Whether you can already say “mea culpa” or are just learning here are some insights that may be of use to you.

Maya Angelou provides truly wise counsel about people.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Speaking of feelings, J.K. Rowling’s words in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire are a truism that can’t be denied.

“If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

Bernard M. Baruch was very clear in his belief that what people showed to the world should reflect their true values.

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

Oscar Wilde recommended the same more succinctly.

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

Most interesting to me was Marilyn Monroe’s take.

“I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”

How true. Nobody’s perfect — or even close — so don’t expect them to be.

Most importantly, when trying to make sense of this world, never forget the words of Albert Einstein.

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”

Image credit: Prabakaran Thirumalai

What’s going on?

Why is there such a disconnect between management and minimum wage workers?

A disconnect that goes beyond all logic.

A disconnect that treats low wage workers more like serfs.

Two weeks ago it was Walmart’s efforts to enforce a dress code at their employees’ expense.

Now it’s companies such as Jimmy John’s sub shops requiring minimum wage workers to sign noncompete agreements.

But who knows, perhaps there is a proprietary trick to spreading mayo that I’m not aware of.

California outlawed most non-compete clauses on the basis that people have a right to earn a living.

And then there is the sexual harassment of low wage women workers.

The study showed that women reliant on tips made up the highest share of those who had experienced harassment and that those who lived in states where the tipped minimum wage was $2.13 an hour (the federal minimum for tipped workers) were twice as likely to experience sexual harassment as those who lived in places where a single minimum wage standard applied to all workers.

Whether large corporation or small business, it seems that those in the upper levels, who are financially secure, place little-to-no value on those who actually keep their company running.

And as for morality, well, that comes down to whether more employers decide that basic human decency requires viewing their workers not as interchangeable cogs to be paid as little as possible and worked to the bone but as valuable partners in building a company for the long term.

Centuries ago, when describing the actions of leaders, Lao Tzu ended by saying,

To lead the people, walk behind them.

Today it reads,

To lead the people, walk upon them.

Flickr image credit: Derek Purdy

The terms ‘leader’ and ‘leadership’ are bandied about constantly, but nowhere more often than in politics, especially during elections.

But did you know that nearly five thousand years ago a Chinese philosopher proved that truly great leadership couldn’t exist in the political arena?

Not true, I hear many of you say.

OK, first, consider three generally acknowledged descriptions of true leadership by Lao Tse in the Tao Te Ching.

• Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.

• The superior leader gets things done with very little motion. He imparts instruction not through many words but through a few deeds. He keeps informed about everything but interferes hardly at all. He is a catalyst, and though things would not get done well if he weren’t there, when they succeed he takes no credit. And because he takes no credit, credit never leaves him.

• As for the best leaders,the people do not notice their existence.
  The next best,
  the people honor and praise.
  The next, the people fear;
  and the next, the people hate—
  When the best leader’s work is done,
  the people say, “We did it ourselves!”
  To lead the people, walk behind them.

Now name for me just one politician who comes even close to fitting these descriptions.

Sadly, the oxymoronic coupling of ‘leader’ and ‘politician’ usually is just plain moronic.

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Image credit: Patti  CC license