ROOSEVELTJEANFRANCOIS

Leadership • Language • Justice • Purpose

Haitian Creole Legal Language Specialist, storyteller, and community builder helping you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and create meaningful impact.

Tag: leadership

  • Leadership Malala: an example of dreams, struggle, victory for education

    It is said time and time again that one person can make a difference. No matter your age, gender, circumstances, you can impact the lives of others, by having and living your dreams, facing adversity, and claiming your victory.
    The 2014 youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize co-winner Malala Yousafzai, a 17-year-old girl from Pakistan, resumes the above mentioned statement. She has been making a difference in global leadership education for girls, dealing with huge struggle after a murder attempt, and today she’s portraying victory while making a huge difference in the face of global terrorism.malala
    I read her autobiography “I am Malala: the girl who stood for education and was shot by the Taliban” in one trait this summer. This was my 16 year-old son’s school summer reading. He ordered it online and I was glued on my computer to click the 350 plus pages one after another. I was intrigued by her story. I felt joyful to read on my cell phone that she was the recipient of this prestigious prize.
    Malala was targeted by the Pakistani Taliban at an early age. On October 11, 2012, she was riding home on a school bus when a masked gunman apparently boarded her bus, asked for her by name and shot her in the head and neck.
    She almost paid the ultimate price. She has spoken out for the rights of all girls to become educated in a society where women were not allowed to work or attend school, forbidden to laugh out loud, to wear nail polish or shoes that made too much noise.
    At age 11, to protest what was happening in her homeland, Malala began to write about her experiences. She described wearing plain clothes, not uniforms, so that no one would know she was attending school.
    The Taliban forced the closure of her school. She stayed home and suspended her education. She said in her autobiography she was “sad” watching her uniform, and school bag at home, she was“hurt” because her brothers could go to school while she could not. malala1
    Malala had dreamed of becoming a doctor, but recently she became interested in politics and speaking out for the rights of children. She has been a nominee for several International Prizes, including the Nobel Peace Prize which she shared with India’s Kailash Satyarthi for his struggles against the suppression of children and for young people’s rights, including the right to education.
    She is an icon of courage, a source of inspiration which defies the totalitarian mind-set others would have imposed on her.
    What lessons can we learn from Malala? What attributes of success can we copy from her dreams, struggles, and victory? Why education is so important today? And above all: leadership education to free our minds and souls to think for ourselves, and to look for our own solutions for our problems.
    In “Launching a leadership Revolution”, a New York Times bestselling book, co-authors Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady mentioned learning hunger as the basic foundation for leadership development.
    In our family, community, churches, how can we keep that learning hunger to bring constant, life-long continuing education on liberal issues, and community affairs to our members.
    We may not have the Taliban in our backyard to defend our girls to go to school, but we are by an entertaining media environment which pushes aside education in favor of short term happiness. It’s a pity to observe that mostly all of our churches have a music ministry, organize events, but few have a book club, and a community leaning group.
    This is the challenge of the day. How to bring leadership education to the masses? A leadership education for each and every one of us is the answer.
    And for this, we may welcome Malala as Bookman started the Haitian revolution with reading for the slaves in Haiti, as Frederic Douglas stated abolitionist society in the Northern part of the United States against the Southern slavery institutions.
    I would end this with a quote from Thomas Jefferson in a letter from his estate in Monticello wrote: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.”
    Your education is your responsibility. For your own self, and for others, you are your own Malala.

    Roosevelt Jean-Francois
    http://www.rooseveltjeanfrancois.com

  • Leadership Education: Take an honest look at your finances today

    The Life Leadership corporate office just released a video promo of the Financial Fitness Pack (FFP). This  which is our # 1 best selling educational product.

    The Financial Fitness Pack teaches the principles behind the Offense, Defense, and Playing Field of personal finance. With a basic understanding of these three areas, which are rarely taught together as a whole, anyone can learn to prosper, conserve, and multiply the fruits of his or her labor.

    Economic affairs do not have to be boring or stressful. Have fun learning how to take charge of your money and be fiscally fabulous! The Financial Fitness Pack includes the Financial Fitness book and workbook as well as eight audio recordings to help you take an honest look at your finances, learn and apply the simple principles of financial success, and get on the path to true financial fitness.

    To purchase a Financial Fitness Pack and take an honest look at your finances today, click here…now.

    Roosevelt Jean-Francois

  • Leadership, Ethics, and Money Production

    New York Times bestselling author of And Justice For All, and  Guinness World Record Holder for largest book signing ever, Orrin Woodward,  just released a blog post on  the Cobden Centre’s Andy Duncan reviewing  Jorg Guido Hulsmann’s book The Ethics of Money Production.

    In Woodward’s opinion, the number one battle for freedom begins with checking the Five Laws of Decline (FLD) destruction of the monetary system by the State elites.

    “What is the point in checking government through representative government, separation of powers, term limits if the government can have access to practically unlimited funds?”, he asked.

    ajfa-bookOrrin Woodward’s book And Justice For All spells out how the elites plunder the production of society. Since Adam Smith and Jean Baptiste Say, economists have recognized the 3 factors of all production – labor, land, and capital. The elites have plundered all three factors of production.

    “The central planning of the financial system is inconceivable, illogical, and inconsistent since its underlying presuppositions run counter to our alleged free market system,” Woodward said.

    Thomas Jefferson, in 1816, from his Monticello estate, was calling the attention of Colonel Charles Yancey, on “…deluded citizens… clamoring for more banks, more banks… We are under the bank bubble …, and as every nation is liable to be, under whatever bubble, design, or delusion may puff up in moments when off their guard.”

    Jefferson added in this letter his famously known quote: ” If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”

    “The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents.  There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves ;  nor can they be safe with them without information.  Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.” (Thomas Jefferson letter to Colonel Charles Yancey).

    I am glad to be part of the Life Leadership Compensated Community led by Orrin Woodward who has authored and co-authored  multiple books and sold millions of them in the quest to lead people to the truth.

    One of my hero, as I told a group I was speaking to last week-end, in Maryland, is Dutty Francois (Bookman). He started with book reading, and  led the haitian slaves rebellion against their masters in 1791 which culminated to Independence in 1804. Yes, Haitians were  free, but remained largely ignorant with a mass of slaves who did not know how to read.

    Fortunately, we can invest the time to read and understand today. And, LIFE Leadership intends to play its part in educating society in the 8F’s of life to play its part in the restoration of liberty.

     

    God bless,

    Roosevelt

    Below is a portion of Andy Duncan’s review.

    book

    The book is divided into three beautifully-written main parts:

    • The Natural Production of Money
    • Inflation
    • Monetary Order and Monetary Systems

    These three parts cover everything you might think of, from the invention of metallic money all the way through to the end of Bretton-Woods and then the later creation of the Euro.  However, the heart of the book is a sequence of four chapters — in the second part of the book on Inflation —with two of these chapter titles, alas, unfortunately insisting on the use of American spellings and the appalling employment of the letter ‘zed’; the chapter content, however, is still very good, even if has fallen under the unwelcome control of an American spell-checker:

    • Legalized Falsifications
    • Legal Monopolies
    • Legal-Tender Laws
    • Legalized Suspensions of Payments

    When you are the elite organisation calling yourself ‘The State’, you have a monopoly on law in a particular territory; it is with this power that you can subvert and distort the natural order of private property, thus leading to the impoverishment and helotry of everyone else within that territory, under your rule, even leading to the ridiculous notion that any debt this elite runs up — to maintain their position of privilege — is somehow ‘owed’ by the subjugated population, despite no-one ever asking their opinion about whether this debt should have been taken on by the elite and despite all the benefits of the spending of that debt going directly into the grasping hands of that same privileged elite.

    The whole problem with money is the state’s imposition of legal privileges for bankers, given to bankers in return for the promise that they will always soak up the debts of politicians, to enable politicians to enslave their populations over time in a Procrustean bed of warfare and welfare, to the ultimate benefit of the politicians and their friends, and to the detriment of everyone else.

    These chapters make clear how that mechanism of monetary enslavement operates, and therefore how we can break that mechanism and become free again from the appalling bondage of government bonds. It is with the removal of these legal privileges and a restoration of the natural order of private property rights that we will be able to put the wheels back on the cart, get moving again, and put the politicians back in their place,

     

     

     

  • Leadership in the ocean of life: drifters, surfers, drowners, and sailers!

    What a great pleasure I had this last week end in Silver Spring, Maryland, to teach and to learn leadership and life issues with the Bread of Life Bible Fellowship Ministries led by Senior Pastor David Faustin and his spouse First Lady Yolaine Faustin and their outstanding team.

    I shared with them the following insight, reported by New York Times Bestselling author, Chris Brady, in his Life Leadership Essential Series’s book “Wavemakers: how small acts of courage can change the world.”

    Brady quoted Roy H. Williams about the four kind of people you meet on the vast and tumultuous ocean of life.

    rjf

    1.- Drifters. Those who drift just go with the flow. The wind and the waves control their speed and their direction. The drifter quietly floats along and says, “Whatever”. In our Haitian Creole we would say ¨JPP¨(Jan’l Pase l’Pase).

    2.- Surfers. Those who surf are always riding a wave, the next big thing. They stay excited until the wave fades away, then they scan the horizon for something new. Surfers don’t usually get anywhere, but they make a lot of noise and put on a good show.

    3.- Drowners. Those who drown seem to stay in the center of a storm. It doesn’t matter how often you rescue them, they’ll soon be in another crisis, crying, “Help me, save me.¨

    4.- Sailers. Those who sail are navigating toward a fixed point. They counteract the wind and the waves by adjusting the rudder and shifting the sails to stay on course.

    Having your immovable fixed point in life is detecting your purpose, your reason why, your sense of meaning. Sailers know why their destination.I told the group there are two important days in their life: the day you were born, and the day you discover why you were born.

    We had a conversation on defining leadership, the difference between leadership and leaders. We shared contents on vision, mission, and values, as well as the concepts of being dependent, independent, and interdependent in building communities.

    During the break, I had some time to interact with some of them. Drinking coffee, and eating fruits, I had some one on one short conversations and gathered some feedback on the first part of my presentation.

    Then Carline Brice, a seasoned professional with the OAS, who chairs the Public Relations Ministry at Bread Of Life Bible Fellowship Ministries, told me what she wanted to do for  the second part of the event. She did well. First, she congratulated me for the presentation, she mentioned one chapter of my book ¨Leadership Sur Le Vif: des idéés pour le changement et la création de Richesse¨. Then, she asked me to engage each one  present in the audience in a conversation about their commitment in the church, their strengths, and their weaknesses.

    It was fun to listen to each and every one lowering their guards and to talk freely about who they are, their strenghts, and weaknesses.

    As I told Senior Pastor David Faustin, I have been meeting a lot of groups in our community, this is one of the best I met so far. This also bears a responsibility, not to lower the bar and move forward.

    God bless,

    Roosevelt

  • Leadership, Culture, & Values!

    I am scheduled to speak this week-end at a leadership conference in Washington DC at a 100 + members faith-based organization. My core speech will be about leadership development, corporate culture, and values. My goal is to inspire members of this organization to engage themselves and other members in continuing self-directed leadership education, and to passionately create a culture of added values to the benefit of their community.

    I am indebted to the Life Leadership Company to have included authors Randy Ross, and David Salyers’ book Remarkable! as part of my recent leadership subscription. I will be using their ideas on cultural transformation as well as New York Times best selling authors Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady’s book Launching a Leadership Revolution to define leadership.

    What can we do to craft a culture where we believe the very best in our people and call out the very best from our people? That’s the question the authors are asking in their remarkable book understanding trust as a key factor for progress.

    ¨Where trust is high, resistance is low. Therefore, change and progress come quickly. Conversely, where trust is low, resistance is high. Therefore, change and progress come slowly¨, they said.

    Our values define us. They find expressions in our daily decisions. We see the world through our unique lens, which are crafted by the prioritization of certain values.

    What we need to do reach our full potential is to allow our values to drive our business. We need to define, articulate, and embody our values. The more our values are in alignment as a team, the more value we can create for everyone. Unity is a powerful in driving productivity.

    Serving is about creating value for and not simply seeking to extract value from every encounter, endeavor, and relationship.

    Relationship implies a desire to stay engaged with others. Nothing of long-lasting positive value ever happens by force.

    Ross & Salyers define culture as “the collective expression of the values, thoughts and behaviors that individuals bring to the organization.”

    Every teams or organizations have a culture. We can have a culture by design or by default. The only real competitive advantage any organization has is the culture that it fosters.

    Culture is the single most important factor in the success of any organization and must be the highest priority of leadership

    A company’s culture is its greatest competitive advantage, and will either multiply a company efforts, or divide both its performance and its people.

    Ross & Salyers said “the most important issue facing any business it to intentionally craft a Remarkable! Culture of value creation. Everything else is secondary. “

    We develop a sense of satisfaction when we understand who we are and how we can best bring value to every relationship and every endeavor we invest ourselves in.

    The authors argue that “strong organizations always put people ahead of profits because they know that if you do right by your people – internally and externally – then the profits will follow.”

    Great organizations create powerful relationships through the superior value they bring to the marketplace.

    Each time we make a decision; there is a short term and a long term dimension that must be considered. Many decisions have a short term gain but carry a long term loss; while other decisions may have a short term loss, but ensure a long term gain. (Rooss & Salyers)

    The impact of culture in any organization cannot be overstated. The culture is the single most important factor in the success of any organization and must be the highest priority of leadership.

    I am glad to be invited to add value and to invest my talents and speaking ability in this faith-based organization leadership retreat in Washington DC. As discussed with the event planner, leadership is not acquired in a day, but is developed daily.

    This will be a commencement. My call for action is to have potential leaders of this organization engaged in our self-directed continuing corporate leadership education system for the upcoming 6 months.

     

    God bless,

     

    Roosevelt

  • Leadership: the next revolution to stop the decline and start a 180 degrees turnaround in Haiti

    I enjoy reading several books at once. I let my internal feeling guide me to which one should I pick  at specific moments. A biography is ongoing must. I enjoyed learning from great minds and accomplishers both alive and dead, national and international. The great source of learning is universal, it has no boundary, no time constraint.

    And for these days, I’m all in Napoleon Bonaparte’s life. I’m reading Vincent Cronin’s Napoleon Bonaparte, an intimate biography.

    I just re-read for a second time Florence Littaeur’s Personality Plus, how to understand others by understanding yourself. And I’m halfway Orrin Woodward’s And Justice for All, a quest for concord. An amazing book for which New York Times best selling author Orrin Woodward holds the Guinness book record having signed on one spot more than 6000 books last June in Columbus, Ohio.

    I am blessed to be part of The Life Leadership compensated community led by Orrin Woodward, and I am glad to have been in his book signing moment which is part of history.

    I’m studying Woodward’s Leadershift Five Laws of Decline (FLD), Six Duties of Society (SDS), and Pendulum of Power (PP) theory, and to apply them to my native country Haiti. This will lead to my new book. How to have a turnaround, a180 degrees shift in Haiti, by understanding the FLD, and by applying the SDS.

    My studies start with history. The more I read history the more I understand we don’t learn from history.  Philosopher George Santayana is known for his famous saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.

    Haiti’s story is not inspiring. The elite’s greed,  the masses’ ignorance and the middle class’ s neglect give control to state power and atrophy our social power. Our state is totally dependent and most of the time a parasite. We choose plunder over responsibility of creative work. We have become a society addicted to various kinds of plunder.

    Government spending consistently increases. As long as our system encourages various types of plunder rather than making work the easiest way to succeed, we’ll continue to decline.

    In their New York Times best selling book LeaderShift, co-authors Orrin Woodward and Oliver DeMille call for American Social Power to finally stand up and lead.

    The leadership revolution should also be a call for Haitians to finally stand up and stop the decline in our Society, and lead our turnaround to a complete 180 degrees shift.

    Woodward and DeMille said it best: ¨We need a nation of citizens who are leaders” to get out of the “coma of complacency”.

    Woodward coined his first law of decline  as Sturgeon law (For specifics read Leadershift). This concept is crucial in helping Haiti turn around. 90% of the alleged leaders are producing cruddy results. Understanding Sturgeon’s law helps us study the leadership teams honestly and not be fooled by the endless talking with no results. “When all is said and done, much more is said than ever done.The 10% percent walk while while the 90% talk”, Woodward & DeMille said in their Leadershift book.

    One of our first tasks in Haiti’s turnaround is to develop a scoreboard that helps separate the 10% from the 90%. Who are the 10%? And how can we find them? “Only hard-core results reveal the truth”, Woodward said.

    As stated in the Leadershift book “10% of the people are going to lead the nation and take it in whatever direction they end up choosing. So we’ve got to find a way to get the right 10% of the population leading our nation.”

    As I said, my studies start with history. reading Napoleon’s biography helps me better understand what the haitian founders had to face to frame their freedom revolution and start a nation. This nation is in decline and we need a new revolution. This will be the leadership revolution.

    God bless,

    Roosevelt

  • Leadership & Wisdom!

    I started the day reading the Proverbs of king Salomon. I was so surprised to read, just a while ago, the latest post from best selling author Orrin Woodward on the same subject.

    “What a coincidence”, I said to myself.

    On his blog, Woodward is asking us to “seek for freedom”.

    I appreciate and want to add value to you by sharing Orrin Woodward’s thinking. I like the way he tied leadership,  wisdom, and the Life Leadership community.

    Inc. Magazine just selected him and his best selling co-author Chris Brady in the Top 50 leadership and management expert in the world.

    The key word in Proverbs is wisdom, which an author defines, as the “ability to” live life skillfully”.

    Life Leadership is our tool  to develop that skill set to live the life we’ve always wanted.

    Read Orrin Woodward’s post below:

    Roosevelt Jean-Francois

     

    Seek Freedom

    by Orrin Woodward

    Life is less like a box of chocolates and more like a box of jalapeños. If you don’t apply wisdom, what you do today may burn your butt tomorrow.

    I read a tweet recently from Brian Powers on life, chocolates, and jalapeños. I changed the quote slightly to tie it to the importance of wisdom and the quote above resulted. Life truly is about gaining wisdom in the 8F’s so that one can learn to handle any situation with peace and grace. Since everyone experiences the ups and downs in life, wisdom is the key delineator between successfully navigating the storms of life or being added to the growing list of shipwrecked lives.

    Relativism = Value Free

    The Free Dictionary defines wisdom as the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight. If wisdom requires on to judge between truthfulness and rightness of one’s actions then one must believe that there is truth and right in the world. After all, how can one discern truth and right when one is a relativist and rejects the notions of good/evil, truth/error, and right/wrong?

    LIFE Leadership begins with this foundational principle to seek wisdom. The Bible states, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” and the transformation for many begins with the recognition of a moral order in the world. For without this moral order, seeking wisdom is a fools errand as one would have rejected the goal (discerning truth) before one begins the journey.

    One of the many things I love about the LIFE Leadership community is it is difficult to remain a relativist when one attempts to lead. Leadership, at its essence, is buying into one’s purpose/vision and then selling it to others. This purpose/vision must be inspirational and rational in order to be bought into with conviction by the community. However, a relativist struggles with conviction. This isn’t surprising when one considers that a relativist’s statement of faith centers around, “nothing is true absolutely.” Of course, my quick rejoinder is, “are you absolutely sure that nothing is true absolutely?”

    This is the quandary for all relativist who attempt to lead a community. If he answers my question by saying, “I am absolutely sure,” then he has disproved his own statement of faith. If he says, “I am not absolutely sure,” then I say, “great, let’s help you start reading, listening, and associating, so you can be sure about what you believe.”

    At the end of the day, it’s the leader’s certainty, and the conviction that comes from this certainty, that creates the passion around the purpose for other’s to follow. Thus, knowing why you believe what you believe is foundational to all leadership.

    How has LIFE Leadership helped you develop wisdom in life and discern truth and right in today’s relativistic age?

    Sincerely,

    Orrin Woodward

  • Leadership, acceptance, & appreciation: I accept you the way you are, and I appreciate you for who you become

    I accept you the way you are, and I appreciate you for who you become. This is the title of a speech I will present today at VOICE Toastmasters club in Fort-Lauderdale, Florida. I have the pleasure to share with you the content of my upcoming speech. Enjoy.

    Last Thursday, I went to the dentist. I entered the office, put my name on the waiting list. The secretary, with a nice smile, asked me for my insurance information and ID card. I pulled them from my wallet and handed them to her. She made copies, handed them back to me, and invited me to have a sit while waiting for my turn.

    I shared the space with other 8 people.  Some were watching TV, others were skimming at magazine pictures. I prefer reading my own book.  I usually carry a book with me wherever I go.

    I had Les Giblin’s book “How to have confidence and power in dealing with people¨. I discovered his triple-A formula for making and keeping friends. This is my pleasure to share with you this triple-A formula which is resumed as follow:

    1.- Accept

    2.- Approve

    3.- Appreciate

    Acceptance is lesson # 1 learned from Les Giblin. You are who are. I  accept you the way you are. I want you to continue to be yourself around me. I accept you as a human being with your mistakes, flaws, and your shortcomings.

    Reading this reminds me a story reported by best selling author Orrin Woodward in his book “Resolved: 13 resolutions for LIFE” which displays the power of acceptance.

    A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole, which he carried across his neck. One of the pot had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot was only half-full. For a full two years, this went on daily with the bearer delivering  only one and a half pots of water to his house.

    Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for what it was made to do. The poor cracked pot was ashamed of its imperfection. It was miserable to accomplish only half of what it was made to do.

    After two years of feeling a bitter failure, the poor cracked pot spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. Ï am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you. I have been able to deliver only half of my load because this crack on my side causes water to leak as you walk the way back to your house. Because of my flaw, you have to do all this work, and you don’t get the full value of your efforts”, the pot said.

    The bearer said to the pot , ” Did you notice there are only flowers on the side of your path, but not on the other side? That’s because I have always known your flaw. So, I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day, when we walk back, you water them.  for two years, I have been able to pick up these beautiful flowers, to decorate the table. Without you being, just the way you are , there will not be this beauty to grace the house¨.

    Thinking about this story while I was reading Giblin’s book brought a bright smile in my face in the dentist room. My neighbor look at me wondering what am I wondering about.

    I continued my self-directed education to lesson 2 which is approval. Acceptance doesn’t mean approval. I accept you the way you are doesn’t mean I approve everything you do. If acceptance is withholding criticisms, then approval is releasing compliments.  Approval moves beyond acceptance and extends to acclaim for your specific gifts, talents, abilities, and actions. I invest the time to look for your good qualities, your positive attributes, and I approve you by sharing what I admire about you.

    Orrin Woodward said “regretfully , many times, these good words are spoken only at a deceased friend’s funeral, but why wait for the funeral to tell a friend what is admirable about him?”

    “Approval is the shining of one’s light into another’s darkness; although the words cost little, their value to others is priceless¨, the leadership guru wrote.

    Lesson # 3 is Appreciation. This triple-A formula is like a buffet. Acceptance is the appetizer, approval is the main dish, and appreciation is the dessert.

    I accept you the way you are, I approve you for your special talents, and I appreciate you for who you can become. You are unique, not just another face in the crowd. I appreciate you. I value you.

    When something depreciates, it loses value; but when something appreciates, it gains value. What gives value to you is your rarity, your uniqueness. My appreciation for you helps you gain value.

    I learned to really appreciate you, I should share all the good I can find in you with others. I should help you to turn up your positive voice  while simultaneously reducing your negative voice. I want you to believe in yourself and live the life you’ve always wanted.

    The secretary called my name. I got into the dentist room, laid on the dental chair, opened my mouth for the cleaning session, with this poem I just read on my mind:

    “A friend is someone who knows you as you are, understand where you have been, accepts who you have become, and still gently invites you to grow”.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Ban Baldanza, Spirit Airlines ‘ CEO, talks about business and leadership

    I attended a recent lecture presented by Spirit Airlines President and CEO Ben Baldanza at the Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova SouthEastern University in Davie, Florida.

    Roosevelt Jean-Francois and Ben Baldanza at Nova University
    Roosevelt Jean-Francois and Ben Baldanza at Nova University
    Baldanza shared his business acumen and day to day experience at Spirit Airlines with hungry listeners composed mostly with Nova business students and professors, some Spirit Airlines employees, and a few guests including myself.
    Preston Jones, D.B.A. (doctorate in business administration), dean of Nova Southeastern  University called Baldanza ¨Professor, Professor Baldanza¨ because he  was eloquent, fluent, inspiring, and expressive on a various of topics including culture, business, leadership, strategy, and education.
    His prepared power-point presentation included content, data, and pictures about Spirit Airlines which, he said, is one of the leading ultra low-cost carriers in the United States.
    Headquartered in Miramar, Florida. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the U.S. as well as Latin America, the Caribbean, and Haiti where I’m originally from.
    I travel regularly back and forth to Haiti and the Caribbean for my consulting and leadership education business. And most of the time, Spirit Air is my carrier. It fits well my needs.
    I buy my tickets on line, preferably 15-22 days in advance searching the least cost as possible. I travel light with my heavy backpack, no carry on, no bag unless my wife urges me to bring stuff to our loved ones back home and to come here with her homeland food. I make sure I pay online and I always have some empty space in my backpack in case of my bag is over 40 pounds.
    But, every time I’m at the Fort-Lauderdale counter airport for an early flight to Port-au-Prince, it’s always a nightmare.  A very difficult situation to see some old Haitian ladies and sometimes some younger men as well who only speak Creole to be in emotional discussions with cool headed Spirit Air ticketing agents who only speak English pleading for fees for an unchecked carry on, or a bag which would go up to U$100 a piece.

    Lecture
    Lecture
    I asked Baldanza an open question about his company diversity culture in general and Haitian Creole cultural competence in particular, he responded  that there are upcoming initiatives to educate his customers, including Haitians, at the counter about the services. He also mentioned that Spirit ‘s presence on the market has brought more competitive choices for Haitians to travel.
    I totally agree with this. This is good. Nonetheless, I’ll be more confortable to see ¨Professor, Professor Baldanza”, and Spirit Airlines move “from good to great”, by providing culturally competent and related educational customer services to the Haitian community.
    This  will be coming, he said, announcing some marketing initiatives.  That’s some good news  and I’ll witness it with my very next trip back to Haiti.
    Roosevelt Jean-Francois

  • Florida Centurions having fun through Life Leadership conversations, & Club 180 bonding!

    I love Life Leadership and the compensated community we are building around it. We are a FUN Club, making money, striving for excellence, bonding together to make a difference, and helping people to live the life they’ve always wanted. We market information around 8F’s: Faith, Family, Finance, Friends, Freedom, Fitness, Following, and Fun. And we are excited about it. Fired up!

     

    Club 180 party
    Club 180 partWe just had our very first Club 180 party in Fort-Lauderdale Florida. It was fun, inspiring.

     

    It was fun to have what best author Orrin Woodward called “Great conversations”. It was also inspiring to  listen to some stories our friends were telling to themselves.

    We shared some jokes, and humorous stories about ourselves eating Chinese and Spanish omelettes, pancakes, coffee, juice etc… Good food. very good food.

    But, the food I loved the most, in our breakfast Club 180 party, this morning was some “food for thought”. It was moving from “good to great”.

    Luc & Nathalie, Centurions power players, casted  the vision to have South East Florida, and its affiliated regions on the Life Leadership map.

    I was amazed to see Yolaine and Jon driving more than 2 hours from Fort-Myers to Fort Lauderdale. She told us “I wanted to be with you. And I do not regret to do it”.

    Yolaine also said that “people at work complimented me for my upbeat  attitude. The information made a difference. I am more patient, I feel less stressed”.

    Linda was not happy with her husband Frank prior to the meeting. “I know we were going to church, and he decided to come here without telling me. I was unhappy. But, now I feel a lot better listening to you. What you do, putting people together in our community matters”, said Linda with a “sorry honey” to her husband who replied with a big smile.

    It was a great joy listening to Luna about her learning experience through the CD’s and the open meetings.”I thought I would be by myself, I discover I have a new family. I like it”, she said.

    Smith was also outstanding about the compensated model and the message we are sharing. “I feel more confident, I gave out Cd’s, and I like when people are calling me for more, and I invite them to have their owns”, Smith said.

    Jon is reading  RASCAL from best selling author Chris Brady. He told us :”I want to make a difference by becoming an original character”.

    We left with some goals, some commitments to build our Open Meeting numbers in Fort-Lauderdale . We also dream to have Fort-Lauderdale on the monthly Live Life Event map, and to reach thousands and thousands of people in SouthEast Florida, the Caribbean, and Latin-America.

    I enjoyed the moment building and bonding with our friends in our  Life leadership compensated community. This is definitely our “best shot to live the life we’ve always wanted”.

    We are Centurions. We lead from the front.

    God bless,

    Roosevelt