The headlines have been full of stories about unemployment, the so-called “jobless recovery,” and lately we’ve been hearing about a potential double-dip recession. So when a colleague suggested I tackle the subject of why businesses aren’t hiring, I figured I could throw in my two cents.

First let’s talk about unemployment. As of July 2010, the most recent month for which statistics are available as I write this, the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculated the U.S. unemployment rate at 9.5%. That’s 14.6 million people who are unemployed. And many argue that the true unemployed number is much higher and that the 14.6 million counted by the BLS are only those who continue to actively look for work.

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When a colleague suggested I write about Hewlett Packard’s firing of CEO Mark Hurd, I wasn’t sure there was anything of value to say about this situation. But on further reflection I think there is a clear lesson in all of this.

You might recall that on August 6, Hurd resigned under pressure from HP’s board. According to a company statement, a woman who had romantic ties to Mr. Hurd, who is married, “received compensation and/or expense reimbursement where there was not a legitimate business purpose, as well as numerous instances where inaccurate expense reports were submitted by Mark or on his behalf that intended to or had the effect of concealing Mark’s personal relationship with the contractor.”

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People often get hung up on titles. I must admit that they’ve never meant much to me. I really don’t care what name you want to attach to what you do, so I’ve been pretty liberal over the years about giving people the titles that they want.

But in many companies, titles bring with them status, and status often brings certain perks. Maybe it’s a reserved parking spot or, my personal favorite, a key to the executive washroom. Executive washroom? It’s a bathroom, folks. It has a toilet, a sink, some soap, and something to dry your hands with. Why would anyone care if they happen to urinate next to the CEO? It makes no sense to me, but I digress.

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I’ve been thinking about self-discipline a lot lately. Maybe it’s because I’m carrying around an extra 20 — OK, 25 — pounds and wondering how I allowed myself to get to this point. Obviously, I haven’t been as disciplined with my eating and workout regimen as I need to be.

But self-discipline is the key to achieving success in whatever we endeavor. It was Teddy Roosevelt who said, “With self-discipline most anything is possible.” I believe that. Ultimately, there is only one thing you can control completely — what you do or don’t do.

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I ran across a number of things this week that I thought were worthy of comment.  Instead of choosing one, I thought I would try to get them all in.

In the “It’s About Time” category, the board of BP negotiated the departure of Tony Hayward as CEO of the oil company and replaced him with Robert Dudley.  As I wrote last month, I was amazed and appalled by Hayward’s inability to handle the crisis with savvy.  Bravo to the BP board for taking action, I just wish they had done it months ago.  Good luck, Mr. Dudley!

In the “What the Heck” category, I read about Goldman Sachs’ recent ban on profanity in electronic messages. The company was embarrassed in April at a Senate hearing when an employee’s e-mail referred to a deal they had done as “shitty.” So now they have a new communications policy that is being enforced by screening software.  I understand that certain language can be offensive, but where do you draw the line? Everyone has a different gauge when it comes to what they find offensive. And like I told my mother when I was in the third grade, you can find the word “ass” in the Bible.

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Wow! It could only happen in Washington, D.C. I’m talking about the dismissal and, ultimately, attempted rehiring of Shirley Sherrod. You’ve likely heard the story by now, but it goes something like this.

Last week on Monday, conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart blogged about a speech given by Sherrod, a mid-level Department of Agriculture employee. He included video excerpts of a speech she had given in March to a local NAACP event.

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The other day a colleague here at M. Lee Smith Publishers suggested I take a look at a video that’s posted on YouTube. The video he wanted me to see was an animation adapted from a speech given by author Daniel Pink. The title of the video was the same as Mr. Pink’s latest book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Hmm, someone’s sending a message to the boss.

I must say that I found the video to be very enlightening.

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How hard can it be? I’m talking about BP’s apparent lack of ability to get out of its own way. Time and time again BP has been able to say or do exactly the wrong thing. Forget about what the oil company could or could not have done to avoid this whole tragic mess. Let’s just focus on how the people at the company have dealt with it since the spill occurred some 67 days ago, as I write this.

Just as a reminder, what started all of this was an April 20 explosion and fire on a BP drilling rig that resulted in the death of 11 workers. The rig sank two days later about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. Since then, BP has made one misstep after another, and it starts at the top.

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Forgive me for bragging, but I’ve got a group of fantastic coworkers. Many of them were in action again this morning. You see, some of our people volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House here in Nashville today. As I write this, they’ve already served breakfast to the families staying there and another team will be serving lunch. In addition, we have a group that will be getting together during their lunch hour to make blankets for the families of the Ronald McDonald house.

It’s amazing to watch people come together to perform selfless acts that benefit others who are in need. Ever since the Nashville community rose up to help its own in the days and weeks following the flood that devastated many parts of our city, I’ve been thinking about how wonderful people can be in times of need — and how the people who do the volunteering often are the ones who benefit the most.

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Legendary basketball coach John Wooden died on June 4 at the age of 99. During his coaching career his teams won more than 80 percent of their games. At UCLA, his teams won an astonishing 10 NCAA national championships during his final 12 years of coaching, including seven in a row. Wooden was a talented coach, teacher, and leader, and much can be learned from his philosophy. I’d like to share with you some of my favorite quotes and lessons from John Wooden.

More than a half century ago John Wooden created his Pyramid of Success. The Pyramid contains 15 building blocks of success, including industriousness, loyalty, initiative, skill, enthusiasm, and self-control. In creating the Pyramid, Wooden chose for his two cornerstones industriousness and enthusiasm, and the capstone on the Pyramid is competitive greatness.

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