Tag Archives: life

June 13, 2012 · 9:52 am

Why?

Why did you get out of bed this morning? Habit? Hunger? Bladder issues?

Question mark

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Hopefully the main reason was that you couldn’t wait to get going on what you were going to do today.  Trust me – I’m well aware that not every day can be like that but when the balance between excitement vs. dread over the day ahead tilts the wrong way, it just might be time to rethink things a bit.  The reality is that many of us just keep on doing what we’re doing, feeling lucky to have a job and income, and wait for the weekend to come around.  Thoreau‘s “life of quiet desperation” lives on.

Companies are like that too.   While I don’t share some folks’ belief that companies are people, I do think that they have a certain amount in institutional inertia.  They keep on doing what they’ve been doing, very focused on what that is and how they’re going to do it.  They rarely stop, however, and think about why they’re doing – what’s their purpose beyond making money for the owners/shareholders.

I got to thinking about this as I read the book “Start With Why“, by Simon Sinek.  They quick summary is that the most important thing leaders can do is to figure out why a company or organization exists and why that should be meaningful to customers and others in society. Once you get the answer and you convey it to everyone that touches the organization, the rest of the decisions about what to do and sell and how to do it become infinitely easier.  Marketing, social campaigns, product choices, packaging, everything.

That principle extends to individuals.  We need to think about who we are, what we stand for, be a bit more introspective.  I think some of the unhappiness many people feel when they think about going to work is the dissonance between their own”why” and that of their company (or the lack of one at their job).  How about you?  What do you think?

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June 6, 2012 · 8:20 am

Where Have You Been?

Miss me?  The screed was silent the last two days.  I did what for some is the unthinkable – I took a break.  For the 18th consecutive year, 11 of my dearest friends and I went away to play golf.  At least, that was the original idea.  It turns out, however, that the trip is more about hanging around with the other guys, laughing, playing cards, eating too much, and generally decompressing than it is playing golf.  All of us are over 50; some are over 60.  Everyone is in a senior position within their business and industry.  Everyone carries a smart phone of some type and most everyone had a laptop along on the trip.  What was interesting was how some of the guys chose to use them and this is the point I’d like to make today.

I often rode in a van (we travel with 4 guys in each van) with a guy who immediately got on the phone to do business as soon as the door to the van shut.  An efficient use of time but it had a couple of negative effects.  Obviously, we had to turn down the music in the car and couldn’t talk very loudly to one another.  More importantly, it was a subtle reminder to those of us who were trying to tune out the “real” world for a couple of days and enjoy the benefits of a vacation – lowered stress, avoiding burnout, etc. that the rest of the world hadn’t taking a break and maybe we shouldn’t be either.

A couple of other guys jumped on their laptops to do business in one suite apart from the rest of the group and it wasn’t a 5 minute mail check – it was an hour or more each day.  Where I drew the line was the guys who were taking business calls on the golf course.  Fortunately, each time they did it there was a $5 fine paid into the group’s pool for tips, etc.

This isn’t a rant against the technology.  Instead, it’s a rant against those of us who can’t take a break.  I like to think of myself as a responsible businessperson but part of being responsible is putting in place a support system to handle stuff when you’re not there (or get sick!) as well as communicating to others that you are taking a break.  The break helps you better serve them, keeps you fresh, often generates news ideas and helps you live longer (there is research!).

Where have I been?  Recharging my batteries.  Thanks for caring!

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May 7, 2012 · 10:09 am

2 Things I Learned This Weekend

To start the week I’d like to share a thought I had while doing what I do on the weekend. That’s right: more business lessons from golf. I played with a friend who also happens to be a golf pro and like most people with whom one plays, he shared some things he saw in my swing that I might do differently (meaning a hell of a lot better). Normally, one would reciprocate  – “hey, you’re moving your head, you looked up, etc.”  Unlike most people, I had very little to tell him about his swing but I did read all the greens for him – we all do what we can!

An aerial view of a golf course in Italy

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The two things he got me thinking about the most to help me play better were also two things I believe are critical to success in business:  balance and commitment.  The two are related.  Without a full commitment to the swing, you “hang back” – you never move your weight forward and through the ball so the shot goes well off line.  If you over commit – shift your weight too far forward, you’ll generally pull the ball and it goes just as far off line the other way.

The trick is to maintain balance while fully committing to the swing.  While, of course, is exactly the business point.  None of us can function well if were half-hearted about what we do.  We either need to commit or find something else to do or another company to do it for.  We need to make smart choices about projects, partners and people and then commit fully to our decisions.  That gives us the best chance to succeed.

That said, we can’t get so caught up in what we do that we lose a sense of who we are – we need to stay balanced.  Think about how many folks you know that struggle to do one or the other or both.

Does that make sense, even to you non-golfers?

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