I have had the pleasure of working with many companies over the years, and many impressive companies.  Last week, however, was one of those rare opportunities to be bowled over and impressed. 

Perot Systems, founded by billionaire Ross Perot, hosted me last week for an employee “Lunch ‘N Learn” onsite at their 1 million square foot corporate HQ here in Dallas.   I gave my “Predicting Violent Behavior” seminar with tremendous feedback from the employees.  Of course, living here as long as I have the Perot name and reputation is well known and well respected.  Having now visited their operations I know “why.”

This is a company with INCREDIBLE heart!  Along the walls was a museum you literally have to see to believe, mostly of war and military note, but also all of the humanitarian work its founder as well as the company itself has received recognition for over the years…and it is astonishing.

After my presentation to the employees I was given a tour of the facility by my host, Monica, that was simply unbelievable as she guided me down the hallways of their corporate “museum” that could almost be considered a branch of the Smithsonian!

But again, it was the people I met there that really impressed me, both in professionalism and in personality.  Throughout the building you see the phrase repeated again and again, “Eagles don’t flock; you find them one at a time.”  Well, I don’t know where Mr. Perot does his hunting, but he sure found a LOT of eagles (leaders) to work for him!  While next month Perot Systems undergoes a transition with Dell Computers coming in, I can only hope that those hallowed hallways will never change as they truly represent all that I was raised to believe is good and honorable about this country.

Bravo, Mr. Perot!

Jeff McKissack

Click Photo to Watch Story

By Mike Celizic

TODAYShow.com contributor

updated 1:11 p.m. CT, Mon., Oct . 26, 2009

It has been more than a week since a 20-year-old college student called her friends at a Metallica concert to say she was outside the arena and would find her own way home. Now the famed heavy-metal rockers are participating in the search for her, adding $50,000 to the reward for information leading to her whereabouts.

Morgan went with friends to the concert. Sometime between 8:30 and 9 p.m., she called her friends to say she had gone to the restroom and ended up outside John Paul Jones Arena on the University of Virgina campus in Charlottesville. She told them she wasn’t allowed back in and would find another way home.

The next day, her phone and purse were found in a parking lot near the arena. Morgan, who never went anywhere without her cell phone, hasn’t been seen since.

“We have a purse and we have a cell phone. We have a missing girl,” Lt. Joe Rader of the Virginia State Police, told reporters last week. “We do not know whether  if she is alive or has met some ill fate.”

Signing her words in American Sign Language, the mother looked in the camera and said, “Morgan, we are trying to shine our heart to you as a beacon to come through wherever you are. Come back home.”

Boosted by the $50,000 pledge from Metallica, there is a $150,000 reward for information that helps find Morgan Harrington. Police ask anyone with information to call 434-352-3467.

UPDATE TO STORY: January 26, 2010 Morgan’s body was found buried on a farm in Hayfield, VA.

I am getting calls, emails and bookings from more and more “interesting” businesses and groups.  Today was no exception.  I was brought in by one gentleman who owns a number of UPS Stores in the Dallas area to address and train his retail employees today.

Probably a month or two ago we began discussing this possibility as he noted his concern for those employees working in stores alone, not unlike many convenience store employees.  He said he actually thought about his employees’ safety on several occasions sitting at home in the evenings, knowing as he was eating dinner that these same people were closing stores and many times walking out to an empty parking lot to their cars.  This concerned him.  What a testimonial to other such owners of retail enterprises!

Well, given the upcoming change to our clocks as night falls sooner, plus expanded hours with the Holidays soon upon us, it just seemed a good time to make this happen.

We had about 15 employees in the training, a typical BYOB event, with half of the seminar devoted to “awareness” and the other half to the basics of physical defense.  The guys (yes, pretty much all but one were male) really seemed to enjoy the training, not to mention the fact they had opportunity to take out office frustrations on their co-workers as we “mitted up” for some impact training (employees LOVE this part!).  I joked with the owner that he might want to be “scarce” during this particular part of the training (lol), but he dove right in with his people, giving and receiving.

I have a very unique, sometimes downright FUN, but always rewarding job.  One thing I find particularly satisfying is when I meet entrepreneurs and owners who truly have a concern for the well-being of their employees.  I think that was the thing that impressed me the most about today’s training, the fact that an owner would make the time to offer something like this to his employees and pay for it out of his own pocket.  Bravo!

I was just 1.5 hours of a longer staff training they had today, but I’m sure a part the folks there will remember and talk about for weeks ahead.  I already picked up on several inside/running jokes that came from today’s training that will no doubt be revisited in “water cooler conversation” in weeks ahead.  Good!  We all know that humor adds to the learning process, which is why I try to interject or at very least allow for levity when working with people given the subject matter we are covering.

Thanks so much to Thom D. for making this happen, but the real reward will come when one day one of those same employees say thanks when they were able to avert a situation that otherwise may have got the best of them.  That’s where Thom and I both will receive our real reward.  But be advised, these UPS Store workers are now on-guard.  So now I guess it’s not so much a question of “What can ‘brown’ do for you” as much as if you try something what can “brown” do TO YOU?!  LOL!

Jeff McKissack

I have been familiar with the Junior League over many, many years.  First was my initial exposure as my aunt was for years a member of the Fort Worth Junior League.  During my tenure with the CHILD LURES Crime Prevention Program, I became familiar with many other Junior League groups across the country.  Most notably was in 1996 when the Junior League of Tulsa sponsored a city-wide campaign we conducted with the CHILD LURES program there.  Thanks to the League, we distributed some 60,000 family guides into the community, we put the CL Program into every public school (elementary through high school) in the greater Tulsa area, and conducted several community and professional in-service seminars to further guide educators, doctors, ministers and law-enforcement in the Tulsa community.

This week I had the pleasure to address members of the Plano Junior League here in the northern suburb of Dallas.  Past experiences did not fail me as the ladies were just as gracious as their counterparts I had met over the years.  Terri M. was the coordinator who facilitated the training and she was equally as gracious in her praise following the event with the following “testimonial” sent to me via email:

 “Outstanding! ”  “ Amazing! ” “ Awesome! ”  Those were just a few of the words written by the ladies of the League who attended your seminar  Thursday night.  Another one wrote “Your self defense information is helpful to everyone- no matter what age- one can never be aware enough!”  Several ladies even mentioned that they felt that we present this again soon as you hit areas of concern that were were very timely.  Your examples of real life situations placed all of us “there.”  Your sense of humor gave the subject fresh meaning .     Very powerful presentation!  We look forward to having you back again, soon!  Thank you , Jeff

“Is crime a greater threat to your well-being than it was a year ago?”

This was a great question posed just yesterday on CNN’s The Situation Room with Jack Cafferty (I love this guy, by the way).    As Cafferty’s blog reads, “Three-quarters of Americans say there is more crime in the U.S. than there was a year ago. Gallup’s annual crime poll shows this is the highest level since the early 1990s. The poll also finds 51-percent of Americans say there is more crime in their local area than a year ago.”

He also echoed something I have been saying constantly in presentations I am giving about the increase in crimes of desperation vs. crimes of intent.  “The official crime statistics won’t be released until next year. But it’s worth noting that during difficult economic times — it’s not uncommon for crime to increase. And even though the statistics aren’t out yet — it seems like stories about crime and violence are everywhere these days.”

While there were many who left comments on his blog, several of the comments made it on-air, as is his custom during the segment he hosts on The Situation Room.  Here were a few I thought particularly interesting and/or insightful:

• Jim from Hot Springs Village, Arkansas writes:
  Jack, Speaking as a retired police officer, crime increases during hard economic times. But the despicable crimes are usually not economically connected…The sad part about crimes that occur during an economic downturn is that so often people with strong moral values commit crimes because of losing a job or losing their home… just to feed their family. I’ve had grown men cry in the back seat of a squad car over committing a crime that they would normally never consider.
• Don from Florida writes:
  I am a firearms instructor in Nassau County, Florida. Last weekend, we had 18 people go through our courses to get concealed weapons carry licenses. The number of people here getting these licenses is astounding. Everyone expresses a fear of being attacked. When I go to Jacksonville’s concert hall downtown, I go heavily armed because one of the neighborhoods west of there is the fourth deadliest in America. Imagine listening to Mozart while carrying a .357 magnum.

I think both of the above comments speak volumes versus sentences, especially coming from a law-enforcement officer and a firearms instructor.  Note blog entries below I have written or posted about the man who shot his fiance by accident, thinking she was a burglar, and the blog entry about when CHL can leave you SOL.

This is not going to go away anytime soon.  In fact, instances such as these could well increase in the next 4-6-8 months unless the economy takes a major turn towards the positive.  In desperate times ordinary people do desperate things.  And when “caught” they are no different than any other trapped animal which attacks when confronted or threatened.

All the more reason to be AWARE of your surroundings at all times, no matter how “nice” they seem to be (see other blog below on this topic).  You simply cannot afford to let down your guard, even at parties during the upcoming Holiday season.  Criminals are becoming more resourceful and everyday citizens are becoming more desperate.  After several millenia of domestication, it only takes tough times to find us back in our most base, primal instincts to survive.  Or as world-famous criminologist Gavin de Becker states, “Though we live in space-age times, we still do so with stone-age minds.”  Thanks to CNN and Jack Cafferty for the above information and commentary!

As the night clerk at a 7-11 told me two nights ago when leaving his store…”Be careful out there….”

Jeff McKissack

I was recently invited to conduct several workshops for the Raytheon Womens Network at their annual conference held on Friday, October 9th.  The conference was themed “Bulletproof:  Surviving in Difficult Times.”

The reception was fantastic, and I am extremely appreciative of the opportunity to have participated in such a well-organized event for women.  I know that by now I should be used to the responses I get from these events, but it is still reassuring to hear it time and time again from attendees.  Women commenting with such responses as “I never would have thought of half the things you talked about” or “How can I get you in front of my teenage son/daughter” or “One of the things you spoke about actually happened to a friend of mine.”  I almost have a mental “Top 10″ list in my mind of the  common responses, but again, it is very validating to hear them again and again.

What was interesting was the initial call I received from Raytheon asking me to speak at the event.  One of the organizers had received by business card from someone else who knew me.  Coincidentally they were looking for someone to speak on “self-defense” given the overall theme of the event…and found “me.”  When we initially spoke, I asked what their expectations were for a self-defense presentation given the fact most attending would be in business attire and there was only 30 minutes given to presenters at each workshop.  At first there was silence, but I offered the more awareness-related approach vs. the physical and was quickly confirmed for the conference.

As it turns out, this was exactly what most ladies were looking for!  One of the ladies approaching me after the first workshop remarked, “You know you’re right.  We often think these things are just for our children or teenagers, but we are just as vulnerable, aren’t we?”  The answer to that, male OR female, is a resounding “YES!”  I was just impressed that such a well-established corporation would offer such programs to their female workforce and actually offer them TIME OFF from work to attend — WOW!  This should serve as a shining example of commitment to your employees as there were a myriad of topics offered that day to women whether they were single, married and/or married with children.  What an incredible way to say “thank you” to your employees!

Kudos to Raytheon, especially given many of the corporate executives who were physically present at the event.  They back up their commitment to both excellence and safety by offering such annual training.  I hope to be involved next year as well, but regardless, it was time well-spent.

Jeff McKissack

Associated Press

WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. - A man who thought there was an intruder in his house shot and killed his fiancee the day before they were to be married, police said Friday.

“Right now everything points to a tragic accident,” Police Chief Kevin Brunelle told The Associated Press, adding investigators were awaiting forensic results.

John Tabutt, 62, told investigators he got his gun when he thought he heard an intruder, then fired at a figure in the hallway, according to Brunelle. It was Tabutt’s live-in fiancee, 62-year-old Nancy Dinsmore, who family members say he was going to marry Saturday. Tabutt told authorities he thought she was next to him in bed the whole time.

The couple planned to wed in a small ceremony Saturday at St. Stephen Catholic Church in Winter Springs, Dinsmore’s son-in-law Scott Sposato, of Vero Beach, told the Orlando Sentinel.

“They loved each other,” he said. “It was quite apparent.”

Tabutt called 911 shortly after 2:30 a.m. Friday, moaning and sobbing, the newspaper reported.

“I thought I had an intruder in the house,” he told the emergency dispatcher. “Honest to God, she looks dead.”

He then thought he heard her take a breath.

“Hang in there, Honey. Hang in there,” he said.

===========================================================================

Yet another tragic reason why guns should be a LAST resort and why it takes more than standard gun training to learn how and when to use a firearm “under pressure” situations.  A sad, sad story for all concerned.  The only thing we can do is learn from this tragedy….

Jeff McKissack

Anyone who has ever heard me speak has undoubtedly heard me address the topic of “statistics vs. strategies.”  Many who speak to groups regarding various topics of safety seem to feel that the recitation of numeric trends will somehow magically empower their listeners to avoid the dangers they address.  No doubt you have heard some of these same “experts.”

I liken this to someone detailing all the statistical information about seat belt safety.  If I only told you about the horrible tragedies that befell those who were not wearing their seat belts when in an accident, show you horrible pictures of the aftermath, etc without actually telling you to put on a seat belt, what good have I really done?

I was reminded of this recently when being interviewed for a panel discussion.  Though quite sincere in their positions, I felt that other speakers were dancing around the true need at-hand, which was helping give women information on how to stay out of the hands of those who would mean them harm.  Many platitudes were offered regarding “why” their assailants attacked as well as the possible childhood contributing factors that may have caused their angst towards women, but I had to ask myself, “What does this do to actually keep women out of the hands of attackers?”  If only we could have surveyed the audience (almost entirely women), I have to believe that most would have much preferred to hear about strategies vs. statistics and prevention vs. platitudes.  One might give you nice information for an op-ed or term paper, but the other could save your life.

The other thing I’ve learned over the years is that is is very easy to manipulate statistics to fit certain “agendas,” whatever those may be.  People, organizations, even political parties have long ago learned that by asking the right questions you can easily get the desired responses.  It is another thing entirely, though, to let the facts speak for themselves.  I love the quote from former President Harry S. Truman who once said, “There are lies, there are ‘damn’ lies…and then there are statistics.”  He obviously understood this principle of fact manipulation as well when the numbers are in the wrong hands.

I truly endeavor to keep all of my presentations geared towards the strategic, to provide my listeners with true plans of action and foster critical thinking skills that can keep them out of harm’s way.  Again, I have no doubt that many of those seeking to overwhelm or impress us with their knowledge of statistical trends are sincere. However, it’s one thing to tell someone what can happen if they do not put on a seat belt to avoid harm…but another thing entirely to simply tell them to put on a seat belt.  Which could save your life?

Enough said….

Jeff McKissack

Rooftop Training

Last Friday I recruited a few of my local instructor buddies and we went up, up and away to the rooftop of a local parking garage where we conducted a physical defense seminar for the singles of Northwest Bible Church in Park Cities, Texas.  The weather was extremely nice that evening, but the really “cool” thing about the night was the training itself.

Guys and gals, 20’s-30’s converged on the upper deck of the parking garage with an attitude for both fun and education.  It was one of the best intro groups I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, everyone came in with the right frame of mind for training.  What did throw them off a bit (and I love doing this) is after a few words of introduction, we divded everyone into groups of “three”…not two…”three.”  This took everyone out of their mode of “Oh, I did a self-defense seminar once…” to a more inquisitive mindset of “What is THIS?!  I haven’t done anything like this before.”

This is the way we conduct the physical training, in groups of at least three vs. two.  Why?  Because rarely (and crime statistics bare this out) is there simply “one” attacker anymore.  Even common bar fights often escalate as one of the friends of whoever is losing dives into the action to save his friend.  Fights and attacks are rarely one-on-one…or at least for very long.

We covered some of the basic concepts of covering the head, how to move when trying to control an environment with more than one assailant, and some of the basic defense and offense involved in these scenarios.  We did not throw one single punch, but offered “other options” to the offense which makes a lot more sense for those who are not trained or skilled fighters.  All was done with some great music pumping on the top of the parking garage and as dusk turned into night, the program took on a whole other level of realism.

Darkness can definitely add a new dimension to your training, or when lights are sparse or turn attackers simply into sillhouettes.  What made it even more of a challenge is when we later progressed the scenarios into FIVE-on-one versus the earlier two-on-one.  Not to worry, no one got harmed, but there was a definite “reality check” that took place in the minds of those who came thinking “Oh, I’ve done this before.”  I don’t think ANYONE left with that thought still in mind.  Even the guys, yes the “guys,” had a bit of a reality check when realizing that two, three, four or more  simultaeous attackers can add a very sobering twist to what you “thought” you could do if ever challenged in a fight.

But again, it was a great group to work with and I really appreciate the staff of Northwest Bible opening their doors to us in offering the program.  Word has it that they want to do it again :-)  Hmmmmmmmm, I wonder if you know anyone who would be interested in a similar event.  You tell me….

Jeff McKissack