Leadership | David Chan

Senator Ted Kennedy – On Leadership and Heath Care Reform

As a business development professional, I believe leadership is a fundamental quality required to succeed in this career. Senator Ted Kennedy demonstrated all of the qualities of leadership and then some, including vision, openness, and above, all, compassion. His tireless effort over four decades fighting for health care reform is a legacy that will transcend beyond his senate seat. I read with great interest the Newsweek article written by Mr. Kennedy himself The Cause of My Life, wherein he describes what has been his lifelong passion regarding universal health care.

Senator Ted Kennedy has had his share of sorrow and tragedy throughout his family’s legacy. I learned a tremendous amount about why health care reform was so important to him. In 1973 he learned firsthand how families had to make critical decisions about health care for their children because of their ability, or worse, inability to pay for medical care.

At that time, his 12 year old son, Teddy, had to have his right leg amputated because of an aggressive cancerous tumor. During the treatments to fight cancer, Mr. Kennedy met and interacted with other parents who were financially less fortunate than him to pay for aggressive, sometimes experimental cancer treatment.

That was a defining moment for Senator Ted Kennedy’s health care reform stand. He goes on to state that “That experience with Teddy made it clear to me, as never before, that health care must be affordable and available for every mother or father who hears a sick child cry in the night and worries about the deductibles and co pays if they go to the doctor.”

Mr. Kennedy talks about his son Patrick who had asthma serious enough to require hospitalization on numerous occasions. His daughter, Kara, was also diagnosed with lung cancer in 2002. Thankfully, because of quality health care and chemotherapy, she has survived that insidious scourge.

Here is a man who has the wealth of the Kennedy family to afford the best medical treatment for himself and his family. Why should he care about those who cannot? There are certainly other legislative policies that Mr. Kennedy could have taken up that would have been much easier to “win.” But, he chose this piece of legislation because he is a leader of the cause and plight of the common people.

No matter what side of the political fence any of us sit, the cause for health care reform, or more appropriately, universal health care is one that is consuming our country’s attention. Many have asked to rename Barack Obama’s health care reform after Mr. Kennedy. This is certainly a worthy idea as many of the tenets of President Obama’s plan come from Mr. Kennedy’s four decades of work in health care.

I just returned from visiting one of my UC Berkeley school mates. He is also terminally ill with cancer. Over the last couple of months I’ve learned how our broken health care system has tried to initially deny his hospital stay and then his desire to live out the rest of his short life at home. It has been proven time and time again that end of life patient care at home provides a better quality of life than in a hospital setting AND it saves money!

If Senator Ted Kennedy’s health care reform policies and lifelong work succeeds in the hands of the current administration, he will have achieved what countless presidents and politicians before him have failed to do … not just universal health care, but a platform for a more fair and just society. After all, isn’t that why our forefathers immigrated to America in the first place?

Read more articles from David Chan.

Kenny G – What Makes A Person A Leader

I’ve written several blogs about business development and joint ventures. But there’s far more to business development than just knowing how to make deals or closing a sale. A key component of business development is knowing how to be a leader. There’s a famous quote by Vince Lombardi, “Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work.”

No one knows about hard work better than Kenny G, the Grammy award winning Saxophonist. His performances and on-stage presence are legendary. No one gets to his level without good old fashioned hard work and practice. Even a person of his caliber continues to work hard. I’m sure because he loves his art, but also because i think that music is not an end-game, but a journey.

Today, I had the great opportunity to participate in an event with Kenny G. He honored the George Mark Children’s House by visiting with us today, cajoling with the staff, playing with the kids, and just plain hanging out. He even directed his own video footage of the house to use at his concert tomorrow evening in Saratoga.

So, what makes a person a leader? Kenny G defined that today for all the families and staff at the George Mark Children’s House. One can only imagine the amount of requests Kenny G has on his time. And, just think about the amount of available time he has to give, considering his concert travels, set up, practice and even family time.

The fact that Kenny G took the time out of his busy schedule to visit a small, unknown care facility for terminally ill children is an example of what defines a leader. The fact that he spent twice the amount of time visiting than what we expected further illustrates his leadership qualities. And, to top it off, he just made people feel good, which is the real hallmark of a leader.

I’ve previously discussed why the music industry needs to change. New business development paradigms need to be developed which are more aligned with the realities of today’s world. One of these paradigms is the shift to cause-based marketing. This entails taking music and aligning it with a cause. Kenny G’s involvement today serves as an example of how a celebrity, wrapped around a cause, can move mountains. It’s a wake up call for the rest of the “me” celebrities that the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts.

Kenny G, collaborated with three of his colleagues: Skyler Jett, Robert Damper and Genevieve Goings on a song called “Eternally.” It’s a song dedicated to the cause of George Mark Children’s House. The song celebrates life, dignity of soul, and compassion. Here is a wonderful example of celebrities giving back to the very people who need it most, our children. You can follow the journey at www.EternallyTheSong.com.” Thanks, Kenny.