You see the news items about the chaos in the credit industry. Credit card issuers are raising interest rates regardless of payment history, lowering credit lines, and creating new ways to charge customers. Many of the popular credit card incentives of yesterday have disappeared or the value has been greatly reduced.
The only way out for many credit card holders is to pay down their balances as fast as possible and not incure any new charges. And they are doing that in droves. Which is a good thing for those who can. But many are trapped due to unemployment and a sluggish at best economy.
On one hand, this will surely come back to haunt the credit card companies. But they have such a huge member list that can't readily escape and short term gains are hard to resist. The only reason so many banks and other credit card issuers are doing well is they are feeding on their current captive customers.
And the quest to shut down or eliminate non active accounts is unbelievable. People are using their credit cards less for a good reason, they are trying to save money. Many are finding out that their credit cards have been cancelled when they do go to use them. No notice (not required according to many agreements that credit card issuers have you sign) is given, you just find out when you go to use your credit card. Now there's some great customer service.
Congress passed a bill this year that forces the credit card companies to be more proactive in communicating any interest changes and slapping new fees on current credit card holders. As with most federal laws, it won't go into effect for about two years. It would appear that the credit card companies are now making hay while they can and doing everything they can to increase revenue now.
And the home loans are in worse shape than the credit card accounts. Although the government is trying to help the beleaguered homeowners who now have upside down loans (they owe more than their home is worth), the lenders are barely responding. Everyone I've spoken to who has tried the new programs to refinance have been put off, ignored, or flat out refused in their refinance requests.
The government programs have offered lenders incentives of a couple of thousand dollars if they help a homeowner refinance to bring their payments down so they can keep their homes. Not enough say the lenders, the numbers just don't add up. The lenders have the time to let the market start improving so it's all about the money.
It's estimated by the end of this year; over 35% of all homeowners with mortgages will be underwater (the loan amount is above the value of the home). That will stagnate the real estate market even longer since many will not be in a position to sell with out taking a serious loss. Chances are that anyone who bought or refinanced in the last five years will be underwater with the 30% loss in equity the home market has suffered.
Welcome to the new credit world. It's ugly, hard to navigate, and nothing is guaranteed anymore. Some people who have the income and the down payment are getting some great deals on real estate and that has helped. But the loan process these days is becoming more difficult to navigate for people with what was once considered good credit. The amount of scrutiny is tenfold and the process has become full of pitfalls and slow downs.
Not a pretty picture, and there doesn't seem to be any easy way out of this mess. For those that still have a job and income, it's time to pay down any credit line you can. For those that find themselves between a rock and a hard place, consider eliminating debt if it's inconceivable to pay off. These are difficult times and will require some tough choices. There are many free credit-counseling services from local communities, church organizations, or government agencies at all levels. They can help and often give you an unbiased opinion.
The New Leadership Challenge
The global marketplace is creating historic changes in human circumstances as broad and deep as those originated by the Industrial Revolution. But one significant change that observers are overlooking involves leadership.
From the outset of the Industrial Revolution, order-giving has been the standard of leadership. The word "order" comes from the Latin root meaning to arrange threads in a woof. In the Industrial Revolution's early years, workers were "ordered" or ranked like threads in a woof of textile production lines.
But globalization is creating a need for new leadership. Instead of ordering people to go from A to B, the new leadership has people want to go from A to B.
This simple, even simplistic, difference illuminates an enormous leadership opportunity. Clearly, people who "want to" are more competitive than people who are simply responding to orders, given their skills are commensurate. Your arousing want-to in others can be accomplished most effectively when you see your leadership as a sacred activity.
Sacred is commonly defined as being devoted or dedicated to a deity or some religious purpose. But the emergence of the global marketplace has necessitated a new meaning for the sacred. The sacred I speak of is not connected to any principle exclusive to a particular denominational religion. If it were, it could not be applied universally throughout the global market's interplay of many languages, cultures, and religions. Instead, the sacred aspect of leadership is based on the undeniable fact that all humans everywhere are interconnected through their relationships in profound, practical ways. The sacred flows from the wellsprings of those deep, human relationships.
Paradoxically, this "new" leadership has been manifested since time in memorial. After all, when people needed to accomplish great things, a leader had to first gather them together and speak from the heart. In that gathering, in that speaking, in that sharing something truly sacred was established.
To examine the sacred, we must understand the stuff that leaders' activities must be made of: results. If you're not getting results, you won't be a leader for long. Results come in countless forms and functions. But one thing all results share is they are the outcomes of the relationships people engender to take action.
The word "relationship" comes from a Latin root meaning to "carry back." To be involved in a human relationships is to both give and get. Such relationships are best realized in leadership when you engage in what I call the Leadership Imperative. The Imperative states: "I will lead others in such a way that we together not only accomplish our needed results but we grow professionally and personally."
The Leadership Imperative is the rough, organizational equivalent of the Golden Rule that most religions, in one form or another, urge; but don't confuse it with a guide for conduct exclusively; it's also a way of getting great organizational results. When people understand that your leadership will improve their lives, their jobs and their careers, you'll establish a sacred bond with them, and they'll be more likely to be motivated to accomplish extraordinary things for you.
(An important tool for actualizing the Leadership Imperative is a methodology I've been teaching to leaders worldwide for nearly a quarter of a century. See my website for my information on the Leadership Talk.)
In our time, order leadership has held sway in all sectors of business and government. However, order leadership has nothing sacred to offer. Orders are sent, orders carried out or not. Deep, human, "sacred" connections are superfluous, even antithetical, to giving orders. And because order leadership can't get the consistently great results that the new leadership triggers, the order way of leadership is destined for history's scrap heap.
Don't be put off or discouraged if you can't immediately see the sacred in your leadership today. First, align your words and actions to conform to the Leadership Imperative. When you do, you'll see the sacred in the very practical necessities of your daily life. It's been there all along, waiting for you to find it and realize it. You may be in a bureaucracy that at first blush seems to have nothing to do with the sacred. But I submit that no matter what organization you're in, what job you hold, you'll get the best results when you work to manifest the sacred in your leadership. In fact, the sacred is the true reality of what you do, where you do it.
When you're realizing the sacred calling of the Leadership Imperative, everyone you encounter, every challenge you face, is invested with special meaning that can boost results.
The exigencies of the global economy are demanding a change in the standard of leadership. Your understanding and realizing the new leadership but also its sacred dimensions will notably advance your job and career performance.
Both John Dow & Brent Filson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
John Dow has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Personal Desktop and Registry Cleaner. , Credit Reports are not just from Credit Bureaus. Need help consolidating your student loan, learn how here:. John Dow's top article generates over 110000 views. to your Favourites.
Brent Filson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Leadership, Difficult people and Leadership. The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. - and for more than 21 years has been. Brent Filson's top article generates over 8100 views. to your Favourites.
