Bob Dickman is a principal at Los Angeles based Firstvoice and co-author of The Elements of Persuasion.
Bob works with companies and leaders by holding up a mirror to them to see themselves clearly. On that note he made a good case for Americans needing to look in the mirror, but being afraid of who they might see. Who would want to admit that we all have a piece of Bernie Madoff in us.
"For at least 20 years we have all been living in a giant ponzi scheme and our greed has devoured our ability to see the consequences of our insatiable appetites for more stuff. Now we are paying the piper. Under this enormous sense of loss come feelings of fear and betrayal. We are hyped up to find the culprit who brought us to our knees. We point in every direction, always away from ourselves. We are desperate to find a scapegoat," Bob explained.
So what's a country in denial to do? Bob has a suggestion: "Maybe the time has come to ask 'how can I be more real?' rather than asking 'what's in it for me?'" These tough times are the right time to shift our thinking and inquire in these areas:
He says we need to ask ourselves the following:
- What is all this frantic consumption and blame keeping me from seeing about myself?
- What uncomfortable thoughts and feelings are trying to arise such as fear, guilt and shame and how am I not letting them be heard by stuffing them down?
- How can I get real and share what I am feeling openly with a community of people who want to pull together and not pull apart?
Dickman says it's time to come clean and admit: "My Master of the Universe life is over. I have been seen as the emperor with no clothes and instead of running into my silo and hiding I can take a breath and ask how can I become more real, more authentic and more useful to my family, friends and colleagues?"
There is a little piece of Bernie Madoff inside each of us. As long as we act entitled and imperious, that little piece of Bernie will grow into more self-delusion. We will perpetuate our fraud. When we have the courage to stop and look at ourselves in the mirror we have the opportunity to say no to all the scheming.