It is a good reminder to stay on the road of integrity in life and in business — no matter what others are doing — even if it appears to cost us some perceived advantage.

While at the conference, I had the pleasure of convening several CAMEO members for a informal member meeting: Salam Nalia of Fresno EOC, Reggie Knox of California Farm Link, Robert Villareal of CDC Small Business Finance, Roberto Barragan of Valley Economic Development Corporation, Namoch Sokhom of PACE, Ross Welch of Arcata EDC, Zachary Petry of Youth Business America , and Agnes Cheung of TMC Working Solutions.

The research shows: “Additional income doesn’t buy us any additional happiness once we reach that comfortable standard. The magic number that defines this ‘comfortable standard’ varies across individuals and countries, but in the United States, it seems to fall somewhere around $75,000. Using Gallup data collected from almost half a million Americans, researchers at Princeton found that … the beneficial effects of money tapered off entirely after the $75,000 mark.”

Much of the article discusses how “under-indulging” and being generous to others creates more happiness.

So if you use my Back-of-the-Envelope Breakeven exercise and are wondering how much personal draw you should aim for, consider that less is more, sometimes.

Tulgan does a great job of outlining the basics of managing (manage everyday; talk like a coach; make accountability a process) and noting the myths common among managers.  I like many of his sobriquets for these myths:  When managers boast they like to leave their people alone, he calls it “Management by Neglect.”   Another common pitfall occurs when managers have a serious discussion about the employee’s work only when something has gone terribly wrong: “Bad News Managing.”  Instead he describes a frequent, work-focused, engaged management style with words such as:  guide, coach, direct and support.

In my favorite bit, Tulgan argues that managers too often substitute shooting the breeze and cheerleading for substantive discussion on what needs to be done and how do it.  The ‘pal-sy’ socializing can be a disingenuous way to connect with an employee or can disguise a manager’s discomfort with managing.  Tulgan argues the authentic relationship between a manager and employee is about the work; that is the heart of genuine connection.  He provides great tools to make that connection work.

Adding to the picture is that those most responsible for bringing us to the brink are now enjoying the yachts purchased during the boom, hundred million dollar severance packages, lucrative consulting contracts or federal government appointments; in some cases all four.

The past three administrations have participated in this either through deregulation, lack of enforcement of existing laws, overlooking exchange violations and unethical behavior.   All three administrations have appointed the CEOs of the investment and banking industry to cabinet and Federal Reserve positions.  Legislation to fix the underlying problem — the banking and investment industry’s taking unregulated, undisclosed and deceptive risk with other people’s money and no skin in the game of their own – has not and will not pass.

I had to force myself to go to this movie because I knew I would be upset by it and I was.  I needed to see it, however, to be informed, and so does everyone else.

I heard a part of the debate between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman recently.  Meg bemoaned businesses moving out of California because of our unfriendly business policies.  She should check out this report Business Relocation and Homegrown Jobs by Jed Kolko, of the Public Policy Institute of California.  Kolko observed “that business relocation—the movement of business establishments from one state to another—accounts for a very small share of California’s employment fluctuations.”  He concluded that “relocation accounts for a smaller share of job gains and losses in California than in most other states….”

If Meg is interested in business development and job creation, she should also read, Very Small Businesses Create Very Large Change by Philip Borden and Terry Bibbens.  Their data shows that “the real heart of job growth in the small business community is businesses with fewer than five employees.”

We’ve spent a lot recently on saving Wall Street, banks and the auto industry.  I wonder how many jobs those industries have created in the past year.

I’ve been reading a great book by Marshall Goldsmith, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.”  He points out that successful people are sometimes particularly resistant to seeing what they might be doing wrong because, well, they are successful!  How could they be doing anything wrong?  But in fact, successful people have patterns that are impeding additional success.

He has a great list of twenty faults common among successful people.   Some are obvious like “always wanting to win” or “passing judgment.”  But some are more unusual.   Try some of these on:

• Adding too much value:  It’s never good enough; always upping the ante; having to add our ideas to every topic.
• An excessive need to be “me”:  Using faults as virtues.
• Failing to express gratitude:  Not practicing the art of saying thank you.
• Refusing to express regret:  An inability to admit we’re wrong or how we’ve affected others

It was both exciting and painful to read this book, as I noticed which of the twenty habits applied to me.  But Goldsmith’s ideas are in line with my first post on transformational approaches to growing healthy organizations and fostering self-aware leadership.

There are two types of inputs to use when you want things to change.

Transactional inputs are those that focus on building skills or creating new systems:  financial management, performance evaluations, program design, strategic planning and the like.  These transactional inputs are what most of us think of when we create plans for the future.  They are an important part of change and development.  But by themselves they’re often not enough.

We’ve all experienced trainings or planning processes that professed to make big changes, but left things pretty much the same. We’ve all been in businesses or organizations where a particular entrenched way of operating or a particular person’s way of working kept things stuck.

Transformational inputs, on the other hand, help us change how we think, behave, and envision the future.  They seek to create a
“critical perceptual shift” that moves us to higher levels of motivation and purpose.  These activities focus on how we perceive
ourselves, the people around us and our options.

Transformational activities involve identifying life values, envisioning ways to make those values real in what we are doing and
creating new roles for ourselves along the way.   It’s critical to get feedback from those around us so we can see what is working and what might need to shift.   It can involve developing new awareness and behaviors in areas such as leadership, team-building, inspiring and encouraging others.  Transformational inputs help us create a new, improved version of ourselves.

They also take more courage to undertake than transactional activities.  They ask us to evolve our self-perception, our notions of what is possible and our ways of interacting with others.  They are often the key to a more robust, efficient and fulfilling organization.

So when you are planning your next round of growth or change, consider building into your plan both transactional and
transformational methods.