Somebody once asked me during a discussion on the obscene amount of dollars senior CEOs of large corporations made in the world, if I would accept such an offer of money if it was given. I have given that some thought over time and I can say by my actions in the past I would refuse it OR I would openly agree to set up a transparent plan that would automatically take 70% or more from my check and use it for particular funding aid for projects around the world that would be sustainable and had growth potential. Emphasis would be to help youth and women worldwide. The funds would go directly to the source thus avoiding foundations, NGOs and administrative fees. The money given to the projects would be gifts with thus having no interest rate attached. Money would be given from interest accumulated from the actual fund. Funded projects would be carefully screened in regard obviously to the quality of the business plan, the actual leadership of the team or group, and their showing by their actions their being men and women of character and integrity. As I do the math... even if I made a paltry 5 million bucks per year as a CEO of a large corporation, reducing my income by 70% would still give me about 1.5 million to work with for my own life which would be quite comfortable I would think. I can also point to a time in my past where I did reduce my salary in order to benefit others. I was leaving the Nebraska Legislature and becoming the new President of a small Chamber of Commerce. They had major internal issues (staff) with one of the key challenges being proper salary schedules for the support staff. I was told there was no money to increase salaries so I asked if I could have my salary reduced and use that money to increase the pay of the staff. After some initial hesitation, the board of directors agreed although they admitted that no one had ever done that before and they were not sure of the precedent being set. I should also point out in fairness that pay for a Senator in the state of Nebraska is virtually a vow of poverty.... even more of one than my job prior to being a senator... teaching in the public schools. When I started teaching my yearly income was around $8,300 plus benefits. When I began being Senator, my yearly salary dropped to $4,800 per year with no benefits, no insurance and no retirement paid. Yes, you read that correctly... I dropped from $8,300 to $4,800 including the loss of benefits! So much for your mindsets of what Senators make! :-) Yet not all was bad as the good people of my home state realized the pathetically low pay of their senators and a couple of years into my term the people voted to change the constitution in order to increase the pay of senators. Such was the new rate of $12,000 USD per year with still no benefits when I stopped being a senator. The point being that it didnt take a huge increase in salary by the Chamber to make be feel rich! In retrospect, I have not been good at choosing paths that would lead me to riches and fame.... teaching, Senator in Nebraska, President of a small non-profit, and now my work in Kenya. It has given me perspective I think about how important and powerful a small amount of money can be when one has so little. I think that is why I feel so strongly about my original point above. One truly does not have to have that much in order to be happy or to find meaning and purpose in life. Having said that, a big thank you needs to go out to all those who have somewhat more than a little. Their willingness to help has made and will continue to make all the difference in the world one small bit at a time. Youll have to trust me on that...
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 11:07:11 +0000
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