Young Leaders Are Out There

So, this young man from North Eugene writes me recently after listening to me talk at an assembly at his high school.

He wants to run for student body president to bring fairness and awareness to his classmates. But when he mentioned this to some friends they laughed because his status in school is not seen as “one of those kids” who can make a difference.

This is the problem in our current political selection process. When Allen Alley was running for governor a lot of Republican said to me:” Alley doesn’t look like a candidate.”

So instead, they put their support behind the popular kid, the kid with a name, the former NBA player Chris Dudley. We’ll Chris lost, ran a good race, but in the end most of us didn’t have confidence in his ability to do the job.

This young man’s email gives me hope and reminds me how screwed up our current thinking process is and makes me want to scream for new leadership.

We need to recognize leaders not for what they look like or how they come across but for what they carry deep in their souls.

I wonder that we haven’t become so desensitized to our “gut reaction” that we believe what’s on the outside and can’t see what’s on the inside.

We vote for an image not the imagination. We are looking for the popular kid not the kid with an idea who truly can change the world.

No wonder we are stuck on this merry-go-round and can’t seem to find real leaders.

Jake, I hope you run for student body president. It would be cool if you win but even better if you just stick to your principles and show those around you that heart is not something plastic you put on the exterior but something that shines through as you truly believe you can make life better for those around you.

I truly believe the Jake’s of this world will rise up an change the screwed up system we’ve accepted as normal when in fact it is nothing but tired, worn out and ineffective.

Those of you who think compromise and working together mean losing better take notice. Your days are numbered. There are a lot of people out here ready to see real change. We want leaders and candidates with balls and people willing to look beyond the rules you’ve established and onto something that works.

No, we aren’t living in utopia but the reality of the world we live in. Popularity can only get you so far. What people today are looking for are leaders who work with each other not those looking for star quality.

Jake, go for it.

The WaterCooler is Back

There are not many things I miss about working in Television News. I don’t miss the long hours, I don’t miss having to be on top of everything and I don’t miss having managers’ set the agenda based on sales not what’s good for the public.
I’m a blessed guy. I love telling stories and talking with people and with my new business I get to do that but one thing I haven’t been able to do a lot of is “The WaterCooler.”
The WaterCooler was an interview segment Andrea Ash, Alan Beck and I came up with a few years ago. It wasn’t sexy, it wasn’t flashy it was just good old fashioned journalism.
We’d invite guests to the show and asked questions and got their answers.
The WaterCooler was pretty popular and drew a specific audience but a manager at the TV Station decided it was boring and killed it.
We’ll the WaterCooler is back. We recently did a series of interviews with local Lane County Leaders. The idea is to ask them questions that you have about the proposed budget for 2012/2013.
People always ask me; “how are we supposed to get information about certain topics? You get to talk with these people Rick but we don’t.” We’ll now you can, via The WaterCooler.
Yes, I am contracted to do the interviews but the questions are questions I hear from social media, conversations in the community and questions leaders hear as they meet with folks in the community.
I will be posting these WaterCooler interviews for you to watch. I know, it’s not sexy TV with big graphics and page turning, titillating drama. The WaterCooler is real life conversation.
Check them out.
Go to Lane Counties website or to Rickdancer.com.

There are more posted on the Lane County Website/Face Book or rick dancer.com

Shut Up and Listen

The gym is filled with kids. The entire student bodies of the three schools that make up North Eugene High are in the bleachers. I keep hearing the words of a Face Book “friend” telling me what a joke it was that I’ve been invited to be the keynote speaker at an assembly about racism.
A few hours later at Sheldon High School I’m at a smaller assembly but the message is quite similar.
Kids from different cultures talk about how people still put them down for being “Mexicans.” A young African American told of how he has to try much harder to do the same things his white counter parts have to do.
I am not an expert on racism but I am an expert on the effects of labeling. Racism and Labeling are distant cousins.
Labeling is still accepted while racism is something no one wants to admit to. So, that is what I talked about. I learned a long time ago only to talk about what I know.
Hate is hate and it comes from racism or from labeling. Both are created to prevent relationship and put our differences above similarities. Both are prisons that aim to keep the bickering alive and prevent us from ever hearing the other side.
The white culture gets tired of hearing about racism but from what I heard yesterday we’ve got nothing to complain about.
I have great hope after yesterday’s assemblies with kids. I don’t think the world will change because of what was said but I think some people’s worlds were shaken.
I can’t change the mind of the guy who tells me I can’t speak about racism but I can ignore his attempts to label me and use that anger as a tool for change.
And so I did and in many ways should thank the naysayers and the labelers for helping me speak the truth. The truth will set people free but you have to be willing to shut your mouth and listen to find that freedom.

Facts about Lane County Proposed Budget for 2012/2013

Lane County needs to cut 16 million dollars from its 2012/2013 general fund budget. People ask me all the time how can we get just straight information without the media hype. This is one of four WaterCooler interviews we did for Lane County. This, the first, is with Liane Richardson the County Administrator. Listen and get the facts.

Labels and Lies

Thursday I will stand in front of hundreds of students at two local high schools as part of an assembly to talk about racism and it’s impact on our culture.

I get a bit nervous, not to speak, but to get in front of folks, as a white guy, and talk about such an important and difficult topic.

I learn about my racist attitudes from hanging out with friends from different cultures. I’m amazed at how ingrained some of these “spots” are in my thinking and I’m not afraid to admit it.

What I’m learning is when I stand back and listen discovery is more natural. My friends are amazing teachers who laugh with me not at me.

The issue I will attack is one that is near and dear to my heart. The labels and lies we hide behind that prevent relationship and eventually real change.

Status quo is the enemy. Labeling allows us to hide behind our lies and prevents those “light bulb” moments some of us long for.

Labeling doesn’t just happen with racial issues it’s rampant in politics, socioeconomics and in the church.

The word I must take out of my vocabulary is “but.” “But” is an excuse word that is usually followed by rationalization rather than examination.

I once asked a five-year-old kid why we put other people down and he told me “to make ourselves feel better about ourselves.” The young boy looked at me and said; “That’s kind of stupid and mean isn’t it Mr. Dancer?”

Labels and lies…..Yes, kind of stupid and mean.

Overregulation will be the death of us.

As a news guy I remember doing stories on small businesses complaining about overregulation but I never understood.

Now that I am a small businessman I get it.

I don’t want to get into specific’s right now because I’m trying to figure out what to do but a “regulation” has come to mind that threatens a segment of my business.

I understand the reason for the regulation but to require me to follow this rule takes a huge chunk out of my budget and makes it questionable whether I can continue to offer the service.

We are a country founded on the backs of small businesses and yet what seem like little rules to the political types often times mean big expenses to the small businessperson.

Our regulation almost forces us to work for bigger companies because they are the only ones who have the financial backing to adhere to all the regulations. I know what some of you are thinking, yes regulations are killing them too but they have a tad bit more backing than the small guys.

In a way I’m glad this is happening. My eyes are wide open to the ridiculousness of overregulation. As times get more difficult people who pay for and vote for those who seem to worship regulation will get smarter. We will come to a place where we won’t play the game any longer.

Hard times wake people up. Difficult economies can be a cure for apathy and if that happens the over regulators and lawmakers who thrive on finding ways to “Protect” us from ourselves may find they are the ones who need protecting.

Perhaps the ballot box will once again be a tool for change rather than what it’s become, a tool to protect the status quo.

Oh, and just for the record, don’t blame a party for the problem that is the easy way to turn this conversation into worthless words on a computer screen.