True Athletes AND Examples

Wow, okay so it has been months (nearly 4) since I last posted to the blog. I have a lot to write about but will write a quick post on what is currently on my mind. Just tonight I was sitting comfortably on the couch perusing my favorite website....ESPN.com... and read a quick article about one of the athletes I grew up watching. The article was about Mr. Karl "the Mailman" Malone, and was called "Getting to know the real Karl Malone".
Now, I have to mention my opinion of sports in general. I am a huge sports fan at almost every level. I enjoy watching the amazing talent of a swimmer's freestyle pull and quick flip-turn, a volleyball player's kill for a sideout right at the corner line, a soccer player's banana curving hit on goal from 30 yards out to the upper corner of the net, or a golfer's approach shot from 250 yards out that hits the green and spins back 10 yards to end up inches from the whole. We have some amazingly talented people on this earth and to be able to display their talents under such high pressure in front of thousands and millions of people is stunning. HOWEVER, some athletes, mostly professional athletes, and more recently collegiate and even high school or prep athletes, act as if the whole world owes them something. They act as thugs, whiners, uncaring, child-like criminals. It seems that they care about nothing more than money, attention, and the world alone.
I understand that some of you may not agree with me and that is fine. I understand that some people/athletes were raised in a different way and that deep inside most athletes are probably honest, caring, hard-working individuals, BUT many of them now days are not. I am amazing at the millions of dollars that some of these athletes make and yet still act the way they do. They have chosen a career with public spotlight and should respect that. It is not right when other amazing civic leaders are improving communities, individuals, and companies with sustainable change and make 1/1,000th of what some of these athletes make. I think of educators/teachers, police officers, and other civic employees. These are the people that help us learn the skills to be successful in life AND keep us safe. Some are paid so poorly that they qualify for Medicaid, WIC, and other government welfare, HOW IN THE WORLD is that happening!? I want to be clear that not all teachers and police officers are wonderful people either, but for the most part they are humbly doing their job, and that is important....and I haven't even mentioned hospital administrators yet....HA :)
Okay, enough of the tirade on athletes and generalizations that I have made. I just thought I would give a quick background as to why I think this article is revealing of the types of professional athletes that are acting as role models??
Karl Malone is definitely not the "greatest" example of the qualities mentioned above (he has his past and probably still isn't perfect), BUT at least in some major ways he represents some positive attributes and seems to do A LOT of good with his talents and the money he has made in his life. He continues to be a person that is happy with what makes him tick.....outdoors, tractors, service, fishing, and probably Louisiana! He was loyal as an athlete, spending nearly his whole career in Utah (until he left for those darn Lakers).
I guess the whimsical purpose of this post is to urge us all to keep our heroes and mentors as people that represent the true meaning of hard work, values, and civic service. Some may be athletes, but most are the people we meet or interact with daily. I hope that I can teach my children to do find true heroes AND I hope that I can provide a good example of such an individual as I grow in my career and life.
Thanks for reading my ramble!

Illness as Economic Metaphor

Recently I had the opportunity of attending an event at Cleveland Clinic called "Ideas for Tomorrow". This is an event that the Clinic holds on a monthly basis (for the most part). We invite leaders from around the world come speak to us on life, society, healthcare, business, innovation, success, and many other topics. Some of these speakers have included Tom Kelley (Founder of IDEO), Michael Porter (Harvard Professor, Strategist), political leaders, athletes, and so forth. Next week we will even have Former Walmart President and CEO, Lee Scott Jr. I try to attend these events and am usually fortunate enough to be considered a "VIP" (just because I know someone that organizes the events) so I get to sit at the front during the presentation, stay after to meet the individual, AND even get to eat some nice cheese and crackers (whoopee!)....I think it is mostly because they feel bad for such a young early professional so they give me the chance to rub shoulders with hot shots.

Anyway, a few months ago we had philanthropist, researcher, and businessman, Michael Milken speak to us. He is the guy that invented the junk bond, has raised a lot of money for disease prevention, and has done some other stuff in his life (good and bad)....see his bio at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Milken

Mr. Milken gave a stirring speech on the health of our nation in physical and economical terms and described some of his passions. At the end of the presentation he shared an article that he wrote for The Wall Street Journal in June of 2009 called "Illness as Economic Metaphor". He uses some great symbolism to describe the similarities between the current health/illness issues in our nation and the current economic issues in our nation.

I particularly appreciate the comparisons about:

• The importance of allowing the patients body to recover from the sickness....allow the market to recover from the downturn.
• Grave illnesses are usually more serious and life-threatening when they follow years of bad habits...consumers and businesses are usually in worse trouble when they have taken on years of poor business decisions just to make a quick dollar or two. Far too much overindulging in both cases!
• Even the Hippocratic Oath that starts with, "First, do no harm" supports the notion to do no harm to the economy but to keep it healthy by maintaining prudent business decisions.

You should be able to find the article online by Googling the name of the article and the date. Anyway, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts!!!

Now That is What I am Talking About!!

Recently Cleveland Clinic took an amazing step forward in helping the "community" live a more healthy life. The offering can be found at: http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2009/12/cleveland_clinic_ymca_curves_t.html

I would love to hear your feedback on:

• Will this really change behavior?


• Should other organizations provide the same benefit?


• How are we going to track and measure success?


• Should this be a part of the healthcare reform bill?


• What other opportunities are there to provide community health change?


• Any other thoughts?