Balance - Softcover

Ward, Christopher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1466921897 ISBN 13: 9781466921894

Verlag: Trafford, 2012

Inhaltsangabe

Balance tells the story of Christopher Ward and his battle with bipolar disorder. Ward retraces the steps of his journey from the straight-A student in high school to a young man who finds himself running away from home, landing in psychiatric wards and riding the waves of depression and mania for years at a time. In between the seriousness of describing these experiences, Ward mixes in some of his humorous thoughts on a variety of subjects, from religion and gun control to things he sees in everyday life. Literally true to its title, "Balance" provides light-hearted commentary to help offset the very serious recount of a man's struggle with bipolar disorder. The content of the book sometimes rides the waves itself as Ward's sense of humor and humility come together, or in some cases, seem to clash together.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Christopher Ward is a speaker, writer, and charity trustee. He is a Methodist by upbringing but became an Anglican while at university. He has been Chief Executive of organizations in the private, public, and voluntary sectors in the UK. He speaks under the brand name "The Management Preacher" on a wide range of management and leadership issues, but particularly on how to make all work meaningful. He is the author of Company Courtesy (1990) and Meaningful Work (2011).

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BALANCE

By Christopher Ward

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2012 Christopher Ward
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-2189-4

Chapter One

No BS (This is the No Bullshit Part)

I decided to start with this one as I once told a co-worker I should write a book called "No BS Communications." I forgot to tell you in that exciting intro I'm a marketing and communications manager by trade. I have a degree in public relations with a minor in marketing from Kent State University (KSU). I'd like to start there, as the education I received gave me the foundation to start what I feel has been a successful career so far. (And yes, for those of you outside of Northeast Ohio, it's the school where the kids were shot during a Vietnam War protest in 1970. I won't address that any further in this book.)

While at KSU, I had a professor named Bill Sledzik. He led the PR program at Kent and is still at Kent today. He's also now a well-known PR blogger. But I digress. Bill had real-world experience from running his own PR firm and working in the field for a long time before becoming a professor. I learned a lot from him, and he helped me get the job I'm in today. It was supposed to be a three-month internship, and I've been with the company more than 12 years now. Longest internship ever. The HR guy still looks at me funny when I walk by. I'm like the dude on "Office Space" with the stapler issue. (Oh yeah, one more thing. I'll make references to movies and TV shows I like. If you don't get a reference, look it up as it's probably some funny stuff.)

Anyway, many things have changed in communications and PR since I left KSU in 2000. Now everyone can report the news. If you have a cellphone and the ambition to snap a picture of pretty much anything, you can get it on the Web. Social media was just getting rolling when I finished school, so I didn't learn how to deal with that from Bill. I'll talk about social media later anyway, or I'll tweet you about it. (If you don't know what that means, Google it. If you don't know what "Google it" means, crawl out from under that rock so you have enough light to read this book.)

What I learned from Bill was simple. Do the right thing, and be a good person. If your company did something wrong or made a mistake, own it. Don't hide. Take responsibility. Tell people what happened and how you are going to fix it. Treat people like adults. If you are working with employees, don't feed them corporate bullshit. They don't want to hear about "synergy" and crap like that. They want to know if their jobs are going to be there tomorrow and if their 401(k) is coming back. Treat your employees with respect so they become true ambassadors for your company. If something is bullshit, call it bullshit and try to fix it. Don't call it an opportunity and tell people we need to "get on the same page" and find a "win-win situation."

That's pretty much it. Of course Bill stated these things much more eloquently than that, but I think you get the point. Find the balance between being positive, while being genuine and realistic. Treat people like you would like to be treated. Deliver bad news yourself. Tell your story. Don't let others tell it for you. That sounds pretty simple to me. Now you see why I didn't try to write an entire book on this one.

Chapter Two

The Other "No BS"

I came up with this "No Borders Society" concept in January 2010 when I was ranting in a weekly email I used to send to our sales force at work. (If someone else has coined this phrase, send a note to my lawyer.) Anyway, I like the way I wrote it then—so a slightly revised version is below. I took out the internal, company stuff you wouldn't get. Stick with me through the beginning of the story, as it will get to the point. For reference, this occurred right after the horrible earthquake rocked Haiti in 2010.

"I was out of town and got the opportunity to meet with a colleague I've worked with for a couple of years via phone and email. Her name is Lisa. We were supposed to meet for lunch, but she had to change our plans to only meet at her desk for about 30 minutes as she was swamped with work. Why? Because she works in corporate social responsibility for a transportation company and coordinates most of the shipping the company donates. She coordinated a number of full 727 aircraft of donated goods for delivery into Haiti. With limited landing rights in Haiti and thousands of requests, she was a bit overwhelmed but was handling everything beautifully with a smile on her face. You only need to talk to her for about five seconds to see that she has a good heart and just wants to help people. From her small cubicle, her work has benefitted thousands (if not millions) of people over her career. When things don't go right, she fixes them. And on highly visible shipments when things don't go right, she receives calls from senior executives (very senior). But again, she handles those calls with a smile as well and quickly reassures everyone that everything is going to be fine.

When it's all said and done, it doesn't matter where Lisa works. She'll find a way to help and serve others. She doesn't want the recognition, just the feeling that she's positively impacting others. I think I'm a better person after spending those 30 minutes with her, listening to the passion she has for helping those in need. And she has it right. It's all about helping others when you can.

This brings me to my movie-watching experience this week. (I know, bad transition.) Anyway, I watched "The Hurt Locker," which follows a three-man squadron in Iraq that is called in to diffuse bombs. If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend you rent it. I won't ruin it for you, but the same theme was in it that I saw with Lisa. In a much different way, the squadron was dedicated to helping others—their fellow soldiers and the civilians in Iraq, most of whom are good people. The people of Iraq aren't the enemy. The people who strap the bombs to the chest of an innocent family man and use him as a human bomb ... they are the enemy, and those people could be in Iraq or right here in the U.S. They are the enemy of a global society whose members should look out for and help each other. And that society should be borderless. It's a No Borders Society—and the only requirements to get in are to be a good person, help others and be selfless instead of selfish.

Anyway, the conflicts I'm seeing in the world and in business seem to be driven by personal agendas, not by what's best for the greater good. If everybody spent a little more time looking out for others like Lisa does, and a little less time self-promoting, we'd all be better off.

So that's what I wrote back then, but I'd like to take this No Borders Society idea a bit further. With the global connectivity that's now available thanks to the Internet, the world has become much smaller. It's not "us versus them." Don't get me wrong, I love America and the freedoms we have. But don't you think everyone should be entitled to those same freedoms? You can't control where you are born or who you parents are. If you are lucky enough to escape a terrible environment, shouldn't we as human beings be open to helping you? I hear people say, "Close our borders." Well guess what? There are plenty of good people coming in from other countries who are working hard and making a positive impact on our society. There are also plenty of assholes who were born and raised in the U.S. who are lazy and a drain on society.

I won't take this any further, as I think I've made my point. It's not the U.S. versus Iraq or Afghanistan or even...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Trafford
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1466921897
• ISBN 13: 9781466921894
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 92
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: preigu GmbH & Co. KG; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; Niedersachsen; 49078; Deutschland