CarusoBlog

The United Nations Comes To Me

Composed at the Mountaineer Resort outside Pittsburgh--

The famed United Nations (UN) is a popular tourist destination in New York City.  Many people travel to visit the venerable agency, but last weekend, the UN came to me in the personage of one Romain Kohn. 

He's French, so Mr. Kohn pronounces his first name "Ro-mahn" rather than like the lettuce.  At left is a photo of Romain, me and a woman we'll call The Hat Lady.

The title on his United Nations business card reads: "Public Information Support Adviser, Advocacy and Public Information Section, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs"

How's that for an official government title?

Romain and I both spoke at a conference here.  I learned a lot from him as he put some specific world events in perspective for me. 

Americans have been extremely critical of the United States government regarding its slow response time to aid Katrina victims.  Around 2,000 people died during the catastrophe and surely we could have done a better job with the situation.

Here's some worldly perspective on the Katrina statistic.  During the same time period, an earthquake hit the Pakistan region and killed around 80,000 people.  This disaster was of a much larger scale than Katrina, but Americans don't seem to talk about it as much, perhaps because Pakistan is so far away.

A third tragedy occurred around the time of the earthquake and Katrina.  The tsunami killed around 225,000 people.  This is over twice the number of deaths from the earthquake and two thousand times more fatalities than Katrina. 

All three of these events were natural disasters of incomprehensible terror and pain, yet Americans can't stop thinking about or talking about the smaller of the three incidents, perhaps because it happened to us and our own.

Did you remember these numbers?

Hmmm . . . Maybe We Should Forget the Words, "American Idol"

Composed in Biloxi, Mississippi--

It's good to be down south again.  I'm here to speak to a large manufacturing company on how to sharpen employee communication skills. 

I really enjoy my life as an author, speaker and consultant.  I enjoyed my previous life as a musician, as well.  When I performed with my brothers in the rock band Caruso, we had a pretty simple professional creed:  Start on time, no wrong notes, no missed lyrics. 

We thought that was the least we could do for the people who hired us and the folks in the audience.

Yet, two of the Top 10 finalists on American Idol forgot the lyrics on national television.

I thought that entertainment standards were slipping when karaoke became popular in the United States.  That's when amateur singers started to replace professional bands in nightclubs. 

Now, the highest rated entertainment show on television features glaring mistakes on a regular basis.   Is this the best we can do? 

Does it bug you when entertainers get it wrong?

Lessons Learned From Having a Garage Sale

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

We had a garage sale last weekend.  It was a great opportunity to take stock of inventory and assess the real value of our stuff.  In real terms, the garage sale helped us assess the value of our junk because we weren't really using most of the items we sold.

Taking a cue from my book series, here are 5 Cool Ideas learned from having a garage sale:

1.  Travel light through life.
You can travel with carry-on luggage or steamer trunks.  Big bags need to be packed, carried, stored and unpacked.  Always have a garage sale before you move.  Excepting sentimental memorabilia, sell everything you haven't used in two years.

2.  All of life is an illusion.
My old, faithful baseball glove was an illusion.  A young woman with a baseball hat and red toenails paid $5 for the leather and all the great memories.  My magnificent and one-time valuable CD collection was a mirage.  This music has long been converted to .mp3 files and is stored in iTunes.  Apparently, others are hip to this trick 'cause the bulk of my fantastic collection was still in the garage when we closed up shop.

3.  Never feel bad about selling somebody something.
Sonya and I put out stuff that we never thought would sell, yet people came from far and wide to buy.   As the old saying goes, one man's garbage is another man's gold.

4.  Never underestimate your neighbors' love for you.
During the garage sale, one neighbor lady I had only talked to a half-dozen times in four years told me that Sonya and I were "like family" to her.

5.  Don't buy more junk.
'Nuf said. 

The Most Unusual Occupation Ever

Composed in Chicago,  Illinois--

I'm spending a lot of time in Chicago creating management videos for Mark Ragan and Ragan Communications. 

You can find the videos every other week at www.MyManagersNetwork.com.  The most recent video is on the negative power of Mondays.  Sign up for free and learn from other managers.

While in Chicagoland, I delivered a keynote on leadership in nearby Burr Ridge.  I met quite a few people that day, but Lee Kirk stands out because of his unusual occupation.

Lee sells communion.  Did you get that?  I thought giving communion might be a pretty good gig, but this guy has figured out how to sell it!  Brilliant! 

The container comes with 576 wafers for $14 or so.  It sounds like a bargain, although I had no idea what the body of Christ  is going for these days. 

When I asked Lee if he sold Holy water, he smiled and informed me that most Holy water is tap water that has been blessed.

Let's All Sing: "Take Me Out to the Jail Cell"

Composed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin--

I'm in the Dairy State to speak for an international manufacturing firm.  The company has brought its major distributors here to show them appreciation, share selling strategies and give them tools for selling more laundry equipment.

It's been a terrific event, highlighted by great people, a beautiful hotel called The Pfister and a special tour of Miller Park, the new stadium where the Milwaukee Brewers do their thing.  The park has two unusual features.

First of all, there was a bad accident during construction.  Several workers died while building the park and their is a somber memorial to them on the site.

Secondly, Miller ball park has three jail cells.   I asked our elderly tour guide why the park had three jail cells.  He thought for a minute and then said, "Well, the old one had two."

It was fun touring the visitor's club house, visiting press box and walking on the field.  All the guys from the conference felt like kids again as we toured the stadium.

The Father of Our Country Had No Children

Composed in Sarasota, Florida--

Not everyone gets to experience the joys of parenthood. 

George and Martha Washington never had kids.  It seems odd that the Father of Our Country had no children of his own, but maybe he was too busy being a surrogate father to Tommy Jefferson and the Adams kid, who were always fighting.

The man who discovered how to mass market chocolate was Milton Hershey.  He had hundreds of young boys visit his home, but was never a father himself.  I've been to Milton's park in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  Milton was a great man whose legacy lives on. 

Finally, John and Mabel Ringling, whose beautiful mansion is located here in Sarasota, had no children.  The man whose circus brought joy to millions of youngsters was not a father.  John got his start as a circus clown so he apparently loved to entertain  children. 

Rumors Can Accelerate A Pending Recession

Composed in Chicago, Illinois--

I'm in the windy city to do some video work for Ragan Communications and to keynote a leadership conference.

Whether the country is officially in recession is determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private nonprofit research organization. The group considers several economic indicators, as well as the severity and duration of a downturn.

The NBER says the most recent recession lasted from March 2001 until November 2001 and that the economy has been in "expansion" since then.  Media personalities like Stephen Colbert, Chris Matthews and Sean Hannity keep using the "R" word.

Yet, the NBER typically doesn't declare a recession for anywhere from 6 to 18 months after its arrival.

On Friday, the NBER's president, Harvard University economist Martin Feldstein, said we are in a recession, though it was not an official NBER declaration.

Until a formal announcement is made, a recession is apparently a state of mind.  How we speak and behave can instigate a recession, however.  If we talk about a recession in the present tense the announcement may come that much sooner.

As Stephen Colbert, author of I Am America and So Can You, might say, "We talk about a recession, therefore we am."

In Just a Decade, My Company Is Ten Years Old

Posted from Akron, Ohio

This year, my company celebrates its 10th Anniversary of business.  I can't believe how fast the time has gone, probably because the ride has been so much fun.  It doesn't hurt that the ten years have been profitable beyond my wildest expectations.

The Edison House has functioned, some might say my company has thrived, through stagflation, terrorist attacks and economic slowdowns.  I built the company to be recession-proof by offering products and services that businesses always need.  In fact, I'm especially in demand during bad times. 

Thanks to some careful planning, I enjoy three revenue streams:  speaking, publishing and consulting. 

The speaking turns out to be about 110 engagements a year.  I can work wherever I want so I'm fortunate to see palm trees during winter and sit on my patio overlooking the golf course during the summer. 

In addition, the speaking business has been my ticket to some of the most interesting places in the world.  The accompanying shot is in front of the Alamo, in San Antonio, Texas.

During my first years in business, I learned that if I take care of customers, they will have me back.  It may not surprise you to know that I have the best customers in the world.  These are folks who want to improve themselves.  As a bonus, because I deal with such high-end people, the Edison House has virtually no bad debt.

The publishing part of my company's revenue has really started to pop thanks to my flagship brands.  The 5 Cool Ideas books and the FastLearnerAudio series have received rave reviews and will be a big part of my pension since I created "evergreen" products that will sell forever.

Fortunately, I am hardly ever sick so I've never canceled any of my 2,000+ speaking engagements.  Northwest Airlines and Mother Nature have forced me to reschedule a few gigs, however. 

When I got started in the training business, I was a speaker who wrote.  Now I am becoming a writer who speaks.   The future is promising and there is much work to be done.  Fortunately for me, that work is going to be a lot of fun.

Special thanks to clients, people who have purchased my information products or attended a live event and anyone who tracks me through this blog or other Internet conduits.  I will never let you down.

The Six, er, Three Degrees of Separation

Composed in Sarasota, Florida--

The term "social networking" is used to describe the online phenomena of sites such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube.  But the phrase was coined in the 1950s by someone named J. A. Barnes. 

In the 1960s, a psychologist named Stanley Milgram did some research and discovered that any two typical Americans who didn't know each other could connect through no more than six other people.  This theory led to the now famous catch phrase, "the six degrees of separation."

Thanks to the Internet, it's probably more realistic to think of social networking as only three degrees of separation.
Here's another number to throw into the mix.  Former uber car salesman Joe Girard once postulated that the average person let's 250 people know about big events such as a divorce, a baby or a move.  He named this the "Law of 250."

Now let's marry the six degrees of separation and the Law of 250.  Why not use e-mail or a social networking site to sell your house?  I've listed my home with a realtor and may end up selling it to my next door neighbor!

John Ringling Made Others Smile

Composed in Sarasota, Florida--

One of the highlights of my Sarasota vacation has been a tour of John and Mabel Ringling's beautiful estate on Sarasota Bay.

The estate features an art museum, a circus museum and my favorite building, the Ringling home.

You may remember that John and his brothers purchased the Barnum and Bailey Circus to create the "greatest show on earth."

The circus used to be a big deal whenever it came to town.  It was the first Lollapalooza and could easily be characterized as a zoo, a fashion show, a picnic, a concert (they toured with live bands) and athletic event. 

A typical Big Top in 1926 featured 2.5 hours of entertainment with no intermission.  There were as many as 800 artists, 22 displays, 1,000 workers, 10,000 attendees and 150 wagons that rolled off the train and paraded through town. 

The guy who gets most of the credit for making the circus "professional" is John Ringling.  John wasn't at the helm of the organization for very long, but he made the cover of Time magazine in 1925 and was then one of the 20 richest men in the country.

Despite his extraordinary wealth, there are very few photographs of him smiling.  The tour guide explained this by telling me, "Mr. Ringling was a very busy man."  Yeah, smiling is so darn time consuming.

Poor Mabel only lived in the Sarasota mansion for a couple years before she passed away.  John's health failed shortly after that and then the Great Depression forced him to give up nearly everything. 

Oh, well.  All my blog postings can't have a happy ending.

What was your family's favorite outing when you were a kid?  Was it the circus?

Would You Vote For a Blind President?

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

Thanks to some alleged bad behavior by Eliot Spitzer, his Lt. Governor David Paterson has become the next Governor of New York.

Paterson is the first African-American Governor of the state and amazingly, only the fourth African American Governor in history. 

By all accounts, David Paterson is an exceptional person.  According to the Huffington Post, he is a former State Senator, he ran the New York City Marathon in 1999 and he was born legally blind. 

Does this mean if Mr. Paterson uses an escort service the girls won't necessarily be pretty? 

Public expectations of politicians remains at an all-time low.  It'll take some real elbow grease to restore our faith in elected officials.

Meanwhile, a blind Governor raises an interesting question.  Paterson became leader of his state by default.  Would citizens elect a blind Governor? 

An even more interesting question is  "Would citizens elect a blind President?"  Some would say we've already elected a few dumb ones.

Would you vote for a blind President?

Do Women Behave Better Than Men?

Composed at Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois--

Here's something that women do much better than men:  stay out of trouble.

American prisons hold a very small percentage of women compared to men.  There are about 115,000 women in prison and close to 1,500,000 men behind bars.

Of course, before men go to jail, they usually behave badly and three of our top citizens are being investigated for serious and surprising charges.

The former Governor of New York, Eliott Spitzer, resigned after being linked to a prostitute.  The Democrats like nothing better than to pull down the paragon of Republican virtue during an election year.  David Patterson, as one of his first official duties, confessed to marital infidelity.  Yikes!  What's going on here?

The Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, is trying to hold onto his job amidst allegations of financial impropriety and marital infidelity.  He's now been indicted.

Kilpatrick's shenanigans have so far cost the city of Detroit about $10 million.  This is $10 million more than the city can afford to spend investigating its Mayor and defending lawsuits from former city employees.  Many people have lost their jobs because they spoke out against Kilpatrick's alleged misdeeds. 

Judging by his righteous comments in the media, Kilpatrick has no intention of retiring.

I've met Kwame and he is very charismatic, but I'm not sure that charm and charisma will serve him during the trial.

Talal Chahine may top the list of bad men in the news.  I met him when I was in Lebanon in 2001.  Chahine is the restaurant impresario who's world has come crashing down amidst tons of bad news, including:

• The conviction of his high-school age son, who killed another man over a woman
• Jury tampering suspicion when authorities found out Chahine was looking to defend his kid in possibly illegal ways
• Multiple children with multiple women, apparently not all of the relationships worked out well
• Alleged links to the terrorist organization Hezbolla
• May have grafted as much as $20 million from his from his restaurant business, which was shut down a week ago, leaving over 300 people out of work
• An emergency trip to Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with the United States

Many older boys never seem to grow out of bad behavior. 

Do you agree that women behave better than men?

Idiot Proof Recipe for 100% Accountability

Composed in Akron, Ohio--

I am the problem.

I am the solution.

The Democrats, the Republicans and the Suprise Party?

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

So the Republicans have made up their mind, but the Democrats are lagging months behind.  While Senator John McCain visits foreign countries acting Presidential, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton continue to deliver the same tired debate in state after repetitive state.

Despite appearances, the Democratic race has become less of a race.  Jay Leno joked, "Behind every good man, there is a woman.  The man is Barack Obama and the woman is Hillary Clinton."

"Obama is beating the pantsuit off her," Leno quips.

Much has been made about the "first" female Presidential candidate. 

There have actually been 26 female candidates for the United States' Presidency.  The first was a stockbroker and publisher named Victoria Woodhull. 

She ran an unsuccessful campaign against Ulysses S. Grant in 1872.

Women who have run for President are sometimes forgotten because they were affiliated with obscure political platforms such as The Citizens Party, The Looking Back Party and (no kidding) The Surprise Party. 

Should Information Be Free?

Composed in Las Vegas, Nevada--

I'm listening to an awesome audio program titled, The Great Courses:  Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition.  Part 1 highlights the great philosophers from Socrates to Cicero.

Attendees at my conference here in Vegas are learning how to be speakers, authors and consultants, but they're also being exposed to information from The Great Courses.  Because it's on my mind, it's in the lesson.

Most people know that Socrates was a Greek teacher famous for asking lots of questions, but here's something you may not know. 

He did not charge for this service.  This is probably fair because if you learned something from Socrates, you probably did most of the work. 

It turns out that Socrates never wrote anything down.  One of his students, a guy named Plato, captured the essence of Socrates after the great one was put to death.

The leaders of the day killed Socrates for asking too many questions.  In fact, his last words were a question.   Someone handed him a cup of poison hemlock and Socrates asked, "What's this?"

Anyway, after the Greeks tired of the question routine, a technique known as "Socratic dialog," a group of philosophers called the sophists came forward.  The sophists believed that information was worth something.  Socrates may have donated his intellectual services, but the sophists wanted to be paid. 

I'm trying to convince the people at my conference that they should be compensated for their knowledge.  My friend Dan Poynter says, "Everyone has a book in them."   

I agree and that book is worth something, so don't be shy about naming a fair price.

My Bedroom Saw a Lot of Action in January

Posted from Akron, Ohio--

I received an interesting phone call right after the first of the year.  The caller identified himself as a local advertising executive.  He said he heard I had a nice house and wondered if I would host a photo session for one of his clients, the Steve Harvey clothing line. 

Steve Harvey is the popular comedian known for his flashy, colorful suits and his current "Fly and 50" slogan. 

"What's involved?" I asked.

Makeup artists, photographers, assistants, a videographer, stylists and models.  Ten hours on a Saturday.  People in and out all day. 

"I don't know," I said.  "It sounds . . . involved."

"One of the models has posed for Playboy," the man said.

"Which Saturday works best for you?" I asked.

The event was fun and I met some cool people.  A video that highlights the day is posted on YouTube.  Watch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sWijRaS1l8.  The Playboy model is in my bed!  I'm not in my bed, but the Playboy model is in my bed.

Are Women as Funny as Men?

Composed in Chicago, Illinois--

Humor is a great way to cope with life.  To some extent, every person has a sense of humor, but not everyone is funny.  Here's a question:  Are women as funny as men?

The April issue of Vanity Fair poses the question in its well-researched cover story.  The issue sparked when Christopher Hitchens, who is brilliant, but humorless, wrote a column a while back opining that women are not funny.  At all. 

While harsh, this does raise an interesting issue.  An overwhelming number of professional comedians are men.  The comics who make the most money are men. 

Why is this?

Do you know many women who can tell a joke?

I think that in general, men are funnier than women, but here are some women who are as funny or even funnier than the top male comics:

Lisa Lampanelli is "belly laugh" funny.

Tina Fey, of NBC's 30 Rock, is "cute" funny.

Carrie Fisher is "clever" funny.

Finally, even if women aren't as funny as men, don't despair ladies.  You do many things much better than men. 

What do you think women do better than men?

The First Test Every Human Must Take

A while back, I read The Big MOO—Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable, written by an author referred to as "the Group of 33."  Essentially, marketing wiz Seth Godin asked 33 of his pals to contribute a section to the book. 

One of my favorite lessons from The Big Moo is on Dr. Virginia Apgar.  In 1952, she and another physician invented the Newborn Scoring System, also known as “APGAR.”

APGAR stands for Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity and Respiratory.  It’s the first of many tests we take as human beings. 

This test is not graded on a curve and you must pass this test before taking any others.  Thanks, Dr. Apgar!

(These photos look funny in the same posting, eh?)

Perspective From a Bad Airplane Trip

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

I've just returned from keynoting a conference at the fabulous Virginia Crossings Resort in Glen Allen, Virginia.  What a great place!

Unfortunately, I was treated badly by my favorite airline, Northwest Airlines on the way there and on the return.  I spent over 16 hours at the Detroit and Richmond during this short trip.  Security issues and bad timing at the Richmond Airport got the best of me and I was about to lose my temper with TSA official when he said something that really put things in perspective for me.

I had complained about the quality of food on the secure side of the concourse.  The uniformed agent looked at me and said, "Sorry sir, I wouldn't know about the airport food.  I can't afford to eat here."

Wow.  I shut right up after that.  A little perspective is a wonderful thing.

The Virginia Crossings Resort is a former corporate headquarters for some business that left town long ago.  The property features three buildings named after  three United States Presidents: Jefferson, Madison and Monroe.

Both Jefferson and Madison died bankrupt.  Jefferson, of course, made an extensive hobby of criticizing
 Alexander Hamilton's concept of a central bank.  Hamilton was the country's first Secretary of the Treasury.  You carry his picture in your wallet on the $10 bill.

A man who couldn't manage his own money criticizing a man managing the money of an entire country.  A little perspective is a wonderful thing.

The Best Book on Happiness

Composed in Glen Allen, Virginia--

What's the best book on happiness you've ever read?  Post your response by clicking "comment" below.

Happiness has always been a hot issue.  Everyone wants it, but surprisingly few people actually achieve it.  Some people are happy for short bursts of time, but hardly anyone claims to be happy over the long stretch.

So books on happiness keep getting published and purchased.  I recently read Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert.

Happiness is a fascinating concept. It’s such a deep and personal subject that we can’t even agree on how to define it. Daniel Gilbert has studied why most malcontents seem to avoid happiness, even though they know how to best achieve it. 

It turns out that human beings have several issues that keep them from being happy. First, we simply aren’t very good at predicting our future emotions. Gilbert cites research that many people feel they would be happier living in California, yet researchers have proven that Californians are no happier than Iowans.   

Many married couples conceive children because they think kids will make the couple happier. In truth, parents are on balance no happier than other people, until the children move away from home. 

Judging by the accompanying photograph of  author  Gilbert, one can be reasonably happy sitting alone on a park bench.

Another roadblock to happiness is that the brain plays tricks on us by favoring information we want to receive and filtering out or avoiding information that we don’t. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, most of us do not do what is most likely to ensure happiness. We don’t talk to people who have done the things we think might make us happy.

If we are going to start smoking, for example, we don’t interview senior citizens with lung disease or emphysema. A person who wants to quit his job tends to talk more with the people who still work at the job, rather than people who have quit. If we are going to open a retail store, we don’t talk to many people who run retail stores, let alone people who have formerly run retail stores.

Gilbert style is witty, but his triple and quadruple entendres are sometimes a challenge to decode. He’s funny, but as an academic, Gilbert can’t help trotting out an endless parade of research and case studies to support the book’s premise.

I enjoyed Stumbling On Happiness, but overall the best book on happiness might be a good Italian cookbook.

What's the best book on happiness you've ever read?