Well, what would you use on December 26 as the theme for Quotable Quotes? That said, I did try to put my own special spin on them.

Let’s get the worst part of Christmas—getting stupid—out of the way first. Stupid often makes it’s Christmas appearance at the office and if you don’t keep it under control you could end up parroting Phyllis Diller’s words, “What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day,” as you polish up your resume.

Authenticity is a big part of Christmas especially when it comes to children’s make-believe, such as Santa. Shirley Temple makes a poignant point in this brief 26-word story, “I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.”

Edna Ferber offered a concise explanation of Christmas authenticity when she said, “Christmas isn’t a season. It’s a feeling.”

Bob Hope makes the same point a bit differently, “If you haven’t got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.”

Jesse Jackson reminds us that the most important gifts aren’t found wrapped under the tree, “Your children need your presence more than your presents.” I would add that your presence is also of more value to friends and family, too, and giving it doesn’t require cash, plastic or lay-away.

Even the Grinch, in the guise of Theodor Geisel, came to understand that, “Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store.”

All of this means that you can incorporate Christmas into your MAP and make it an integral part of your approach to life and enjoy it 24/365; or as Bryan White says, “Christmas makes me happy no matter what time of year it comes around.”

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hlkljgk/2121909490/

Expand beyond your computer.

Whether you officially celebrate Christmas or not today is not a day to be in front of your computer, so TURN IT OFF NOW!

If you are inside, embrace and enjoy the people with whom you share the space.

Pick up the phone and call people you like for no reason other than to hear their voices and share some joy.

Go outside and visit your neighbors.

Drive to where friends and family gather.

Perform at least one random act of kindness.

Look around and be amazed; amazed at the diversity of nature and the incredible world in which you live.

Have a wonderful day.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedroelcarvalho/2812091311/

Since I can’t send gifts to each of you, I thought I’d offer up a video of me dancing along with one of my infamous rhymes—what more could anyone want?

Christmas comes just once a year
as does its spirit, too, I fear.
It would be nice to keep peace and goodwill,
but after the First it’s all downhill.
Perhaps this year we could arrange
for each of us to make a change;
revamp our MAP and maybe then
we can leave closed minds in 2010.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy your people.

Typically, my comments about gifts range from irreverent to downright sarcastic, but this year I actually have some pretty cool gift ideas for you.

First, however, let’s take a look at the cost of the traditional 364 gifts as described in the 12 Days of Christmas—the cost is up10.8% this year for a grand total of $96,824.

Or for a look at 50 years of extreme gifts, and I do mean extreme, for him and her check out the Neiman Marcus Gift Book.

For the geek you love who loves pictures or for those whose daily lives are so memorable they need recording consider a wearable camera—a gift they’ll never forget.

And for the not-so-geeky with faulty memories, like me, who still depend on their computer but forget to back up, there is Carbonite, not only a fabulous product, but from a company named as one of Boston’s 2010 Best Places to Work.

Two unusual books make my list.

The first of what will be three volumes is the “Autobiography of Mark Twain,” a $35, four-pound, 500,000-word doorstopper of a memoir” that Twain forbid his descendents to publish until 100 years after his death. Needless to say, his thoughts are exceedingly blunt.

The second is from a retired Wall Street banker who is dying of a brain tumor and offers “a remarkable story of an almost willful ignorance of the futility of active money management…” It’s good information for those on your list interested in having their money work smarter for them.

The last two are gifts that serve dual purposes.

The first is a $20 gadget called HydroRight that anyone can install without tools. (If the john still has a ball cock it needs an additional part and may run a bit more.) HydroRight turns your normal toilet into a two-level flush toilet that saves around 15,000 gallons of water a year. That saving is good for the planet and great for lowering monthly water bills. Best of all, it really works.

Finally, did you know that shoes prevent many diseases in poor children, so give shoes to your loved ones—specifically Toms Shoes. Besides being inexpensive and comfortable, the company gives away a pair of shoes for every pair purchased to poor children across the planet. They’re cool, Cameron Diaz and Demi Moore like them, comfortable, available for men, women and children and Toms just gave away the millionth pair.

I hope this list inspires you to look a bit further than the standard mall gift. There are some pretty amazing possibilities out there that won’t put you in hock.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedroelcarvalho/2812091311/

Today is the last Leadership’s Future post in 2009, but the feature will continue every Thursday at MAPping Company Success (to avoid missing it subscribe via RSS or EMAIL). Please click to read today’s Leadership’s Future.

‘Twas the day before Christmas I sat down to write,
but nothing came—writer’s block was my plight.

A video was the answer I thought with a sigh
and clicked over to YouTube to give it a try.

I found what I wanted as you will see,
plus you can follow tonight by using this key!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idamgLDhwLI]

Track Santa here or go mobile!

Image credit: NORAD

Good grief, where did the time go? Thanksgiving is over, and that means the year is close to ending, but first comes the holiday season. Nothing but parties and get-togethers for the next 4.5 weeks.

Frank Ogden said, “Holidays are the greatest learning experience unknown to man.” I think he has a real point, otherwise most of us wouldn’t keep repeating the same actions and activities every year that don’t work for us—isn’t that similar to Einstein’s definition of insanity?

Sadly Philip Andrew Adams hit the nail on the head when he said, “To many people holidays are not voyages of discovery, but a ritual of reassurance.”

Holidays are funny things, rarely does your version of what happened match those of the other people present. But does that matter? Denis Norden said, “It’s like your children talking about holidays, you find they have a quite different memory of it from you. Perhaps everything is not how it is, but how it’s remembered.” How very true, your reality is based on your memories, not someone else’s version of the same event.

Bob Edwards made a very valid observation when he said, “One can always tell when one is getting old and serious by the way that holidays seem to interfere with one’s work.” Based on that I’m still not old, no matter what Social Security says, and I never will be—what about you?

Ben Franklin’s wisdom is accurate as ever, “How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ’tis easier to keep holidays than commandments.” You may not agree, but it seems these days the more vocal the religion the greater the intolerance and hate; I’d rather go back to the days when faith was private and tolerance waxing.

But it’s Pepper Schwartz who sums up the holidays perfectly, “Holidays in general breed unrealistic expectations. The minute you start wondering, ‘is it going to be wonderful enough?,’ it never will be.” The trick, obviously, is not to wonder, just assume. Believe with all your heart; know that it will happen and it will.

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Image credit: sue_r_b on sxc.hu

Starting last June a college professor, who goes by CandidProf, has been writing a series of posts based on his first hand experiences with students and administrators.

Recently I was asked why I included them in Leadership Turn; it isn’t an education blog and what exactly did the topic have to do with leadership. To be honest the question floored me.

The only thing I can think of that has more to do with leadership than education is parenting.

Both require serious leadership skills, but beyond that their focus, kids, are leadership’s future.

CP is on hiatus for now, but that doesn’t reduce the need to focus on what could become the greatest leadership void ever faced.

Not the positional leaders who posture and strut, but the real leaders who step up in that instant when initiative is required and retire when the situation moves on. In other words, the thousands of regular folks on which every business and society depends—“…leadership is for instances. How people react to the things that happen around them—that’s the crux of life.”

Parents are the first and foremost source of leadership skills, not because they actively teach them, but because ‘monkey see, monkey do’. Unfortunately, as a whole, the job done leaves much to be desired.

Now we’re facing a gift-giving season in the worst economy in decades. You would think this was a great chance to teach children that they can’t have everything; that instant gratification isn’t guaranteed; that they aren’t entitled.

But it’s not happening. In article after article parents, especially moms, say the same thing. That they plan to cut everything—except the kids presents. “I want her to be able to look back and say, ‘Even though they were tough times, my mom was still able to give me stuff.”

Financial experts, such as Michelle Singletary, disagree, “By discussing with them that money is tight, you are admitting that at times you can’t do or get what you want. You are teaching them you can’t spend what you don’t have… Make the choice not to spend if you can’t afford it this year. Love your children like never before, but don’t go shopping out of guilt if you don’t have the cash.”

Even better than the economic lesson, which in itself has great value, you will start your children to understanding that not everything is within their control (or yours); that they aren’t entitled to have their every wish come true; that ‘instant’ isn’t their birthright, ‘gratification’ doesn’t always happen and that they really won’t die if they don’t get <fill in the blank>.

Who’s right? All the sacrificing moms or the minority like Singletary and me?

What do you think?

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Image credit: flickr