Living Wage Index

One of the most important sayings in business is “you can’t improve what you don’t measure.” This anonymous quote explains why the American economy is weak and crime, unemployment, and poverty are major problems throughout the country. Politicians recognize that all politics is local. However, they ignore the fact that public policy solutions to chronic social problems must be based on local employment statistics.

Federal, state and local government policies have failed because they are based on national economic models that define a community where 100 people make $1 million a year and 1,000 destitute people make $0 a year as a thriving neighborhood (because the average annual salary of the 1,100 residents is $90,909.) This faulty economic analysis has allowed government to largely ignore the employment needs of people struggling in economically challenged neighborhoods. This results in social problems plaguing communities where unemployment is rampant. 

The quickest way to turn a community around is to ensure that a majority of residents have a living wage job (where an individual earns sufficient money to cover basic living expenses-this is typically four times the average housing costs). When these jobs are plentiful chronic problems like crime, low graduation rates, poverty and poor healthcare disappear. Tragically, living wage jobs are vanishing in local communities because the small and independent businesses providing these jobs are under assault in America.

Government policies have ensured that the large businesses that are supposedly “too big to fail” increase profit margins. Mega-businesses like the major banks, oil companies and big-box stores are being given unfair financial gifts that have provided them with a significant competitive advantage over the small independent businesses that provide living wage jobs to most local residents. Economists have ignored the fact that local businesses who hire most people in America are “too small to fail.” The small size and entrepreneurial nature of these companies motivates them to take the risk of hiring local residents (who historically have been the backbone of the American workforce and economic system).

Unfortunately, because local employment trends are rarely measured, politicians are not held accountable for the loss of living wage jobs resulting from the closing of small businesses. Thousands of local businesses are dying in secret across the country. It is therefore essential that every municipality in America utilize a simple measure of free-market living wage employment that holds local, county, state and national politicians accountable for the closing of small businesses and the loss of local jobs. This simple measure is called the “Living Wage Index” because it quantifies the percentage of people holding jobs that enable them to pay their bills.

The simple equation for the Living Wage Index is: L / W where “L” represents the number of households earning a living wage in the target community and “W” represents the total number of households in the target community. Albert Einstein said "equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity." This equation has the potential to permanently change public policy in a way that politicians cannot.

Wall Street is driven by measures like the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and quarterly corporate reporting. Federal government policy is guided by aggregate indicators like national unemployment, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and housing starts. The Living Wage Index, if utilized to measure municipal employment trends, will force political and business leaders to advocate for policies that would strengthen small businesses and rapidly increase local living wage employment.

The best way to save local businesses, transform poor communities and revive the national economy is to rely on the Living Wage Index to influence politicians to develop community programs like a “Shop Local Create Jobs” campaign. This type of effort would have the dual benefit of increasing living wage employment and saving those businesses who are truly too small to fail.     

Influence-Driven Peace

The governments of the most powerful countries in the world have failed because they are forced to deal with the extremes of social policy. They are pulled in one direction by the extreme conservatives who want no government influence. They are pulled in the other direction by the extreme liberals who want complete government influence. This has led to extraordinary political conflict which has forced political leaders in the world’s richest countries to advance policies designed to treat the complicated symptoms of problems instead of the root causes of economic, social and environmental challenges.

The tragic result of treating symptoms has been chronic high global unemployment, sub-standard health care, wide-spread illiteracy, uncontrollable crime, global military conflict and environmental decay. It is time for the political leaders in the most influential countries in the world to use the principals of Intelligent Influence^® to advance policies designed to address the root-causes of the world’s most significant problems.

Influence Awareness analysis tells us that the two-party system driven by powerful conservatives and liberals has led to a policy focus on short-term solutions designed to achieve temporary political gains instead of long-term improvements. Influence Impact analysis tells us that this approach to government has failed because high unemployment, poor health care, crime, war and poverty continue to be major problems.

Influence Management analysis tells us that every developed country is made up of neighborhoods and communities each with very different populations, characteristics and problems. However, the one factor that determines the relative success or failure of these communities is the percentage of people of working age holding living wage jobs (where an individual makes sufficient money to cover reasonable food, clothing, housing, health care, education and retirement expenses for their household).

I believe that there is an unexplored subset of economics that I call “Neighborhood Economics^TM” that has not received the focus and attention it deserves. Tip O’Neil, the late Speaker of the US House of Representatives, was famous for saying that “all politics is local.”  It is clear that “solutions to global problems are local” as well.  History has proven that a “strong” global economy does not mean healthy communities around the world.  The only way to effectively solve the most challenging problems in the world is to develop solutions that are custom designed for the unique needs of local communities and neighborhoods.  One size does not fit all in politics or social sciences.

Communities with high living wage employment are more likely to have low unemployment, higher literacy rates, better health care, lower crime and less poverty. Consequently, the measure of success of local, state and national government policies should be the extent of living wage employment in a community. I call this Neighborhood Capitalism^TM because it is based on free-market economic policies targeting local communities. Most economic theories fail because they are focused on using aggregate economic indicators and applying them to local communities. My theory of Neighborhood Capitalism is more reliable than these theories because it is focused on using local economic indicators as the foundation for assessing the health of the national and global economy.

The one indicator that most accurately measures the success of government policies is the Peace Influence Index^TM (P2I) (which is frequently called the “Caldwell Peace Index”). Every rational human being is striving for peace of mind, peace in their communities and peace in the world. It is therefore essential to have a measure of peace and prosperity that can be applied to communities everywhere. 

The equation for P2I is:  P = L – G/W where P2I is symbolized by the letter “P” which represents the percentage of “Peace” (and prosperity) in a target area; “L” represents the number of people in “Living Wage Jobs” in the target community; “G” represents the number of people employed in living wage jobs subsidized by 51% or more government funding; and, “W” represents the number of people of “Legal Working Age” in the target community. It is important to note that I subtract living wage jobs subsidized by 51% or more of government funding because these positions rarely serve as the foundation of a community’s long-term financial well-being. They are simply recycling tax dollars in a way that usually does not lead to sustainable economic growth.   

Influence Maximization analysis tells us that if every government in the world were evaluated based on this relatively simple equation applied to key large communities they would be influenced to move more rapidly toward peace and prosperity. The beauty of this approach is that it does not matter how neighborhoods are determined geographically as long as the same geographic boundaries are used when identifying P2I trends. Public policies would be focused on providing incentives for large and small businesses and nonprofits/NGOs to hire unemployed workers at living wages. These new government programs would incentivize free market employment in a way that would reduce crime, improve health care, enhance public education and lead to the elimination of terrorism and war.

In a relatively short period of time this measure of free-market prosperity would move the world toward peace by significantly increasing the quality of life for every person on the planet. It is time for average citizens to ask their government leaders for the Peace Influence Index (P2I) trends in the communities where they live and work. This would enable them to measure the success or failure of their political leaders and make more informed political choices on election day.    

Intelligent Influence In Business

         “The future influences the present just as much as the past.”
                                                                                          Friedrich Nietzsche

The word “influence” is “hidden in plain sight” in the language of today’s complex business world. The term is used by millions of business people on a daily basis without a comprehensive understanding of the vitally important role influence plays in business success or failure. Modern technology provides the data necessary for today’s executives to develop comprehensive plans for the future of their business. As described by Nietzsche more than 150 years ago, these future plans not only have a direct influence on current business operations, they also impact how employees need to leverage past business and personal influences for future success.

The strategic use of influence is the foundation of individual and organizational success. Corporations seeking to exceed profitability goals must develop business strategies focused on maximizing their influence in the marketplace. The productivity of employees at every level of an organization is directly correlated with the influence they have on their peers, subordinates and supervisors.

Based on an analysis of extraordinary people and companies, I developed a framework on individual and organizational success that I call Intelligent Influence^TM. This unique approach to management consulting provides an effective new process designed to increase the productivity and profitability of corporations. Intelligent Influence^TM is defined as “a learned competency that leads to extraordinary results driven by effective human interaction.” This framework is custom designed to help corporations improve organizational efficiency; develop exceptional leaders; increase the engagement and retention of employees; assess the talent of current and future employees; and, maximize the effectiveness of a diverse workforce.

The seamless interconnection of dynamic global economies has challenged leaders to develop new approaches to address constant business change. Armed with knowledge about how people have been influenced and how they intelligently influence others, managers can approach problems and challenging situations more effectively. Insight into how these managers have been influenced and how they influence others enables them to maximize their success as leaders within any organization that requires significant human interaction.

The utilization of Intelligent Influence^TM in business involves the application of a custom designed consulting process to help individuals value the influence based differences of their peers, subordinates and supervisors in a way that increases their engagement and effectiveness within the organization. Regardless of how they are formed, why they come together, at what level in the organization and for how long, all effective teams need to learn how to manage their internal influences and maximize their external influences to achieve their goals.

All extraordinary teams understand how to manage their internal influences in a way that will enable them to have the external influence they need to be high performing teams. The Intelligent Influence^TM in business consulting process offers a suite of unique influence based tools and resources that can bring out the best in senior, management, functional and project teams.

This framework is especially effective in helping corporations in the areas of Organizational Effectiveness; Leadership Development; Employee Engagement; Talent Assessment and Recruitment; and, Diversity and Inclusion. This comprehensive approach to organizational improvement is based on enhancing the internal and external influences of both employees and organizations in a way that will help them maximize their effectiveness in today’s competitive business environment.

The most successful people within an organization are those with the most positive influence. The Intelligent Influence^TM in business consulting approach provides tools, resources and strategies to help individuals at every level of an organization enhance their influence in a way that will increase both their productivity and that of the department or division in which they work.

For more information about the Intelligent Influence^TM in business consulting approach please visit http://www.strategicinfluencellc.com/.

Influence Driven Education

15 year old Steven (the name has been changed to protect his identity) was the kind of student that used to go to his local library regularly for peace and quiet and the opportunity to read books. He was an engaging young man who was liked by his classmates and teachers. In many ways he represented the majority of students who attend schools in the United States. Tragically, he was killed last Wednesday evening in cold blood as he approached the library he used to frequent.

I have the great honor of serving as the President of the school district where Steven was a student. As the President of this school district, a resident of Steven’s home state and a citizen of the United States, I am calling upon political leaders, educators and my fellow American citizens to completely redesign public education to ensure that students like Steven have the opportunity to get the education they need to become productive citizens. The future of our country depends upon the redesign of education to ensure that all students receive positive educational influences from 8am to 8pm.

Our State Department of Education (DOE) recently released the state test scores and once again there is a tragically wide gap in test scores between black and Hispanic students and white and Asian students. As reported by the DOE “60% of the black or African-American 3^rd graders failed to achieve proficient scores, compared with 21.4 percent for Asian students and 31 percent for whites.” Sadly, this gap has remained relatively consistent in spite of decades of focus on curriculum revision and targeted school funding. Publicly, educational leaders state that they believe that this gap can be closed. However, privately, many of these leaders know that this gap will never change with an exclusive focus on the 8am to 3pm education.

As a school board member who has served on public, private and charter school boards I am convinced that the quality of the curriculum and teaching provided students in schools is a vitally important component of their learning. However, as someone who has established and run after-school programs for students and their parents I have learned that the influences in the lives of students outside of school are more important to their academic success.

Unfortunately, current education policy assumes that a student’s classroom experiences account for 100% of the positive influence they need to succeed in school. It is clear that influences outside of school account for at least 50% (and probably more like 75%) of the educational influences in a student’s life since students spend more than 70% of their day outside of a classroom. However, funding does not reflect this fact.

Steven was yet another of the hundreds of thousands of victims of negative community influences. He was not a member of a local gang in his hometown. However, he was killed by a gang member and was clearly a victim of the negative forces in his neighborhood. Tragically, our district has applied for funding from government and nonprofit organizations to create programs for students like Steven that would enable us to provide the positive educational influence from 3pm to 8pm that these students need to succeed in school and stay alive. However, we have not received funding because of the almost exclusive focus of public and foundation dollars on the 8am to 3pm education of students.

To close this achievement gap public policy must utilize a concept that I call “Intelligent Influence^TM”. This approach to academic and life success is founded on the belief that the influences in every person’s life blend seamlessly with their personality to determine their actions.

Frequently, the quality of the curriculum and teaching is very often irrelevant to a student’s success. Many students in urban schools with outstanding teachers get excellent grades because they have a mix of positive influences throughout the day and evening that complement their personality in a way that ensures their academic success. Conversely, students in the same class who are struggling in school have an overwhelming number of negative influences after-school and in the evening that blend with their personality to ensure academic failure or even death (as in Steven’s case).

Few people would argue with the fact that students who are influenced by positive mentors to do homework after-school and in the evening will do better academically than students who are influenced by gangs to ignore their school work. However, public policy and funding virtually ignore the need to provide the after-school and evening influence necessary to turn struggling students into exceptional students. To make matters worse, there is very little research on the impact of influences outside of the classroom on the test scores of students.

Some people believe that it is exclusively the parent’s responsibility to provide this positive influence after-school and at home. However, the number of broken or unhealthy homes outnumbers the healthy homes in most poor communities. Far too many parents are incapable (either because of their lack of education or the fact that they are working multiple jobs to feed their family) of providing this critical positive influence on a consistent basis.

If as a society we are serious about closing the achievement gap, reducing crime, minimizing taxes and saving lives we need to support programs that provide the educational influences students need from 3pm to 8pm. This can be done without increasing taxes. As a former senior state government official I can guarantee that a seamless integration of current state funding from the Departments of Education, Human Services, Law and Public Safety and Community Affairs will enable the state to adequately support 3pm to 8pm programs (at current funding levels) that increase high school graduation rates, significantly increase test scores, reduce crime, minize taxes and save lives.

We call the utilization of Intelligent Influence^TM in public education (i.e. investing in the integration of positive influences into the lives of all students before, during and after-school) “Influence Driven Education^TM” If we do not provide this type of education to students, the gap in test scores will continue to widen and crime will continue to increase because more students will succumb to the temptations of the urban streets. Even more tragically, Steven’s death will have meant nothing to society as a whole.

Why Influence Matters More Than Leadership

For most of my life I have been fascinated by leadership. When I was a child all of my heroes were famous people who were leaders in their respective endeavors. I was mesmerized by iconic individuals like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; John F. Kennedy; Arthur Ashe; Henry Ford; Franklin D. Roosevelt; Mahatma Gandhi; Lew Alcindor; Cassius Clay and others who used diverse styles to lead very different groups of people toward extremely difficult goals. I was fascinated by their success. However, at that time in my life I could not understand why some people holding leadership positions succeeded and others failed.

I learned a great deal more about leadership later in life because I had the honor of serving as the President and/or Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of 10 organizations. These positions convinced me that leadership is one of the most important subjects in the world.  Leadership plays a vitally important role in every aspect of human society and life.  Health, education, the environment, religion, science, business, government, nonprofits, families and basic human interaction are all directly affected by leadership in one way or another. 

Effective leaders can improve the quality of life for every human being on earth while ineffective leaders can create global chaos. Since the right leader can inspire followers to cure disease, eradicate poverty, sustain the environment, increase employment, eliminate illiteracy, reduce crime and bring about global peace it is essential, for the good of humanity, to understand the foundation of successful leadership.

Several years ago I began the process of learning as much as I could about leadership. I read many books and papers, observed leaders at all levels of society and studied a great variety of organizations dedicated to the study of leadership or the training of leaders. My goal was to figure out what makes a leader successful. To my surprise this analysis taught me much more about success in life than I ever imagined it could. In my research I uncovered some amazing secrets about successful human interaction.

I have always been fascinated by word definitions. In my review of the definitions of common leadership terms I was surprised to discover that one word connected all of the traditional definitions of leadership. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines a “Leader” as “a person who has commanding authority or influence.” “Authority” is defined as “power to influence or command thought, opinion or behavior.” “Command” is defined as “exercising a dominating influence over.” Since a person’s authority and ability to command is driven by influence it is logical to conclude that the relative success of a leader is determined by the extent of their influence over others. In other words “Leadership is driven by influence.”

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “Influence” as “The act or power of producing an effect without apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command.” This definition forced me to examine whether influence was more than the foundation of leadership. I therefore spent a great deal of time studying the role of influence both on the world and in my life.

In doing this research I discovered how important influence was to the lives of every person on earth. Influence “produced” many of the most important “effects” both in everyday activities and major human events. However, I was amazed to discover that there was little substantive research on both the role of influence in daily life and major historical events.

Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “Theory” as “the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another.” I developed “Intelligent Influence Theory” based on my analysis of a set of facts about the amazing relationship of influence to individual and organizational success.

This unique blog will expose the role of influence in some of the most popular subjects in the world. My hope is that regular readers will learn to use the power of "Intelligent Influence" to become better leaders and enhance their success both at home and at work.