Failure is a stepping stone towards success. But the information that you gather only has power when it is applied to real life situations. Failure is feedback when you can learn different lessons from the failure, and that puts you on your way to success.
It is easy to feel like a failure when something does not work out.
It is a first instinct to feel disappointed when your project or start-up fails.
At that moment, you could care less about feedback from failure. Continue reading
Now, do not get me wrong. This is not a knock at the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It is a reminder of how badly Congress writes laws and then allows an incompetent bureaucracy to administer and enforce them.
When George Bush signed the ADA, he might have thought that most of the discrimination complaints would come from those who were deaf or blind or wheelchair bound. However, the most claims come from those claiming back problems (the tort lawyer’s dream come true).
Nor could he have imagined that the definition of disability under the law is so broadly interpreted as to include drug and alcohol abusers.
Then, since Congress did not properly define a mental illness (schizophrenia, manic depression, severe depression obsessive compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder), Bill Clinton’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has so broadly interpreted the law that the following disorders now constitute a mental illness and this is how the employer might be required to deal with it.
Narcissistic personality disorder: Give the employee a mirror so they can look at themselves all day.
Sex addiction: Watch porno films during a coffee break.
Here is another, equally ludicrous, possibility. An individual with a sex addiction, who can not be fired under ADA, is also a sexual harasser and creates another type of discrimination lawsuit against the company.
The EEOC advises employers that they should be understanding of workers who are chronically late, who exercise poor judgment or who display hostility to fellow workers –because those traits may be linked to mental impairment. Here is an act that is no longer a possibility, it is a reality.
This type of unreasonable mandate creates unproductive businesses and puts our country in a position where we can only compete worldwide in the lawsuit category.
In an article in Black Enterprise Magazine, Robyn Clarke, in her article “Kissing Your Employer Goodbye” writes: “If you are not careful, sudden changes in your behavior can give away your secret before you make your intentions public.”
I was then quoted in her article: “Howard Lipset, President and CEO of New York City-based Progressive Management Inc., has identified seven common ‘I’m leaving’ behaviors you’ll want to avoid:
Have you noticed anyone on your staff doing any of this behavior recently? Have you done so in the past; were you kissing your employer goodbye?
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