• AMONG THE TOP CHALLENGES FOR LEADERS IS EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATING with a broad range of stakeholders, customers & suppliers. A few critical factors in achieving effectiveness are: (1)) remembering that ‘transparency’ is today’s mantra, communicating meaningful information often and consistently; (2) sharing ‘why’ actions matter, more so than telling ‘what’; (3) speaking ‘authentically,’ sharing concerns & feelings about areas needing support; (4) recognizing and responding to the needs and expectations of others; (5) avoiding personal bias while listening fully to other positions with respect and sensitivity to their listening style; (6) being clear, remembering that not everyone ‘understands’ thought process or shortcuts in what you say or write. DCG Coaching services can help. [FORBES – 7/7/20]
  • CONSUMER CHOICES WILL BE FEWER IN THE NEXT NORMAL. “The lesson that many companies are drawing from not being able to please everyone in the pandemic is that consumers don’t care about having such vast choices of endless varieties…and are happy with a smaller lineup of familiar brands… The average food retailer now stocks about 33,000 different items (including 400 different types of Campbell’s Soup), and Automakers last year offered more than 605,000 vehicle configurations – even before taking different colors into account.” [WALL STREET JRNL & THE WEEK – 7/10/20]
  • CALIFORNIA VOTERS DON’T KNOW OR CARE THAT LEGISLATORS, ONCE UPON A TIME, WERE “PUBLIC SERVANTS, evaluated on how well they governed & delivered what citizens prioritized, versus pushing their personal agendas on others.” The $200+ billion state budget has tripled per resident over the past three decades, while public schools are worst in the nation, traffic is congested at all hours for failure to expand the transportation network, and potholes on major streets literally break vehicle axles. Where does $200+ billion go? (1) About 1/3 to Health & Human Services – mostly Medicaid spending for over 14 million residents (legal or not), including a billion in a recent 6-month period to “ineligible beneficiaries. (2) The next largest chunk is K-12 Education, while 80% of schools still have “substantial deferred maintenance including risk of earthquake damage, and less than four-in-ten high school students are proficient.” Yet Teachers’ Unions – who provide legislators with substantial funding & voting support – refuse to reform Tenure or Seniority-based pay, layoffs, new learning technologies, or expanded school choice. (3) State Prison System spending is next costly (which Unions similarly support). These three categories usurp 90% of the budget. (4) Add water pipes repair costs for 75% of pipes, all older than 75 years, which continually rupture to damage property (plus waste millions of gallons of water yearly), and not much is left to improve the lives of Californians – particularly those who pay taxes.  [STANFORD HOOVER INSTITUTION – 7/7/20]
  • JUST IN TIME FOR SUMMER PROTESTS, a Wearable Personal Air Conditioner is now available, worn alongside a special T-shirt, resting against your back below the neck. Sony’s ‘Reon Pocket’ is promised to cool body temperature by as much as 23 degrees on summer days, or heat your temp by up to 14 degrees on evenings or other seasons. Battery life is up to four hours before requiring a two-hour recharge. About $140 for unit + holder, available from Sony online store. [GIZMODO – 7/6/20]
  • ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER LOANS (EIDL) are still available to help small businesses (up to 500 employees) with up to $150K financing for 30 years at 3.75% plus first year payment deferral. Borrowers need to prove economic ‘uncertainty,’ i.e. inability to meet operating expenses as result of the coronavirus pandemic.
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

           Five words women use which men much too often misinterpret:  Fine, Okay, Whatever, Go ahead, Nothing. A useful guide to reality:   https://biggeekdad.com/2017/06/5-words-women-use/

Vintage Real-Life Ads From the ‘Mad Men’ Era which today violate every P.C. norm:   http://definition.org/vintage-sexist-ads/4/

          While most media continue deny the coronavirus spread impact from tens of thousands in ‘protest’ demonstrations, and instead attribute the resurgence of coronavirus infections to Governors ‘opening up too early,’ students holiday partying at beaches, and/or assemblies at churches & BBQs, evidence does not support that narrative. In Miami alone, 31 police officers & personnel were infected directly after participating in ‘Protest Response’ teams, along with two legislators and local organizers who are all pictured in crowds, many without masks.