Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

I had a few meetings this week, bracketed by delayed flights, and a visit to the field to greet the difference makers, the men and women who build transmission lines and substations on the most complex system the modern world has ever experienced…and it gets more complicated by the day.

I was … vocal, specific, categorical and pointed in my delivery, because I care and because sometimes “knowing” needs a nudge before “doing“ gets traction. Several pushed back on my assertions and the defensive response means I pushed limits and stepped on toes. Complacency does not wake up with a smile.

I received a text from a meeting participant afterward who said I was passionate and followed up by saying “it wasn’t a bad thing”.

What happens when a team doesn’t meet expectations?

•defensiveness

•excuses

•assignment to others

If delivered correctly and consistently, a tough but accurate message may trigger the grieving process (DABDA):

•Denial

•Anger

•Bargaining

•Depression

•Acceptance

What are we grieving? 

Loss

Loss of what? 

Performance, notoriety, significance, predictability, security…and the list goes on.

What can we do about it?

Own our shit.

No one is perfect and we learn so much more from mistakes (when we are open to it) than we do from success.

Yes, I am passionate and I can be intense and positive at the same time.

Have a blessed weekend!

Eric

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

A lesson on perspective:

Many have heard the passage, from Matthew 7:3

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the [log] in your own eye?

The analogy is intentionally exaggerated to show how our own perspective is often more flawed than we realize. 

A similar perspective,

“We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behavior.” Stephen Covey

The quote reveals that judging intentions (internal view) versus behavior (external view) creates a mismatch in moral and social evaluation due to perspective asymmetry. To build better relationships, trust, and fairness, individuals must actively shift perspectives and consider intentions behind others’ actions as well.

Walk a mile in my shoes before judging me sort of thing.

Food for thought on a Friday morning.

Have a blessed weekend!

Eric

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

Thanksgiving, the holiday, is behind us and retailers have converted Black Friday from one supercharged day to two weeks of advertising overload and “deals” as we anticipate $1T in spend this season.

While most of us were taking a break for turkey, some of our crews at Brink were powering through the holiday to meet deadlines and keep the infrastructure build moving ahead. The weather, the shorter days, collaboration with other sub-contractors, all require maximum effort and when our customer asks for an expedited schedule, we bring in more help, more equipment and work to meet or exceed expectations. 

Our President and other leaders committed time over the holiday to hand out meals and support our field staff as they deliver a significant project. We work in challenging conditions on the regular. We make sacrifices, like being away from family at special times, because we understand the importance of reliable and sustainable power. Our leadership gets it as well. That’s how you set the tone…at the top.

I’m proud to be part of an organization that places such a high priority on safety, people, customers and performance. While there is a significant amount of work on the horizon for the power generation and power delivery industry, we are taking care of each customer, one project at a time. 

We are still at it!

Have a blessed weekend!

Eric

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

Am I the only one clinging onto the sentimental memory of multiple generations relatives crowding around a large table in a modest living room with the kids sitting at a wobbly card table in close enough proximity so passing the mashed potatoes still happen before they get cold?

This is the time of year we celebrate harvest, demonstrate gratitude for what we have and who we are with. (It’s also a practice that should extend 365, regardless of the type of harvest you celebrate)

My traditional Thanksgiving world has been transitioned a few times in my life and I must be getting old and grumpy like Andy Rooney, from CBS’ 60 minutes fame.

From early memories,

I enjoyed setting the table, getting out the fancy silverware and goblets, smelling the turkey in the oven and stuffing on the stove, the nuts in a silver dish with special cracking tool next to it, and peanut brittle … and the lighter mood everyone enjoyed. It was special.

I enjoyed going to Aunt Hazel and Uncle Carrold’s farmstead for dinner with so many other relatives. Excellent food and hospitality. (Definitely sat at the kids table back then)

Once married, the new family sat at a different table with different faces but maintained a strong resemblance to the traditions I had grown up with.

Fast forward 40 years-

There are a lot of new faces, a lot more considerations and a much different view of what tradition is, like:

•Whose table are we at, or is it a restaurant?

•Who is at the table? 

•Why do they prioritize being at the table? 

Most importantly,

•How do I come across to my loving wife if I am less than welcoming to every suggestion being made about what this beloved tradition transitions into next?

Ann Landers would say it’s important to set boundaries.

Coming together as a family is far more challenging and complicated today with multiple generations weighing in and trying to balance all of the things…than I recall growing up.

•I love our blended and extended families

•I enjoy spending time with them even if simultaneous gatherings have become nearly impossible

•Supporting decisions is typically easier than formulating solutions with this social calculus

We will see many of our loved ones this season but not everybody at one table for one meal. It will still be special, just maybe a little more spread out than we became accustomed to many decades ago.

However you choose to spend your time and whomever you choose to spend it with, be gentle, be open, be kind.

Have a blessed weekend and a memorable Thanksgiving!

Eric

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

No one has been able to predict the future. Nostradamus had a pretty good record for those willing to give license to his poetry but a little digging debunks any myths around real accuracy.

So as we wander through our life, we can’t predict what will happen to us no matter how much we want things to stay the same, or change…If things are good, we long for consistency and continuation. If things are bad, we pray for positive change.

We certainly live in interesting times where the stories of someone working in the same job at the same company their entire career is more rare than ever. Whether challenge or opportunity, change and ensuing disruption seems to be the only constant.

Heraclitus said, “No man steps into the same river twice, for it’s not the same river, and he’s not the same man.”

If someone moved your cheese, are you continually scampering back to where it was or are you charging forward looking for more?

As we consider what made for more might mean in this context:

•Is it a longer day, looking harder for what used to be (i.e. your old block of cheese)?

•Is it a dramatic change of pace where you have higher impact on more people, an increase in influence?

•Is it doing something that resonates so deeply that no matter the amount of time or degree of influence associated, it feels like this is what you were made to do, with more personal significance?

The older I get, the stronger the feeling that everyone has high potential. We are all made for more. You can’t expect to reach your goals and aspirations without being pushed, pulled, scared, coerced or whatever event might serve as the catalyst to get you to realize your full potential.

We are all made for more. To be bigger and better than what we were (or are). It might look like a promotion or it could be a layoff. Regardless, change is inevitable, you can’t predict the timing and how you react is the only thing in your control.

Have a blessed weekend!

Eric

Good evening, Team! It’s Saturday!

Pardon the late post, I did not prepare well enough for a Friday morning blast.

Anne and I have a few places we go to enjoy time together. There’s a little steak place that has a terrific vegetarian menu (if you know to ask for it) that we enjoy going to maybe once every three to four months. The happy hour on the weekend suits us well. The chill in the air, a booth for just us, some soup and our selection…and we are set!

What we enjoy most about this place is not the well-made drinks or the presentation, temperature or taste of their outstanding food…it’s the customer service.  It’s an experience with a lingering feeling. We are made to feel special in anticipation, while we are there and after we leave. Today, I tried to show some appreciation beyond a promise of a return visit. Our waitress, Pascal, was delighted when I called her by her name. The manager with a stylish shave head was a bit surprised when I showed more enthusiasm than he did, and he’s high energy, and shook his hand while reassuring him how good of a job he’s doing.

What I took away from this enjoyable respite from the chill, the wind and the crowds was a full stomach, a full heart and a bunch of questions:

•“How do we show up?” 

•“What can I share with my coworkers, business partners, and colleagues that might get them more engaged, more aware and more excited about how we leave our customers feeling?”

•”Is doing a good job enough?”

•”This place has competition with more name recognition, more experienced staff, a fancier menu – but we haven’t been there in a long time. Why not?”

Customer service.

I will be thinking of ways we can make our customers feel like they’ve had a positive experience. As a colleague shared recently as we spent time in a booth at a local conference, “We want them to like us!” It never hurts to have that brought to the top of mind.

Have a blessed weekend!

Eric

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

The concept of Rocks has been around for decades. Sermons, Stephen Covey, Gino Wickman have all made the concept more prevalent. Namely, How do I prioritize my life; work, family, personal…and all of the subsets of issues underneath?

In Stephen Covey’s framework, “Rocks” represent the most important priorities or goals — the key tasks that truly matter in achieving long-term success and alignment with your values. Covey illustrates that if you fill your schedule (the “jar”) with small, less meaningful activities first (“sand” or “pebbles”), there’s no room left for the “big rocks.” By focusing on Rocks first — the vital, high-impact activities — you ensure that what matters most gets done, and everything else fits around it or falls away.

Sometimes we learn more from what not to do. Here’s my story:

I lived in a small community for 16 years where my children’s mother was raised, we raised our children there and her parents lived there as well. Tragedy struck … we learned that my mother-in-law’s beloved brother was brutally murdered in Montana. She called early one morning, after she heard from the investigating Sheriff, and I answered. It was heartbreaking. 

That same morning I was supposed to meet a significant client at a predetermined location to ride together for an electric cooperative meeting in St Cloud, Minnesota. Neither of us had a cell phone and he was assuredly on the road by the time I got the call from my distraught mother-in-law. 

You see where this going?

I should have stayed home and consoled my wife at the time, my mother-in-law, my children and demonstrated concern with my actions, not just empathic words. This was a huge Rock and I was not prepared for it.

Instead, I drove to the meet-up site, a little late, and focused on work on a day that family was clearly the priority.

Identify and prioritize rocks at home, at work, for yourself. It’s the best way to find balance, be successful and live with less regret.

Have a blessed weekend!

Eric

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

Excerpt from a new TV series I started watching, two tough guys meet three new tough guys and while they are all standing around sizing up their perceived competition, an even tougher gal walks by and says …”Don’t worry, boys, you’re all equally pretty”

I laughed out loud!

None of those boys were pretty. Literal interpretation aside, the wisdom came from the passerby unloading the sprinter van with a meaning behind the comment, something like…”You all have talents. This ain’t no beauty pageant, we have work to do so stop wasting your time gawking at each other.” 

Straight and to the point. I like it.

Everyone is born with talents and everyone, with very few exceptions, wants to do a good job, make their family proud, and feel good about their contributions…equally pretty.

I believe it is a leader’s job to help others reach their potential. Placing focus on what they are good at rather than spending an inordinate amount of time on their areas of improvement, previously known as weaknesses.

A leader has the job of helping those they are responsible for, to identify the nexus of their talents and their interests, then shape and hone and test and teach until the student grasps the vision of what could be … and self-perpetuates.

No one is identical, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is without the potential to be great at something.

Have a blessed weekend!

Eric

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

I was fortunate to spend some time with family in the LA area recently. One of our stops was to grab a bite while grandson was at a friend’s birthday party. We visited a restaurant in a very nice resort. On our way out of the resort we took a moonlit path back to the car. When I looked back on our light source…I saw this.

My travels took part of a day Friday to get there and I worked on the plane. I left Monday and went straight to the city I was visiting that week. While I missed spending time with Anne who couldn’t join, I did not regret the time away in order to see family. It had been over a year since I spent time with them in their home. Calls, texts, emails and FaceTime may help bridge the gaps but they don’t replace the hugs or the one-on-one conversations during a grocery run or a stop on a bike ride or over a meal by the ocean.

I have not been as good at prioritizing family as I should. I love them all and care for them deeply. My focus and prioritization from a very early age was spent on being a provider. Dad and the family business needed me to be a steady hand, always on call, like a fireman. That mode of operation easily transitioned to a young family while going through college. Once graduated, starting the new job…and so on. I had been categorically programmed to be a provider first, and hope that family understood my absenteeism from sports and other social events was ultimately for them. 

What an elaborate story I had authored, maybe inspired by Dad’s prompting of what was most important. He had it wrong. He did the best he could with what he knew at the time, no doubt. But there were other ways to grow up, to be raised, to learn by example how to raise the next generation.

What is the leadership lesson this week, extracted from an old cats-in-the-cradle cliche’? 

You have the ability to change things at any point in your life. The single biggest barrier to change is the story you tell yourself; the justification, the excuses. Instead, you could spend some time reflecting, reprogramming and reclaiming the life you’ve sacrificed. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.

Make the call

Plan the trip

Take the time

Train your successors so you can step away without affecting the business’ success.

Have a blessed weekend!

Eric