I got in my car. My intuition told me to go to the Pearl Cup. The one downtown. I've never been there. Downtown has no parking. I begrudged to my intuition, "There won't be parking. I don't want to." I drove to the Downtown Pearl Cup. I figured I was supposed to meet someone. A mysterious crossing of paths. I arrived. I circled the block. Then peered in. There was nobody inside. I came to a stop when my wife called. My intuition chimed in when I was on the phone. "Drive … [Read more...]
Are you supposed to be here?
August 17, 2011 by
One of my favorite movies is Clerks. It's clever, raw and funny. There are two lead characters. One writes his own rules for reality. The other allows reality's rules to be written for him. The second guy, Dante, keeps muttering "I'm not even supposed to here." through the movie. He's torn between what he wants to do and what he feels he's supposed to do. I am most miserable when I think in 'Supposed to' "I'm supposed to get a merit increase." "They're supposed to refill my drink." … [Read more...]
What will you find when you get there?
August 15, 2011 by
Get out through the in door or or get in through out door. Either way, no matter where you are, there you are. Are you trying to get out of where you don't want to be? Something will follow you. You. You can't escape yourself. Most of the times we want to get out of something ... it turns out the something we want to get out of is ourselves. That new job won't make you any more valued. That other guy (or girl) won't make you any more lovable. That pint of ice cream won't … [Read more...]
A simple way to be a better leader – Part 1
July 12, 2011 by
In the past few days I saw a simple truth about the language of leadership. Ned and Nancy were trying to get their son to get into the pool. Their son, Niles, was scared of the water. "Do you want to get in the pool?" asked Ned. "Do you want to try to stand on the first step?" Niles froze at the decision point. He was anxious and uneasy. His answers came non-verbally. Niles stopped and backed away from the pool's edge. Parents are leaders. The leaders were putting the child … [Read more...]
Follow the leader
July 8, 2011 by
I walked down the row of cubes. Someone from my team grabbed me. "They did it again.", they said. We had another team that we worked with. We didn't see eye to eye. We didn't have mutual respect. It seemed each team thought the other team was a bunch of idiots. I got fired up. I'm insulted the other team. I'm sure I "should" all over them. - They should do this, They should do that. I'm damn certain I cursed. I'm sure I poured gasoline on the fire. The fire burned higher. The … [Read more...]
Do you lead by example?
July 7, 2011 by
My mentor, Phillip, asked, "Where'd this thing with you putting your hands in the pockets come from?" I didn't know the answer. It appeared that I just picked up a habit of sticking my hands in my suit pockets. And I didn't know why. A no-no in the world of presenting is hands in pockets. John, the other trainer I was working with said, "I'll take responsibility for that." It turned out that he has the habit of sticking his hands in suit pockets. The week before I spent 40 hours in … [Read more...]
Leadership is a contact sport
July 6, 2011 by
I don't enjoy playing basketball shirts vs skins. I just don't enjoy sweaty men pressing and bumping into me. It affects my commitment level. I don't play as hard. It's not fair to my team for me to play and not be committed to the contact required of the game. When shirts are on, I'm in. I'll throw my elbows around with the best of them. Shirts off, I should walk away. Adam said, "That's not easy." I asked Adam whether being a good leader is easy or hard. He said, "Hard." One of … [Read more...]
The problem with the perfect plan
July 2, 2011 by
I was listening to Car Talk on NPR. Click and Clack were following up with a caller from an earlier show. The caller wanted to transport a chicken coop via the highway on a snowmobile trailer. Click and Clack told him it wouldn't work. They were right. Chicken Coop guy's perfect plan was changed in real time as they tried to implement it. They managed to move the coop with the snowmobile trailer. But not where they needed to move it. The snowmobile trailer died in town after a valiant … [Read more...]
Would you rather be needed or wanted?
July 1, 2011 by
The exercise started. I was getting up to work the room. A thought struck me. "They don't need me." I was hit with a sense of deflation. It was a "What's the point?" moment. I was at Boot Camp. The irony, or hypocrisy, I'm working at a program built to help people find purpose and meaning. And I'm struggling with my purpose and meaning. We're human. It happens. I spent a few moments looking at the situation. The conversation with myself went like this: "You're right. They … [Read more...]
Stand still or step forward
June 8, 2011 by
Do you want to succeed? Of course you do. Who doesn't? Even if you have a fear of success, somewhere inside whispers a voice that yearns for success. I've tried to suffocate mine with a pillow. But it keeps talking. I've come to accept it. Your definition of success might be different than mine. You still have a definition of success. You might as well pursue it. You will screw many things up on your way to succeeding. If you don't, you probably won't be succeeding. You might as … [Read more...]
