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Reflection

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
The first thing I think of when I hear the word reflection is a solitary person in a contemplative pose and a curious look on their face going through details in their head of a complex day or problem.  I’d like to expand that mental image for a minute and suggest you consider building reflection into your daily routine.
My first systems control class in the college of engineering at NDSU taught me the importance of a feedback loop.  It’s very hard to calibrate anything without measuring the initial results, reflecting on what it did versus what you want it to do, then taking appropriate action to align those initial results with intended results.  Try, reflect, calibrate, try again.
Jim Collins wrote “fire bullets, then cannonballs” in his book Great by Choice.  The information gained by a low-cost, low-risk, low-distraction experiment can then be incorporated into the intended action and desired result.  Try, reflect, adjust, try harder.
Most leaders are pulled into daily operations and get a bit of a runner’s high by accomplishing multiple items, whether tactical or strategic in nature, in any specific day.  It’s hard to get comfortable taking time to reflect when you are surrounded by a sense of urgency.  However, busy might not be productive and the sense of satisfaction could be misguided if the results haven’t been calibrated.  Slow down a little, reflect, reengage.
It doesn’t matter if reflection is comprised of light waves, electrons, opinions from others or your own memories and ideas, they are all methods meant to improve the specific, ongoing experience.
I challenge you to back away from the “tyranny of the urgent” and spend 30 genuine minutes reflecting on what you have done and what you are going to do.  It will feel selfish and unproductive … at first.  You will be interrupted, undoubtedly.  Don’t give it up.  Stay persistent and gain the benefit.  Maybe make a hole in your calendar for a full month and reflect back in 30 days if you’ve built a lasting, beneficial habit.
Have a blessed weekend!

A sense of urgency

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Good morning (ahem, evening). Team!  It’s Friday!  And the start to Labor Day Weekend!!

A long time friend, mentor, and coach shared a story recently where he was golfing with some members (even more experienced than he) in a scramble.  They were doing fine but heard shouts of glee from other greens along the course, implying other groups were doing quite well.
Not to be discouraged by others apparent success, he suggested to his group that were doing very well with their low score, they should hoot and holler at the next green.  One of the foursome shrugged it off and said “act like you’ve been here before”.
Business involves people … and responsive people, those with a sense of urgency, seem to do better.  They answer the phone right away, they do what they said they would, they underpromise and overdeliver.  They carry with them a genuine sense of urgency…or so it seems to me.
I mention the story above to capture sage wisdom from someone who not only doesn’t want to celebrate prematurely, but also seems to carry a balance to his sense of urgency toward life.  Don’t get ahead of yourself, don’t be bothered by the noise around you and don’t ignore your obligations or lose your focus.
A healthy sense of urgency is a good goal with purpose and balance.  To that end, my blog is “late” because it is typically published by 8 am.  I think I’ll change it to Good DAY, Team!  It’ll give me more time for thoughts to marinate and a more healthy balance to the urgency of publishing a thought provoking message.
Have a blessed, long weekend!  Approach it … and your future … with a respectful and healthy sense of urgency.

Retired

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
I recently had the opportunity to visit with several retired or retiring professionals who held leadership roles during their career.  Each had unique elements to their journey but the common threads were of interest to me.
Travel/relocation-advancement depended on moving for the company to where they were needed.   Whether a twenty mile home relocation or a regular trip to a foreign country, each leader faced decisions of whether they would move or stay and each were impacted by the decisions they made.
Health-“wake up call”, “widow-maker”, “the zipper”…like the names on big boats, health events have catchy names because after you have an oh-shit-moment, you stand up and take notice of what just happened.  Stress, poor eating habits, drinking, not exercising enough all catch up to you and sometimes force a retirement or at least a change of direction.  You can’t lead if you’re not here.
Family-typically why we do what we do, or so we tell ourselves.  This forces the question of how we define quality of life or happiness.  Each person I spoke with was steered more by family than any other element.  Trailing spouse held a poor connotation.  Happy wife, Happy life.
The struggle-when do you set down your pencil, iPhone or sword?  When do you decide your cabin is built, your boat is big enough or your physical well being is in jeopardy?  Age was never the factor in my observations.  Because you can draw Medicare?  Because Social Security kicks in at some level?  Nope.  Life events dictated the final date more than anything else.
While we work to do well by our companies and colleagues, we also hope to finish strong and take care of our loved ones.  None of us really know what will happen on the journey.  We can predict and anticipate but I might suggest after interviewing several who just broke the tape at the end of their personal race:
•Enjoy the journey
•Be kind to others but don’t forget to be kind to yourself
•Pay attention to the whispers because if/when you ignore them, the voice will get louder almost assuredly at the most inopportune times
•Prioritize with clarity.  If family comes first always, live it and accept the economic consequences.  If business comes first always, live it and accept the relational consequences.
I am far from this milestone myself.  I talk about starting the fourth quarter but it’s a guess.  I’ve been blessed with an extended time out to lift my head, scan my surroundings, reevaluate my own priorities and reengage.
See you at the finish line!
Have a blessed weekend!

Trip or vacation?

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
Faithful readers, Thank You for your patience while I took time to gather thoughts and prepare to navigate my future.
Technical innovator K.P. Reddy recently said he took a year off and recommended it to everyone in the Dallas audience.  Obviously, we cannot all afford to do that.  I took a month to see beautiful parts of the country and several friends, family and industry colleagues I hoped to reconnect with, all in an effort to better understand what the next step in my life looked like while taking a deep, cleansing breath.
This time away held many experiences but left the question, was this a trip or a vacation?  Secondarily, was it about the journey or the destination(s)?
I see a trip as simply logistics and vacation as holding joy both initially and upon reflection.  Each leg of the 29 days away was different.  Some about the journey, some about the destination and some days a mixture.
Now that I’m back and ready to turn the page to the next chapter, I evaluate each opportunity with journey or destination type criteria.
-Will this simply be a way to meet my financial obligations?
-Will I be able to use my experience in a meaningful way to help others and make a significant difference?
-Will I be able to find life/work harmony with this opportunity?
During the time away, I was contacted by a number of people and rather than posting an “out of office” message on my email, I read them as travel allowed and responded when I was able.  One particular message was from a colleague who recently had a loved one suffer tremendous medical trauma including a heart attack and a stroke after being admitted to the hospital for an entirely different reason.  The patient is recovering at home but the situation gave tremendous pause for my former coworker and he sought advice as to what his next steps should be.  I encouraged him to build his own list of journey/destination clarifying questions.
I think there is a lesson in here for each of us as we evaluate daily challenges as well as life milestones.
-how does this affect my journey or destination?
-is this [fill in the blank with your issue] worth my time to ponder or is it simply a logistical issue I need to decide on and move on? (Important versus urgent)
-what is of primary importance to me and am I living in support of that?
Whether consciously or subconsciously, we all seek to add value in a way that maximizes our experience and potential.  When we encounter life issues that force us off track, it helps to get in touch with our guiding principles before deciding our next step.
I encourage you to seek clarity on what’s important to you before the inevitable life interruptions.  Enjoy your journey, take vacations (not trips) of whatever length but do take them, separate the important from the urgent…and have a blessed weekend!

Un(der)appreciated

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!!

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Have you ever experienced a time in your life when your efforts, your skills, your experience, your logic or your abilities were either under appreciated or simply unappreciated?
And did the attempt(s) to demonstrate the connection between your efforts, skills, experience, logic, or abilities… and proven results…make things better or worse?
Did it test your confidence?
Did it upset you to the point your vocabulary grew?
Did it make you sulk in a corner or did it motivate you to do better?
Over this past holiday weekend, I had the opportunity to visit with a large number of people from different walks of life where the oh-so-common topic of “What do you do?” or “Where do you work?” comes up.  It is part of who we are as human beings.  Some identify closely with work and some recognize it is a way to fund a lifestyle where we can enjoy our loved ones.  I’ve been in both camps and today am somewhere in between.
So I’m left to wonder, if you can’t describe your worth in 50 words or less, does that mean you’re worthless?
[This is a rhetorical question]
Perhaps, if you feel under or un appreciated, you are campaigning to the wrong crowd.
We all fit somewhere.  Some are fortunate to be highly flexible and can fit almost anywhere.  Others are less flexible but feel constrained by other factors that require they compromise.  Others still, refuse to compromise their thoughts, feelings or beliefs so they need more time to find a best fit where they aren’t taken advantage of, misdirected or miscommunicated to.  They feel appreciated for their efforts but aren’t comfortable having those efforts stolen or assigned to the wrong party.
“Assume noble intent” has been the single most blog reviewed on this site, bar none.  It stands as stated and is highly recommended for regular review.  With that said, no one should be taken advantage of, no matter the amount of nobility they exhibit.
What does this have to do with leadership?
Everything.
Leaders model the way.
When leaders show appreciation, others witness, emulate and reciprocate.
Have a blessed weekend!…and thank someone sincerely with a specific example of what they did, how it helped and why you noticed and encourage more of it…before you walk out of your business today.

The fourth

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

The “reason for the season” is a reference often used for Christmas to remind those of us who get caught up in all of the festivities as to why we are celebrating in the first place.
As we enjoy a long weekend based on when Independence Day falls in 2019, it seems appropriate to raise a reminder of what we are celebrating with parades and fireworks and potato salad.
I went to “the lake” yesterday, I caught up with relatives, I rode my motorcycle and watched fireworks at the end of a long and glorious day.  My route was unencumbered, no one asked me who I was going to see, no one told me what kind of motorcycle I could ride or how far I could go and I didn’t have to buy fireworks in order to enjoy a local municipal display.  I thoroughly enjoyed the holiday.  We even sang a verse of God Bless America after saying grace before the lunchtime fare.
I only saw and heard hints of military reference among the sea of red, white and blue flags.
•Someone in the boat parade with a sign on the side reflecting on Iwo Jima with a few in camouflage acting out the iconic scene.
•Someone else at the fireworks display last evening dressed in a unique clothing, presumably to draw attention, with a megaphone and expressing their right to free speech berating the US armed forces.
So many hard fought battles took place to attain, retain and maintain independence as a country so that we might enjoy a boat parade, a motorcycle ride, a fireworks display or a prayer before a meal…with family and friends.
We are a young country by most standards.  We don’t always understand or respect the sacrifices made in order to live the life we are so blessed to live.  Our democracy has incredible freedoms built into it and those freedoms continue to expand.
No matter how you celebrate Independence Day this long weekend, my wish is that you enjoy your time with family and friends to the fullest.  Remember that the freedoms we enjoy today, not simply the birth of the country that we toast each Summer but the lifestyle we have been afforded cane to us through so many brave souls who fought in wars they may or may not have understood or agreed with including many who made the ultimate sacrifice.
God bless America!
God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above;
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.
Have a blessed weekend!

Detail-oriented versus precision too

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
•The total number of professional athletes in the world is approximately 5,000.  Forbes, 2012
•Bigger! Stronger! Faster!
Walter Bond, former NBA player and motivational speaker said the pressure to get better (bigger…yada, yada) every year as a professional athlete was incredible.
•According to a 2009 Sports Illustrated article, 78% of National Football League (NFL) players are either bankrupt or are under financial stress within two years of retirement and an estimated 60% of National Basketball Association (NBA) players go bankrupt within five years after leaving their sport.
Take aways:
1. It is hard to reach a level of excellence where you can derive a living from participating in professional athletics.
2. It’s harder to hang on to the funds generated by this unusual way of making a living.
3. The pressure to perform is daunting.
With that groundwork laid, I met a professional trainer (of sorts) yesterday on my business flight to Chicago.  He was anxious to talk and share and I was less cooperative (to begin with).  I was doing research, forming questions and preparing for my meeting but like a curious five year old, his glare was undeniable so I made (side) eye contact and he started firing off questions.
Where do YOU live?
What do YOU do?
Business or pleasure trip?
OK, I’ll bite.
Hi, I’m Eric.
[open the flood gates]
The readers digest version is that this gentleman works with professional athletes and leverages technology to a level most would fail to understand.
It’s BIG business, as we all understand based on salaries commanded by the most successful, gifted and awarded pros.
Have you ever wondered how pros maintain an edge, avoid getting hurt, perform at an unbelievable level consistency?  It’s detail orientation.
A few examples I heard today include
•Breathing from your belly, not your chest (this dropping blood pressure as much as 30 points)
•Tweaking your body chemistry to fend off illness and injury
•Paying hyper close attention to nutrition, sleep, and hydration understanding that herein lies the secret to excellence.
As we watch supreme athletes compete and wonder quietly to ourselves how they do it or what makes them tick, the insight I just gained tells me that their discipline toward their bodies is far beyond what most could imagine.  The detail required to garner the precision that makes the highlight reel of [pick your favorite sports channel] makes us scream with glee if it’s OUR team or yell in disgust if it’s the OTHER team.
What does this have to do with leadership?
Business is often looked at as a game.  Leadership in business requires that we operate at a higher level (the Pros).  Discipline in what we read, say or don’t say, do or don’t do, all matters because, like professional athletes, we are being watched at all times and our performance is on stage 24/7.
Have a blessed weekend!

Detail-oriented vs precision

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!…and the first day of Summer!
During a recent debate with close friends, the topic came up about detail-oriented people compared to precision-minded people.  I felt they were interrelated while my counterpart saw things differently.  Since we were short on time, we carried the debate one small step forward but didn’t finish, a little like a chess game that sits idle for days while two players contemplate their next move.
I thought the topic made for good subject matter today, so…
EnGuarde!
If you are, have or will be looking for a job, you’ve probably seen the term “detail-oriented” in the desired skill list of a posting.  Defined by Quora as:
A detail oriented person is someone who pays attention to the details and can make a conscious effort to understand causes instead of just the effects, and that does this in a second nature type of way. It shouldn’t be something that the person has to work at.
Synonyms for “detail-oriented” can include: “meticulous, punctilious, conscientious, careful, diligent, attentive, ultra-careful, scrupulous, painstaking, exact, precise, accurate, correct, thorough, studious, exhaustive, mathematical, detailed, perfectionist, methodical, particular, religious, and strict.”
Oxford English Dictionary
Precision definition: the quality, condition, or fact of being exact and accurate.
Exact and accurate seem to show up in third party descriptions so I think they are interrelated through definition.  When it comes to practice, I maintain detail-oriented skill is foundational in order to achieve precision.
Perhaps the real difference, no matter how subtle, is that one can appreciate precision without wanting to be detail-obliged.  Like admiring a fine automobile styling, handling and performance without having to build it.
How does this relate to leadership?  From my perspective, leaders are expected to generate excellence in their products and services (which always tracks back to people).  If a detail-oriented leader can’t let go of their tendencies, they quickly become micro-managers and no one likes working for a micro-manager.
Leaders should have an appreciation for precision AND detail-oriented skills but should keep their fingers out of the details.
Have a blessed weekend!

Skip a beat, enjoy the view

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Good Morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

I’m late.

I’m unprepared to share a valuable leadership lesson.

I’m OK with that.

I’m scratching together new material for the weeks ahead, taking some time to smell the roses.  (Pictured here are a few shots from my recent trip to Portland, OR.)

May your Father’s Day weekend be filled with hugs and smiles and memories and joy.

In my father’s memory, I choose to remember fishing on a pontoon at Murphin’s resort when Dad wore his “fun” shirts instead of the blue Dickies let’s-get-some-work-done clothes.

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(Still fishing and thinking of Dad)

if your Dad is still with us, I hope you build some new memories.  If he’s gone, I hope you have a favorite memory you’ll cherish and recall.

Have a blessed weekend!