Hopeful Leaders

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome. This is Frankly Speaking,a show about nonprofit life. Frankly Speaking
is sponsored by the Salvation Army ofPalm Beach County. The host of Frankly
Speaking is Frank Morangos, the Directorof Development and Communication for the Salvation Army
of Palm Beach County. To mayOur Lord Jesus Christ and God, our

(00:25):
Father who loves us, encourage yourhearts and strengthen you in every good deed
and word, and let all thisbe done by the grace of well founded
hope. What does this verse,a quote from the first century letter of
Saint Paul sent to the Church andthessaly have to say to the fifth month
of the twenty third year of thetwenty first century, Apart from presenting a

(00:48):
frightful apocalyptic prophecy and a vivid glimpseinto the background of the early Christian community,
the sixteenth verse of the sixteenth chapterof Saint Paul's second Letter to the
Thessalonians provides today's nonprofit and faith basedleaders a most valuable asset for helping our
constituents face life's difficulties, namely,the resource the grace of well founded hope.

(01:11):
Welcome to frankly speaking the weekly radiotalk show of the Salvation Army upon
Beach County, and I'm Frank Morangos, the Army's director of Development and Communications,
and today I want to discuss theattitude of hope and the positive impact
it can have on an individual's life, especially those of us who may be
experiencing spiritual, physical, or emotionaldifficulties. According to a recent and most

(01:34):
troubling pull from the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention, today's teenagers are experiencing
an unprecedented mental health crisis. Twentynine percent of boys and fifty seven percent
of girls acknowledge that they have persistentfeelings of sadness and hopelessness. Data from
the CDC additionally suggests that one infour adults have considered suicide, and according

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to the recently released Harvard Youth pollof Americans ages eighteen to twenty nine,
fifty one percent of young respondents indicatethat at least in the last several days
of the previous two weeks they havefelt depressed and hopeless. What is driving
this wearying deterioration of mental health inAmerican society and what can we as nonprofit

(02:20):
and faith based leaders do about it. While COVID pandemic, era, isolation
and the corrosive impact of constant socialmedia use can be inextricably blamed, a
deeper diagnosis would reveal that the actualproblem is a loss of hope in American
society, especially among our youth,Inaugurated by the celebrations of Passover in Easter.

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The early summer months of April,May and June provide a leeway of
possibilities for confronting this crisis, confidentthat spiritual as well as emotional well being
can indeed change. Spring provides nonprofitfaith based leaders a fresh catalog of days
for helping our hurting clients help themcraft a vision of a more attractive future.

(03:05):
Whether their aspirations include the decision toadopt healthy habits, regain relational balance,
or make more prudent financial choices,Hope should be understood as the basis
for success. Herein lies the valueof the sixteenth verse of the second chapter
of Saint Paul's Second Letter to theThessalonians. Considered one of the more difficult
texts of the entire Bible, thesecond chapter is best known for its introduction

(03:30):
of a mysterious apocalyptic figure referred toas the lawless man of Sin, Apart
from exhorting his readers to withstand theadversities that will most assuredly characterize the temporary
domain of this man, this Antichrist, by standing firm to the truths that
they were taught. Saint Paul concludeshis letter with a prayer requesting that God

(03:52):
encourage and strengthen the hearts of hisreaders to pursue a lifestyle of good deeds
and words, and unsurprisingly, SaintPaul insists that all this is only possible
by developing a hope that is wellfounded. Unlike Saint Paul, the German
philosopher Frederick Nietzsche opposed the notions ofhope and optimism, referring to them as

(04:12):
dangerous complex myths. In reality,the Niolists insists hope is the worst of
all evils because it prolongs man's torment. Expounding on the myth of Pandora's box
that was presumed to have been filledby the gods Zeus with mischievous spirits,
including hope, Nietzsche argued that hopemust therefore be evil given the benevolent nature

(04:33):
of the world. Optimism, hesaid is senseless. Hope, he insisted,
can only prolong and not resentd life'sinevitable anguish. Contrary to Nietzschean opinion,
modern research supports the notion that hopecan actually mitigate the harmful effects of
human difficulties. Data indicates the individualsthat are optimistic are in fact happier,

(04:57):
healthier than the more off putting countpots, while unable to totally eradicate painful
experiences. Social experiments have also demonstratedthat hope does in fact increase happiness in
the ability to both tolerate and effectivelysurmount life's challenges. Research overwhelmingly indicates that
individuals with elevated levels of hope donot react in the same way to problems

(05:19):
as pessimistic individuals do. On thecontrary, such individuals view difficulties as challenges
to overcome, and therefore they swiftlydevise alternate pathways to reach their aspirations.
According to an insightful article in atwo thirteen issue of International Journal of Scientific
and Research Publications, high levels ofhope have been found to correlate with increasing

(05:45):
happiness, academic achievement, professional confidence. In addition, hope lowers levels of
depression. Low hope, alternatively isassociated with negative psychological outcomes, including a
significant reduction and confidence and wellbeing.George Bernard Shaw, the renowned socialist and

(06:05):
liberal philosopher, considered himself a victimof the Nietzschean nehalistic perspective of life.
In one of his last writings,Shah astoundingly bemoans the consequences of his ill
chosen secular perspective. I'm quoting him. The science to which I pinned my
faith is bankrupt. He lamented.Its counsels, who should have been establishing

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the millennium led instead directly to thesuicide of Europe. I believed them once,
he said, in their name,I helped to destroy the faith of
millions of worshippers in the temples ofa thousand creeds. And now they look
at me and witnessed the great tragedyof an atheist who has lost his faith?
End of quotes. Might this tragicphilosophical perspective be a primary cause of

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our nation's current ill emotional health.Saint Paul would argue that hope is more
powerful than any Greek myth, philosophicalconstruct or global pandemic. It would therefore
be prudent for twenty first century nonprofitand faith based leaders to be willing to
courageously employ Saint Paul's first century scripturalproposal to confront our contemporary complexities. Living

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at a time that is characterized byhazardous levels of divisiveness, distrust, and
ever increasing global tempers, I wouldargue that the world is hungry for such
a hope filled message spoken by authenticleaders. According to Brad Lomanek, leadership
consultant an author of the two thirteenpublication entitled The Catalyst Leader, hope filled
leaders are characterized by ten perspectives.Number One, hopefilled leaders are optimistic about

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the future, even when sales ormorale are low and the budget must be
cut back. Hopeful leaders, hesays, believe tomorrow holds great opportunities for
personal and organizational success. They areforward thinking, inspiring, enthusiastic, and
positive. Two, they are focusedon the best and their people, not
the worst. Hopeful leaders are encouragingrather than browbeating their team over yesterday's failures.

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They focus on the unique strength ofevery employee. Three. Hope filled
leaders are never satisfied, yet they'realways content. They are always moving towards
a goal, but they don't allowit to steal their joy. For they
are accepting of change. Hopeful leadersembrace change in their lives and organizations because
they know that this is often thefastest path to growth and improvement. They

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are innovative and try new things atthe risk of failing. Five Hope filled
leaders embrace failure. Failure for themis not final or fatal. They understand
that it is required. Six theyare inclusive, not exclusive. Hopeful leaders
invite others into their vision. Theyare confident in where they are going and

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able to get others involved. Seven. Hopeful leaders allow their vision to personally
propel them. It stirs them upand drives them forward. They don't wait
on someone else to hand them avision, nor do they need to draft
it with pen and paper, becauseit's already inside of them. Eight.
Hopeful leaders embrace change in their livesand organizations because they know this is often

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the fastest path to growth and improvement. Nine Hope filled leaders do what they
say they will do. They areable to deliver. They follow through no
matter how insignificant the task or assignment, They get it done. And finally,
number ten hope filled leaders repeat,repeat, and repeat, they create

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excellence through repetition. They use repetitionconstantly to drive from a point because they
understand that consistency counts. As contemporarynonprofit serpents, we would do well to
Espouselmanik's model of hopefilled leadership, aperspective that emphasizes the development of courage,
consistency, ethical values, as wellas emotional spiritual being. Yes, the

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hard hail of unexpected adversities will inevitablythreaten each and every one of us.
There will always be occasions of difficulty, confusion, levels of distrust. Such
occasions may also be compounded by feelingsthat God is impassive and distant, and
yet faith based leaders have the responsibilityto help their constituents overcome life's struggles by

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relying on the life sustaining power ofhope. Nothing can be more assuring than
to be comforted by a hopeful leaderwho, while avoiding Pollyannish quips, challenges
negativity with mature and courageous action.In the end, where the life's challenges
stem from personal law, societal exploitation, financial instability, physical or emotional distress,

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only a well founded hope provides therequisite spiritual underpinnings for effectively enduring the
effects. There are many parallels thatcan be drawn from Saint Paul's first century
exhortation and today's circumstances. When facedunexpected obstacles, we too will be tempted
to capitulate our grand aspirations, ratherthan cowering to apocalyptic difficulties, However,

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perpetrated by proponents of lawlessness, Wetoo should heed the admination of Saint Paul
and persevere along the pathway of faithbased hope. It is here important to
note, however, that the emotionsof optimism and confidence are not the same
as hope. While valuable confidence withouthope frequently deteriorates into self absorption without the

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benefit of realistic pathways, the motivationalcapacity of optimism can oftentimes result in personal
disappointment. The billboards of contemporary brokersof whole promise of better future to the
manipulation of science, politics, medicine, post traditional spiritualities. However, as
Nietzsche, Shaw and their ilk havediscovered, such hopes are at best deficient,

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at worst deceptive. Reaching into suchjars will only serve to negatively add
to Pandora's problems, and thereby contributeto making the world and mankind less human.
In one of his two thousand andseven encyclical letters, Pope Benedict,
the former and retired Pontiff of theCatholic Church said, a world without God

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is a world without hope. Theone who has hope lives differently. He
insisted, the one who hopes hasbeen granted the gift of new life.
Pope Benedict's words actually undiscord the truthexpressed by Saint Paul two thousand years ago
that hope is the antidote to ournation's current emotional experiences of depression, sadness,

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and suicide. In fact, thetheological virtue of hope is precisely what
we, as nonprofit faith based leaders, should nurture in ourselves and others during
this time of unrest and uncertainly valuedin such a fashion, we should consider
ourselves in our organizations as philanthropic stewardsof hope rather than merely social work dispensers.

(12:58):
When return it will be joined byMax Ansbacher, a member of the
Salvation Army Advisory Board, and heis a local author who just published a
new book, A Practical Guide toHappiness, How to Bring optimism, confidence,
and self esteem into your life.He has become a featured speaker on
the subject of hope and happiness viawebinars and lectures here in Palm Beach area.

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I can't wait to speak with himabout today's topic. It's an annual
luncheon that is not to be missedcoming up Tuesday, May sixteenth at the
Pelican Club. It is the tiethat binds. It is a wonderful opportunity

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for all nonprofits from across Palm BeachCounty to come together supporting each other along
with those who support nonprofits throughout ourcommunity. The featured speaker this year Stephen
Mansfield, the executive director of theCenter for Global Leadership at Paul Beach Atlantic
University and a New York Times bestselling author. For more information and to

(14:03):
purchase tickets, go to Salvation Army, Palm Beach County dot org. Thank
you, and May God BLUs here. We welcome back to Frankly speaking,
I'm really excited to have in thestudio with me today, Max Ansbacher.
He's a member of the Salvation Army'sAdvisory Board, an author or speaker,

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and just a wonderful human being.Welcome Max. To the studio here at
iHeart well, thank you so much. It's just a pleasure to be here.
It's great. I mean, I'veI've been with you. I've spent
some time with you on the board, listen to your wisdom, and just
by studying a little bit about yourpast, I realize that you're quite an
exemplary individual. You're you're a anattorney. You or you had your own

(14:52):
firm, your own Wall Street.Tell us a little bit about about that.
Where did you go to school?Well, I went to school.
Well, I went to school inPhilip Sex at the Academy and the University
of Vermont. Then yeah, lawschool. And what's interesting about all those
schools is that I always was unhappyand I felt I wasn't doing well enough.

(15:18):
You're living in Boston with the Celticsand the and the Bruins, and
you were unhappy. Well, I'mnot a sports play Oh I like to
play tennis, but that's that's good. Well you're in great shape. Yeah,
you're a fantastic same so God Godbless you. And so I was
just unhappy. And as the yearswent by, I continued to be unhappy,

(15:41):
and finally I said, look,I got to do something about this,
and so I decided to tell youknow, I'd seen therapists and psychiatrists
and psychologists didn't seem to be doingany good. So I said, I'm
going to take matters in my ownhand, and I started reading all the
science on happiness I could, andalso but observed all the people I had

(16:03):
met in business and in my sociallife, so who were happy and who
were not happy? You know whatseemed to make them happen? When did
you discover this? I mean,did you it was there something that happened
in your life that made you realizethat you were unhappy? Or did you
just kind of feel that constantly?I felt that it was finally that I
got a set about it. Isaid, come on, there must be

(16:26):
something better. Why am I?When did that happen? Well? Maybe
just about seven or eight years ago. Okay, so you spent quite a
bit of your life, you know, most of my life being unhappy and
happy. Other people would say Ishould have been very happy. I think
my friends thought I was very happybecause I was able to put on a
very good outside, but inside Isaid, see this is not you know,

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not why like and when I gotinto being a hedge fund manager.
He said, how come other hedgemanagers managing now billions of dollars And I'm
still have retailed clients and about hundredand fifty million, which may sound like
a lot, but compared to otherpeople in that field, it's nothing.

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Sure, Sure, but you gotinvolved in nonprofit work. Do you think
that you get involved nonprofits because ofthat? You were searching for something to
give you purpose. I was veryactive in a group that helped people when
they got out of prison, whichis very important. You know, when
people get out of prison, whatdo they do? Well, they got

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marked black former prisoners, so everyonediscriminates against them. And if they don't
get a job soon, what canthey do? They have to hang out
on the street, corner, dosomething. And that's one of the things
that the Salvation Army helps quite abit with. We try to reintroduce individuals
from prison back into society. Soimportant. How many years have you been

(18:00):
involved with the Salvation Army? Well, actually I was not involved in New
York, but here I have beennow about two years, and I think
you enjoy doing it. Oh yeah, that's amazing what they do do.
Yeah, So tell us a littlebit about the journey, then about writing
the book, because I have thebook in front of me here, The
Practical Guide to Happiness, how tobring optimism, confidence and self esteem into

(18:23):
your life. Yes, and onthe back cover it's you in a very
handsome pose wearing a fedora, andyou look very happy in this picture.
That's the point. Well, maybeI had that picture take it aftery written
in the books, so that wouldexplain it. So what how did you

(18:44):
become a happy person? Because youare you? Well, you're very happy.
Reading all about it and then observingpeople about Roundey who were happy.
But gradually I came up with someprinciples. So now I have for basic
principles that I think will help anybodylistening. You call them golden rules,

(19:06):
right, what you call them thefour Golden rules? Yes, four golden
rules. What I'm sure, okay, our listeners want to hear is want
what you have? What you have? You know, if I were to
ask most people what do you want, they'd say, oh, I wish
I could have a bigger house,so I wish my golf were better,
or who knows what. But whateverthey want is something they don't have now.

(19:29):
And so it's banking them unhappy,just like you when you had your
trading firm you wanted yea, howcomeI don't have other trading firms exactly.
So you learned to will be happywith what you have and that. Yeah,
and that's another way of saying,don't ever be envious. That's great,
ye you never know what they're thinkingabout. The great example of that
is the famous critic of food whoAndrea whatever name was, and we all

(19:59):
thought he had the greatest job inthe world, who went around the world
tasting all food. Didn't have todo any work, He went first class,
earned a huge salary. It seemedlike the ideal job, and the
man committed to Yeah, not toolong ago, years ago. Yeah,
so you know, you never knowyou so don't be envious to anybody because
you never know what's going on insidethem. Amen. Number two. Number

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two is do what you can.Now, this sounds, you know,
very simple. It sounds like dowhatever you know what man can conceive,
man can achieve. Actually it's justthe opposite. It's saying, first,
do what you can, but don'tdo the things you know you can't do.
If you have a problem drinking andyou go every time you go into

(20:45):
bar, you have four martinis,or you say, oh, this time
I won't I'll stop at one.Well, come on, who are you
kidding? So there's something you can'tdo and shouldn't do. But the other
path of the rule is do whatyou can and think carefully about where you're
going to commit yourself too, Butthen give it all you have. That's
right and don't try halfway. Thatwill never work. You got to say

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this is my commitment and I'm goingto devote my life to it. And
I think that's what you're doing nowas a speaker, and you're trying to
do yes, I understand you.You're on the circuit here in Palm Beach.
Some will be and this is thefirst step. By the way,
it is three. Number three isbe who you are, which means don't

(21:33):
try to imitate somebody else. Butmore importantly, it means to be true
to your own values. If you'retrue. If you're not true to your
own values, you'll never be happy. For example, if you say I
am going to be the best grandfatherin the world, and then something comes
up as a conflict your your clubis having its annual golf tournament and you'd

(21:53):
love to go to that for yourdaughter is having a is in the finals
of some basketball tournament. What areyou gonna do? Well true to your
own values, which are to bewith your granddaughter. Sounds like you must
have a granddaughter. Well I don't. I wish I did. I have
nephews and nieces, so that's whatI do instead. And the fourth most

(22:15):
important rule is treasure your friends.Yes that no one can underestimate that.
And we tend to take our friendsthrough granted, you know, we say
oh, yeah, yeah, hiCharlie, how are you? You know,
but we could say, gee,how are you, Charlie feeling better
today? Or are you feeling worse? Or what are you gonna do in
the weekend? And so forth.Taking interest in people. The more interest

(22:38):
you have in others, the lessnegatives you'll have about yourself. Yeah,
that was truly are Yeah, you'llbe less self focused exactly. You know.
I spoke a little bit about thisin my monologue, and the CDC
had some very negative results from asurvey they did about youth as well as
adults in this country that there's ahigh degree of hopelessness. Oh we know,

(23:03):
when suicides in college are getting morecommon, So your book is perfectly
timed for society that's hungry to heara good word from faith based leaders.
It is available on Amazon. Yeah, if people wanted to get in touch
with you. Is there a phonenumber? Do you have a individual that's

(23:25):
promoting you? Yes, it's myphone us in the back of the book.
Okay, and they can reach outand get anywhere in touch with you
through Zoom. Yeah. And youare a happiness coach. Is what's my
title? Yeah, that's what you'redoing. Now tell me a little bit
as we finish. What makes youhappy? What is it that you do

(23:47):
for fun? Well? For fun? Well, I play tennis. I
love tennis, But for fun,I love to tell jokes. And I
think anything that makes people happy.You know, what happens doesn't mean in
big things. It can be alot little thing. Yeah, sure makes
her happy to tell the job sothat my audience will be happy. Okay,
Well, like no guarantees, Itold jokes and people. Someone once

(24:08):
said, that's the second dumbest worstjoke I've heard of my life. Banks
So I wish I had a betterreply, which I've now figured out,
and that is, Oh, I'msorry. I disappointed you, Perhaps you
could tell us a better one.Yeah, well that's usually nobody can tell
a better Yeah. So do youhave when you can pull out? Well,

(24:29):
okay, lady sit down on aplane and after a few minutes,
the man sitting next to her says, gee, that's a very unusual looking
baby you have there. The ladydoesn't know what to do, and then
a couple moments later he says,that's really a strange looking baby you have.
Well, but now the woman isgetting a little upset. She pushes

(24:49):
the button for the flight intended tocome in. Flight attendant comes down and
the woman says what the problem was? So the flight attendant says, oh,
this is terrible. We'll tell careof that man later, but first
let's get you what others fawful seat. So I think I can get you
leaven in the first class to makeup with the inconvenience. So I'll take
the suitcase. You go get allyour things, so the upper rack and

(25:11):
so forth, and of course youcan bring your pet monkey with you.
Well you made me laughing. I'msure other people listening to the show we're
laughing as well. Well. Thankyou very much Max for being thank you
so much for God lets you andI continue to help people be happy.
A right, good good. Thankyou for joining me today the day after

(25:33):
Cinco de Mayo, for this broadcastof Frankly Speaking, the weekly radio program
of the Salvation Army each week.Before we close, I'd like to share
a select quote from William Booth orhis wife Catherine, who founded the Salvation
Army in eighteen sixty five. Today, I want to share one of my
favorite quotes, taken from a letterwritten by Catherine Booth to her daughter.
The letter is filled with advice fora young woman getting ready to enter the

(25:56):
world. I'm always encouraged by boothinspiring words by quote her do not give
way to lowness while you are young, Road Booth, rise up on the
strength of God and resolve to conquer. End of quotes. So till next
week. This is Frank Morango isthe director of Development and Communications for the

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Salvation Army of Palm Beach County,and you have been listening to Frankly Speaking.
Show it the cross road of philanthropy, societal need and faith. My
hope is that this in every broadcastof Frankly Speaking, will inform and help
inspire all of us to become agentsof good to those in need in our
Palm Beach community. If you wouldlike to share a question or to suggest
a future guest or topic, Iwould love to hear from you at Frank

(26:40):
at frank talk radio dot com.You can also listen to this and other
previous podcasts of Frankly Speaking by downloadingand using the iheartcampt