Hang onto your sense of humor

Our guys in Iraq keep 'em laughing

Our consulting group met in Philadelphia last week.
All of us advise newspaper publishers and editors.
We talked a lot about what we saw for the future.
We talked about technology and delivery systems.
We talked about integrity, credibility and loyalty.
Let me ask you these three questions:
• Do newspapers and books have a future?
• Does U.S. small business have a future?
• Are we being spent into the poor house?
No matter how you answer, do it with a smile.
Think you have it tough?
What if you were in Iraq? Or Afghanistan?
Our troops in both know it's serious business.
But their sense of humor helps relieve the tension.
Their message: Keep laughing for your sanity's sake.
The news business will survive - in print and online.
Small business will survive. It won't be easy.
But entrepreneurs are tough, adaptable, innovative.
Will we be spent into oblivion? It may happen.
But I'm convinced we are a strong people.
We have the greatest economic system in the world.
We have freedom. Despite Congress and the courts.
It may take decades to recover from this spending.
But we will do it if we keep our sense of humor.
For more humor from a combat zone, email me.
JerryBellune@yahoo.com. You'll get all 15 photos.
Pass this along to your friends.
Feel free to post my blog on your site.
Attribution to my blog is appreciated.

Always put your customers’ interests first

Yesterday we talked about a great turnaround.
How Kimberly-Clark became a first class papermaker.
Today I want to share with you a personal story.
One of my heroes was a Level 5 leader in Congress.
The late Floyd Spence was our South Carolina neighbor.
He was a retired Navy captain and 16-term U.S. Congressman.
He chaired the House National Security Committee.
He had been a high school and college star athlete.
He had edited the law journal in law school.
Yet he was one of the most modest men I’ve ever known.
In running for re-election, Floyd didn’t talk about himself.
He didn’t talk about what he was doing for the voters.
Floyd was interested in what was on his constituents’ minds.
He wanted to know their needs and concerns.
He was committed to constituent service.
He survived a double lung transplant.
It gave him 10 more years of a life of service.
Thousands came to pay their respects to his family
Thousands more attended his funeral.
He always put his constituents’ interests before his own.
Always put your loved ones’ and customers’ interests first.
Tomorrow we’ll talk about a test of faith in a POW camp.
For more on leadership, click here.