Today we don’t have the news.  We have “newstainment.”  Like everything else in our current reality, the bottom line is the bottom line, so you have to make the news “sexy” to the viewer in order to make the big bucks.

I recently was introduced to this totally “over the top” video produced by Jon Stewart.  In it, he lampoons CNN’s Rick Sanchez for his sensationalism, misinformation and his “over-caffeinated” approach to the recent earthquake and tsunami in Chile.  I do not endorse Jon Stewart’s language or his perspective in general, but this is hilarious…and it makes the point.

Fill them with water and you have a weapon. Fill them with helium and you have an aircraft. Rub them on your head and you have a science experiment…or at least hair that stands on end!

Balloons are incredibly versatile, and generally easy to control. Fill one up with air, and no matter how hard you hit it, it’s easy to keep right in front of you. You can easily walk down a hallway bouncing a balloon between hands. Even if you bounce it a little to the left or right, you can make mid-course corrections with ease….the balloon just never gets very far from you.

Golf balls are decidedly less versatile. There are probably uses for them outside of golf, but in general, they are what they are…hard, white spheres meant to be hit with authority to a great distance. Somewhere on the box of golf balls you’ll probably see the word “control”, but anyone who plays the game knows this is a lie.

Some people I work with are like balloons. While they may be colorful and amusing, they generally stay pretty close. No matter how hard I try, they rarely get far from me….even if I want them to. When I set them off on a task, they are generally easy to reorient if they get slightly off to the side.

Others I work with are like golf balls. When I set them off on a task, I may never see them again. When I play golf, my ball often looks pretty good coming off the club face, but just as often I soon realize that a shot hit 1/16th of an inch offline at impact may end up in the woods or out of bounds when it stops rolling. So it is with these people.

Leading well requires that I know my people. Some need constant direction, and others need very clear direction at the start. It’s probably not a big deal when I’m leading balloons, but when I’m leading golf balls, I’d be wise to make sure I am skillfully setting them in the proper direction and trajectory to get the most out of their gifts, abilities and time. Doing so will keep me from losing them and having to find yet another new one.

Does this make sense to anyone but me??

For the past week I have been mesmerized by the Olympic Games. I have always loved the Olympics, but lately the Winter Games have been particularly intriguing to me. There is a “throw caution to the wind” element to many of the events. Influenced by the X-Games culture, this group of skaters, skiers, lugers, snowboarders, bobsledders and the lot are obsessed with derring-do.

Here’s the connection…I think. In order for these athletes to “do the derring”, they must have 100% commitment. They must completely sell out to their trick or run. In the immortal words of Mr. Miyagi, “Walk on road, hm? Walk left side, safe. Walk right side, safe. Walk middle, sooner or later get squish, just like grape. Here, karate, same thing. Either you karate do ‘yes’ or karate do ‘no.’ You karate do ‘guess so,’ squish, just like grape.”

Now, on to marriage. Research has proven over the years that couples choosing to live together before marriage are much more likely to be unhappy in their marriage. The most recent study completed at Denver University in 2009 confirms this. (Click here for the story.) One of the hypotheses is that as couples are afraid to commit wholeheartedly, they “slide” into marriage….with low expectations of the relationship and its potential longevity.

Whatever the reason, easing into commitment in relationships appears to have the same result as easing into an Olympic half pipe.

Squish, just like grape.

          - Mary Karen Reed’s last words in her journal entry before her death at the Virginia Tech shooting.

I saw this film today and was moved. May we all take Mary’s last words to heart.

I was joining a new team, and I anticipated being considered for a leadership role. The call informed me that a younger, less seasoned teammate was being tapped for the job.

I was stunned.

After all, I had far more work experience, leadership experience and felt confident that I was a better “natural leader.” All that may have been true, but for the record, I think the decision makers made the right call. I wasn’t ready, because I wrongly equated position with leadership.

A couple years later, the “big boss,” the man responsible for that leadership decision, pulled me aside for a little chat. He started talking with me about some problems he saw with the team, and was suggesting ways I could help the group be more effective.

Externally, I was calm, but internally, I was indignant. I finally looked at him and said, “Aren’t you talking to the wrong guy? Remember, you hired the OTHER guy to lead, not me!” His response was classic. “I am talking with the right guy, because in this case, you’re the guy that can institute change!”

Message sent, message received.

I learned that a title on a business card has very little to do with leadership. I learned that leading “from the middle” is a great way to hone both a reputation for leading and the actual experience to take on more leadership. And most importantly, I learned, as my friend Craig Parker once said, that “leaders aren’t necessarily in charge, they’re in front!”

What are your thoughts?

Both men were scientists that had turned their brains into successful careers in business. I was amazed by their obvious skill and drive. I’m not always the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I realized this was a moment where I could parlay this acquaintance into a life lesson for my son. I asked these guys, “What advice would you give a 14 year-old to set him on the road to success?”

“Learn to communicate effectively! Debate team, speech class…whatever it takes. LEARN HOW TO COMMUNICATE!”

Simple, yet profound.

We live in the era of texting language, horrible grammar and limited vocabulary. It seems to me that one communicating with style, substance and power IS the one-eyed man.

Let the coronation begin.

While I go through most of my days with my head down working my way through my long and varied to-do list, I am by nature an emotional guy. I can go below the surface for long periods of time when necessary, but eventually I need to come up for air. Laughter, reading, praying, sports, deep conversation, and engaging in social media relationships are but a few of the ways I unwind. Nothing engages my heart, however, like the one thing that seems to be hard-wired into my soul.

Music.

Whether it’s Jane Monheit’s version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, Andrea Bocelli singing “The Prayer”, Mercy Me’s interpretation of “The Love of God” or the Rolling Stones searing “Gimme Shelter”, there is something in music that refreshes me, focuses me and challenges me. It gets to my heart, and I get honest with myself and how I’m doing “right quick.”

If you looked at my MP3 collection, you’d find artists as diverse as you can imagine. KT Tunstall, Springsteen, Tomlin, Crowder, Chicago, Supertramp, Sufjan Stevens, Gladys and her pips, Placido Domingo, The Police, Ray Charles, Santana, Jason Mraz, U2, Third Day….the list goes on and on.

There are, of course, songs on my iPod that are there for background music…or I just ignore them. Who knows why they are there? Perhaps they hit a spot in my heart years ago, but I’ve long forgotten why I purchased them. Still, as I sat listening to carefully chosen songs this morning, songs I picked specifically for the condition of my heart, I remembered just how great a gift the Creator has bestowed on us.

Are you like me?

Politicians fathering children out of wedlock….and lying about it. Superstar talk show host warring about who’s going to get the $45 million and the right time slot. Ordinary people in a shopping frenzy punching out someone who raced to the new “in” toy seconds before they got there. What’s wrong with us??

Then, in a moment of clarity, disaster strikes a destitute, needy people, and we respond. Sometimes, I really love “us.”

This week, I heard something remarkable. In Indianapolis, where I live, a local church put out a letter alerting their people that 300 orphans from Haiti needed homes. At first, it was stated that the commitment would be two months, but then the commitment was raised…the families needed to be willing to adopt these children.

I’m not sure of the exact numbers, but that’s not really the point. What I heard was that over 600 families responded….in just a few hours! (In fact, one of our friends called to get involved, and they were told so many had responded that they needed to stop taking names.)

So far it’s unclear whether the orphans will actually make their way to our city…there are clearly some administrative challenges their government, and ours, are facing. Still, I can’t begin to express how this outpouring of sacrifice has buoyed my faith in people. Just when I thought the world was being overwhelmed by headline-grabbing narcissists, a real crisis was met with compassion by real people.

Check this blog for the latest information: http://safefamilieshaiti.blogspot.com/

They have been horrible. If it’s not some scantily clad woman or a promo for what should be an R-rated sit-com, it’s the unbelievably scary images of horror film commercials.

I have 4 kids, the youngest being a six year-old girl. When we’re watching television I have the remote perpetually “at the ready.” Occasionally I miss by a split second, and my daughter is greeted by an image that will undoubtedly haunt her as she sleeps. You mean to tell me that my six year-old can’t watch a football game with me at 2:30 in the afternoon without seeing some mutating body part preparing to slice and dice another human being?

I’m not advocating censorship here, just common sense. Do the network executives have children? Is money so important that they’ll sell their family-time ad slots to anyone?? How about a little integrity and self restraint?

How about you…have you noticed this?

It wasn’t always great for my dad.

While there were many shows he enjoyed, he often got stuck doing shows he genuinely disliked. When you’re killing yourself doing 8 performances a week for 6 months and you despise the content? Yikes. The conversation I had with him after watching one of his shows changed my life.

I went to the theater this particular evening with one thought…I was going to watch my dad throughout the entire show. He was in the chorus this time, so the focus was rarely on him. The musical had been running for several months, and my dad hated it.

From the opening overture to the closing curtain, I watched my dad. Never, and I mean never, did he lose one ounce of focus. He was always in character, always engaged. His energy and effort couldn’t have been more concentrated had he been the lead in a Broadway musical. I was dumbfounded.

After the show, I asked him how he mustered the emotional energy to deliver such a terrific performance despite his seemingly insignificant role in a production he had come to despise.

“Christopher, I am a professional.”

That comment brings tears to my eyes as I write it.

Thanks for being my living example, Dad. In an age of entitlement and narcissism, we’ve forgotten what you guys look like.