A Shortage of Leaders

After years of observation and seeking, I have come to the conclusion that we are suffering from a shortage of leadership. We have an abundance of managers, supervisors and followers but leaders are few. One of the reasons, I attribute to this is the mis-definition and role of a leader. We elect people to manage systems, we hire mangers to run companies and keep them going. Managers hire supervisors to ensure that the process they manage are not interrupted. This is supposed to make our organizations successful, and in business, create profits. Unfortunately, too many businesses are unprofitable and organizations are stagnant and dying. Sadly, this can also be said of our country.

Countries, organizations and business are successful because they are led by Leaders not managed by Managers. Managers are concerned with quarterly profits (good or bad); leaders are concerned with long term sustainability. Managers are concerned with their department's success above all else; leaders are concerned with the vision. mission and purpose of their organizations so that the Managers have processes to manage and profits can be made. 

The current condition of the USA and the electoral campaigns, demonstrates our current lack of national leadership. We lack leadership in energy and environmental strategies; we lack leadership in alternative sources of oil and energy generation; we lack leadership in immigration control and protecting our boarders; we lack leadership in education reform and accountability; we lack leadership in tax policy and fiscal responsibility. Finally, we lack leadership in harmonizing our country towards common goals. So many people are so concerned by being liked by others and other countries that they are willing to give up our liberties and unique qualities to be like everyone else.

Barrack Obama is talking about change without definition and clarification . He is handsome and dynamic but lacks depth. He has a large following but they are all standing in a circle without direction. Hillary Clinton is talking about experience and health care. She has offered up credible information on neither. Their Democratic party is supposed to be the party if inclusion but only when you vote for the right people, usually Hillary. Both are vociferously critical of President Bush's policies but they have none better to offer. John McCain is so consumed with being a Republican who is moderate and independent that we no longer know where he stands. Where are the leaders?

I have come to the conclusion that most politicians are not leaders, they are power brokers. We have expected people who usually become aquatinted with critical issues from staffers and news reports and summary notes to become experts by virtue of election. 

Church select Pastors and Board members using metrics that have little to do with leadership, vision and passion. After the vote members sit around looking for the Pastors to lead and set a course for change. Every good pastor and board member works hard to come up with something that should get the church going again. Unfortunately these programs usually are centered around managing ecclesiastical processes and keeping the doors open (paying bills). These are management processes that may show short term growth but soon burn out for lack of spiritual depth, mediocre expectations and poor metrics. Title and election do not necessarily mean leadership.  

Leaders have a passion for their calling and their organizations.

Leaders manage processes when needed but soon get back to focusing on the big picture: vision, mission and purpose.

Leaders manage people and motivate them to become their very best.

Leaders succeed by helping others succeed. They are not intimidated by the success of others.

Leaders are willing to sacrifice short term bad profits in order to create sustainable and lasting successes. Success brings profits.

Leaders are not afraid to be unpopular in the face of value, principle and integrity.

Leaders call others to accomplish great things rather than call names.

Where are the leaders? We have developed a center for training new, existing and potential leaders to develop their skills, talents and hone their focus. Check us out at 

www.leaderinus.net

God has blessed us with leaders to be our mentors and challenge us to change in order to accomplish our dreams. We'd like to share it with you.

A Bright Day In America Still Requires Good Choices

This is a very bright day in America. The dream of Dr. King is alive and well. There is both an electable woman and an electable black man running for the highest office in the land. As a black man, I could not be more excited or elated that this country has the opportunity once again to show that a person can be judged by their ability and the content of their character rather than the color of their skin or their gender.

  However, I must bring my exuberance under control to remind myself that we are electing the President of the United States. We are not electing the female president, the black president or the oldest president. We are electing a president for all Americans. Do these surface distinctions rate significantly in the greater context of choosing the leader of the free world? Is either Hillary Clinton or Barrack Obama the best candidate for the president regardless of their sex or race respectively? Does McCain’s age really matter in this context?

  There are those who say that America has not been ready for this day until now. I disagree. We have been ready for this day for many years. Unfortunately, the right candidates have not stepped up until now. Geraldine Ferraro was not a viable or electable candidate when she ran for vice president. As she has recently displayed, she probably would not be a good candidate today. Neither Jessie Jackson nor Al Sharpton was viable or electable candidates when they ran for the nomination. It would not have mattered if either of them were white or older; they both carried too much baggage. What is happening today, wheather I agree with their politics or not, is that Hillary Clinton, Obama  and McCain are capable and competent enough to create a strong national campaign to be nominated for the office of President. They are at this historical crossroad because they possess enough leadership ability and personal appeal to convince enough Americans to support their individual campaigns.

There is little argument that sex, age or race can make a difference in one’s perspective, one’s world view and one’s mass appeal. That can only take one so far in leading an organization or a nation. What happens when sex, age or race takes back stage to national and international challenges? The President has to lead the country for four years. Will we still be focused on the female president, the white president or the black president if in two years we are still at an impasse on health care coverage, illegal immigration, rising interest rates, aging infrastructure, crowded highways or $5.00 per gallon gasoline at the pump? Will we still be so excited of our historic achievements if taxes increase and college tuition grows by double digits?

When all the excitement dies down and the historic markers are securely in place, I hope that we will elect best candidate for president who will help us continue to create a better America where everyone, regardless of race, age or sex can become the best that we want to be while living in freedom and prosperity.

 

My First Published Opinion in a Major Newspaper

Published in the Salt Lake Tribune on February 24, 2008.

Let Sen. Buttars be judged at the ballot box [That's the title the paper gave]
By Grantley Martelly
Article Last Updated: 02/23/2008 01:39:30 PM MST
   Note: The Opinion refers to comments made on the floor of the Utah Senate by a Utah Senator that were inappropriate, offensive and racist to some in our community.

    I find it rather disingenuous of the NAACP to be representing itself, and for the media to portray it, as the voice piece of all people of color and on matters of race, ethnicity, bigotry, offense or reconciliation. As a matter of independence, I'd like it to be known that the NAACP does not speak for all of us on every matter.
    In the matter with Sen. Chris Buttars, as inappropriate and outrageous as his comments may be, the NAACP is not the sole arbitrator of offensive or racist speech for all people of color and hence it is not imperative that they be consulted or appeased. Sen. Buttars does not have to prostrate himself at their altar or pose for a media-staged apology that may or may not be genuine. This is not to say that organizations such as the NAACP do not serve a role in society to be alert to matters that may affect our civil rights or intervene to bring representation or resolution in instances of violation of civil rights, racism or victimization.
    Sen. Buttars, racist or not, misspoken or deliberate, is a member of a political party, a member of the state Legislature, an elected representative and a member of our community. In any of these capacities, there are proven and effective public and private ways for an offense to be dealt with, for an apology to be made and for reconciliation or retribution to be exacted.
This matter does not have to serve as fodder for another media-based controversy over Buttars versus the NAACP.
    Every instance of inappropriate or offensive language or action does not need a civil rights organization or politically charged figure to resolve it. One does not have to be a person of color to be offended by racist speech or actions. Every person of color is not offended by the same words or actions. Some actions and speech, however, are offensive in any form or instance. The words of Sen. Buttars do not require the interpretation or amplification of a civil rights organization to be interpreted as offensive or inappropriate. We can apply connotative and denotative contextualization to what we see, hear and read without a press release from the NAACP.
    There are other credible, experienced and well-respected community leaders such as The Rev. Dr. France Davis who can be invited to the table and help bring resolution to the matter at hand if this is what is needed. I find it difficult to believe that the Utah Senate cannot handle this matter and bring it to a conclusion. Ultimately the true verdict on Buttars' speech and subsequent actions or lack thereof can be revealed at the ballot box.
---
* GRANTLEY MARTELLY resides in Murray.

A Different Perspective on the Climate

There is a trend today in modern science that is very troubling. Some scientists have become activists for causes that sustain their generation of research dollars. Some have made their cause a new religion. Both of these are the case with the global warming. There was also a time that researchers tried to be unbiased and neutral. Not so today, the global warming promoters have become married to a political agenda and a political celebrity. What ever happened to science for the common good?

The facts are that the climate of our planet has gone through and is going through cycles of change continuously. Whether you look at geological data, weather logs, biblical accounts or archeology, the result is the same. Our climate patterns change from time to time in a sort of cyclical manner. Remember the ice age, the wholly mammoth, the glaciers that we now know are covering land masses? They have all been shown to have not existed from the formation of the earth. If man-made contaminants, high levels of green house gases and the combustion engine is the major cause of the current warming, then what man-made cause precipitated the melting in the last ice age?

The whole global warming movement is a political movement with a dogmatic fervor. The facts are as sketchy as the fact for evolution. They are both theories that the 'microwave' scientists are too impatient to do the real work to support their claims. It is much easier to follow a self directed political reject, defame the detractors that want real research and make dollars for fuzzy research their platform.

The Keyoto Protocol is not the answer because it is ineffective. It conveniently makes the politically expedient exemption for three of the world's largest polluters: China, Russia and India. By the keyoto protocol, these countries can continue to build factories and cola burning plants with little or no emission control devices. On other hand, it penalizes the most aggressive countries that are on their own making big climate improvements: the USA and Canada. I have met many people who, unlike me, are making their determinations on global warming and the Keyoto protocol without having actually read any of the actual documents. They take their information from newspapers and other journalists who have also not read any of the actual documents but try to funnel down complex and voluminous quantities of data into a 30 second sound bite or a 4 column newspaper article. It is popular to join the politically correctness of blaming President George Bush and the Unites States for the climate cycles we are observing and the pollution that has occurred all over the globe. However, anyone with an ounce of intellectual honesty cannot truly believe that all the ills of the global warming crowd occurred in the last eight years or on one continent.

Pollution is ubiquitous global problem. It has been accumulating for centuries around the globe. It occurs for many reasons: one is ignorance of the potential dangers of industry and development; another is greed, evil, dishonesty, misrepresentation, self-righteousness. In the final analysis, it boils down to sin. These traits are inherent to all men regardless to race, color, national origin, political persuasion or ethnicity. Pollution also knows no national boundaries, no political persuasion, no racial preferences, no social status.


We need to take care of our earth because it is the right thing to do. It is the responsible thing to do. Our world is important because it belongs to God. Our climate is important because we need to leave a better world for our kids and grand kids than the one we found. We need to reduce our emissions because pollution not only affects the our lungs, it affects our entire bodies, our entire cell structure, our entire lifestyle. We need to investigate, develop and promote new technologies that allows us to live freely while improving the living standards of our global brothers and sisters. How many of us can take on stopping global challenges? May I suggest that we begin with making a difference in our communities? We expect cheap goods and fast results. Look at what we purchase; how much of all this stuff do we need? Let us hold corporations to making sound decisions for sustainable business operations rather than quick quarterly profits. Let us stay away from disposable and use more reusable, repairable and recyclable.

In the final analysis, the earth is not ours. We are just stewards who get to use it and prepare it for those who come behind us. It did not take us eight years to cause the problems that we have and it will take solid, sensible, non-political, non-partisan, ethical and unbiased scientific solutions to repair the strain that we have caused. If you need Al Gore and the United Nations to tell us that we need to be more responsible in how we live and what we expect in our standards of living, then we are mistaken because neither of them are presenting sound, reasonable, ethical or scientific solutions. If we think that carbon-free is the solution, then go back to chemistry class because carbon is a building block of life: it is here to stay.

What ever happened to doing things because they were right, because it is the best for mankind and for our community?

My Mother Is The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me

I am reposting this blog as a Tribute to my mother on his Mother's Day 2009:

On July 24th, 2007 my mother, Madeleine Leonce, nee Martelly, went to be with her Lord. She lived on this earth for 82 years. She never finished high school. She did not leave us a fortune nor did she leave us debt. Her name is not on any buildings or in any international journals. Yet, I cannot think on anyone I have ever met in my life that has ever had a more profound effect on my life than my mother. Today, I want to introduce her name and memory in the world through my blog.
Madeleine Leonce did not give us a fortune, she gave us the ability to dream and to work for our dreams. She did not give us houses and land, she gave us hope that our tomorrow will be better than today. She did not finish high school but she taught us that ignorance is not substitute for intelligence and not all knowledge is contained in books. She taught that talent does not guarantee success and that success is no substitute for integrity. Though she never attended a seminary, Madeleine's ministry touched more people in more places than she ever knew.
I was given the privilege to write her eulogy on behalf of my family. THe experience changed my life one more time. I want to share it with the world.

Eulogy: Madeleine Leonce, nee Martelly
September 15, 1925 – July 24, 2007
She Did It Anyway

She was born into a family that loved the Lord and taught her to love God, her family and her fellowman. Life came at her quickly. From what we know, her childhood in Mon Repose, St. Lucia was exceptional: she had a strong family support, her grandfather and grand mother, mother, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, many cousins and close family friends. They farmed, raised crops and animals, provided for the family and sold to others for livelihood.

At an early age, Madeleine, began to take care of her siblings and watch over them. She also spent as much time as she could with her grandfather, Pap Savaoui, who was a spiritual giant, a healer and a man of faith. Madeleine got her seeds of unshakable faith from him. She was unable to complete secondary school but she was educated anyway.

When the disappointments of life left her with five young children, she raised them anyway. When other relationships left her to raise a family of eight with little money and a small home, she raised us anyway making roads where none existed.

In her early days in Barbados, she started a business importing and selling crops from St. Lucia with little resources but she did it anyway. She did it in Carrington Village and Tweeside Road, while sent her kids to school, she cooked, she cleaned and ran a business. Eventually she became a seamstress and made clothes for numerous people and family members for all occasions. When people could not pay she made their clothes anyway.

When she gave her heart to God fully, she knew that God was calling her to change her lifestyle. She had little money and no home, yet she got a new government house anyway. When her children and other family members broke her heart at so many critical times, she loved us anyway and continued to remind us that God is love but he will not be mocked.

When mouths were hungry and cupboards were bare, she knelt in prayer, sent us to school and went to the kitchen anyway. Even though there was nothing in the house in the morning, by the evening God gave her food anyway.

The house was small, the rooms were full but she took in strangers anyway.

When her dreams were dashed and she had to make changes, she dreamed anyway.
When we would sit around and talk and play games, she told stories and taught us to dream anyway. When she had no money for Christmas presents for her children, she made them with her own hands anyway.

When we had no bus fare to get to church or school, we went anyway. When we had no money for youth camp, we went anyway. When her boss told her that she would lose her job if she went to her son’s wedding in Trinidad, she went anyway. When family and others criticized her for claiming to be a Christian when her girls were having children out of wedlock, she served God anyway.

When the parents in the neighborhood would not send their children to church with us, she went and invited them to her house and told them of Jesus’ love anyway. Despite that fact that she has not conducted a Junior Fellowship for many years, we have heard of at least one person who is now a Christian and conducting her own Junior Fellowship. The ministry continues anyway.

When her health began to take her strength and her vision, she was continued her times with God anyway. When sickness zapped her strength, she still wanted to go to church anyway. When the doctors said that her body was failing and the cancer was spreading, she continued to live anyway.

Today the day has come to stand by her side and honor her passing to her heavenly home; this is not her lying here, she’s living in eternity anyway.

Among the things she taught us is this:

You may chase a dream that might never come your way
Dream it anyway
You may love someone with all your heart yet they may choose to walk away
Love them anyway
God is great, but sometimes life’s not good.
When we prayer, things don’t always turn out like we think they should,
We do it anyway.
Sing, dream, love
Do them anyway.*

Mummy, we heard you
We get it now
You did it and we are here anyway.

(*Excerpts from Anyway, by Martina McBride, Wake Up Laughing, BMG Music, 2007)

Letting Go, One Year Later

Last June we experienced that mixed emotions of letting go of our son to allow him to pursue his dreams of becoming a fighter pilot and an astranaut. He has now complete his first year of college and training at the Air Force Academy and is excited about next year. After all, he is attending one of the best uninversities in the world.

In letting go we experienced lonliness that we had not imagined. We wished we could take him back but we knew that we had to let him go after his dreams. We recommitted him to the hands of the Lord. As I recap the last year, I realized something new: in not being at home, home became more important to him. He values being at home more than ever; he values his room; his friends at home; he values his family; he values His relationship with Christ; he values his upbringing. We are proud of both of our kids.

Letting go is part of the maturity process God gives us when He gives us kids. My greatest fear is that I fail to impart to my kids what God has asked me to impart to them and for my own selfish gratification, I fail to allow them to be what He wants them to be. Today, I still look at Ryan and wonder if I could have done things better or different. I do see things that I could have done differently. God has never-the-less taken our best efforts and covered them with His Spirit and the results are amazing.

We are glad that we let him go even if we had to weep in the process.

We are greatful for God's mercies and favor in our lives.

Walking Into History

As a child we read in storybooks of distant places and people around the world. As one who loves history and geography, I loved to read about the people of the Orient, their customs and history. The Great Wall of China is one of the marvels of the world.

Reading and seeing pictures of the Great Wall always got my attention. I have many dreams and goals yet to be accomplished. My list of places to visit is extensive however, I never imagined getting to actually see the Great Wall.

On March 24, 2007, the Lord actually allowed me, not only to see the wall but actually to hike on a portion of this marvel of construction and military dominance.

This formerly poor boy from a 'bad' school on a small island walked in the pages of his childhood reading books. Where we come from has not bearing on where we can go when we have a dream.

Wow... Life is Good, God is Great and I am Blessed!