Monday, January 25, 2010

The Touro Communication Club Notes - #103 –January 27, 2010 Tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com
Five Communication Quotes of the Week
Leaders aren't born they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal,
or any goal.”
Vince Lombardi, legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers football team
“Divorced from ethics, leadership is reduced to management and politics to mere technique.”
James Macgregor Burns, presidential scholar and authority on leadership
“Good leaders must first become good servants.
Robert Greenleaf, founder of the Servant Leadership movement.
“The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.
Warren Bennis, pioneer in leadership studies
“When the effective leader is finished with his work, the people say it happened naturally.
Lao Tsu, ancient Chinese philosopher
The Touro Communication Club
2 pm - Wednesday, January 27, 2010– Room 223
“Leadership”
We are surrounded and led by people who have titles, but are they “leaders”? Advertising tells us if we buy their product, we can be “leaders.” Are you a “leader” if you are a single working mom with three kids who’s going to Touro? Are leaders the ones who are on TV? What is a leader? How do you get to be a leader? We’ll explore this topic and Professor George Backinoff’s favorite version of leadership he calls “Followership.”
A Note to Communicators:
Leadership Communication
This week’s discussion topic will no doubt open a number of areas of which communication is central. First we have to realize that the mere definition of “leadership’ has almost as many definitions as people who use the term.
How should we define “leadership” for our purposes? We could say that leaders have titles – president, dean, chair, general, captain, quarterback, etc. Most people think of leaders as heads of organizations. These are “formal” leaders.
These leaders are part of a vertical hierarchy – one is on top, many are underneath. This is often called the “command and control” form of organization, originally created by the Roman army and imitated by all organizations since.
But there is another kind of leader – the informal leader – who often has more power and influence on the group. This person has no official title, yet he/she is one toward who people look for wisdom and guidance. There are many in history –
· Cardinal Richelieu as the power behind the 17th century French king, Louis XIII,
· The mystic Rasputin as the power behind Czar Nicholas II in early 20th century Russia,
· Or perhaps Vice President Dick Cheney as the power behind President George Bush.
In any leadership position, communication skills are fundamental. A leader must
· Be clear and concise in what the message is.
· Be able to reduce complex issues to bumper sticker simplicity.
· Be able to explain the message in a hundred different ways.
· Be sure that all the members of the leader’s team are on the same page.
· Ensure that all the audiences understand the message through multiple exposures to its essence.
How does a leader make sure his followers get his message? Verify, verify, verify. Constant follow-up work which reduces the possibility of misunderstanding.
Poor communication has consequences as President Obama found out last week. He commented last week on the”failure of communication” which he perceived was the cause of the loss of the Kennedy Senate seat to an unknown Republican.

Although we will probably never know the complete back story on the Massachusetts election, its consequences have improved the Republican’s chances of scuttling the health care. More than ever, the Obama administration has to tighten its communication network if they are to succeed in a very hostile political environment.
In a way, the communication skills of a leader are those of a good teacher – one who has a grasp of the larger issues yet can explain the message through understandable details. The patience of a good teacher is necessary for a good leader.
For our elementary purposes, I would argue that we are all leaders in some way or other.
Leadership starts with you. Leaders make choices. You make choices for yourself all the time. Those choices result in behaviors that communicate –consciously or unconsciously – a set of values – trust, honesty, perseverance, integrity.
Other people observe the messages in our behavior. Can we be trusted? Do we walk our talk? We have many examples in recent political life – John Edwards, Eliot Spitzer, Mark Sanford, etc. who have asked for the public trust but violated that trust in their private lives.
We are leaders of our own destiny. Our actions have consequences. Often our actions impact on others without our knowledge. We need to become aware of our impact – our ethos – on others.
UPCOMING CONVERSATIONS:
February 3, 2010 - “Student Needs” On this first week of class, it is appropriate that we focus on what students need. This topic came up during one of the Club discussions. It was unclear which direction it could go – personal needs, school needs, needs for the past, present or future. We’ll start with a “tabula rasa” (a blank slate) and see where we go.
February 10, 2010 - “Asking Questions in Class”- I have noticed in my classes that most students don’t ask a lot of questions, other than “When is class over?” I don’t know why. I must be boring. Maybe the students have been things to do with their minds. For me, questioning is the best avenue of learning anything. When you ask questions, your mind is engaged with the material. When you ask questions on a date, your mind is engaged in the relationship. Let’s see what happens.
February 17, 2010 –“How Do You Fire Someone?” In our work or love life, we may have been fired or told to get lost. Why does this happen? Can you tell if you are going to be fired? What do you say to someone who you want to get rid of? Lots of emotion surrounds these situations. We’ll talk about some ways to prepare to fire someone as well as your options if you suddenly learn you’ve been fired.
What about one of these topics?
“Cold Calling in Sales”
“Rodney King: ‘Why Can’t We Get Along?”
“Repetition”
“Meaning”
“The Seven Heavenly Virtues”
“Why Does History Repeat Itself?”
“Heroism”
“Concentration”
“The Power of No”
“Coping with Adversity”
“Distraction”
Dean Donne Kampel on “Women & Leadership”
James Baldwin Dialogue featuring two Touro faculty members,
Student Poetry showcase
“Empathy”
“Connecting the Dots”
Role play of cynical people
And dozens of others!
What happened on Wednesday,
January 13, 2010?
Compare the notice of the session with what really happened
“Cynicism”-
It has always been cool to be cynical, especially in college. You know all these good ideas, but stay apart from them. It’s safe to be AGAINST something, but uncool to be FOR something. To show any passion, except for pop music, is just not cool. Why is that? Is being positive about ANYTHING –except pop music –turns you into a social outcast? We’ll try to dig under the surface.
For a discussion about cynicism, this one was rather upbeat and forthright. Joining our discussion for the first time was Jermaine Nurse. He was supported by Pamela Sheppard, Christopher Couch, Richard Green, James Millner, Lorinda Moore, Carlisle Yearwood, Gena Bardwell, Drani Gabu and Hal Wicke.
Lorinda included on the flyer for today’s session a definition of cynicism – “An attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others.” A good definition that we all agreed with.
What are some signs of cynicism? The group instinctively focuses on school.
· Professors who give C’s. (That one got a lot of disagreement!)
· Changes in assignments or instructions.
· People who will not listen
· People who are rigid.
· My way or the highway.
· See no argument but theirs.
· Attitude.
· Playing favorites in class – teacher pets.
[The group interpreted the question as factors which upon repeated experience create cynicism, rather than being able to recognize the negative mood.]
Lorinda felt that cynical people saw themselves as privileged and others as less than they are.
Gena commented on a program she is working on where cynicism destroys the ability to relate to the people who are in most need of help. Everyone in the program needs help and training in recognizing their negative attitudes. “We must combat cynicism because it fosters and destroys the environment in which we operate,” Gena said. “It is a slow sapping of all our internal energy.”
· Our apathy turns us into zombies.
· We are not allowed to enjoy ANYTHING because someone has a negative attitude toward it.
Christopher mentioned that the parents of the kids he coaches in basketball are very cynical about the ability of other players, but their child is the next Lebron James.
· Our speech is affected by cynicism. We are not able to speak with conviction.
· The negative is more powerful than the positive.
· “Fake it until you make it.”
· The platform shoe to make men look taller – actors like Sylvester Stallone.
· You need to be a mental gymnast.
· “Dress for success.”
· Fear manifests itself in cynicism. You don’t have the upper hand.
· You put on a mask of superiority.
· People with “book smarts” lord it over people with “street smarts.”
· Cynics are funny. Saturday Night Live.
· Find humor in a situation and turn it on its head.
· SNL – Tina Fey’s impression of Sarah Palin
· Cynical about Obama.
· Cynics try to pull you into their cesspool.
· Politics – Democrats promised change; Republican is the party of “no” – voters are cynical.
· Cynicism is a powerful force which can affect people on the fence.
· The anti-Kerry “Swiftboarding” in 2004.
· Politics won’t change if the people don’t change. {How does that happen?]
· There must be a paradigm shift in people’s expectations of politics and politicians.
· What do students say to cynical teachers?
· Learn how to face the attitude with elegance and grace.
· Jermaine noted that it is a gradual process.
· Professors are in a position of power.
· Both students and professors have obligations.
Gena suggested for students to “Work the teacher.” “Work me,” she said, “but expect that I will push back.”
Drani, who came in late from attending class at his new college, Columbia University, told us that he has 150 students in his classes. It is only lecture. There is no opportunity to ask questions. If you have a question, you have to make an appointment with the professor. Both students and teachers need to build up each other.
Ron commented on the necessity of becoming an independent thinker, a lesson he learned from his extensive work in martial arts as a way of life. [Ron is a brown belt.] He has learned to think strategically. “Your attitude is reflected in how you walk,” he said.
Gena commented that the black male has to be craftier in making a response. [This needs much more explanation.]
Jermaine said that he came to the club meeting for the purpose of finding Professor Green, but found the discussion so interesting he plans to return.
Carlisle told a moving personal story of how he created a civil right group at Pace when he was there as an undergraduate
· Aware of power dynamics in any situation
· Americans are cynical.
· Cynicism makes us powerless
What have you learned? [Connecting the dots]
Drani – coming to school is a cynical experience.
Jermaine – learned that he has to work the teacher, build a relationship. There is a good and bad side to cynicism.
Richard – the teacher is taught by his students.
Pam – I am not a quitter. When I set out to do something, I do it. I have to be strong.
Ron – use the brain as a coping mechanism.
Carlisle – Hemingway – the action that earned the reaction reflects until complete
“Crap detection” [a favorite strategy of Hal Wicke.]
Gena – We have a powerful tool in humor. There is power in “no” that can derail a project.
Please Google Haiti help to find out how YOU can help in this tragedy.
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We always have a great time exploring these issues. So often our daily life never focuses on these Communication issues. If you have something you want us to discuss please let us know and we’ll add it to the list.
Next time bring a friend. The Communication Club is always an open discussion, limited only by time. Everyone gets a chance to speak. All opinions are welcome. Here is an opportunity for students to challenge professors’ views outside the class without any homework or assignments. You just have to show up and listen and talk if you want.

Hal Wicke

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Touro Communication Club Notes - #102 –January 20, 2010 Tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com
May we pause in our hectic schedules and focus our thoughts and prayers on the tragedy in Haiti? Many Touro students have relatives in this country. An earthquake is an unfathomable phenomenon which wreaks untold human and physical damage. Reflect on how you would react? What would you do?
Five Communication Quotes of the Week
Chinese proverb
“Dante once said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality”
John F. Kennedy, 35th U.S. President
John F. Kennedy, 35th U.S. President
”Any idiot can face a crisis, it is this day-to-day living that wears you out.”
Anton Chekhov, Russian doctor, playwright and essayist
Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State under President Nixon
The easiest period in a crisis situation is actually the battle itself. The most difficult is the period of indecision -- whether to fight or run away. And the most dangerous period is the aftermath. It is then, with all his resources spent and his guard down, that an individual must watch out for dulled reactions and faulty judgment.”
Richard M. Nixon, 37th U.S. President
The Touro Communication Club
2 pm - Wednesday, January 20, 2010– Room 223
“Cynicism”-
It has always been cool to be cynical, especially in college. You know all these good ideas, but stay apart from them. It’s safe to be AGAINST something, but uncool to be FOR something. To show any passion, except for pop music, is just not cool. Why is that? Is being positive about ANYTHING –except pop music –turns you into a social outcast? We’ll try to dig under the surface.
A Note to Communicators:
Communication during a crisis
The earthquake tragedy in Haiti provokes many and varied emotions and thoughts. If you were born there or have relatives there, your reactions are intense. But what about those of us who only know about Haiti’s desperate situation from the media?
What is a crisis? A situation in which things suddenly change; there is high emotion and lots of physical movement
Sometimes the crisis is sudden – Haiti’s earthquake. This crisis goes from Zero to Ten instantly.
Sometimes it’s slow – like the current financial crisis. Lots of unsavory behaviors occurred under the radar, and then everything collapsed.
Diseases like heart attacks, strokes. People don’t take care of themselves and then boom! These crises can have a long incubation period – from Zero to Eight - and then a rapid escalation from Nine to Ten.
Crises in relationships take a long time to boil. At first no one notices the negative behavior. Then awareness kicks in and tension builds to a crisis. Difficulties slowly become more apparent in the build to a final explosion where the proverbial straw breaks the back.
Rahm Emmanuel, President Obama’s Chief of Staff, say that “Every crisis is an opportunity. Don’t let a crisis go to waste,” borrowing from the Chinese ideogram.
But what do you do in a crisis? Are you frozen? Do you yell and scream? Do you throw things and slam doors? Maybe, sadly, you might hurt someone.
Unfortunately, most people aren’t prepared for crisis. Often the evidence is around them, but they don’t notice it until the crisis comes upon them. They just don’t connect the dots.
My life focuses on teaching so students are a big part of my life. But some students seem to face crisis like deer caught in the headlights. They don’t come to class or they come late. They haven’t read the homework assignment. They don’t take notes. They take an exam without adequate preparation. They get a grade they don’t like. And they say “whatevah.”
The messages are all around, but they don’t register. I wonder when the wake-up call will come. At the midterm? Finals? Years later?
Students are in my world, but what about the larger world. President Obama recently took the U.S. intelligence agencies to task for “not connecting the dots,” allowing the underpants bomber to get through security.
Look at the current economic crisis that we are still in. The signs of a disaster were waiting to happen. The highly educated people who run Wall Street focused on their thin slice of the pie to keep making money. Clearly, a myopic behavior. “Not my job,” they say. “We are in business to make money.” Then the roof caved in.
One lesson of a crisis is that it affects a lot of people all at once for a long time.
Others come to mind. Katrina is another one. September 11, 2001 is another. December 7, 1941 is a third. There are more.
The tragedy of Haiti is that the country has been in such disarray for so long that a natural disaster can only magnify the unpreparedness of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
Do we care? Sure, for the moment. We throw money at the tragedy, but I wonder when the media gets distracted by some other tsunami, will we have learned to connect the dots?
Communication is a crisis situation is like preparing for Murphy’s Law to go wrong. We cannot afford to be caught off guard. Whether it’s our courses or our finances or our personal situations, we must focus on the present, what are the messages we are sending and receiving.
In a nanosecond, the present soon becomes the past and the future has become the present. We are too easily distracted by life, by the media, by everything. The messages we communicate betrays unacknowledged avoidance until it is too late.
We always have a choice to communicate our own message, but we must be aware even to choose a second option. Being alert and focused takes commitment and training. We don’t go to the store and buy a can of commitment. It takes constant daily effort.
And even when we don’t make an effort, does that also communicate a message? To recycle the old axiom, “We cannot NOT communicate.”
UPCOMING CONVERSATIONS:
January 27, 2010 -“Leadership” We are surrounded and led by people who have titles, but are they “leaders”? Advertising tells us if we buy their product, we can be “leaders.” Are you a “leader” if you are a single working mom with three kids who’s going to Touro? Are leaders the ones who are on TV? What is a leader? How do you get to be a leader? We’ll explore this topic and Professor George Backinoff’s favorite version of leadership he calls “Followership.”
February 3, 2010 - “Student Needs” On this first week of class, it is appropriate that we focus on what students need. This topic came up during one of the Club discussions. It was unclear which direction it could go – personal needs, school needs, needs for the past, present or future. We’ll start with a “tabula rasa” (a blank slate) and see where we go.
February 10, 2010 - “Asking Questions in Class”- I have noticed in my classes that most students don’t ask a lot of questions, other than “When is class over?” I don’t know why. I must be boring. Maybe the students have been things to do with their minds. For me, questioning is the best avenue of learning anything. When you ask questions, your mind is engaged with the material. When you ask questions on a date, your mind is engaged in the relationship. Let’s see what happens.
What about one of these topics?
“How Do You Fire Someone?”
“Cold Calling in Sales”
“Rodney King: ‘Why Can’t We Get Along?”
“Repetition”
“Meaning”
“The Seven Heavenly Virtues”
“Why Does History Repeat Itself?”
“Heroism”
“Concentration”
“The Power of No”
“Coping with Adversity”
“Distraction”
Dean Donne Kampel on “Women & Leadership”
James Baldwin Dialogue featuring two Touro faculty members,
Student Poetry showcase
“Empathy”
“Connecting the Dots”
And dozens of others!
A FOND FAREWELL: Drani Gabu is transferring to Columbia University for the Spring semester. Although he’s not sure what he will major in as a junior, he thinks it will be in the area of history and political science. Drani has been a constant member of the Communication Club since its beginning 3½ years ago. Born in Sudan, he has observed America much the way the French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville.
What happened on Wednesday,
January 13, 2010?
Compare the notice of the session with what really happened
“Current Events”
When we are in preoccupied with school, it seems that the rest of the world disappears. Major events are happening all the time that have an impact on your life. The question is “Do you care?” Communication is the invisible thread that connects us to the world. We’ll talk about what’s happening in the world and in America and whether you care about ANY of it. Your opinions on health care, immigration, jobs, Obama’s one-year record, Afghanistan and Iraq, the underpants bomber, international terrorism, the political parties, or something else. This is the time to behave like talk radio.
Most of our club sessions are quite vigorous, but this week’s get-together was different. It began with Gena Bardwell’s anecdote about George Tiller, progressing through a variety of items from the board and culminated in a transformative finale where the words kept coming but the emotions that undergirded the words seemed to bind the group together in a special way. “Connecting the dots” was the unifying theme.
The energetic group included Gareth Bryant, Richard Green, Ronald Johnson, Drani Gabu, Gena Bardwell, Pamela Sheppard, Carlisle Yearwood, James Millner, Charles Mason and Hal Wicke.
The following chart was on the board when everyone arrived:
Issues
People
Local events
National events
International
Same-sex marriage
War-Exit strategy
Global warming
ENTERTAINMENT
“Avatar”
Sugar Bowl
Jets
Knicks
Leno/O’Brian
Tiger Woods
Rudolph Giuliani
Harry Reid – Obama comment
Sarah Palin
Allan Kadish, MD
Kristen Gillebrand
Harold Ford
Hugo Chavez
George Tiller
NYC–Reduced salt
NYS – Budget shortfall
Cuts to education
Economy
“Too Big to Fail”
Health Care
The Public Option
Watt St. Bonuses
Underwear Bomber
Obama in Hawaii
TARP payback
California IOUs
Drug prices double
Gitmo
China – top exporter
To the right of the chart was a series of concentric circles with “YOU” at the center. The diagram was designed to symbolize that “YOU” are at the center of all current events even though they may not touch you directly.
Gena shared a story of her attending a lecture by Dr. George Tiller, the late-term abortion doctor who was recently killed. She was moved by his words and the stories of women who were affected by his talk and his commitment to abortion.
The lesson Gena drew from Dr; Tiller’s talk was that “Women know their limits, their threshold of what they can endure.” His talk provided closure for many women, she said.
The group commented on how little coverage has been given to the Tiller murder and the current trial of his alleged murderer. The deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett attracted much attention, dominating the media.
Richard offered that a website, Democracynow.org, provided a wide spectrum of news not covered in the mainstream media.
Carlisle felt that there is a paradox in the killing of Tiller. “A pro-life fanatic kills an abortion doctor.” “It’s ok to kill if you kill the right person.”
Other comments included:
· Sacrifice one for many.
· The Old Testament doctrine of “An eye for an eye.”
· Send a message.
· There are gender issues in this killing.
· Power is a constant theme between men and women.
· There is an analogy between the hanging of abolitionist John Brown and Dr. Tiller.
· Fanaticism
· Men don’t trust their women.
· Men are interested in ego, economics and are driven by fear
· Women can say, “My son died in Iraq.”
· Men can’t say that because they are never sure of the paternity.
· Men are confrontational – they don’t feel as women do. They want to impress women.
· Men are not as passionate about paternity as women because they don’t experience the birth of a child.
Carlisle told a personal story of death of one baby of twins. . He said he had no emotional reaction. “My sperm didn’t survive. That’s all.” he commented.
Charles said that men are looked down upon for not feeling. Some do, he said. “Do what dad’s do” is a female blanket.” This is not true for allmen.
· We have different sources of evidence.
· Some want an emotional response. Others quietly endure hardship.
· Some are detached from feeling.
· Hugo Chavez promotes fairy tales in Venezuela and people believe them.
· No one can be fully detached from their feelings.
Carlisle commented that he has an emotional response which he puts in a box and compartmentalizes so he can function with the rational side of his brain. The question for him is when to access his emotions.
Gena observed that men “hold, fold, walk away and run” from emotions.
· Emotions screw up your decisions
· DVD “1968 – A Helluva Year>”
· Martin Luther King was killed because of the Vietnam War, not civil rights.
· “Avatar” – the Pope resented the movie.
· Allan Kadish, the Touro Provost, is responsible for direct deposit of salary checks.
· MTA – the new CEO from London is making students pay for the subway.
· Sarah Palin – new Fox contributor
· Murdoch controls Fox, the NY Post and the Wall Street Journal.
· Hypocrisy – Murdoch is connecting the dots with Palin and money.
· Harry Reid comments Obama’s light skin and ability to “talk black” made him ok for whites to vote for. No negative reaction.
· Trent Lott, former Republican speaker, said similar things and lost his job.
· “Game Change” - new book about the 2008 election.
· TARP – educated people with Ivy League degrees made this happen.
· The speed at which everything happens greatly affects communication.
· Alan Greenspan, a disciple of Ayn Rand and free market values
· Venezuela, under Chavez, has no middle class, only the rich and the poor.
· The San Francisco earthquake in 1989 killed 65 people. The Haiti earthquake has killed thousands. What’s the difference between the two?
Summary of the discussion – “Connecting the dots” What made the most impact?
· George Tiller story – men’s emotions can’t go as deep.
· Men have emotions.
· Having a breadth and depth of the current events knowledge is important.
· The diagram of concentric circles is similar to Foucault’s theory of literary deconstruction.
· The George Teller story and job that Dr. Kadish has ahead for himself.
· Dots are dependent evidence.
· The fragility of the human situation (Tiller)
All agreed that the lesson of “Connecting to Dots” was an important one for understanding our education and life. If we can learn to think freely, aware of but not bound by the limits of our choices and the knowledge we are aware of, we can make progress as human beings.
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We always have a great time exploring these issues. So often our daily life never focuses on these Communication issues. If you have something you want us to discuss please let us know and we’ll add it to the list.
Next time bring a friend. The Communication Club is always an open discussion, limited only by time. Everyone gets a chance to speak. All opinions are welcome. Here is an opportunity for students to challenge professors’ views outside the class without any homework or assignments. You just have to show up and listen and talk if you want.

Hal Wicke