Where you are

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
My new role has required me to be away from home … again.  Besides the strange bed, feather pillows (I’m allergic to), dry air, strange noises, questionable breakfast meat and powdered eggs in the breakfast buffet, I am finding ways to focus on work, communicate with loved ones, exercise again and be present with less support and daily reinforcement than I’ve grown accustom to.
One of my new responsibility leaders shared some of his stories about sacrifices made on the home front as he switched from one job to the next.  Married for two months then off to South Africa … for two years!
Another leader in my group has relocated to a region far enough away that being in the office is nowhere near as frequent as it has been.  His spouse had an opportunity that required she be in the city they now live and our company is progressive enough that he was allowed to relocate.
Leading where you are still requires the fundamental communication, collaboration, encouraging the heart, completing the tasks necessary and accomplishing things through others.  The distance away from the office or the distance away from loved ones makes it more challenging but certainly not impossible.
The business environment is changing.  The workforce majority is made up of sharp, progressive, motivated, enthusiastic and talented people who fully intend for themselves and their respective organizations to be successful.
•This requires flexibility, to the point of being fluid.
•This requires honesty with ourselves and the organization of what is expected, what is critical and what is optional.
•This requires leveraging technology to communicate whenever, wherever, however to meet the needs of both work and home.
How does this translate?
Let’s take the smart phone.  I used to walk by someone who was on their phone at work and assume they were slacking.  Maybe texting a friend about grabbing a drink or sharing some cat-themed meme about a current event.  Now, I walk on by because it might as easily be someone in a meeting 20 feet away who doesn’t want to disturb the presenter but needs something from their coworker.
Assume noble intent behind your Teams actions.  Judge based on results without trying to prescribe means and methods.  Stay nimble when it comes to how we get work done today.  Lead from where you are, not the way you grew up but the way you wish you had been treated.
Have a blessed weekend!

Crushing ice

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
New leadership opportunity, new approach to building trust quickly.

Getting to know someone beyond name, rank, serial number usually takes time.  But what if you don’t have time?

One of the business units I’ve been asked to help solidify has grown from two guys and a trailer twelve years ago to a twenty person Team, with seven of them either new or new to the group this week!
We decided to undergo an ice breaking exercise compounded with “speed dating” where senior leadership was part of round one and managers were part of round two and the rest of the group sat at tables while management circulated.  It was a very successful exercise with personalities coming out, humor to speed things along and a palpable feeling of camaraderie by the time we finished.
One of the facts that came out that just about made all of us “ugly face” cry was of the family who has been foster parents for two infants, one girl, one boy for two years when the biological mother of the little boy decided she wanted him back.  While heartbreaking in itself, the little girl and her situational awareness was the clincher.  The mother and son were reunited so the foster parents, hoping to become the adopted parents of the little girl were overjoyed to tears when they learned they would be the little girl’s parents.  Hearing the play by play, the anxiety and eventual joy from the big man with a bigger heart, the inflection in his voice as he shared this fabric-of-his-family story … was a gift.  He dove into the vulnerability exercise and melted all of our hearts a little more that day.
There are three core Team members with adopted children.  Each story gave insight that may have taken months or years to find out otherwise.  What incredible insight gained because we took the time to listen.
Lessons applied:
•People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
•As my old pastor Jerry Carlson used to say as he wrapped up his sermon, “As you go out into the world this week, remember, everyone is fighting a battle of some kind… so be gentle.”
Have a blessed weekend!

Thankful for adversity

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

It was 30 years ago today, the day after Thanksgiving, 1989 that I started a job I thought would be my last career move.  Today, it would be challenging to find a place that would start you on a Friday, especially the day after Thanksgiving.

 

My attitude of gratitude post today is not about all of the awesome things I’ve been blessed with, up to and including; beautiful family, good health, great friends, and rewarding jobs.  Instead, I’d like to share the inflections in my life that I didn’t expect, at the time felt I didn’t “deserve” and where I am today.  I’ll stick to the big ones.

 

Job:  After 25+ years in a company I gave heart and soul to, the Board representatives said they “wanted to go a different direction”.  It has taken me years to forgive them and myself for the change in my career trajectory.  I’m in a better place today and truly thankful for the interesting journey I would not have experienced otherwise.  I’ve been given the opportunity to meet hundreds of new people and influence Boards, Divisions and Market Sectors as I expanded my view of the world.

 

Marriage:  After 33+ years with the mother of my children, we reached a point where we couldn’t see eye-to-eye … on much of anything.  We tried and tried and tried but couldn’t make it work.  It was (and still is) painful and we will be healing for quite some time to come.  It was a wake up call for me to what matters most in life.  We all deserve to experience joy.  We all deserve to be loved.

 

Health:  It is nothing short of amazing how stress erodes health.  In one of my last jobs, the CFO of one of the business lines retired and came back to work.  In a conversation over a beer with several of us, Duane shared that he dropped all medicines when he retired the first time and felt great.  Two months back in the saddle and he was back on the meds he was able to drop.  My physical exams would tell a similar story.  I have completed an annual checkup for the last 10 years, many at the Mayo clinic and have some interesting data; cholesterol levels, blood pressure, anxiety were all considerably elevated when I was in a high stress job.  Conversely, during the breaks, my numbers were stellar.  It is entirely possible that I took each of my roles too seriously and might have blown a gasket if I’d stayed in them.  Your life looks a whole lot different when you don’t have good health.

 

Today, I am grateful for all of the adversity I have faced.  It sucked going through it and I am not going to claim that I was well behaved when things didn’t go the way I had planned.  I complained, I gnashed my teeth and I let the world know I didn’t think it was fair.  Bad things happen to good people every single day.  It can be tragic and I wouldn’t wish ill on anyone.  Perhaps, as one close advisor shared, these are tests of faith.  Adversity has lessons to teach us, if we can see beyond ourselves.

 

Have a blessed weekend!

Back in the saddle

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
I struggled to find a relevant topic for today.  After starting a new job and looking to create value quickly, my discretionary time has evaporated.  Conversely, the content to extract inspiration is overwhelming.  Throw in the holiday preparation and decoration, the deliberate effort to enjoy the journey rather than succumb to the tyranny of the urgent and voila! you have one confounded author.
Through a series of events, some at my hand and some out of my control, I took a sabbatical in 2019.  This gave me pause, a chance to reflect, and to untie some knots in my rope.
I spent the first 53 years of my life scouring the landscape for purpose…my one thing.  I wore myself out.  Along the way, I learned a lot, made a living, and was blessed with a wife, three children, one grandson (to date) and a host of memories and experiences.
“There’s nuthin’ like bringin’ in the herd”
I derive great joy out of accomplishment.  Look what I did in an “aren’t you proud of me, Mom and Dad?” sort of way.  We all have those feelings, most of us choose to stuff ‘em deeper when they crawl up our throat.  However, I have continued to struggle with keeping my priorities straight; God, family, work, me, others.  Probably because they are not linear or two dimensional.  Each looks at those priorities differently and complicates them with our own justifications.
I don’t know what your one thing is.  That’s for you to find out, Curly says.  I’m working on mine now.  I’m through with my peek at retirement and I’ve recalibrated to complete my own personal cattle drive.
I hope you take the time to reflect, whether for six months or six hours this weekend or six minutes a day.  Put your phone down, close your eyes, meditate, pray, and take a deep breath before jumping back on your horse.
Have a blessed weekend!

Integrity

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

In recent years it has become more important that companies declare what their values are, what they stand for, in an effort to attract similarly minded and similarly behaved people who make up their culture.  The last four companies I’ve worked with have had integrity listed as a core value.
Is it just a buzz word?
According to Oxford dictionary, the use of the word appears to be at a relative high over the last 150 years or so.
The Webster first definition is: “Firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: incorruptibility.”
I prefer a more simple definition, “do what you say you’re going to do.”
It seems to me that this is how you form trust and trust is the basis of any relationship, at least one worth having.
As a leader, trust in the direction you are asking people to go is paramount.  I’d say it might be the difference between having business partners compared to just having people show up each day and collect a paycheck every couple of weeks.
I have a recent example of integrity that surprised me.  Data has become the way we communicate and data brokers are making a handsome fee on managing it for us.  When a company sells you a data package with certain download and upload speeds, you expect that company to have integrity that they’ll do what they say their going to do and that the system supports what they plan to sell you.
During a call last evening, navigating an issue with a pleasant but relatively poor communicator who burned 45 minutes and solved very little beyond scheduling a tech and sending me 10 coupons I will not use, I was directed to a “speed test”.  This allowed me to self-diagnose what I already knew…websites weren’t loading, latency was significant and I couldn’t communicate at the speed my brain wanted to go.  I had no confidence that paying more (a mere $60 more per month) for faster speed was going to happen.  My results were validating and appalling.  Running the test multiple times, instead of 100Mbps, I got 12Mbps! Each time I ran the test it was…worse.
I’m paying a fair amount for data speeds I’m not getting and I have to hold the company accountable because they won’t do it on their own.  That doesn’t sound like integrity to me.
It might be easier to change your internet provider than it is to change a boss but if you are a leader and you want really good business partners, start building trust by doing what you say you will.
Have a blessed weekend!

Or so it seems to me

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

I’m pulling together many bits of wisdom and my experience to make a point.  Hopefully, they make sense and the conclusion resonates.  As always, your comments are welcome.
A bit of wisdom from an icon
Warren Buffet says it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.
A bit about my preferences
I personally love to:
•Build
•Grow
•Influence
•Problem Solve
•Create and Add Value
A bit of a conundrum
Problem solving doesn’t always equate to simply adding more in a leadership role…sometimes removing and reallocating is important to allow a business to perform and to help some resources to thrive elsewhere.  You might think this last point sounds like a one-sided argument.  It’s not.  Case in point:
Cameron Herald, author of Double Double, gave a compelling example of letting someone go from his organization and after deliberating and agonizing quietly for a long time, he finally took action and to his surprise the person being let go asked him, “What took you so long?!”  Sometimes what you believe is firing is actually allowing someone to be released from their obligation to you/company so they can be successful elsewhere.
Anecdote
Maybe the percussionist didn’t belong in the orchestra but they went on to excel in a rock band.
A bit about my journey
I was handed an incredible amount of responsibility at a very early age and just about the time I felt like I could handle it, another load was dropped on my plate.  This happened continuously for 43 years straight.  I was told and believed;
 “If you want something done, give it to a busy person.”
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
“God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.”
A bit about my first career experiences
Have you ever seen a continuous-flow process not work well? Like a plugged drain or a starved grain auger?
I was so programmed to see the total traffic picture and run to the point of a problem so the process could keep rolling that I gained insight and could anticipate concerns, troubleshoot on the fly and keep things moving in a positive and productive direction.
Example:
Our family contracting business used to crush concrete with a specially designed crusher…
Raw product (broken up concrete) delivered up top, run through process, perform quality control at the bottom of the output chute and stockpile final product, ready for distribution.
Typical problem patterns that became obvious over time:
*When there was too large of a concrete piece, it would plug the hopper.
*When there was too much clay with the concrete, it would plug the jaw.
*When there was too much rebar in the jaw, it would plug the output.
When it worked well, everyone knew it and felt it and Dad used to beam with pride.  When it didn’t go well, we were all frustrated.  All processes have points of failure.  Anticipation and constant correction is part of life.
A bit about my professional career
In my past, I’ve been challenged with instilling accountability and aligning resources at department, division and enterprise levels.  Each situation was different … but short term thinking often led to the steaming piles of obligation I was asked to sort out.  Because I enjoy a challenge and love to solve problems, I dove in … without much regard for my personal reputation.
Lessons learned
+For someone who is aware of what culture is and should look like, a best culture fit yields joy and satisfaction to the extent that your significant other can see it when you walk in the door at night …. before you even open your mouth.  Conversely, when someone is unfit and unhappy, everyone knows about it and wishes you wouldn’t open your mouth.
+To be successful in business, one must balance short-term and long-term thinking, demonstrate courage in the face of adversity and persevere, own your mistakes, forgive others and yourself.
+We all need to understand you can’t control everything around us.  In fact, you will find the only thing you can truly control is how you respond to things that happen, whether “to you” or just happen.  Our choices shape who we become and how people see us is beyond our control.
Conclusion
Well placed people executing sound processes with a clear mission directed by leaders who keep a balanced approach to the company’s short term and long term vision will find success and earn a reputation worth protecting.
Have a blessed weekend!

New Beginnings

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
This political, geographical and economic part of North America, more familiar to us today as the United States of America, has been home to more new beginnings than I’m able to recall in less than 500 words but I will say that it is welcoming and inspiring to know we live in an environment that fosters change and new beginnings.
It’s never easy to start something new because we get so comfortable or talk ourselves into staying a little longer.
I met a banker recently who was describing his new family and lovingly explaining his former relationship.  He said that the former relationship was over in five years but since he’s from Minnesota, he gave it another eight years before calling it quits.
The workplace is no different.  We all face challenges; personalities, conditions, expectations that may not align.  Do we seek to reconcile, stay quiet or look for a new beginning?  I’ve had some experience in this regard.  I’ve created anxiety for those  close to me but know that we all deserve the right to experience joy.  Sometimes, the only way to reach that is to find your new beginning.
Edison invented the light bulb after thousands of attempts and new beginnings.  He didn’t consider them mistakes, just steps in the process.  He could have given up multiple times but persevered and changed the world as we know it.
Whatever the barrier; physical, mental, emotional, financial, geographical, relational or psychological … or some other excuse you’ve decided is enough to prevent you from moving on … I’d ask you to take inventory.
*What’s important?
*Are you living the life God planned for you?
*Are there things you can do to improve your human condition or life quality without having to take radical steps, for instance, redefine your relationships?
In 2019, I have initiated and experienced a significant number of new beginnings.  Some of them have been scary, some exciting, some too new to know how I feel yet … but I’m in the ring, I’m swinging, landing a punch now and then and still standing.  What’s the alternative?
Have a blessed weekend!

Creases and scars

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Creases and scars

Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

I recently heard about a study that claimed the wrinkles on your brain (ridges are “gyri” and crevices are “sulci”) are where information is stored or where strong memories deepen the wrinkles.  This sounds plausible…but it’s a myth.  The genuine activity comes from neurons firing (synapses) and blood cells growing and increase in number.  You become smarter, wiser, more knowledgeable from the activity inside, not what’s on the surface.

When it comes to matters of the heart, physical activity is considered a good thing, forcing blood cells to pump through the heart faster.  Exercise makes you stronger.  However, when we consider the emotional scars that mark up our hearts, it is up to you whether this strengthens or weakens your resilience to love and care for others.  You become more emotionally aware but not necessarily more emotionally intelligent.

Why am I referencing the brain and the heart in a leadership blog?  The connection between the two is undeniable, remarkable but not necessarily simple to understand.  Please click the link below from the Dana Foundation for more specifics.

https://www.dana.org/article/emotional-rescue-the-heart-brain-connection/

What do I expect you to do with this information?

Remember John O’Leary teaching us about love and fear, the two primary motivators?  The information from the Dana Foundation not only confirms some of the claims but gives some indication that anxiety, like the kind triggered by an angry boss, could lead to chemical reactions causing heart attacks and strokes.

I have to ask, as leaders, are you loving your people and helping them grow … or are you stressing them out and (potentially) shortening their life?

Think about how you treat your Team.  It really matters.

Have a blessed weekend!

Just one challenge at a time

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
These are not my words but those of Michael J. Fox who wrote them in response to an Oprah Winfrey magazine request to some celebrities to write a letter to their younger selves…what lessons has life taught you?
What does this have to do with Leadership?
•We all face challenges as human beings and leadership roles are typically more public, more scrutinized and carry a higher volume of challenges that usually affect a larger number of people.
•It’s easy to become overwhelmed with the volume of challenges, whether it’s personal, professional or family-oriented.
•The expectation of multi-tasking in this day and age can get misconstrued to mean you should be able to deal with multiple life challenges all at the same time.
The poignant six word phrase from someone who has been dealing with a celebrity existence and Parkinson’s Disease strikes a chord.  It echoes what several mentors and coaches in my life tried to tell me as I wrestled with simultaneous inflection points in my career and family life and impacted personal well-being.  Not heeding this advice has lead to extended pain and suffering I’ve just been able to manage within the past year.
When work, family and life throw you a challenge
-Don’t put it off
-Don’t assume it will get better on its own
-Don’t allow ”it” to become “them“ so that the compounded challenge becomes so wickedly difficult that the process of unraveling consumes all of your resources…and leaves you tired with multiple hard issues separated…but still unresolved.
Have a blessed weekend!

Purpose

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
I’ve been reading Rick Warrens ”The Purpose Driven Life”.  I’m not very far into it but did notice some important statements early on in the book and since I agree with them, I thought I’d share.  But rather than simply repeat them, I’m adding a response to each one of the negatives, offering a response to the question, ”But what am I to do, as a leader, to help others work past these issues?”
Warren asks the question,
What drives your life?
Guilt?
Is this rooted in something you feel you did wrong in the past?  Are you spending time worrying about things based on this guilt?  Is guilt directing your decisions today?
As my mother would say, Worry doesn’t solve problems tomorrow, it only robs you of your peace today.  Move past it.  Seek forgiveness if that’s what it takes.  Stop looking in the rear view mirror and focus on your windshield.
Resentment and Anger?
I like what Bert Ghezzi wrote about this, “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”  It is such a waste of time and energy and actually eats away at you and robs you of optimism in your future.
My father was an angry man.  We used to attribute it to his German heritage but later realized that was far from the reason, no matter how common the stereotype.  I remember how the predisposition used to make things worse.  He’d be mad about something, then couldn’t think straight (studies have shown as much as a 30 point drop in IQ when emotions drive decisions) and compound the problem by yelling and venting his anger and put us all on edge, only to make more bad decisions…
Fear?
This may be the most common driver.  It is often mistaken for something else.  For instance, every leader has to address change of some sort.  Ronald Heifetz wrote in his book The Practice of Adaptive Leadership, “What people resist is not change per se, but loss.”  Put another way, We fear loss, not change.
This leads me to my scarcity-versus-abundance-thinking topic…and rather than dive deeper, I’ll just say that leaders should always be ready to talk about abundance, opportunity and possibility.
 
Materialism?
Oh boy, in this day and age?  I am convicted.  I like nice [stuff].  But when do you realize that it controls you more than you control it?  Keeping up with the Jones’ or whatever excuse you can think of…try a little Marie Kondo and ask yourself, “Does this bring me joy?”  You’ll be surprised how less can feel like more and that the European way of looking at “things” is quite evolved.
Need for approval?
This could easily be tied back to childhood and might require some serious therapy before you realize you are exactly the way you were designed and you don’t need to seek approval from any one for any reason.  As a leader, we need to model genuine self confidence which requires self awareness.  Pass it on.
I have some more reading to do but I like what I’ve read so far.  I’d like to hear if any of this resonates and how you are driven.
Have a blessed weekend!