During my holiday break and on my walks on the beach, I have found my mind wandering to many different topics that will impact our leadership activities in the new decade. In this New Year, I will share some of these important challenges for my leadership colleagues. First, we seem to be in an anti-intellectualism period in our history. I remember the historian Richard Hofstadter addressing this issue over fifty years ago. I think this trend is worse today than it was back in the 1950s. We seem to ignore science unless it fits our political philosophy. We do not value education very much. This is dangerous. The status quo is not acceptable. As a nation, we need to move forward. It is through education, training, science and change that we can move ahead. Investment in our future is critical.
Second, we are in a constant battle to maintain governmental and private funding for training our health workforce and supporting bench and practice research activities. We seem to spend so much of our valuable time on defending what we do. Our country is in dire financial meltdown. It will only be possible to grow if we continue to educate our children and ourselves, fund research to improve our health and mental health, and continue to improve the qyality of life of our population. We seem to spend so much time writing our grants and then waiting months for a decision.
Third, we must address extremism in our society both from the right and the left. The majority of our population will suffer is the extremists take control. It is through collaboration and consensus that we grow. We cannot let the extremists take over. History has shown that extremism leads to decay and destruction. We must find ways to use our leadership to build the future and not destroy it. We cannot sit on the guidelines and wait. We need to show that working together is critical. We do not need the political right and left telling us no when positive change is suggested.
Fourth, we must get beyond the creativity gap. Old ways of doing things limit our options. Leaders need to be innovative and constantly search for creative ways to address the challenges in our society. Creativity takes us beyond traditional problem-solving to new levels of thought and action.
Fifth, Leaders must put people first. Our growth must not put money first. Health reform is humane and necessary. Promoting the health of all our citizens is just the right thing to do whatever the cost. We talk much about the fact that we are a society with strong religious beliefs and orientations. Yet, we forget this when we try to do things to improve our society through better health, education, and service.
Sixth, climate change is real. We must stop making it a political issue. We must pay attention to scientists and environmentalists. The future of our planet requires it. We need to stop criticizing leaders like Al Gore who are trying to get us to address our planet and do the right thing.
Seventh, a colleague of mine( Dan Swartzman) has stated that this is the 30th year of 1980. The me generation and its followers seem to lack a concern for others. The selfish gene seems to dominate our society. We need to find ways to make us(the United States) our priority and not me, myself, and I. We need to nurture our compassion, our concern for our children and grandchildren and our future.
Lastly, our society does not respect or value government work and workers. These workers spend many hours each week in service to the residents of our communities and states. They are often professionally trained and work fot salaries much below the private sectors. Our teachers must be included here. Today, they are being forced to take furloughs in many states where our battling legislators refuse to address the service needs and growing budget deficitis of our states and municipalities in a rational manner. Government work needs to be valued.
These are a few of my reflections and thoughts as I walk the beach and prepare for my return to the world of this new decade filled with hope, promise, and challenge.
Rowitz On Leadership 