02-09-64, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

February 9, 1964.The defining moment of my life. I was three years old and witnessed with 73 million other Americans the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show.

It was my first vivid childhood memory, and fifty years later the Beatles still stir my spirit and soul.

John, Paul, George and Ringo revolutionized America and the world with their music, Liverpudlian charm with and fashion.

Like Beethoven, Gershwin, Glen Miller, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly and Bob Dylan, the Beatles were poets of their generation.

The Beatles music transcended time. Like all great composers their music is timeless.

Now, fifty years later, Beatlemania is alive and well. The media has embraced the “Fab Four” with books, magazines, music and shows paying tribute rock n rolls royal band.

I celebrated the Beatles 50^th anniversary at a special Abbey Road on the River music event in Louisville Kentucky.

My dear Beatle buddy, Ramona Morrison and hundreds of other Beatle fans from 5 to 70 years of age, danced and sang to the irresistible “I want to hold your hand”, “She loves you”, “I saw her standing there”, and all the chart topping hits the Beatles churned out in the swinging 60’s.

The impact the Beatles and music has had on my life is immeasurable. My father owned several radio stations and I grew up to the Sounds of Glenn Miller, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and the Mills Brothers streaming live on a record player in the living room.

Music was a constant source of joy and happiness for my family and friends. My dad played the saxophone, my sister tooted on the clarinet, my brother banged on the drums and I strummed a guitar.

Today I play in a Ukulele band as a hobby. As a private caregiver, I utilize music therapy as a mental and spiritual tool for senior citizens suffering from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other medical illnesses.

A recent article in the Louisville Currier Journal dated August 9^th, 2013, by Laura Ungar, states that music therapy is offered in more than 26,000 healthcare facilities in the United States.

Another study in May of 2013 by the Journal of the American Medical Association found that music therapy reduced anxiety and the intensity of sedation used with intensive care patients for respiration failure. Music is a great healing source for pain management, memory loss, anxiety and depression.

“Music is a humanizing element for people suffering with illness…music is a way of bringing hope and showing there’s still something beautiful in the world”. (Rev. Keith Brasler, Chaplin at Norton Audubon Louisville, Kentucky.)

I believe the greatest gift that I can share with my patients is music. Music is a personal soundtrack in each individual’s life. When I can tap into a person’s favorite music I witness a powerful transformation from pain to joy, from anxiety to peace.

Music is food for our souls and spirit. The power of music lifts up from darkness to light.

I encourage everyone who reads this story to share the gift of music to your friends and loved ones. Give yourself the gift of your favorite tunes each day and feel your mind and spirit soar!

Peace, Love and Music forever….Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Lynn Bradley

Independent Caregiver/Music Therapist

(Please share your favorite music memories or defining moments of you life.)

Old World Grandeur and New Ideas for New Albany, Indiana

I have lived in New Albany, Indiana since 2002, but it wasn't until January of 2014 that I discovered a true, understated treasure in Culbertson Mansion, 914 East Main Street, New Albany, IN. I was told numerous times by my New Albany neighbors to visit the Mansion, but as I was knee deep in my own restoration project on my 90 year old bungalow I never seems to have time to view the property.

Last year my friend Lynn Bradley and I were attending an arts and music event near the mansion and I mentioned that we should walk across the street and view the property. Being as it was the weekend the mansion was not open. We looked at the exterior and read the historical plaques that were outside the property for more information on the home. Since I am an avid gardener we both commented on how sparse the landscaping was and that the grounds could really use some work to make the site more attractive to visitors traveling along Main Street in New Albany.

Last month as I was making some plans for 2014 I placed visit Culbertson Mansion on my list of things I wanted to accomplish this year. On January 14 I rang the doorbell of the Mansion and waited with anticipation as to what I might see in this 19^th Century home built in 1867 for William S. Culbertson for $120,000 by builders James and William Banes.

I was greeted at the door by a beautiful and very knowledgeable lady who said her name was Jan. After a few pleasantries Jan began the tour right there on the first floor. The home as you can imagine has had several owners since Mr. Culbertson and his family moved there in 1869. Since 1976 the Indiana Department of Natural Resources' Division of Museums and Historic Sites has owned the property, they have been renovating the home since 1979.

Jan explained that the Mansion has 20,000 square feet and contains 25 rooms on three floors with a basement. The first floor has been completely renovated and is comprised of a formal parlor and dining room, library, foyer and grand staircase. This first floor is the “public” face of the Mansion and has to be seen to believed the detail of this floor is truly incredible!

The second floor is where the family lived and includes a morning sitting room, a sewing room, a private family parlor and bedrooms. While I was there Jan and I were treated to a natural “light” show by the mid-morning sunshine. The Mansion has a four, color pane window on the third floor; while we were talking about the contents of the second floor the sun was putting on a beautiful kaleidoscopic light show of colors circling around the main hallway of the second floor.

While the first floor has been completely renovated some of the ceilings on the second floor are still in the process of being transformed to their original design. In fact, Jan mentioned that the site is constantly being renovated room by room and the details of how they are doing this are depicted in the basement of the property.

The third floor is under renovation but you can still view the children's bedrooms, storage areas and grand ballroom and well as the servants bedrooms which are located on the west side of the mansion. For a 20,000 square foot home the only original bathroom in the house is located on the servant's side of the third floor.

While the interior of the Mansion is quite impressive, the landscaping of the property leaves something to be desired especially from the Main Street entrance. I'm preparing a proposal to the Culbertson Mansion Board of Directors to enhance the “curb” appeal of the property by planting blue and purple lavender up the two serpentine sidewalks that lead to the Mansion's front steps. There is a large concrete urn that stands approximately five feet high in the center of the front yard which I hope to plant mixed Dahlias of various colors. Directly in front of the Mansion’s front steps I would place purple and blue Cat Mint which would produce an aroma and attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

The right-side of the Mansion has plants and shrubs contained in it but the left-side as far as I can tell has only a few Liriope in it. I propose planting two Rhododendrons next to the windows in the left-side garden next to the Mansion; these plants will add winter color to the property and maintain floral symmetry with the right-side garden. In addition, I'm proposing erecting a trellis in the left-side garden, growing up the trellis would be two large flowering Clematis (purple/blue). Additional plants of various sizes would be planted in the left-side garden to attract the passerby to the home.

Next to the home at the front door entrance stands two (2) smaller urns, in those I’d propose planting red and white fragrant Begonias. Finally the Mansion has a second floor landing which would be an excellent place to attract the driving public passing by on Main Street with a combination of red begonias and green and white Alocasia or “Elephants Ears”.

I will be making my proposal to the Culbertson Mansion Board on March 4, after which the proposal will be sent to Indianapolis for official approval. Should I get the project I'll keep you informed of the details of the project in a later blog post. Should you wish to learn more about Culbertson Mansion please visit their website at http://www.indianamuseum.org/explore/culbertson. Thanks for reading and

remember that your comments are welcome. Until next time this is Jer saying “keep the faith”!

One Step at a Time--The Josh Bleill Story

Recently my friend Lynn Bradley and I attended a fellowship event at Northside Christian Church, New Albany, Indiana entitled “Cabin Fever Jamboree”. It was billed as a wild game tasting event and meal along with a guest speaker Mr. Josh Bleill from the Indianapolis Colts. Being a life-long Green Bay Packers fan I of course wore my favorite colors green and gold. The game food was excellent: deer, buffalo, elk, dolphin, gator etc. and the portions were huge, the speaker superb!



Mr Bleill is a young man from Indianapolis who was working for Conseco Insurance Company in Indianapolis as a recruiter when the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001. Those events had a tremendous impact on him and seeing as his father served our country as a United States Marine, Josh decided to fellow in his father’s footsteps.  While on combat patrol in Fallujah, Iraq on October 15, 2006 Josh and four of his comrads where driving their Humvee through an Iraq roadside market, his friend sitting next to him was pointing to the sheep being slaughtered in the marketplace. They turned off the road and into the median of the highway to travel the opposite direction when suddening an IED (bomb) exploded killing Josh’s Sergeant and a Lance Corporal. The blast blew their gunner clear out of the vehicle and he lost a leg, the driver survived without a scratch, but Josh Bleill woke up five days later to the realization that not only did he lose two of his comrads but also both of his legs.



As one can imagine the realization and recovery from such an experience was very painful physically, mentally and spiritually. For three and one half months Josh never left the hospital because he was ashamed of how he looked. Josh was a big man six feet two inches before the accident but now with both his legs removed he was four feet nothing. He struggled to come to grips with what had happened to him on that highway in Fallujah, Iraq. Hadn’t God called him to serve his country as his father did before him after September 11^th? How could he serve the Lord now in this condition much less make a life for himself with not one but two legs gone? Josh was always a big hunter and enjoyed the marksmanship required of a military man. He was a confident man not willing to back down from any type of challenge, but how could he face this? He couldn’t even stand to face the stares of the people he meet in the hospital let alone those outside of the facility who would instantly notice that he was now much less a man than he once was.



As God would have it Josh’s hometown team, the Indianapolis Colts were playing the Chicago Bears that year in the Super Bowl. Josh was invited to see the game and this time his love for his “Colts” overcame his fear of people looking at him in public. Later while recovering from his wounds in Walter Reed Military Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland some of the Indianapolis Colts came to call on the wounded there. Josh got to talk with some of the players and hear their triumphant stories about winning the Super Bowl and the Colts got to hear about Josh’s trial in Iraq and comeback battle with prosthetic legs. During this visit, Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts learned that Josh was from Indianapolis and went to visit him. While their Mr. Irsay learned that both he and Josh used to attend the same gym in Carmel, Indiana, he told Josh to “Come see me about a job when you get home”.


Two years later after intensive rehabilitation where Josh was first given two stumps to practice walking on Josh recovered from his injuries in Iraq and went home to Indianapolis. After visiting some of his old Indy buddies he went off to see Jim Irsay to ask about a job with the Indianapolis Colts. Today Josh is a community spokesmen for the Colts, does numerous personal appearance like the one Lynn and I attended at Northside Church, is the author of a book One Step at a Time: a Young Marine’s Story of Courage, Hope and a New Life in the NFL (Triumph Books, 2010).
 

You can learn more about Josh by going to
http://www.colts.com/fanzone/josh-bliel-one-step-at-a-time.html
or view him below and on Youtube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqmqGUjWhzg.


Now most of us thankfully didn’t have to overcome such a tremendous challenge as Josh did, but we all have crosses to bear in our lives, what was one of yours? Would you be willing to share it with me and my readers? If so, please let me hear from you. If you don’t wish to share your story but would like to send along a comment please do. Thanks again for reading and until next time “Keep the Faith”, Jer

Can you teach an Old Dog new tricks?

My topic today is can you teach an old dog new tricks. By that I mean can somebody reinvent themselves to be valuable again in today’s New Economy. When you last read a post from me I was launching a consulting business specializing in helping small and medium size companies with their organizational and staff development issues. But with the slow economic growth America is experiencing I found that I must expand my service offerings and tap into different revenue streams.
Now I’m back on the web because I have some new ideas on how to use this medium to establish multiple revenue streams more on that in later blogs. While previously I wrote about books I read that pertained to small business now my focus will be on highlighting individuals like myself who have stepped off the merry go round and have stuck out on their own to make their way independently in this new economy. I am open to posting written material from you that deals with some of these subjects:

• Career changers who are or have successfully reinvented themselves.
  
• Individuals who have overcome great obstacles or circumstances in their lives.
  
• Small business people who maybe trying to promote their business via the internet and would like to swap stories via my BlogSpot.
  

In future posts I’ll highlight the Culbertson Mansion, an Indiana Historic Site located in New Albany, Indiana that I plan to propose a landscaping project for, a mother from Kentucky who makes and sells natural soap and share with you another business ideas that I am currently working on.
As always I welcome your comments and suggestions for future posts please drop me a line and let me know you are out there. Thanks for reading and by the way the answer to the dog and tricks question is Yes! you can teach an old dog new tricks. For a look at a real dog see a picture of me and my dog Wilson on Trail 4 at Charlestown State Park in Charlestown, Indiana—I’m the one with the white goatee, until next time thanks for being there. Jer

Excerpts from my talk with the Clarksville, Indiana Rotary Club

September 5, 2012

Authentic Leadership and Guided Activism

I was asked to talk to the Rotary Club of Clarksville, Indiana a couple of weeks ago and asked to speak on a topic of community.  After some thought and research I decided to speak about authentic leadership and guided activism.  I told my host that I would like to talk about those aspects of leadership and volunteerism that I believe are meaningful and crucial to me and asked that the members of the Rotary Club list what they feel is meaningful and critical to them; what follows are some highlights of my talk with them this week. 

Definition of a leader

You measure a leader not in terms of the

skills he/she possesses, but in terms of the

skills she develops in others; not in terms of

these she helps, but in terms of those she

helps help themselves; not in terms of

decisions she makes but how she frees others

to make decisions; not in terms of the power

she has over others but in terms of the

power she releases in others; not in terms of

what she has accomplished, but what they

have accomplished – that is the measure of a leader.

Vision

If you want to be a successful visionary, here is where the journey begins, with two critical questions:

1.       What is my vision?

2.       How can I make it happen?

Caring, empathy, trust

Leaders bring out the best in others, but successful visionaries go even further: they form lasting emotional bonds.    When people are emotionally bonded to you, they want to have contact with you.  They want to be of service and share in your vision.

Influence

How does one person get others to do something willingly, excellently, and consistently?, by influencing them.”

Awareness

As a leader, your own awareness affects everyone around you.  Those whom you lead and serve depend on your grasp of the situation.  You alone can raise the group’s awareness from lower needs to higher needs. 

Guided Activism:

Seek Diversity in Skill sets and Age:

Volunteers come with varied and diverse skill sets and ages.  In theory, young people have a passion for activism and seek a change in some aspect of society; while older adults often have the discipline to shoulder the often thankless and repetitive tasks that must be done to accomplish your projects goals.  Do you have the “right” mix of the skill sets and age groups on your project team?

Task/work design

Do thoughtful planning for volunteer involvement, with a clear vision as to what volunteers can contribute in unique ways--not as unpaid staff, but as providers of services meeting a wide range of client needs.

A final word on guided activism, our role is not to “direct” volunteers but to enable them.  They are not “our” volunteers; we are “their” leaders.  Thank you!  

What are your thoughts on this subject?  Can you add to this list?  Do you disagree with anything here, please drop me a line if you have a comment thank you!

What’s your story?

Hi! Welcome back.  Today I’d like to finish my review of the book Nuts! Southwest Airline’s Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg.  Today’s material comes from Chapter 18 entitled “Unconventional Advertising”.  The success tidbits at the end of the chapter appear below:

·         Market to employees, not just to your customers.

·         Promote your culture as well as your product.

·         Look for creative, unusual ways to tell your story.

·         Collaborate with others in creating your story.

·         Use your story as a way to build spirit, service, and performance.

·         Have everyone play a part in keeping your company’s advertising and marketing promises.

·         Find ways to tell your own story.  Use it to further your personal and professional success.

Stories are a great way to engage people and get them interested in what you do and sell.  For me as a budding entrepreneur launching my consulting practice I spend a lot of time these days talking with people and telling them what I’ve done and what I’d like to do.  My business Yurway Coaching Consultants is a small business consulting practice focusing on small and medium size companies, companies of 100 employees or less who may not have the benefit of an organizational development and training professional on staff.  I specialize in process improvement, problem solving, project management and training.  As an independent business owner I know that I must first meet with people, prove my credentials and earn their trust before they will do business with me.  It’s not an easy task; it takes a lot of time and effort.

I have been using a brochure and working with networking groups like Business Network International to promote my business.  I also have been meeting with area Chambers of Commerce and the Small Business Development Center to get the word out that I’m out there and have expertise that I believe would be beneficial to the right customer.

What about you?  What is your story?  How do you promote yourself and your business?  Are you on LinkedIn?  Do you have a blog?  What sort of networking groups do you contact to get your story out there?  I’d really like to know.  If you would like to post a comment please do.  I thank you for reading and until next time all my best!  Jer

Act like you own the place

Hi! Welcome back.  I’ve been busy meeting with Chambers of Commerce and potential business clients through Business Network International club meetings around the Louisville, Kentucky area in an effort to launch my new consulting practice Yurway Coaching Consultants.  Last time I mentioned that I would be working the polls in Indiana’s spring primary on May 8^th I did and here are a few observations.

It was a long day starting with waking up at 4 a.m. to be at the voting place by 5 a.m. to setup for the primary.  I was blessed with a veteran group of poll workers: Ann, Mary, Flo and Dale.  Our station was one of four different precincts in Floyds Knobs, Indiana and I often throughout the day helped voters find their correct voter precinct by consulting an area map.  While the mood of most voters was very positive the Republican ballots were used more often than the Democratic ballots by about a two to one margin.  Voter turnout was light only 17% of the registered voters in the precinct I was working turned out.  It’s a shame that after ten years of wars overseas wars that are still going on with American servicemen and women being wounded or killed that more Americans don’t feel the need to exercise their most basic right in this country and that’s to vote.  I hope if you were one of those many people who didn’t show up at your voting place this spring that you make the effort to cast your ballot in the November elections.  With the state of our nation and the world today I can’t imagine what would be more important than to take at most a half an hour and vote for whom and what you feel is important this November.

Now back to the subject of this blog business and those issues that affect small business owners and employees.  Today’s blog topic is from Chapter 8 of Nuts! The book I’ve been reviewing on how Southwest Airlines has been successful in the ultra-competitive airline industry.  The title of the chapter is “Act like an Owner”.  But before I mention the success tips mentioned in chapter 8 of Nuts!  I’d like to quote some data from another blog that I read and happen to look at just before writing this post.

In a recent survey conducted by Fierce, Inc., only 1/3 of the 800 respondents felt that their company was willing to change practices based on employee input and feedback. Other study highlights included:

44% of employees felt that workplace practices are ineffective and often hinder employee productivity or morale.

47% reported that current practices impede desired results.

50% said the lack of companywide transparency and the lack of employee involvement are the primary areas of concern.

70% said they are willing to speak up, they doubted it would make a difference.

Like the voter turnout on this year’s Spring Indiana Primary the above statistics are quite sorrowful.  As many of you know this business climate is an especially difficult one, why is it then that so many workers feel so disconnected or disfranchised from the companies that employ them?  Certainly, business owners could use or at least consider ideas from the people that know their business processes as well or sometimes better that they do, the employees that earn a living through working at the firm.

In Nuts! Chapter 8 they state that “ownership is a powerful catalyst for organizational change”.  I’ll go even further and say that I believe you can’t obtain organizational change without ownership from both the management and staff of any organization.  The authors go on the state that “Ownership isn’t just about having a piece of paper that says I own stock.  Ownership is the result of believing that you can make a difference, then acting on that belief in everything you do.”    Based on the results of the survey above it would appear that many employees aren’t buying into the ideas espoused by their management or management itself isn’t allowing employees to actively participant in the functions of the business.   Can we really afford this business mindset in this economy?  With budgets tight and the future uncertain is it wise to go it alone and not at least seek the counsel of others within an organization?

I think not, but I must confess I have always been in the camp of participatory management which the belief that anybody including the lowest worker has knowledge that could be of benefit to me a decision maker.  Yes! Management is almost always responsible for the direction and results of a decision or policy but their ideas and opinions aren’t the only ones out there that have merit and should be considered.

Here are the tidbits of success from Chapter 8 of Nuts:

·         Think like an owner—about your job and life.  Owners focus on results regardless of who’s watching.

·         Don’t act like a victim.  Believe you can make a difference in everything you do.

·         Put your trust in others.  It tells them they are trustworthy and they will act accordingly.

·         Show your people what you think they’re worth.

·         Negotiate with an abundance mentality.

·         Make your organizational and personal mission, vision, and values clear—then hold the reins loosely.

·         Practice the Golden rule.  Do what you expect and want others to do.

That’s it for today.  Next time I’ll finish my review of Nuts! by looking at of all things advertising.  Until then thanks for reading, please post a comment if you so desire and all my best!  Jer