Good morning Team!  It’s Friday!

Anyone old enough to get their cholesterol checked has heard the analogy between High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) and Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL).  A doctor will tell you that HDL is similar to a marble and LDL is similar to popcorn so if you took a pipe and put a funnel on top of it, started pouring a combination of the two small but very different substances through it, the marbles pass right through and collect on the bottom (or shoot out from the bottom) and the popcorn takes its sweet-ass time to get through and has a tendency to clump up together and stay toward the top.

Sales prospects are similar to popcorn and marbles.  Some are a definite go and some are still a figment of imagination that might make their way through the sales pipe … someday.  The biggest mistake is to mischaracterize them (either way).

If you tell everyone in your circle of influence that something is a “winner” and it doesn’t materialize, you lose credibility.  Especially when you are too embarrassed to follow up and your audience finds out the bad news from another source.

If you tell everyone something might turn into something “eventually” and it quickly shows up on your doorstep ready to play, you might not be ready.  Still not an ideal situation.

It’s important to perform some triage and call a spade a spade understanding the difference between popcorn and marbles.

Example:  When arguing a point of view, you can address things with facts or conjecture.  The facts pass through the pipe like marbles but the conjecture causes confusion, indigestion and constipation.

As Joe Friday from the TV show Dragnet used to say, “Just the facts, Ma’am”

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

I stumbled on this video recently and it reminded me of just how much difference the right words at the right time from the right person with the right intentions can make.  Please watch.

What are you doing for the stars on your team to set them up for success?

Do you expect them to develop on their own?

How can someone be expected to stretch if they don’t know where they stand and they don’t know how much you care?

I recall ninth grade gym class and we’re supposed to perform for the presidential fitness competition.  I was doing sit-ups (which I still hate and they are harder now) and tired quickly.  Mark Lingen, who I didn’t know well, starts yelling at me because of my anemic effort.  I doubt I got any awards because of it but I genuinely felt like someone cared and did a helluva lot more sit-ups because Mark showed interest and wouldn’t let me off easy.  We became good friends after that and stay in touch today.

Who are you encouraging to do more today?  What motivates people to reach their potential?  Is it staring at someone with their arms folded, pouting and displaying their disappointment in your performance…or is it someone who crawls down the field screaming in your face to give more?

If you consider yourself a leader, you may want to make certain you have some encouragement arrows in your quiver.

Have a blessed weekend!

This month at my peer advisory board meeting, we heard from the author of Conversational Capacity, Craig Weber.

He’s done a fantastic job of identifying how to manage between candor and curiosity.  I have yet to pick up the book but based on the author, the content of his discussion and his enthusiasm for the subject and his numerous examples, you can bet I will.

He told the story of Mike Mullane, famous engineer, pilot and astronaut who, on his maiden flight with instructor by his side, encountered “bingo fuel” but the pilot elected to ignore it and Mike was too new to feel comfortable saying anything, probably assuming the pilot knew what they were doing.  They crashed but amazingly walked away.

He tells another story about a nurse who worked with a gifted but arrogant surgeon.  During an operation (apparently before they started marking limbs with a purple marker) this surgeon cut into the wrong leg but because the surgeon struck such fear into the hearts of his staff, she chose not to say anything.  (Surgeon realized it on his own eventually, sewed up the scalpel handiwork on the wrong appendage and finished the procedure.)

Not enough candor can have severe consequences.

The other end of the spectrum can be equally dangerous.  If we think we know everything, we shut down curiosity.

Since Craig has been a professional speaker for decades, he has been given countless opportunities to see groups in action.  In one very technical setting, a genius kept shutting down conversation by telling everyone in the room that their ideas wouldn’t work.  The “flamethrower” finally had been bounced from team to team, not because he wasn’t brilliant but because he was so destructive to teamwork and healthy dialog.

Finally, after being bounced several times, his latest leader sat him down to say “Nigel” (made up), I enjoy having you in the meetings to leverage your 200 point IQ but I can’t sacrifice the other 1000 points of IQ in the room every time you interrupt and shut them down.  Increase our conversational capacity by showing more curiosity or simply shutting up more often.  (I’ve taken some liberties with the story but the gist is the same.)

Now you know about the sweet spot.  •Speak up when you have something important to say-it could mean life or limb.

•Be more self and situationally aware (emotional intelligence cornerstones) because you may not be adding the amount of value you think you are by constantly imparting your wisdom…collective knowledge and diversity in thinking makes for better solutions every time.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

Do you remember your first job that paid money?  If so, what impression did it leave on you and does it shape your thinking and behavior today?

I saw some friends last weekend and among a plethora of topics we wrangled with, the topics of the first job came up. Beyond the humorous picture it painted of a younger version of the storyteller capturing bugs, pulling weeds and dipping tits in iodine…it demonstrates that our first vocational experience left a mark.

We’d be ignorant to think this didn’t shape us.  Whether to simply tell ourselves we never want to be in the position that this is how we would eek out a living today (especially at a penny a bug or a penny a “complete and full root”) or perhaps it inspired something in how we selected our field of study leading to our career.

It was the first recognize-able start to our career path.  Nostalgic, interesting typically remarkably different than what we do today but does it provoke thought about signals of where your career is today?

Do your present duties reinforce your your passion for your purpose?  Another way to put it, does your job bring you joy?    Is it reinforcing and validating or is it whispering in your subconscious ear to consider an alternative?

Does it at least bring a net positive feeling?

-People you work for and with?

-Compensation at market value or better?

-Does it afford you the time to nurture your family and your soul?

I think your daily experiences are contributing to the idea of whether you are where you should be or telling you something different.  We shut them out because we are afraid, comfortable, or too exhausted to muster the energy to change.

I applaud the courageous who seek a fit before the compromises alter chemistry and dull the pain but kill the enthusiasm…and just saying “life is short” only creates anxiety and expectation.

I suggest you:

•Seek joy.

•Stay true to your morals, values and beliefs.

•Flex your muscles.

•Remind yourself and others who you are and how you intend to show up.

•Refresh your passions.

•Be inspired AND be inspirational.

•Give and give and give.  Restore and give some more.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

Is it power?

Is it money?

Nope-they are fleeting

Is it knowledge?

Is it wisdom?

Yep-they both have value (when applied appropriately)

Absolutely-though the world will twist perceptions around if not held sacred and upheld daily

Is it God?

Is it truth?

Unequivocally

Some might claim this is debatable.

Facts, indisputable evidence, or perhaps pure faith…there are many ways to discover the truth but once you see it, experience, feel it…there is no denying it.

Why, after a multi-week deferral, would I address the topic of the truth?

Perhaps a belly full of:

•worldly rancor

•misinterpretations

•false claims

•smear campaigns

•berating commentary

it is exhausting, overwhelming and unwanted.

So rather than be swayed by the constant drone of discontent,

-Let us think positively!

-Let us think of how to inspire!

-Let us destroy controversy, disparagement, and deceit!

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

Winston Churchill

Morality is the basis of things and truth is the substance of all morality.

Mahatma Gandhi

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

WARNING:  THIS IS A SHARPEN THE SAW ISSUE.  LEADERSHIP LESSONS MAY BE HARD TO FIND.

This week we took a little time off and bounced around the Black Hills during the 78th Sturgis motorcycle rally.  For those who haven’t made it to a rally, pictures don’t do it justice.

The riding is spectacular because of the weather, no bugs, plenty of landmarks and beautiful scenery.

Like most significant events, the rally draws a lot of people from different walks of life.  Observing or ogling or just people watching combined with each bike a likely reflection of the personality of the rider, it is difficult not to be intrigued by the environment.

As we sat at a local tavern on the main drag in Sturgis with good friends, I couldn’t help but think there were a few basic categories of people attending.  For ease, I labeled the categories; committed, convicted or copy cat.

You might ask, “What makes you an expert?”…I’m not.  I did, however, grow up next to the local chapter president of a prominent motorcycle club.  When they pulled up with their ‘57 Caddy hearse, we thought the neighborhood had gone south.  Truth was Bill and family were great folk and I demystified preconceived notions about them and their lifestyle.  It’s better than simply looking at someone’s shoes, clothes, haircut or teeth to make the judgement.

I’ve been going to the rally off and on over the past twenty years and like most things, some factors change while others stay the same.  Diversity of the crowd is a constant, weather is a moderate variable, how much you enjoy yourself is entirely up to you.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

Meet the 26th President of the United States, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt.

My travels this week took me to Medora, North Dakota.  A remote, touristy town with some history, some oil, some hearty folk and some beautiful badlands scenery and the honeymoon destination of a couple of broke college kids over 33 years ago.

Select company leadership met with the Board to discuss performance, review completed projects, talk with clients and  subject matter experts to get a taste of what we do.  We also gained insight into some of the challenges and delays associated with completing infrastructure projects in a county where half the land is publicly owned.

Roosevelt claimed at a stop in Fargo, ND in 1910 that he would not have become President of the United States were it not for the time he spent in the badlands of North Dakota.

What leadership lessons did he learn from a sparsely populated state?

-Was it an appreciation for the diversity of lands that differed from his New York City stomping grounds?

-Was it the rugged nature of the people that carved out a living in the badlands?

-Was it his love for nature?

-Perhaps it was the time at Elkhorn Ranch where he relaxed, cleared his head, developed thoughts and aspirations adding to his collection of writings.

We all find peace in different ways whether escaping the hustle of the big city, shooting wild game, or simply collecting thoughts or enjoying nature by sleeping under the stars.

Whatever your leadership aspirations might be, find the time and your own sacred place to collect your thoughts and make plans how you are going to rule the free world.

Have a blessed weekend!

I’m rushing through the airport today and I see a middle aged woman wearing a shirt that says “Keep it simple”…

(I guess T-shirts are the new bumper sticker.)   People desiring to impart wisdom, that is … assuming you, the audience, are paying attention or if you really give a hoot.

Being the contrarian I have been known to be, I wondered how practical that is (to keep it simple), even understanding the aspirational nature of the sentiment.

I can’t think of much of life (the “it” in the request) allows us to keep simple.

•Money – nope, have you figured out how much is the right amount to: save, spend, make, leverage, invest, contribute to charitable organizations?  What about forms of payment?  Gift cards for Christmas, Bitcoin, currency exchange…remember when you could spend your Canadian coins at the grocery store?  Now my BANK won’t even maintain a counter for my domestic change!  I guess I’m supposed to melt it down or put it in a big clear jug for my kids to deal with.

When an investment advisor refers to how they allocate your investments, they suggest “diversifying your portfolio”.  Honestly, this is probably good advice for every aspect of our busy, complicated lives today.

Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

In commercial aviation vernacular, if you don’t make your connections, you suffer delays, frustrations and other possible mishaps and miscommunications (lost luggage, lost opportunities, disappointment, etc).  This is a primary reason why Carole and I live in a hub airport city.

*We minimized airline connections necessary to get from where we are to where we want to be.

In technical terms, the market areas I currently focus on; Power, Communications and Oil & Gas systems …connections are the most vulnerable points.

•The ends of power cable and the splices are the common points of failure leading to outages.  No one likes a power outage.

•Transmitting light long distances is challenging and we’ve become used to lightning fast data speed and super high reliability.  The fiber optic network transmitting all of that data in real time is susceptible to weak connections.

•Oil and gas pipelines are in the news quite a bit because of the hysteria that a pipe connection may leak and cause damage to the environment.  Pipeline integrity and safety is a very big issue for the O&G industry and they do not take connection failure lightly.

*The utilities that bring primary elements to the quality of life we enjoy today maintain connections to ensure safety and reliability.

On the personal side, connections are so critical for the circle of life from cradle to grave, literally and figuratively, that one could argue nothing else really matters.

I’ve been blessed to know a number of really good people who have unfortunately suffered breaks in their primary connections recently.  I would argue that this type of a break is the most devastating impact physically, financially, and emotionally.

-One friend I met with this week shared he was hospitalized twice in a week by the triggering event of his spouse stepping out and eventually filing for divorce.

-Another friend lost his long-time-hero-father of 93 years.

-I’ve come to notice that when my connection to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is severed or weakened by the busyness of schedule so I’m not praying daily, I lose my sense of Peace and I quickly get misaligned.

*There is plenty of argument to be made that you need to maximize your personal connections.

Everything else will fall in place.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

I’ve been navigating through this mid-life … contemplation (crisis too common, dramatic and overused a term).  I’m not a very emotional animal, my self-confidence is in tact (some would suggest too strong) and I’m no longer in “early middle age”.  I’m somewhere beyond center of that metric.

What do I plan to do with the rest of my life, leveraging what experience and wisdom I’ve accumulated?

I recently read some hokum article regarding the average age when people stop working “extra hard”, classified as more than 50 hours a week.  No surprise that the demographics polled showed the younger people happened to be, the earlier age they considered was THE age to slowdown.  Millennials thought 50 was the age you should slow down but boomers thought the age was closer to 60 and retirement had a similar spread.

What does this mean for me?

Every situation is unique.  Some have saved enough early to retire or redefine what a work day looked like at a tender age rather than having social security define their cool down date.  I just spoke to Carole this past weekend about a couple of her family friends, one who is still singing professionally regularly and another still hauling gravel 6 days a week, both well into their 80’s!

So here are three examples of historic figures who reached their prime at the end of their life, not in the middle.

•Charles Flint orchestrated the consolidation of three companies into the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911 at the age of 61; the company became known as International Business Machines in 1924.  Flint stayed on the board of IBM, retiring in 1930 when he was 81.

•Peter Drucker lived to be just shy of 96 years of age and worked for over 70 years defining modern management.  He wrote 39 books and contributed to the Wall Street Journal for over 10 years and contributed regularly to Harvard Business Review and The Economist.