The Dash Of Life

As a manager or business owner one of the most time consuming and energy draining activities is to try and turn around an underperforming employee. Its time consuming because there are so many things that you have to make sure that you do in order to cover yourself legally. Its emotionally draining because deep down you realize that the employee is not the only one at fault. As their manager a significant level of blame has to fall back on you. You either hired them, or you trained them, or when you took over you chose to keep them.

Currently I am about 30000 feet in the air on flight to Dallas. The flight has been delayed by about two hours because we were re-routed due to a bad storm. Several of the people around me became very upset when the pilot came on an said that because of the reroute the plane will need around 4000 pounds of additional fuel. WOW! It is hard to fathom some times how people can be so focused about their own circumstances that they completely miss the big picture. This is a true lesson in leadership. In order to be a good leader you must first learn how to follow and trust the wisdom of those who have a higher degree of expertise then you do in a given area. If someone has years of training and experience in a given area you might want to listen to them. If the pilot says that he needs more fuel in order to get you to your destination safely, don’t complain about your dinner reservations or even you connecting flights. It is much better to be late then deceased!

Two of my daughters had been playing hide and seek for around 20 minutes when I heard the “hider” franticly calling out the “seekers” name to no avail. So I asked the “seeker” if she was still playing hide and seek with her sister, and she told me “no”. I then asked the “seeker” if her sister knew that she wasn’t playing anymore and she told me “no, I am trying to keep it a secret”! After laughing until my face hurt, I started to wonder how many adults are like my five year old “seeker” daughter? They are no longer playing the game, but they are trying hard to keep it a secret from the rest of the world. However their game isn’t hide and seek it’s their job, or relationships or life in general. Life is way to short not to be actively and passionately in the game!

I read somewhere that the reason the word ambulance is spelled backwards on an ambulance is so that when you look at it in your rear view mirror you will recognizes that it’s an ambulance and move out of the way. Wouldn’t your 1st clue be the flashing red lights and really loud sirens?

If your boss walks in on your post lunch nap, just open your eyes and say Amen. It’s not your fault that snoring is part of your religious customs!

Sometimes I sit in meetings and guess the salaries of the people in the meeting. I was once in a meeting with over a million dollars in salaries to decide what types of cookies to serve at a party! That’s $481 an hour worth of stupid!

I was once in a meeting to determine how we wanted to position our talking points for an upcoming strategic planning meeting for an upcoming annual management meeting. For those who don’t speak corporate I was in meeting about a meeting about a meeting!

Why is it that when you go to your kids parent-teacher conference they always make you sit in those tiny seats? With the millions of tax payers dollars flowing in that school would it kill them buy a chair that doesn’t stick to your butt when you get up?

Why is it expectable in corporate America for you to work nights and weekends, but you go to a “few” off track betting parlors in the middle of the day and you’re a “slacker”!

I think the auto industry is failing because they keep putting features in cars that nobody wants. For example several luxury cars this year come with rain sensing windshield wipers. This means they spent millions of dollars researching a device that tells you when it’s raining!

Why is that if you work fulltime at a job for five years they give you three weeks off, but if you are in prison for five years then you get a year off?

If you watch a DVD movie there is always a message in the beginning that says “This motion picture has been modified to fit this screen.” How do they know exactly what size screen I have before I buy the movie?

Yesterday was an awesome moment in the history of the world! A man who would not be allowed membership in some elite country clubs in Americas south, was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. The great philosopher Don King was right “only in America”. Only in America could an African-American family move into a mansion that was built by African slaves. Only in America could a former State Senator beat a former 1st lady for the Democratic nomination, only in America could the son of an African immigrant with a Muslim name defeat a war hero for the office of President of the United States during a time of war against Islamic terrorist!
The election of Barrack Obama will forever change the way I look at my life! The next time I am up against a trouble that seems unconquerable. I will just say two words “Black President”! The next time I hear someone saying that they are a victim of circumstances, “Black President”! The next time I hear someone says that our public schools systems are hopeless, “Black President”! The next time I hear the words glass ceiling, I will say “Black President”! I am in no way trying to down play all of those things. But we can not forget about this country’s undisputed history of deep racial issues, this is the same country that allowed slavery, segregation, black face, separate but equal, The Tuskegee Experiment ! If Americans can move past all of that, and elect a man based not on the color of his skin, but by the content of his character, then truly anything is possible!

For decades American business schools, as well as management trainers have instructed leaders to “take the emotion out of business.” They consistently use the phrase “it’s not personal, its business.” This puts pressure on some managers to try and put their humanity aside while making decisions, and others simply hide behind the “it’s not personal, it’s business” mantra after they make an unpopular decision. A business is created by, financed by, and ran by humans. The decision making process of human beings involves emotions; therefore every business decision is at some level a personal decision. The very core of business is made up of relationships, between a company and its employees, its vendors, its investors, and its customers. So why try so hard to remove human emotions away from those relationships. Why not use to power of those emotions to enhance those relationships. Why not take a little time to find out what the other party is expecting to gain from the relationship and then try and beat those expectations. If a company beats the expectations of its employees, those employees will be inspired to beat the expectations of the company’s customers; those costumers will tell others about their experience which will create more revenue for the company. Matthew Kelly’s writes in his book The Dream Manager “An organization changes when the habits of the people in the organization change.” A manager can manage processes and systems in a very unemotionally non personal way; however people must be lead and business might not be personal but leadership is!

One of my favorite poems is titled Sermons We See, by Edgar A. Guest. The poem reminds us that when you are in any type of leadership position, parent, manager, consultant, politician, teacher, or coach. The things you say speak volumes to all those who follow you; however your words will always be drowned out by your actions. One of the most positive examples of this is Tony Dungy!
When Tony Dungy was passed over several times for a head coaching position in the NFL he remained calm, he stayed focused on the things he could control and he held fast to the belief that things would be better. When he was fired from Tampa Bay because he “couldn’t win the big one” despite taking that franchise from the laughing stock of the league to a perennial playoff team, he remained calm, stayed focused on the things that he could control, and held fast to his faith that things would get better. When he went into the Colts locker down by 21 points at the half to the very team that fired him, he remained calm, stayed focused on the things he could control, and held to the faith that things would get better. The death of Dungy’s oldest son was a tragedy that would destroy many people and divide even the strongest of families, yet he remained calm, stayed focused on the things he could control, and held to his faith that things would get better. When Coach Dungy finally reached the Super Bowl only to have the Chicago Bears run the opening kick off back for a touchdown, Dungy remained calm stayed focused on the things he could control, and held on to his faith that things would get better.
As we continue to lead our families, communities, and businesses in these unbelievable economic times, let’s all remain calm, focus on the things that we can control, and have faith. Things will get better!
PJ

Sermons We See
by Edgar A. Guest

I’d rather see a sermon
than hear one any day;
I’d rather one should walk with me
than merely tell the way.
The eye’s a better pupil
and more willing than the ear,
Fine counsel is confusing,
but example’s always clear;
And the best of all preachers
are the men who live their creeds,
For to see good put in action
is what everybody needs.

I soon can learn to do it
if you’ll let me see it done;
I can watch your hands in action,
but your tongue too fast may run.
And the lecture you deliver
may be very wise and true,
But I’d rather get my lessons
by observing what you do;
For I might misunderstand you
and the high advice you give,
But there’s no misunderstanding
how you act and how you live.”

I love the logic of a child, its simple but yet profound. One Saturday I told my bride to go back to sleep and I would get the kids breakfast ready. My three kids where already downstairs, so I tell the kids that mom is tired and we should leave her alone for awhile. Not 20 seconds later I hear my very tired wife having a conversation with my four year old daughter. So I jet upstairs faster than Michael Jackson would run away from a sorority house, and ask this child “didn’t I tell you to leave mom alone?” She looks at me, and I can see in her eyes that she is processing all of the available information in that incredible four year old brain of hers. Then she says to me “I’m hungry, mommy cooks, you kill spiders!” It’s impossible to argue with that level of precise logic.

I came into this world in 1971; I have no idea when I am going to leave it, (not for a very long time I hope). The date of my birth and the date of death will not define me however; my life will be defined by the dash between those dates. That dash is a very powerful thing; it’s on your tombstone, your marriage license and your résumé. I will attempt to fill this virtual “dash of life” with the same things that I have tried to fill my personal dash with. Things like hope, faith, humor, inspiration and love!