless animals, are interested in providing a dog in need a forever home, or in credibly connecting with your employees by involving them in an experience in helping the helpless, see http://www.saveamexicanmutt.org . Volunteers for care, transport, foster, and donation are all needed and appreciated.

Also receiving mention in Fortune is the San Miguel Leadership Institute (SMLI), an educational organization founded by Dave Riveness and Jim Karger that creates unique learning environments for the exploration of intriguing and timely topics by organizational leaders. Forums are held in San Miguel de Allende and at corporate sites all over the world, with each program exploring topics such as employee engagement, emotional intelligence, and spiritual capitalism, all within a structure designed to drive interaction, discovery and application. Learn more about what is going on at: http://www.sanmiguelleadershipinstitute.com

Much positive is happening even in these difficult economic times faced by most in corporate America. Indeed, it is the tough times that present our most valuable learning opportunities.

Companies that prosper will be those open to new ways of thinking, new ways of doing -- those that don't pinch pennies to survive, but who are destined to thrive through their fundamental understanding that investing in their employees, securing their engagement, and showing them a path to personal and professional satisfaction is the only way to long-term success.

World Friends Week

After several days on the road, I returned home to find this from a good friend in my inbox. I don't often forward things, but this I believe is worthwhile and speaks to the importance of relationships in all of our lives.

Think about this for a minute...

If I happened to show up on your door step crying, would you care?

If I called you and asked you to pick me up because something happened, would you come?

If I had one day left to live my life, would you be part of that last day?

If I needed a shoulder to cry on, would you give me yours?

This is a test to see who your real friends are or if you are just someone to talk to you when they are bored.

Do you know what the relationship is between your two eyes?

They blink together, they move together, they cry together, they see things together and they sleep together,

BUT THEY NEVER SEE EACH OTHER.. that's what friendship is.

Your aspiration is your motivation, your motivation is your belief, your belief is your peace, your peace is your target, your target is your heaven, and life is like hell without it.

It is "World Friends Week."

Who are your friends? You might think about forwarding it along to them to let them know you care.

See how many you get back.

(The person who sent this to me knows who they are -- and here it is right back at you.)

Big Weeks

This week is a big week.

My son, James, who I saw graduate from college last Saturday, and his girlfriend, Sarah, joined us today in San Miguel and will be with us for the next eight days. Jamie (only I can call him that) has been here many times but this trip I sense is special, or at least, different. Like each of our children who have graduated university, he will likely find work after this trip and I fear that this may be his last for a while. So, I want to make it special for him and the special girl in his life and so we shall.

Later in the week, Kelly and I will be hosting a Fortune magazine photographer at our new home here. She will be photographing Kelly's work (her passion) saving Mexican street dogs through our charity, Save A Mexican Mutt.

To remind me what it is all about (something I occasionally forget) Kelly sent me this video made by one of her friends in rescue. I recommend it highly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtyrwNcG-OI


Then turn your browser to check the SAMM website at: http://www.saveamexicanmutt.org. There are some real opportunities for a big week there!

Yes, this week is a big week.

Last week was big, too. I got to spend time with old friends (who started as clients but became more) in California. That trip brought back fond memories.

Big weeks, two in a row.

Now that I think about it, I guess they all are big weeks, or can be. That is the choice each of us makes every week.

Here's wishing a big week for you.

Environmental Responsibility and Employee Engagement

I sit here outside a rented bungalow overlooking Mission Bay in San Diego and I am reminded of people and communities who take social responsibility seriously.

Like Portland, Oregon, and Boulder, Colorado, San Diego, California wears its environmental awareness with pride. Indeed, over the last several days I have heard commercials on the radio warning of the effect of even throwing one gum wrapper down a storm drain; I have not seen a single scrap of litter; and hybrid cars here are endemic to the landscape. I often wonder why other communities aren't as "hip," and why most companies don't go further to involve themselves in socially responsible activities.

I don't pretend that for-profit companies exist for a primary reason other than to make a buck but making a buck is, in large part, due to the engagement of an organization's employees, that is, the willingness and desire of employees to want to come to work, to enjoy the experience, and to provide discretionary efforts while at work. That separates a few great companies from the thousands of "also-ran's."

In a recent study of more than 90,000 employees globally, the ten most significant engagement drivers were identified. One of those drivers is the employees' perception of whether or not their company is "socially responsible." While social responsibility encompasses many aspects of our lives, it most certainly includes environmental responsibility -- that is, the understanding that it is each of our obligations to leave the earth better than we found it.

Yet, knowing this, how many companies are you aware of that take affirmative steps to be responsible beyond the minimums government mandates, and how many educate their employees about the company's efforts? How many involve their employees in these efforts?

Alas, the answer is a small percentage.

I remain non-plussed by those employers who believe they can stare at the bottom line and make it change. It is like a batter in baseball staring at the left field fence because that is where he wants the ball to go when it leaves his bat. It is not likely to happen. Rather, the causes of a positive bottom line need to be the focus of every company -- that is their ball.

Some ideas? Though you'd never ask . . .

1. Teach employees good habits. Keep them aware, for example, of how they can protect their health, e.g., a new study of post-menopausal women published in the International Journal of Cancer shows that a chemical found in starchy foods such as French fries and potato chips called "acrylamide" doubles the likelihood of breast cancer -- the kind of fact your employees should know and will appreciate.

2. Get involved with "green." The newer generations who have entered and will be entering the workforce care and a high percentage use the green factor to determine the companies for which they want to work. Do your employees know what you're doing to reduce emissions? Does your company, for example, buy carbon offsets a way to help compensate for the global warming emissions we cause by helping fund green projects? Does your company use business travel "as needed," rather than "as wanted?" Two cross-country, round trip flights cause more emissions than a year of driving a high-milage car. Think about it and see www.nativeenergy.com.

3. Consider the environmental impact of your purchases. For example, PBDEs (polybrominated dephenl ethers or flame retardants) are linked to thyroid, liver, neurological and immune disorders. Europe has already banned the use of most formulations of PBDEs. When buying electronics does your company consider that certain manufacturers like Apple, Dell, and Sony are phasing out the use of PBDE's? If so, do your employees know that you use these considerations, and therefore their health, in your decision-making?

These are just three ideas of thousands.

What about you? What are your ideas to make your company more environmentally responsible? What should your company be doing to make sure its employees know of its environmental efforts?

Think about it and send your ideas along to karger@crediblyconnect.com and we will publish them here in a future blog.

Executive Compensation: An Issue On Which All Candidates Agree

It is rare to find all Presidential candidates in agreement on any issue, but this morning Senator John McCain appeared on CNBC and had the following observation about executive compensation: "Greed and excess in corporate compensation is unacceptable in America. I'm not sure corporate America knows how bad their reputation is." Both Senators Obama and Clinton have also criticized not only the levels of executive compensation but the manner in which executive compensation is decided within most corporations.

Dealing with the results of disgruntled employees in businesses all across America, I work to ameliorate the consternation felt by those who suffer lower inflation-adjusted wages, increased costs of living and medical care, while reading their companies online SEC filings which, since 2006, have to reveal increases in executive compensation.

The fact that average CEO now ears 431 times the salary of an average production worker is not the problem, although many point to this literal disparity as a problem that continues to worsen.

The problem from an employee relations perspective is, interestingly, not literal, but relative. It is not so much how much the CEO makes but the fact that the average CEO enjoyed a compensation increase of 20.5% last year, this according to a study of 45 randomly selected public companies, while average revenues grew just 2.8 percent. By comparison, the median pay for workers rose only 3.5 percent, this according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Why the disparity?

Many say it is an inherent defect in the way executive compensation is set, a corporate governance problem, with CEO pay set by the Board of Directors which ostensibly is there to protect shareholder interests. Yet, oftentimes the CEO is the chairman of the Board of Directors and few would argue he or she can reasonably and objectively monitor his own salary. The average board member, oftentimes selected or recommended by the CEO in question, are beholden to the CEO for whom they will make compensation decisions. In the end, many argue the answer will be found in making boards of directors more accountable, and to that end, Senator McCain, in the interview this morning suggested he favors shareholder approval or disapproval of executive compensation packages.

Regardless how one feels about the issue, it is an employee relations problem in many companies if only because demoralized and angry employees are not engaged employees. It appears the three remaining Presidential candidates see the current system of executive compensation as fatally flawed and all express an intent to deal with the issue if and when they take the top office.

The Working Poor -- Yes, they are bitter

Let me first apologize for being such a poor correspondent of late . . . it has been two months since I have added to this blog and I have no excuse except being on the road relentlessly where, ironically, much learning occurs but there is precious little time to record it.

I have spent time in Little Rock, Los Angeles, and now a small town in southern Kentucky which will home for the next several weeks. The genesis of each of these matters sprang from the same dark fountain -- unhappy, dissatisfied employees who see their standard of living being eaten away by higher fuel, food and medical costs. To add insult to their injury, they worry that their jobs may not be here much longer. And these worries are legitimate. Manufacturing companies continue to flee the United States with impugnity.

This weekend as I catch a breath, I have been fascinated by the news of Barack Obama who is being virulently criticized for saying these words: "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing has replaced them. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns, or religion, or antipathy to people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment, or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Regardless of one's political persuasion, I don't see the problem in this statement, if only because it is completely consistent with what I have seen developing over the last quarter century. Surely the criticism can't be calling the working poor "bitter." They are bitter and they do lash out at those who they feel responsible for their plight. Their recognition that their labor has become dispensable, or if not, at least movable to save a buck, or make an extra buck, would make anyone bitter.

While there there is no candidate for President that fully expresses my views about significant social issues, including Mr. Obama, I congratulate him for observing what should obvious -- the working poor are bitter because they have been left behind or fear they soon will be, and as such they have every reason to be bitter.

Indeed to label Obama's observation "out of touch" is itself out of touch.

Take care friends and I'll write soon . . .

Remember What Is Important, Really

This blog is mostly for me, because I am mostly guilty . . .

A few minutes ago I received a call from Katy, my oldest daughter, and an e-mail from my second daughter, Kandi, just a few moments later. One of their close college friends, all of 26 years old, passed away yesterday from cancer. It began as a small tumor on his tongue, metastasized and he suffered greatly before he died.

He worked for a magazine and had a bright future, a serious girlfriend, everything to live for and so much life left based on the odds.

But, I am reminded that the odds, or probabilities, of living 76.8 years are just that, what is probable. When you flip a coin the odds are 50% you'll get heads everytime you flip it. But even if you flip the coin 10 times and get heads all ten times the odds are still 50% you'll flip tails on the next toss. That is a metaphor for my life, for everyone's life, but I often forget it, acting as if someone has given me a guarantee of 76.8 years because those are the odds, spread over an entire population.

But I am not an entire population. I am one man who has arrived at 56 years old. And while the odds say I have 20 more Summers in which to enjoy the sunshine, 20 more Autumns to watch the leaves change, 20 more years to get up each morning and be productive if I choose to be, 20 more years to love my wife and children, and 20 more years to be thankful that each day is mine to enjoy if I choose to do so, those odds provide no guarantee that today or tomorrow won't turn up tails.

The tragedy of this young man reminds me that most of what I fret about is just part of the game - and that like all games, this game is meant to be enjoyed if only because the game is more about keeping the game going and enjoying every move than it is about winning, which I am reminded this morning is not possible.

So, with that observation I am going to get up from this desk right now, grab up some leashes and take two or three dogs to the park and I am going to try and be present enjoying every moment, and when I catch myself (as I surely will) fretting about some event that happened that didn't work out exactly as I had planned, or some future event that may happen, I am going to stop and say out loud, "You should be so lucky as to be here for that event or any other. The challenge is to figure how how to appreciate it."