Jim Freedman is a leadership consultant whose latest book, published in 2020, is Becoming a Leader: Identity, Influence, and the Power of Reflection.
The words of Ben Franklin at the signing of our Constitution in 1787 - "A republic, if you can keep it," his response to the question, "What have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" - have never held more meaning.
Keeping our democracy in good working order is always a work in progress. For that reason, I have often wondered why some people disregard facts and logical reasoning when making critical decisions such as how to vote in a federal election.
In these early days of 2023, we have been introduced to the concept of “embellishment” as a synonym for lying. I believe it is a new interpretation of the word, as I cannot find it in my Roget’s Thesaurus. A certain Congressperson claims not to have lied on his...
The importance of civic responsibility is paramount to the success of a democracy. By engaging in civic responsibility, we, the citizens of the United States, ensure and uphold the democratic values written in our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Those values or duties include justice, freedom, equality, diversity,
In a week of most strange political events, the Friday night vote in Congress for the “hard” infrastructure bill was an inadvertent celebration and demonstration of the possibility that our republic has some life in it yet. Six Democratic U.S. representatives chose to vote their beliefs about what is good for their constituents by not voting with their party, and 13 Republican members left the ideological boundaries of their party to vote for the best interests of the people they...
As of July 11, 48 percent of the eligible population of the United States has been fully vaccinated, and 55.5 percent has received at least one shot/jab/injection. We fell short of President Biden's goal that 70 percent would be vaccinated by July 4. The reasons for being unable to reach that goal are puzzling, to say the least. Do we have a supply problem? No. In fact, the rate of injection has diminished from a height of an average of...
Every single person who has ever played on any sort of team - sports or otherwise - has been exhorted by a passionate leader to put aside personal goals and play for the team. A mask for one is a mask for all! Why is this so hard to do during the twilight (at least, we hope) of the pandemic? Malcolm Gladwell, in his 2006 book, The Tipping Point, used the epidemiological model to describe how information is rapidly transmitted...
The eve of an event is a moment of great anticipation, trepidation, excitement, and anxiety. Why? An eve is the day or period of time immediately before an event or occasion. It is the time between events. Nothing has happened yet, so our imaginations can run wild, creating wide-ranging scenarios of what might come to be. One of the most famous “eve” stories in Western literature is Dickens' A Christmas Carol, when on Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge is presented with...
What do climate-change deniers, election deniers, anti-vaxxers, and COVID-19 deniers have in common besides an unexplainable attraction to a world of disbelief? What personal benefit is gained from staring directly at the facts in front of you and yet acting as if the facts were false? A fact is something either known or proven to be true. Furthermore, a scientific fact is an objective and verifiable observation. On the other hand, an opinion is defined as a view or judgment...