The debt ceiling crisis brought out some of the worst of people’s tendencies in the country. Today, many of us are asking what can be done to get things moving in a better direction. Here are five questions that can help you and others bring out the best in ourselves, and which you can put to use immediately in your own life, work and community.

I thought to draw on these questions this morning because so many of us are so deeply frustrated and angry about the state of affairs in the country. Oftentimes we can feel like we can’t change the nation’s trajectory, that we are prisoners to current conditions.

It doesn’t seem that a “change” in the tone and substance of Washington, D.C., in many state capitals, or for that matter in many communities, will come anytime soon. Indeed, such change may materialize only when the country demands and expects it. I believe we’re moving in that direction, but we’re not there yet.

But where does that leave you? Must we stand idly by and wait for others to change the nation’s course? Should we simply put our heads down and tend to our own affairs? Do we believe that our own actions do not matter?

My answer is simple and direct: what each of us does daily does matter.  It matters to what happens in our own communities, in our workplaces, in our relationships. It matters to who each of us is, and whether we believe we are staying true to ourselves. If these things don’t matter, then what does?

So, on this day, the day the debt ceiling crisis has come to an end (at least for now), what can we do? Here are five questions I’d urge you to ask yourself, to answer, and to act on.

• How can I come together with others to truly make a difference?
• How do I make the kinds of leaps in my life and in efforts in my community to have the impact and life I seek?
• How can my participation in the community reflect the best of my personal values?
• How can I unleash the potential of myself and others?
• How do I find the courage and humility to take such a path?

Over the past weeks, I have traveled to Kansas City, Missouri; Battle Creek, Michigan; Champaign/Urbana, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Columbus, Ohio; San Francisco, California; and Brazil, among other places, and no matter where I go, I hear people yearning to make a difference in their communities and to live their lives in meaningful ways. Each of us can do this, and the questions above can help. Their simplicity is what we need to grapple with right now.

As you move ahead, I ask you to keep the words of Dorothy Day, the Catholic social activist, in mind. These words have inspired me for years:

“Some people say, what is the sense
of our small effort?

They cannot see that we must lay one
brick at a time, take one step at a time.

A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that
spread in all directions. Each one of
our thoughts, words and deeds is like that.

No one has a right to sit down and
feel hopeless.

There is too much work to do.”

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A dynamic public speaker, Rich Harwood is a frequent keynote for foundations and national organizations. He is an expert contributor on national and syndicated media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN’s Inside Politics, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special Report with Brit Hume, C-SPAN, and many others. He is also the author of Hope Unraveled: The people’s retreat and our way back (2005), Make Hope Real: How we can accelerate change for the public good (2008) and numerous studies, articles and essays chronicling vital issues of our time. His most recent written work, Why We’re Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward, is being published and distributed in Spring 2011. You can follow him on twitter @RichHarwood and facebook.com/richharwood.

You can read Rich’s posts every Tuesday on State of the Re:Union’s website.

The debate over what to do about the nation’s debt ceiling only gets sillier by the day.  Demands and counter-demands are producing little progress, which leaves the debate at an impasse. So what to do? Of paramount importance is to restore people’s faith in their leaders and themselves. One key step: The president should immediately call an open, televised roundtable discussion with congressional leaders as he did on health care.

What the country urgently needs is for someone to flip a “circuit breaker” to stop all the noise surrounding the debt crisis debate and provide Americans with a greater sense of coherence and meaning about what is happening, and then to help create some semblance of possibility about how to move ahead. Leaders must demonstrate that it is possible to engage with one another, and to engage the nation, and for us to make progress.

Truth be told, I’m usually against meetings like the health care roundtable. Typically, they turn into staged events where participants simply repeat canned positions. But, as you may recall, the health care roundtable actually led to some substantive discussion about where progress could be made, and where differences remained.  There was real give-and-take, which offered the nation a moment of sanity in a sea of uncontrolled craziness.

Of course, the news media’s instant coverage of the health care roundtable didn’t help at the time. It was framed much like a post-game sports show, where analysts and pundits picked winners and losers, replayed “highlights,” and revved up conflict.

But that’s no reason for inaction now; for we must not minimize the damage to people’s faith in politics and public life from the current debate. A poll in today’s Washington Post reports fewer than a third of Americans hold much confidence in congressional leaders’ handling of the debt crisis, and under one-half in the president. No matter how one looks at the numbers, they’re ugly. People’s sentiments only reinforce a deepening narrative in the nation that we do not have the collective ability to get things done.

A televised meeting would air out the discussion about the nature of the challenge and how we got here. It would explore arguments for different options for dealing with the situation. Make no mistake: in all likelihood this won’t lead to any grand agreement on how to handle the debt crisis. But it would require leaders to make clear arguments, and to be held accountable for their statements, demeanor and posture. And it would require them to take responsibility for this challenge, rather than continue their empty posturing, gamesmanship, and desire for someone else to make the hard decisions.

As in communities, when impasse occurs, there often is agreement that a problem exists, but a lack of common ground about what to do about it.  The current debt crisis is no different. Thus, one of the most important things that can happen at such a point is to acknowledge and “name” the problem, and then determine steps forward that give people a genuine sense that things are moving in a sound direction. Then a debate about subsequent actions can ensue.

Striking just “any deal” to break the current gridlock is not enough, especially one filled with gimmicks, which will only deepen people’s cynicism. At the heart of the debt crisis debate is people’s very faith in our ability to engage productively and get things done. It’s late in the game to call the type of meeting I have in mind, but it’s not too late.

Mr. President, make the call.

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A dynamic public speaker, Rich Harwood is a frequent keynote for foundations and national organizations. He is an expert contributor on national and syndicated media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN’s Inside Politics, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special Report with Brit Hume, C-SPAN, and many others. He is also the author of Hope Unraveled: The people’s retreat and our way back (2005), Make Hope Real: How we can accelerate change for the public good (2008) and numerous studies, articles and essays chronicling vital issues of our time. His most recent written work, Why We’re Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward, is being published and distributed in Spring 2011. You can follow him on twitter @RichHarwood and facebook.com/richharwood.

You can read Rich’s posts every Tuesday on State of the Re:Union’s website.

I spent last week in Brazil, and came away with a feeling of immense possibility for that nation and its people. Part of my trip took me to the rain forest where my colleague, Lisa Flick Wilson, and I visited one of them most innovative schools I have ever seen.  And where there are lessons for all of us.
After a 40-minute helicopter ride, our party arrived at the rural family house – Casa Familiar, a technical school for young people in the state of Bahia, in the north of Brazil, and the heart of the Atlantic Rain Forest.  About 35 students greeted us.
These students come from the larger region, many of them once destined to destitute poverty, lost hope, and a feeling of being invisible to the rest of Brazilian society. But, one by one, the students told us of how the school had enabled them to feel accomplished and competent, see their value to society, and want to give back to others.

This last point – the desire to give back – was profoundly expressed, all without any notion of required “service learning” hours or programs we might hear about here in the U.S. Instead, this ethos permeated everything at the school and how it operated. Indeed, this school was producing not only good students, but is fast becoming a force for positive change in the larger region. For instance:

• The school created a lab to teach students about soil conversation and other agriculture issues. Now, anyone in the region can come to the lab, use it, and learn. It’s a community resource.
• There is a room filled with computers at the school, donated in part by various companies. Beyond students using these computers, anyone in the region can too. Even more, the school realized that many people in the region cannot get to the school, and so the school takes computers into the community for people to learn how to use.
• When they return home every two weeks, the students serve as community teachers, where they share with others the skills, insights and lessons they are learning at the rural family house so others can benefit. (Think about the power of these students, once forgotten, now standing before their community.)
• What’s more is that both the soil and computer labs are run by student graduates. In fact, all of the staff graduated from the school – from the principal to the director of education programming.

Here in the States I have been urging many schools to think about their role as more than educators of students in classrooms, but as a larger force for change in their community. Such suggestions often are met by resistance – “We don’t have the time” – or by turning the idea into highly complex endeavors riddled by endless plans, detailed strategies, boring PowerPoint presentations, and laundry lists of activities.

But, in Bahia, they have created an approach driven by elegant simplicity, in which the school produces students who excel and builds community at the same time. One can imagine how the graduating students can form into a network of new, young leaders from throughout the region, who bring a clear commitment to their culture and heritage, and who know how to bring others together to create the kind of communities people there seek to have. This is exactly their plan.

After the students spoke, I was asked to say a few words. Among a number of points, I said that I had heard many Brazilians during my trip express concern about how such a fast-growing, diverse nation could ever come together to produce positive change. Well, as I looked into the eyes of these students, I told them that I could see the future of Brazil, right there, in Bahia, a place no one would ever dream could produce such innovation and leadership. And to me the future looked quite bright.

My second point was that I wanted their permission to tell their story back here in the U.S. To me, this is a story of hope and change – real, not imagined; results-driven, not rhetorical; and one developed through discipline, not long lists of disparate activities. It is true and genuine social innovation.
I also told them that I would love to have each of them come back to the States with me to tell their own story. I hope that day, too, will come.

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A dynamic public speaker, Rich Harwood is a frequent keynote for foundations and national organizations. He is an expert contributor on national and syndicated media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN’s Inside Politics, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special Report with Brit Hume, C-SPAN, and many others. He is also the author of Hope Unraveled: The people’s retreat and our way back (2005), Make Hope Real: How we can accelerate change for the public goodtwitter @RichHarwood and facebook.com/richharwood.

(2008) and numerous studies, articles and essays chronicling vital issues of our time. His most recent written work, Why We’re Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward, is being published and distributed in Spring 2011. You can follow him on

You can read Rich’s posts every Tuesday on State of the Re:Union’s website.

Amid the rising anxiety and anger vexing Americans today, I wanted to write about what it means to lead in this nasty environment. First I thought about focusing on the president, then congress, or corporate leaders; but each time I started, I found myself veering back to one person in particular: my high school tennis coach, who won a national award for his exemplary leadership, and who has some lessons to inspire us all.

There are more than enough examples these days of challenges of leading in a nasty world. But anything I would say points me back to Rich Johns, a real life example of a genuine leader.  A couple of years ago, Rich won the Starfish Award given out by the United States Tennis Association, for his “no-cut” system of high school coaching. Every kid who comes out to play is on the team. But that’s only the beginning of the story.

First off, don’t misread how or why he won the USTA award: he’s no pushover. Lesson #1, He loves winning, and he’s not afraid to say so. Indeed, he’s one of the most demanding people I’ve ever known. His teams (both girls and boys) win religiously.

Lesson #2, he expects each player to leave everything they’ve got on the court. He will settle for nothing less than highly competitive play. I’ll never forget the season I played number one singles for him, and during one match I got sick and was hit by heat stroke. I didn’t want to quit, and nor did he ask me to. Instead, he laid me out on the cool shower-room floor, doused me with water, and then talked me into going back on the court to finish and win the match. He doesn’t like to lose.

But then there’s Lesson #3: he expects fair play at every turn and he brooks no one crossing the line. I’ve seen him argue firmly and openly with other coaches about their players’ cheating; and I’ve seen him take on his own players for the same. To him, there are some rules that should never be broken because they strike to the very heart of what it means to have integrity.

Lesson #4 is that he expects his players to play with respect. He’s a legend in my hometown for this, and it’s something he’s fast becoming nationally known for.  Rich implores you to fight your hardest, but always treat others with honor and dignity. These can be difficult notions to hold simultaneously. But the bottom-most player deserves the same respect as the top dog. Everyone participates; no one sits courtside. No excuses, ever.  You show respect for others, and you learn to respect yourself.

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And yet, if it comes down to compromising his core principles, he’s willing to lose and play for another day. We need more leaders like Rich.

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What does this have to do with the national scene today? Two keys I want to mention here. First, in sports, as in politics, and in all parts of life, we need more leaders like Rich Johns. You always know where he stands, and he always speaks clearly so you can hear him. He doesn’t hide, flinch, or retreat. What he values is crystal clear. What’s more, what he does is not about himself or his own aggrandizement; rather, he seeks to advance a cause larger than himself (in case, the life and growth of kids). And in pursuit of this cause, he is never dogmatic, always open to working things out. And yet, if it comes down to compromising his core principles, he’s willing to lose and play for another day. We need more leaders like Rich.

Here’s the second key: when you find leaders like Rich – whether they’re athletic coaches or politicians or someone else – let them know that you value and support them, even if, or especially when, you do not agree with them. Too many leaders are getting undercut in these nasty times. Please, sit down and write them a letter or email today to let them know! When we see good leaders, we must stand by them.

So, for me, thanks Rich Johns, for being my mentor and friend since 1974, when we first met, when I was only 14 years old. Thank you for being someone I look up to, stand by, and love with all my heart.

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A dynamic public speaker, Rich Harwood is a frequent keynote for foundations and national organizations. He is an expert contributor on national and syndicated media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN’s Inside Politics, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special Report with Brit Hume, C-SPAN, and many others. He is also the author of Hope Unraveled: The people’s retreat and our way back (2005), Make Hope Real: How we can accelerate change for the public good (2008) and numerous studies, articles and essays chronicling vital issues of our time. His most recent written work, Why We’re Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward, is being published and distributed in Spring 2011. You can follow him on twitter @RichHarwood and facebook.com/richharwood.

You can read Rich’s posts every Tuesday on State of the Re:Union’s website.

Our politics are incredibly toxic, and at times, conditions only seem to be worsening. But look around and it’s possible to see the emergence of a competing set of conditions–what I’ll call the New Civility. I say it’s “new” because the old civility is about people holding hands and singing “Kumbayah.” We’re in need of something more potent and realistic.

One signal of this “New Civility” is Republican Jon Huntsman’s recent announcement that he was running for president. Huntsman has gone to great lengths in setting a decidedly productive tone for his candidacy. He is upfront and clear about his differences with President Obama, while pointing out that he doesn’t question the president’s love of country or commitment. They simply disagree on a host of issues and governing philosophy.

Of course, many Washington pundits and news media outlets have questioned the seriousness of Huntsman’s approach, saying he is running only on style and not substance, and that he will be eaten alive by his tougher, and nastier Republican opponents. Or put another way, those who were better equipped to play by the rules of toxic politics.

But Huntsman is not alone in his approach. One can feel any number of political leaders seeking to move toward a New Civility, including at times House Speaker John Boehner and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Just yesterday Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney joined in, calling for political leaders to “work across the aisle.” For me, the latter example is a sign of Romney reacting to the pull of the new civility and hedging his bets. But it is telling that he feels pressure to do so, and suggests there is a growing power around the idea that we need a different way of working together.

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But, change comes about when there is an emergence of a competing narrative, which grows out of nascent pockets of change that point to the possibility of a different path.

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Now, I can hear many of my friends getting antsy, even downright uncomfortable with me saying these things. But, wait a moment, please! It’s clear to me that our dominant political narrative right now is one of division and acrimony, self-dealing, and self-promotion. I get that. Yesterday’s conviction of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich is Exhibit A in politics run amuck. But, change comes about when there is an emergence of a competing narrative, which grows out of nascent pockets of change that point to the possibility of a different path. We are seeing the early signs of such pockets, and the early emergence of the new, competing narrative that reflects them. I’m not naïve, I know these signs aren’t the dominant story, but to deny their existence is to enable the growth of further cynicism and to forfeit the opportunity to change course.

The substance of the New Civility is not reflective of the civility movement of the past ten or fifteen years, in which proponents adopted the oft-repeated Rodney King refrain: “Why can’t we all just get along!” The new civility is not about being friends, or “liking” each other.

Rather, it is about building respectful relationships so things can get done. It is where tough issues are put on the table, and where philosophical differences are not washed away or diminished, but understood and worked with. The New Civility is one where our opponents are not evil, but where there is a real battle to win the debate. It is where tough choices must be made, and where real trade-offs exist. It is where “progress” and “hope” are earned only over time, based on the hard-won renewal of belief that we as individuals and collectively have the ability to get things done.

Seizing on this new civility will require us never to lose sight that we are engaged in a competition between the old and new – and that we must strategically target opportunities where existing, nascent pockets can be strengthened, and new ones created. We must place a spotlight on emerging victories, and not lose spirit when current conditions prevail. And we must remind ourselves that amid toxicity and destruction there is the opportunity to grab hold of real hope.

*Image from Etsy by Orange Moon Toys

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A dynamic public speaker, Rich Harwood is a frequent keynote for foundations and national organizations. He is an expert contributor on national and syndicated media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN’s Inside Politics, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special Report with Brit Hume, C-SPAN, and many others. He is also the author of Hope Unraveled: The people’s retreat and our way back (2005), Make Hope Real: How we can accelerate change for the public good (2008) and numerous studies, articles and essays chronicling vital issues of our time. His most recent written work, Why We’re Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward, is being published and distributed in Spring 2011. You can follow him on twitter @RichHarwood and facebook.com/richharwood.

You can read Rich’s posts every Tuesday on State of the Re:Union’s website.

More politicians are mobilizing supporters and raising buckets of dollars through “money blurts” – intentionally-timed, incendiary comments about opponents that stoke social media and rake in cash. But we live at a time when we need to mobilize people to address our growing concerns, not divide them. Below are two sets of sound bites, one rooted in hate, the other in hope. The hopeful ones you can bank on as antidotes to growing negativity in public life.

The article in yesterday’s Washington Post showed how politicians are doing the equivalent of yelling “fire” in a crowded theatre, knowing full well what they’re saying is wrong and will have negative repercussions, but they do it anyway. In public life, such comments undermine trust, make the public square toxic, and push people further away from one another.

The Post offered examples of “money blurts” used by Democrats and Republicans alike. You may remember the one in which Representative Joe Wilson blurted out in the middle of President Obama’s State of the Union message, “You lie!”

Below you’ll find two columns: on the left are negative (even hate-filled) blurts noted in the Post article; on the right, alternate ones I have found engender authentic hope in people. These latter ones are time-tested, positive “blurts” you can start using today. Notice how the hateful ones work to divide people, while the hopeful ones actively engage people.

Hate	Hope
“You lie!” You have “anti-American views” You are “turning our country into a nation of slaves” About health care reform: “Don’t get sick, and if you get sick, die soon”	How can we get things moving in the right direction? Why do you say that? What will it take for me to earn your trust? What in your daily life gives you hope?

If we’re going to effectively address our pressing challenges today – such as how to ensure that every child gets a good education – then we must find ways to mobilize Americans to come back into the public square, join arms, and work together. My own work suggests that people are yearning to re-engage and re-connect; indeed, they want to restore their belief in our individual and collective ability to get things done, not just for our own good, but the common good.

If you agree, then use those blurts that engender authentic hope. What’s more, offer here your own examples of when you’ve heard sound bites rooted in hope or hate. And let me know how things go.

Let’s get things moving in a better direction.

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A dynamic public speaker, Rich Harwood is a frequent keynote for foundations and national organizations. He is an expert contributor on national and syndicated media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN’s Inside Politics, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Special Report with Brit Hume, C-SPAN, and many others. He is also the author of Hope Unraveled: The people’s retreat and our way back (2005), Make Hope Real: How we can accelerate change for the public good (2008) and numerous studies, articles and essays chronicling vital issues of our time. His most recent written work, Why We’re Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward, is being published and distributed in Spring 2011. You can follow him on twitter @RichHarwood and facebook.com/richharwood.

You can read Rich’s posts every Tuesday on State of the Re:Union’s website.