The meeting you cancel because the topic has been covered, because the work is done, is a gift to everyone.
The meeting you never have because the conversation is too real or seems too hard – that is the real waste of time and opportunity.
It’s not time that’s scarce, it’s courage.
Here’s a simple idea on what to do about taxes for the wealthiest Americans:
For those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate.
Before arguing the merits of this proposal, I should point out something important: it’s not my proposal. No, this is Warren Buffett’s proposal as detailed in his courageous Op-Ed in yesterday’s NY Times, Stop Coddling the Super-Rich.
Some shocking (to me) tidbits from the Op Ed: Warren Buffett paid 17.4% of his taxable income (about $7M) in federal income tax last year, less than the other 20 people in his office – this because most of his income is in the form of “carried interest” rather than (for a regular working Joe) in payroll taxes. This is why, even though the aggregate income of the 400 richest Americans has increased more than five-fold in the last 20 years – from $19.6 billion to $90.9 billion (an average of $227 million in annual income!) – the tax rate paid by this group has dropped over this period from 29.2% to 21.5%.
Of course the tempting headline to write is something like: “FEDERAL TAXES PAID BY THE RICHEST AMERICANS HAVE DROPED BY ONE THIRD IN THE LAST TWO DECADES.”
But that’s exactly the approach that’s not going to work – think of the cries of “class warfare” that would result.
In fact the whole narrative around the budget stalemate in Washington is completely stuck, and part of the reason is because we have no shared language to talk about this problem. Republicans talk about “raising taxes on the rich” and “killing jobs,” while Democrats, at best, talk about the super-rich “paying their fair share” and about “increased revenues.”
I wish there were more talk of solidarity. A close friend of mine in Tokyo shared that almost no one is turning on their air conditioning in the wake of the Fukishima nuclear plant disaster. Can we not have the same sense of shared purpose around turning around the U.S. economy – the crisis is real, millions are out of work, people have gone from spending six months looking for a job to, now, more like two years. (Buffett: “While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks.”)
How long until we turn the budget conversation from one about divvying up a fixed pie to one about collectively solving this problem? And why is it so hard to talk about the notion that the wealthiest should not, on average, pay a lower percentage of their income in taxes than should middle class Americans?
As Warren Buffett said, “I know well many of the mega-rich and, by and large, they are very decent people. They love America and appreciate the opportunity this country has given them…My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.”
Yeah, it’s us.
What if you knew that no one else was coming? What if it’s up to you? What if all the ideas you’re quietly kicking around are desperately needed by your organization and in the world?
I’ve seen too many amazingly capable people (at all levels – some very senior) spend their energy in side conversations diagnosing the problem, all the while acting like it is someone else’s job to FIX the problem.
Maybe someone else isn’t coming.
Maybe their train got delayed or they got lost.
Maybe it’s just you.
How would you act now?
Waiting for a white knight who will set the right tone, expect the best, inspire others, make the tough call, lead with clarity of vision AND all the official authority that you might not have (but maybe you do!), that’s still just waiting. And waiting around or complaining on the sidelines makes you part of the problem. So does saying that you had a great idea but no one listened. Having the idea isn’t enough. You need to persuade people that it’s right.
It’s just us, and time’s a wastin’.
You know that moment when you ask for something really big? Big enough that it makes you nervous and makes the person you’re asking nervous?
Your empathy will scream out for you to rescue the person – and you – from the discomfort you just created.
Don’t do it.
Sit there.
Let the seconds tick by.
Now the best way for that discomfort to go away is to have the person you’ve just made a big ask of say “Yes.”
Here’s a good way to overcome the resistance and execute on the big ideas that terrify you: tell others about your grandiose plans.
You can decide how “public” you want your “public” announcements to be – if you want to go big, you can tell thousands of your loyal readers; or you can just talk to the people you’d dream of collaborating with, your colleagues, your spouse, maybe your boss.
Saying it over and over again has two effects: it makes the big idea more real to you; and you can replace your fear of getting started with how silly you’ll feel having talked about something to people you care about and having not followed through.
(The catch, of course, is that then you have to execute, otherwise you’re just a big talker. But I know – and you know – that you can execute. What’s holding you back is the fear of starting.)
