What is Accountability?

Every where you turn, people are talking about accountability. But to be honest with you, I don't think most people using the word really even know what it means.

Before we go rambling any further about accountability, let's first agree on what the word means. According to Mirriam-Webster Online Dictionary, accountability means an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's action.

The truth is, accountability doesn't mean creating new laws and /or new regulations. It simply means recognizing and accepting that everything we do (or have done) in our lives has gotten us in the position and condition we are in RIGHT now. It means not making excuses for anything! And it means accepting that where ever we are right now has come about due to our choices.

Additionally, "holding someone accountable" means making sure THEY accept full responsibility for their choices and their actions - whatever those choices and actions may be (or have been). It also means that although they didn't create the stimulus that they had in their lives, they did choose how they responded.

That's it. It's that simple.

So, stop telling me that the new administration is all about accountability. It's time for the Government to stand up and be held accountable for the situation we are in. It's not just Bush's fault. We are a Government "Of the People, by the people, for the people."

The Bailout Bill was passed (overwhelmingly by both the House and the Senate - both parties) and signed into Law by President Bush last September because it "had to happen". 75% of America disagreed with it. And Congress passed it anyway. Did we hold them accountable? ABSOLUTELY not. Who's fault is that? Yeah, we voted out the President and some Congressmen, but nearly everyone who voted for the bill was re-elected.

That's not Accountability - that's tacit approval. Approving behavior, by ignoring it. In fact we rewarded most of them for ignoring our voices. That just get's us more of the same behavior.

Accountability in the market place means failing (bankruptcy) when you can't produce profit. It's automatically built into the system. It doesn't mean bailouts just because it will be too painful to allow a "big" business to fail.

We are getting rid of accountability - imposing it.

Accountability means NOT passing the burden of our gluttonous behavior of the past 15 plus years in the market place (between the dot com bubble and the real estate bubble) on to our children and our children's children through a Trillion Dollar Spending Bill.

Unfortunately, every time the government imposes more rules and regulations, they don't boost accountability, they actually tear it down. Because no matter what the situation is, no one person (or group) can hold another person (or group) accountable for the results they produce (the choices they make) when the methods and processes are predetermined. In order to hold someone accountable, they must be given the freedom to choice their own path.

If you believe in free choice and a free market, then stand up and be heard. Hold those who are failing to do what you believe they should be doing accountable for their actions. And you don't have to wait until November 2010 to do it. Do it now!

If you are interested in finding ways to hold people accountable, please contact me at coach.jj@ImpossibleFutures.com or just leave a comment. We will work together to hold each other and those who lead us accountable.

Why Is Everyone So Happy Executive Pay Is Capped?

Everywhere I turn, I hear people saying how happy they are that "Obama" is capping pay for Executives whose businesses have taken bailout money.

I've got some bad news (good news I guess, if you are a Socialist). Capitalism in the USA is nearly dead!

Now, before you start freaking out, thinking that I believe these idiots deserve the money, settle down. I think these guys should be FIRED along with the Board of Directors. And I think they should never be able to get another job again (except maybe in the mail room). But, in no way shape or form, do I think it's the Federal Government's job to decide that for these companies or any other company in America. Last time I checked there wasn't an enumerated clause spelled out in the Constitution granting any Branch of our Government the right to cap anyone's salary or tell anyone or any entity how to spend their money. But I think we've thrown that document out the window and we're just playing it by ear now.

The truth is our Government has no right to tell a public corporation (and yes they are still public corporations - at least their stock holders think so) how to spend it's money. Any more than the Government has the right to tell you how to spend yours. Oh by the way, they are trying to do that as well.

Democracy depends on capitalism and vice versa. One can not survive without the other. Many people argue me on that point. Except what most people don't realize is that capitalism is nothing more than market democracy - where instead of casting votes, you spend money.

Every dollar you spend is a vote for the world you want to live in.

If you don't like what Citigroup or Bank of America is doing. Don't vote for them - STOP giving them any of YOUR money! If you are really unhappy - do some community organizing work and organize a boycott.

It is your right in a free country!

It is your duty as an American Citizen - as much as voting on Election Day!

The ironic thing is that the American public have been exercising this "right" for the couple decades by buying cars built by automakers not home based in the US. They didn't like the product that GM, Chrysler, and Ford have been making and they have been voting. But a couple weeks ago, your Government decided you didn't know what you were doing with you votes and they needed to veto your decision.

Where does it stop? From where I'm sitting (in the cheap seats), I don't think it's going to - any time soon.

But that doesn't mean we should stop voting every day for the world we want as both a consumer and a small business owner. Become an educated consumer - learn about the business that you are voting for (purchasing from). Pick ones that perpetuate your ideals and the beliefs you hold dear. Give them testimonials and get your friends and family to do the same.

Support Entrepreneurs that you know are fighting a good fight. They are the ones that are taking risks and doing their best to keep the spirit of Capitalism alive. And remember, without Capitalism, we will end up losing our Democracy.

Who do they think they are? And who is John Galt?

The Federal Government has stepped over the line today - defining what privately held companies can and can't do with their money. This seems to becoming more and more common, with each passing day. I don't care if the government has "bailed them out" of trouble - they have no right to tell anyone how to run their business and / or how to spend their money.

Over the past 24 hours, the US Treasury Department has actively called Citibank, still a privately held corporation (as of today), and told them that it was "unacceptable" for them to accept delivery of a Executive Jet worth $45 Million dollars. Who are they to decide what is acceptable and what isn't? Sure they can tell them that they won't give them any more bailout money - but to be honest, even that is unacceptable, when they wouldn't even allow mortgage bankers that type of authority over who they lent money to over the last decade.

Now, don't get me wrong. . . I don't believe that buying a $45 Million corporate jet is a smart decision on Citibank's part, but in the grand scheme of things, it is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bad decisions in a company that in all rights should be bankrupt right now.

But, it appears that we have now turned the corner where businesses don't have the right to make decisions on how they wish to operate. And freedom in our country is over.

Its a free-market system. That means we can make the decisions we want and the market will either reward or punish us - based on whether or not they approve of the decision. If Citibank chooses to make stupid decisions on their expenses, then let it be known. And then let the market bear it out.

And let me tell you this! If I were an employee of that company, I would start looking for another job right away - or start doing something from the inside to change the course of the business. Sitting back and washing your hands of the matter - no matter if you are the CEO or the garage attendant - is unacceptable. Because the market will hold you accountable and you will either reap the rewards by continuing to be in employment or you won't!

Our elected officials were not put into power to decide what decisions should be made by you and me and how we should or shouldn't run our businesses. That is not the intent of our Founding Fathers no matter how you interpret our Constitution.

I write this Blog to help small business owners. And there is nothing more frustrating than this turn of events. I tell my clients everyday that they are free to make decisions - any way they want on how to run their company. But those choices have repercussions that they will have to live with.

So, if are a small business owner or even large business owner (including any one who owns stock in a company) and you want to keep your freedom to make your own choices on how to run your business - stand up and be heard.

Tell the Federal Government that they have crossed the line.

They were elected to uphold the Constitution of the United States and enforce the laws of the Country. THAT'S IT! Nothing more. The rest is power they are absconding from you and I - the power that each of us has to stand up and be heard - through our actions, our votes, and through the way we spend our money.

"In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours." John Galt

Supply-Side or Demand-Side Economics

Everyone wants the recession to end - but I doubt that many want it to end more than the hundreds of small business owners in America who are struggling and blaming the economic conditions for their current problem.

Unfortunately, success of a business has little to do with economic conditions. What it does have to do with is sound business practices and producing a product that consumers want and that you can produce with sufficient profit to continue staying in business.

I bring this up, because I've had a few discussions with people recently on whether the solutions to our economic woes would be better off coming through "supply-side" or "demand-side" economic practices.

Well, to be honest with you. I'm not a big fan of the government fixing the problem - because they tend to focus only on the symptoms not the disease - and NO bureaucratic agency can react fast enough to compensate for rapidly changing market conditions. I, my estimation, it would be like trying to see and capture a single electron traveling on the internet: one, you can't track it, and two, you couldn't catch it if you wanted to.

But, since our current government determined to do something, in my estimation, the only real solution has to come from "supply-side" economics.

Demand-side economics (aka Keynesian Economics) is the concept where Government should stimulate economic growth through interest rate control, taxes and public projects - basically flood the market with money and let the demand generate new growth in industry.

Conversely, Supply-side economics is the concept where economic growth should be stimulated through providing incentives for those who produce goods and services (for example income tax adjustments and capital gains tax cuts).

They both will fix the symptom of economic sluggishness. And the truth be know, demand-side economics will actually treat the symptoms faster than supply-side. Unfortunately, only one will actually solve the disease of the market - excessive government interference and poor business practices.

The problem is simply that we have become a society that is more worried about today than tomorrow. We are more focused on quick fixes than creating long term solutions to the underlying problem. So, it's no surprise that our current Administration is going to fix the problem with a supply-side injection of capital of proportion never seen in the history of our Nation (or any other for that matter).

This may sound cold, but we all have the world that we have chosen to have. Plain and simply, the businesses that are struggling today should be struggling, because the decisions they have made in the past have resulted in their current economic conditions. Should we be rewarding them for bad business practice? As a coach, I can think of absolutely nothing worse that you can do - to fix the real problem.

Some may say that this blog entry may not seem to fit into the concept of helping businesses grow. But I would have to disagree with them. What I want individuals and small business owners everywhere to know is this:

The Government giving you or anyone else money is going to fix your problems. It might make you feel a bit better, but the problems will still be there. If your cost of labor was too high before a bail-out, then it will be that way after the bailout - you will be just numb to it. If you had a horrible marketing strategy before suddenly customers walked into your store, just because they government gave them $2000, then your marketing strategy will suck just as bad after the economic boost's effects are long over. You will have just survived a couple more months.

Bottom line - the symptoms make it feel like the problem is so big that only the Federal Government can fix them, but the truth of the matter is the actual disease is so simple that it can only be fixed by the individual.