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2010 Executive Tidbits
Price of denim jeans: 47% under $25, 37% $25-50, and 16% over $50. |
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Check out Keith's other site:
Virtual Writing Coach |
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The
Executive Connection SM
a publication of The Virtual Executive
Coach SM
"Vision + Accountability = Success!"
www.virtualexecutivecoach.com
March, 2009
In This Issue:
1. Preview
2. Executive Summary
3. How Bad Is It?
4. Helpful Hints
1. Preview
The Executive Connection explores the creative and analytical
process of business development, team-building, and executive
development. We are an interactive community of executives
and small business owners who desire to network with like-minded
high-performance executives to enhance our knowledge,
skills, and aptitudes in the competitive business world.
Published monthly, the Newsletter offers coaching suggestions
around the topics of: business development, financing,
marketing, networking, incorporations, mergers, human
resources, governmental regulations, and tax laws. Topics
are presented from the perspective of Keith Barton and
represent only his ideas on creating and running your
business.
Because we are an interactive community of executives
and business owners, other viewpoints are welcomed and
may be printed in future monthly newsletters with permission
from Keith Barton.
2. Executive Summary
March, 2009
Dear Executive Connection Subscriber,
This month's newsletter features: How Bad Is It?
3. How Bad Is It?
Timothy Egan has written an historical account of the
greatest financial disaster in America to date, entitled,
The Worst Hard Time about the dust bowl years.
During 1929 to 1935 both Texas and Oklahoma panhandles
were decimated with blinding dust storms with winds up
to 100 mph, wiping out cattle, homes, and killing ranchers
with "dust pneumonia". Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, and
Colorado were not spared. "Black Sunday" occurred on Palm
Sunday, April 14, 1935, with winds that blew southward
from the Dakotas into this five-state area known as the
High Plains or "No Man's Land" on the heels of four years
of drought, dust storms, decimated cattle, wheat, and
cotton prices. Farmers were forced to kill rabbits for
food; cattle were buried in deep graves, sod homes were
covered in dust drifts exceeding the roofs; fence posts
were buried; Model A Fords were inoperable due to the
dust and static electricity; schools were closed for weeks
at a time; hospitals were virtual trauma centers. Yet,
these hearty few who settled such places as Boise City,
Colorado, Dalhart, Texas, Baca, Texhoma, Clayton, Guymon,
Dodge City, Lamar, Lincoln City, and Wichita Falls, continued
to survive on pure optimism, faith, and stamina. Farms
were being foreclosed in record numbers as farmer debt
piled up as high as the sand drifts. "Drifters, lunatics,
and bankrupt shopkeepers filled the courtrooms in Dalhart"
(page 176) to lay claim to anything that wasn't nailed
down.
Contrast the above with today's climate of economic uncertainty.
In 1935, the unemployment rate was 25%; today it's approaching
8%; wheat was going for 35 cents a bushel; today it's
$3.10 per bushel according to the Kansas Farm Bureau.
Forty percent of the people were farmers; today less than
3% farm their own land. With talk of dire economic times
in the financial sector, the government did not take over
banks. FDR began his "New Deal" and "Soil Conservation
Corp" programs since following Hoover to include the Civil
Conservation Corps and Farm Bureau to give subsidies to
farmers not to grow wheat and corn on their land until
the land could be recovered for proper planting. A Carolina
cotton farmer, Hugh Bennett persuaded FDR that contour
farming was the way to go rather than plowing in rows
to preserve the land. Wheat farmers had destroyed their
crops by burning the grass rather than suffer the humiliation
of 35 cents a bushel when wheat was going for $2 in 1929.
Contrast 1929-1935 with 2005-2010; pundits say that we
are in a crisis that will take a long time to recover.
Gloom and doom has replaced the "hopefulness" of FDR's
New Deal. The American spirit was not broken in 1935 despite
the harsher times which mainly affected the Midwestern
states. The New England financial center was spared dust
storms except for one dust storm that blew across Philadelphia,
Boston, and NYC in 1933 and held ships at bay in the Atlantic
for weeks. The "out of sight, out of mind" mentality amongst
the financial elite paid little attention to the farmers'
plight and middle America who made their living off the
land. The same can be said today as the top 5% who earn
$250,000 or more have little regard for the working class
who must bear the brunt of governmental redistribution
of wealth and financial bailouts to corporate America.
Except for our 401ks now looking at 104ks, people still
drive SUVs, go out to dinner, take vacations, and live
with credit card debt. The mortgage bailout will help
the few whose home prices have fallen drastically leaving
them upside-down in equity. I can't get too concerned
with the whining from left and right who blame each other
for our mess which I attribute to greed, corruption, and
indifference (not too dissimilar from the wheat farmers
in 1929-1935 and the Eastern Establishment).
People say that history repeats itself, but I feel that
human motives remain unchanged in this zero-sum game of
life. Where virtues like generosity, loyalty, integrity,
and fairness should direct our efforts to get out of our
current economic debacle, greed masked as transparency
is the order of the day.
Helpful Hints:
- Read an historical account of the Great Depression
and see what factors created the 1929 stock crash;
any similarities to today's economic crisis?
- Ask yourself if you're better off than you were
in 1972, our last recession. Why or why not?
- How long do you think it will take the Stock Market
to move past 12,000 points and what factors do you
think will contribute to its recovery?
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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Be assured your name and email address are confidential.
We do not sell, rent or share our mailing list with anyone.
Contact Information:
Keith Barton, Ph.D.
Voice: 281-583-5005
Fax: 281-583-5008
Web: http://www.virtualexecutivecoach.com
E-Mail: keith_barton@att.net
(c) Copyright 2009, Virtual Executive Coach SM
and A. Keith Barton, Ph.D.
All rights reserved.
Distribution Rights:
The Executive Connection SM is copyrighted,
but you may retransmit or distribute it to whomever you
wish as long as not a single word is changed, added, or
deleted, including the contact information. However, you
may not copy it to a web site.
Republication of The Executive Connection SM
in paper media is encouraged and permitted by individuals,
organizations and associations, as long as the issue is
reprinted in its entirety, without change, and includes
the contact information.
With advance permission, we are happy to edit an issue
to fit your space requirements. Republication also is
encouraged under other circumstances. However, the advance
permission of
A. Keith Barton, Ph.D. must be obtained in the event that
changes in the text are desired.
The Executive Connection SM
Mission:
The Executive Connection SM is dedicated to
helping first-time business owners and executives to recognize
resistance to change, while they create and manage their
own businesses. My goal is to help you transform your
vision into a successful business venture with the addition
of accountability structures and silent partner.
The Executive Connection SM is a publication
of The Virtual Executive Coach SM and Keith
Barton, Ph.D.
We would like The Executive Connection SM to
be as interactive as possible. If you have feedback, comments,
topics you would like addressed, or can suggest additional
resources to benefit us all, please email us at any time.
Send your e-mail to keith_barton@att.net.
Please forward this issue to anyone you think would find
The Executive Connection SM interesting and
beneficial. Your recommendation helps us keep growing,
and ensures an excellent exchange of information and techniques.
Archives:
You can read previous issues of The Executive Connection
SM in our archive section.
About Keith Barton, Ph.D
Dr. Barton received his Ph.D. in 1972 from the University
of Texas at Austin and has been a practicing therapist
for over thirty years. He is a graduate of MentorCoach
and is accepting new clients.
He has been an adjunct professor at the University of
South Carolina, consultant to Fortune 500 companies in
executive development, founded and managed Texas Community
Living Ventures, Inc., in 1986 for providing group home
services to persons with mental retardation. Keith founded
and has been running a clinical practice in Northwest Houston since 1990.
He writes part-time with the goal of completing one novel
a year. His desire to coach others derives from his passionate
interest in helping others become attuned to their creative
powers of storytelling.
Dr. Barton has training in coaching, cognitive and family
therapy and health psychology. He has published articles,
made presentations and conducted workshops about:
Small Business Development
Employee Wellness Programs
Anxiety and achievement
Stress management
Self-esteem
Communication skills
Leadership styles
Core values in the workplace
Executive Development
High-performance groups
Physician support groups
Writer support groups
© 2009 The Virtual Executive Coach SM
and Keith Barton.
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