Good morning, Tribe! It’s Friday!

I got called grouchy at work this week. That’s not what I was going for. I try to be pleasant, talkative, humorous (in a sarcastic kind of way) … and genuinely helpful. I am definitely pragmatic but that’s not often interpreted as grouchy.

Mayo Clinic has provided me some very good medical advice over the past decade. Recently, I learned of their formula for happiness and thought you might like to learn more about it.

Mayo’s latest suggestions include the 5-3-2 happiness plan.

FIVE-Start each day with gratitude

•The moment you wake up, think of 5 people for whom you’re grateful.
•“See” them in your mind and thank them.

THREE-Find novelty where love is

•At the end of the day, spend three minutes meeting your loved ones as if you haven’t seen them in months.
•Be genuinely interested.
•Creatively praise.
•Do not judge or try to improve them.

TWO-See others differently

•Mentally say “I wish you well,” within the first two seconds of encountering someone.
•Choose a positive frame before your mind judges negatively.

Should we focus on being happy?
Why not?
According to http://www.healthline.com, happiness:

•Promotes a healthy lifestyle
•Appears to boost the immune system
•Helps combat stress
•May protect your heart
•May lengthen your life expectancy
•May help reduce pain

Have a blessed and happy weekend!

 

Good morning, Tribe! It’s Friday!

It’s not a question of if, but when … and how often … and how hard … you will get knocked down in this world.

Whatcha gonna do about it?

We’ve all been bullied at some point in our life. “Lowell” on 18th street was my first bully. Looking back, he was a mere vessel of hatred. He would literally knock people down, stand over them and laugh. Four doors down to the North of us, a broken family with occasional pain delivered to the neighbors. South 6 doors from us, convicted criminals and drug users. A half block away was an entire family of bullies. Another block to the West another family with criminal history and anti-social behavior. I could speculate the horrors each endured behind closed doors or the absence of discipline, love, mercy or grace. All that matters here is for you to know, I grew up in a tough neighborhood.

I am intrigued by Niche’s advice (effectively) ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. I had plenty of strength training. The environment was more nature than nurture. Was I the lucky one?

I joke that my upbringing was based on the philosophy behind Johnny Cash’s song “Boy named Sue.” Almost as if Dad took the short cut and said, “This ought to make a man out of you.” After research following his passing, I realized he had no father figure after age 9 and didn’t know what he was doing. We four children were experiments (and inexpensive and highly accessible labor) left to get knocked around by the world and the neighborhood.

Why spend so much time talking about a sucky childhood? Despite.

Despite a tough environment (I understand many, many have had it worse than me) I walk with pride.

•I made it out with an education
•I found the love of my life
•I have faith in God
•I’ve been blessed with children, a grandchild, real friends, and a rewarding career

Most of all,
I am equipped for the future:
Experience, education, empathy and a lethal combination of fire in the belly (my amygdala glows a bright neon orange 24/7) and a sense of urgency to influence…more.

God doesn’t make mistakes so every time I was knocked down, it was not for me to curl up in a ball of pity, with a Lowell-like asshole standing over me. Nope, got up then and I’ll get up again and again. I will regain my balance, I will brush off the bullshit, the haters, the idiots and the wanna be’s.
You don’t own me. You can’t deter my momentum with your righteous crap. I am the captain of my soul as William Ernest Henley would remind us. Small minded thinking and control-freakish behavior does not serve the greater good. Reckoning a cometh.

If any of this resonates with you, please understand that we ALL fight garbage in this world. You are not alone.

I choose to regain my swagger. Some mistake it for hubris, cockiness or a lack of situational awareness. I beg to differ. My strut says to each and everyone of you:
-I am comfortable in my skin
-I am not perfect nor do I try to be
-I’ve seen some serious shit and it didn’t scare me off from fulfilling my mission
-I am confident that I am in the right place right now and I have high purpose

If you had it, and lost it, why?
If you never had it, why not?
If you still have it, Congratulations! Swagger away.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning! It’s Friday!

I received a book for Christmas from my daughter. Not just a book but a tool for the future.
Author Tim Ferris provides more in his introduction to “Tribe of Mentors” than many books I’ve read…and he does it all with questions.

A former colleague of mine, Bruce Lake, from the HR profession used to remind us of “the power of the question”. Mr Ferris brings the concept home in spades. The entire book is based on eleven thought provoking questions put to some of the brightest minds today.

Tim shares with us in the intro that some of the questions that bubbled to the surface at his major life events (these are not any of the eleven referred to above) sound like:

•Were my goals my own, or simply what I thought I should want?
•How much of life had I missed from underplanning or overplanning?
•How could I be kinder to myself?
•How could I better say no to the noise to better say yes to the adventures I craved?
•How could I best reassess my life, my priorities, my view of the world, my place in the world, and my trajectory through the world?
[Heavy question I’ll explore further below]

Then, perhaps the best question,

•What would this look like if it were easy?

Indeed.

I had a major life event today. Delivered directly by the Chief. It’s caused me to revisit the “reassess” question for the third time in three years. Specifically, my trajectory through the world.

I’ve had a few readers comment recently and privately on why I don’t share more angst in my blog…try this on for size…in Ferris format.

*Isn’t it enough to work extra hard?
*Isn’t it enough to make solid, logical, defensible decisions on a daily basis?
*Isn’t it enough to create clear expectations?
*Isn’t it enough to be transparent, vulnerable, and humble…yet confident?
*Isn’t it enough to evolve from engineer (relishing the simple math concept that 1+1=2 every single time) to entrepreneur where you introduce enough sweat equity, innovation and alchemy so that 1+1=3, or 4, or 15?!

*Is it possible to work under the basic premise of being ethical, legal and moral and still expect to be wildly successful?

What would it look like if it were easy?

Let me know when you figure it out.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!

I have no idea what the big deal is about razor blades. Sharp strips of steel in multiple rows stroked across the faces of countless people every day … and apparently a very big business.

I used to travel a long way to work each morning so I shaved with a rotary razor in the car to save some time. Somehow my face grew sensitive and the doctor recommended I switch to a single blade…that was at least ten years ago. I’ve been through a few hundred disposable blades and many cans of shaving cream.

I’d rather not lather up each day and run the risk of nicking myself…but I do it anyway.

The other day Carole and I were in Target buying some essentials and I decided I should get some travel shaving cream and I ran into this orange tube and I swear, an old commercial started playing in my head. The essence was how little the blade (or blades) mattered, it was all about the medium interface from skin to blade. Could have been total bullshit for all I know but I was motivated to try out the theory.

Gillette claims to “own the face” due to the amount of research it’s done and the product success. Their marketing team says it’s “the best a man can get”. I guess I never thought about it before the fateful moment when I bought a tube of shave butter for $5.99 + tax. Inexpensive experiment I told myself.

Guess what I realized?

Everybody likes butter. It’s like ice cream and bacon. Everybody likes butter. I now like shave butter, provocative little name by a who knew company but you have to ask yourself, Do I want to smell like my grandpa…or the future?
Do I want to experience a very smooth shave and catch a whiff throughout the day of mango mixed with magic?

All I could think was, this is exceptional. The mundane has been replaced with an experience, an exceptional experience. I now enjoy shaving again with a similar joy to when I first shaved more than once a month.

Who or What do you consider exceptional?

•Your spouse?
•Your children?
•Your company?
•Your Team?
•Your favorite musician?
•Your future?
•Your ideas?
•Your leader?
•Your mentor?
•Your Savior?

I found an example in a small orange tube with a quirky name and an unusual viscosity. Surely, you can identify at least three exceptional things in your world this morning. Count them up and lock it in. Final answer. Now go conquer the world.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good Morning, Team! It’s Friday!

Picture Summertime at the lake, kids are swimming, running, jumping and they plop down next to you, exhausted. They explain how big they are getting, how well they can swim and how strong they are so you say,
“Show me your muscles!” They jump up, chest out, arms folded and even though they’ve never seen it, you’d swear they are posing for the Olympia finals body building contest.

Now, picture a Monday at the office. It’s the start of a new year after missing revenue goals for the last 4 years. Your Team is a little beat down, many have left from the heydays of wild revenues and easy profits. Customers aren’t clambering for your goods or services, they’ve moved on to the latest path of least resistance.

You’d like to walk up to every single person and say, “Show me your muscles!” but they might not quite understand your intent. Wouldn’t it be great if your employees and business partners rebounded as quickly as a toddler flexes their biceps?

You could paint on the doorway into the building(s) something like “Stay humble, stay hungry” or “Every day get bigger, stronger, faster…because your competition is” but it’s likely that the paint would wear off or people would stop looking above the doorway.

This conversion of direction is no simple task or basic request…

•Building confidence is hard.
•Rebuilding confidence is harder. •Fighting apathy is confounding.
•Combatting entitlement is laborious and painstaking.

Frankly, I don’t care what inspirational method you employ to get people to think about getting better, seeking excellence, and realizing a positive turn around. It may take several methods and multiple repeated attempts.

The good news is that it’s tremendously rewarding when people finally start walking up to you and start showing off their muscles.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday!

With a few weeks of rest, it’s time to light the path forward.

Can you see what’s next?
Whether your vision is 20’ in front of you or 20 years from now, if you’re not good at looking forward, you better start practicing today.

The next question is when you look forward, do you look up, straight ahead or down at your feet? The real question is whether there is more than one answer to that question.

Look up!

My not-so-new, new gig leader recently shared he is a strong believer in the Pygmalion Effect.

The Pygmalion Effect in the Workplace: an employee will adapt his or her behavior and level of performance to meet the expectations set by their leader and the organization. The expectations that a leader holds of his or her employees can powerfully influence the employees’ behavior.

My suggestion?

Have a race between the expectations you hold for yourself and the ones your leadership and organization hold for you.

Take a deep breath.

Grab another cup of coffee and pack a lunch. You’re gonna need ‘em both.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning,Team! It’s Friday!

I’m taking a holiday break to rest up, sharpen the saw, celebrate a couple key birthdays and ring in the new year.

Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year!
Remember to count your blessings, foster an attitude of gratitude and smile. It’s infectious.

If inspired in the interim, I’ll store new blogs until 2018.

Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday!

I was communicating with a business leader yesterday about a colleague. There was frustration in the tone because the colleague was unable to complete tasks assigned, causing the business leader to work longer and disrupting their routine and personal schedule. At some point, and perhaps far too often, we’ve all been there.

Once an expectation of a deliverable has been set, the intended recipient, whether client, boss, friend or coworker, is waiting. No one likes to wait beyond the predetermined time. We’ve all started to tap our toe at the microwave. Performance pressure knows no limits and doesn’t discriminate.

There was a slight break in the communication and then, as if a flash of lightning struck, my business leader made a conscious choice to reverse their tone and speak positively. “I don’t want to be negative. I don’t want to complain. [Said colleague] does [this]well, [that] well, [whatever{, [whenever] and everyone is working their [tails] off.

As we careen down our paths trying to get [stuff] done, we may not look kindly at someone traveling at a different pace or possessing a different skill set.

Today, I suggest you make a conscious choice to be more tolerant. Be more positive about that person who’s ass you are pulling out of a fire. They have their own battles. They are trying and motivated to do their best.

Maybe they need some guidance
Maybe they need some training
Maybe they need additional resources

One thing is for sure, they don’t need some uptight [posterior orifice] looking over their shoulder waiting for them to disappoint in some way, shape or form.

Leadership in practice. It’s not enough to know it, you gotta DO it.

Have a blessed weekend!

Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!
and the day after Thanksgiving. I’m a tad bit tardy with today’s submission-blame it on the tryptophan.

I recently heard the phrase “burning the candle at both ends” again and the origin, listed below:
First Fig
My candle burns at both ends
It will not last the night
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends —
It gives a lovely light!

by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

 

It used to describe who I was, constantly urgent. I felt destined to burn my candle at both ends. I wondered where the urge came from and determined both parents were driven, laser focused and so I realized it was inevitable. But does it have to be?

I regularly tell people, “I don’t idle well.” Not bragging, rather confessing. Do I need to give in to this urge or can I be deliberately more at peace with my surroundings, selective with the things I let raise my blood pressure, choose to leave stress at my bedside rather than pick it up each day?

“Work hard, play hard” is an unspoken mantra of mine. This might be another way to interpret the poem. Some examples would include:

•Interviewing 2 more candidates while on campus for my first professional employer. Skipping lunch, starting early and finishing late, nearly missing my plane back to Kansas City.

•Driving 90 miles to work, one way for 16 years. A couple of times on a snowmobile. Who does that?

•Pushing the limits of sleep, cramming in one more [fill in the blank]…lot to be cleaned when I pushed snow for Dad, one more round of hauling gravel, one more load of dirt, one more…whatever…to get ahead? To flame out?

Perhaps with age comes wisdom.

Perhaps mortality sets in and quality of life becomes a higher concern.
Perhaps there are not enough signs to affirm the extra expended energy has yielded any significant value.

As leaders, we need to choose where we will spend our energy because, like time, there are limits. Showing up tired at work doesn’t inspire. Leaving your post early gives a poor impression. Being present and predictable while being professional and respectful will win the day.

Have a blessed weekend!

On Wednesday, we ushered in TWO new classes of leaders (pictured above). I was blessed to MC this event. My address script is below.

 

ELI class

Good evening! Thank you for coming.

[introductions and acknowledgements]

This is time to celebrate a developmental milestone!

YOU, your company, your mentor and / or your sponsor made a deliberate decision to elevate your self mastery.

This organization (as in ACEC ND) is a PROUD partner in your awareness building process. You’ve been on a journey these past 1-3 years to better define who you are, what you’re good at, and what you might do with your gifts.

•Will you lead the organization (or a significant portion of it) where you are currently employed?

•Will you take a more significant part in your relationships, whether at home, work, industry, neighborhood, church or this very Alumni?

•Will you refine this new found awareness and pay it forward? Or will you leverage it simply for personal gain? Will you recall and support the organizations who worked to hold you up at this point in your journey?

•Or will you close this chapter, forget the training and squeeze yourself back into the shell you started with?

Ladies and gentlemen of the graduating class of emerging leaders of 2017, I implore you to take full advantage of this investment.

-You have been changed in some way. -You have been … enlightened.
-Each and every one of you had at LEAST one Ah-Hah moment during this class and I hope, for your sake, it was a lot more than one.
-You have been joined with like-minded, hungry, wisdom-seeking souls to identify what leadership qualities you posses, those you should nurture and those you know you need to develop.

I’d like to invite…Geordie Aitken, our curriculum coordinator and hipster leader to the podium.

This is where we presented certificates to all graduates.

Closing comments:

Go forth and be leaders! Seek opportunities to lead leaders!

Last Saturday was Veteran’s Day and I want to honor all service men and service women who made sacrifices all the way up to the ultimate sacrifice so that we may live and love and learn in a peaceful, tolerant and benevolent government. God bless America! Goodnight!