Posted on

Bienvenida ~ un Poema de Mario Benedetti

constantin poindexter, carlyle poindexter, charity, caridad, amor, love

Se me ocurre que vas a llegar distinta

no exactamente más linda

ni más fuerte

ni más dócil

ni más cauta

tan solo que vas a llegar distinta

como si esta temporada de no verme

te hubiera sorprendido a vos también

quizá porque sabes

cómo te pienso y te enumero

después de todo la nostalgia existe

aunque no lloremos en los andenes fantasmales

ni sobre las almohadas de candor

ni bajo el cielo opaco

yo nostalgio

tu nostalgias

y cómo me revienta que él nostalgie

tu rostro es la vanguardia

tal vez llega primero

porque lo pinto en las paredes

con trazos invisibles y seguros

no olvides que tu rostro

me mira como pueblo

sonríe y rabia y canta

como pueblo

y eso te da una lumbre

inapagable

ahora no tengo dudas

vas a llegar distinta y con señales

con nuevas

con hondura

con franqueza

sé que voy a quererte sin preguntas

sé que vas a quererme sin respuestas.

Posted on

Why Charity?

constantin poindexter, carlyle poindexter, surety one, surety one, inc., suretyone.com, charity, caridad;

Its covering is no less than the clouded canopy, or starry-decked heaven, where we wish to at last to arrive, by the aid of that theological ladder which came to Jacob in a vision, he saw extending from earth to heaven; the three principal rounds of which are FAITH, HOPE, and CHARITY. The allegorical ladder admonishes us to have faith in God, hope in immortality, and charity towards all men (and women). The most important rung of the ladder is CHARITY. Faith may be lost in sight, hope ends in fruition, but charity extends beyond the grave, through the boundless realms of time.

Why is charity relevant and why is it incumbent on every able person to offer it in his or her own way? I’ll elaborate later, however for the moment I will leave this most eloquent reasoning courtesy of the General Ahiman Rezón of our Brotherhood albeit with a change or two to enhance its universal applicability. The words are not my own however the sentiment certainly is.

Charity is the brightest gem that can adorn our lives on this earth. Happy is the man  who has sowed in his breast the seeds of benevolence, the produce of which is love and peace He envieth not his neighbor. He listeneth not to a tale, when reported by slander. Revenge or malice has no place in his breast. He forgives the injuries of men and endeavors to blot them from his recollection. The objects of true charity among us are those individuals that aid and succor those persons who are incapable of extricating themselves from misfortunes in their journey through life, relief and support of those industrious individuals who by inevitable accidents and acts of providence have fallen into ruin,  widow left survivors of their husbands, by whose labors they subsisted,  orphans in tender years left naked to the world, and the elderly whose spirits are exhausted, whose arms are unbraced by time and thereby rendered unable to procure for themselves that sustenance they could accomplish in their youthful days.

From each person according to his or her capacity to the cause of charity should be a natural inclination. It is incumbent on us ALL to contribute to the relieve of those that for whatever reason find themselves in situations much less privileged than our own.

~ Constantin Poindexter, CEO of Surety One, Inc.

Posted on

A Dual Purpose for Establishing an Enterprise.

constantin poindexter, carlyle poindexter, surety one, surety one, inc., suretyone.com;

I have spent a quarter of a century building businesses, largely my own but offering a contribution of my humble expertise when it has been requested. Twenty five years ago I was a recent university graduate and a neophyte to the business world so naturally I collected books, magazines, white papers, . . . i.e., whatever I could put my hands on that would (hopefully) support the success of my enterprises. One of the first was a collection of work by Peter Drucker. While some of his wisdom is timeless, I found that there were some major gaps in his thinking.  His definition of “business purpose”, is inadequate.

“Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two–and only two–basic functions: marketing and innovation.”, wrote Drucker. A business that grows and remains relevant for many years must have another purpose, . . . to serve a social good. Creating economic value for an enterprise’s owners, employees and the departments of revenue is not “serving a social good”. So what is it?

How do we determine the true “purpose” of a business to ensure that it is one with enduring value? There is a special (albeit very old) tool for uncovering the root of the question. The technique is called the “Five Whys”.  Start with what your enterprise offers, then ask “why”, until you have dug down to the core purpose or “root” of the cause that your business supports. Ex., . . .

  • We offer financial services to people!
  • Why? Because those people need them.
  • Why? Because without them they cannot budget, save, prepare for the future, etc.
  • Why would they need to do those things? To live a healthy life, provide for themselves and their families, to save for kids’ college and prepare for a dignified and happy retirement.

So, in the example above we didn’t need to ask “why” five times to arrive at our need. What is the business purpose? It certainly isn’t to “sell financial services” and if that is ALL that it is, then the enterprise wouldn’t last. It serves no social good. We see however that there is more. Looking deeper we perceive a different answer to this example. “What is the business’s purpose? To help people live a healthy life, provide for themselves and their families, to save for kids’ college and prepare for a dignified and happy retirement.”

Keep this “dual purpose” in mind as you develop a business plan. Without the “social good” element as fundamentally equal to the “to market and sell something” one, a business is doomed to failure.

~ Constantin Poindexter, CEO of Surety One, Inc.