True Adulthood in Leadership...

Good Morning!

I had to start this update with a fond memory!  The final scene from the Matrix, which many do not know, was how I introduced my version of Whitebelt training!

I believe that it is possible to create a world without borders and fear of change...where it can go is strictly limited by the courage and the creativity of the people involved.

It was nice to go back to that memory and relive the hope that I had while teaching this...

Shifting gears!

Although it was a short week...I bet that you stayed the course in whatever you had chosen to do and wrapped it up before taking time to be thankful!  Isn't that the responsible thing to do?

It is sad that we (as a nation) must have an official holiday to remind us of a character trait that all adults should implicitly have...a spirit of thankfulness...one that flows naturally...rather than a scheduled event!

Thankfulness is an essential element in success!

The odds are stacked against us in every aspect of our lives.  Failure is more probable than success...yet we fail to recognize that!  ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF FAILURE'S HIGHER PROBABILITY...

That narrow view is rather childish and selfish...thinking that we can or deserve to be successful...

That is just one of the behaviors that we have to be fully aware of in order for us to develop into great leaders!

When I think about adulthood...(especially in relation to leadership) I think of it as an ever growing responsibility.

It is having the right to (or for) specific tasks...it means that others trust us to do "the right" things...

DUH!

Yet many miss the boat when it comes to adulthood...

Adulthood means that when something is done...it does not create extra work for others...(like cleaning up the mess)...

Adulthood means that one does not have to be reminded...

Adulthood means that the task will be accomplished as good as or better than if someone else did it...

Adulthood means that value is derived from that individual's effort that is shared by all those touched by the effort...

Adulthood includes recognition for that contribution...

Adulthood...means...leaving it better for having been there...

If the world was filled with adults...think of how much better the world would be!

I once read that the trait that domesticated dogs...was actually the absence of a trait...domestic dogs lost the ability to grow-up.  Domestic dogs are puppies...and will always be!

Man in a general sense has been domesticated...and...lost the real ability to grow up...

Some of those childish characteristics are actually lauded in leadership circles...

The mental image that comes to mind is the immature and "unruly" bully in grade school...  

Don't be that or promote those behaviors in others...

Seek out and promote real "adult" behaviors....

Like Thankfulness...

Helpfulness...

Wisdom...

The list is not that long...

Shifting gears...again!

I do not know if my research has made this more apparent to me or if I have moved into a different circle...

I have noticed many people quoting others and quoting others and quoting others!

Has noone an original thought?

Do these people need to justify their behaviors based upon the words of other individuals?

It looks like..."HEY...I believe this and it is all right because some famous person said this!"

I am so disappointed in those who continually quote people and lack the creativity or courage to take their own stand!

The question is...would you rather quote or be quoted?

I know where I want to stand!

It appears to me that children quote...

Adults are quoted!

I seek adulthood...thank you very much!

To those who overuse quoting...stop talking about it and start putting those words into action...they speak louder than words!  (was that a quote?)  You'll be much more effective if people emulate your behaviors than if they simply say you words!

That sounds like...I want to be like him when I grow up...doesn't it?

A true leadership adult is seldom quoted, but often emulated...

That is the bottom-line...stop talking about it and work to exhibit those behaviors that will be emulated and carried into this generation and those beyond!

Enough Said!

I hope that you have had a Thankful week!

I hope that it was restful!

I hope that between today and the next time you are thankful is full prosperity and health and generosity!

Have a great week!

The Cost of Success...

Good Morning!

Another successful week...I bet! 

How can it not be?  Especially given who you are!

I am not saying that you are stubborn or persistent, or focused, or determined or committed or the other host of things that make you who you are (or am I?)...

I guess that I am!

Those are the characteristics of individuals who succeed at what they set out to do...whatever it is that they set out to do!

In some ways...you were made that way...and you can not avoid being like that...without being dissatisfied with your lot in life!

That is the burden that you carry!

It is a higher calling!

It is a worthy career...yet scary...and constantly challenged and challenging!

Don't you love it?

I do!

There are many risks and costs associated with what you are doing...

It is not a simply a rout job...

It draws on your every creative talent...and constantly stretches you!

You can not help but grow...

You can not sit static for a moment!

You need support from every side...left and right and above and below...in order for you to be successful!

At the same time it all depends on you!  ...it is a lonely path!

Find individuals with like desires and cling to them as if they were a life boat!

They are!

I was moved today to write about the costs associated with the path(s) that you have choosen in life.  There is no path that does not have an assciated cost...whether you are a PI professional or...I guess...whatever...

Choosing one path is at the cost of all of the others that you had in front of you...

Whatever path that you choose...NEVER feel remorse!

If you do...life has beaten you!

If you can not shake remorse...switch paths!  It is never too late!

I have learned that!

If you can teach this "old dog" that new trick...anyone can learn it!

There are many components related to success...do not fixate on a single element!

There are many proponents of visioning and passion and positive attitudes and planning and persistence and focus and...the list is almost endless...

These people fixate on a single element and miss the beauty of the blend!

They miss the boat!

Do not fall prey to a single discipline!  ONE ALONE NEVER WORKS!

When taken alone and used alone...these secrets of success are nothing more than an opiate that clouds your success and numbs you to reality....

Combine your vision, and your passion and your "can do" attitude with everything else!

This is what it costs to succeed...

The cost is high...but worth it!

There are no twists or hidden threads in this week's update (as there usually are)...it is straight-forward and has a single topic...

You do not need to be a CEO or president to be successful...you simply need to be who you are and be on a continual path of grwth! 

Like the old Army saying..."be...all you can be!"

Like the Army...it requires basic training and specialization and disciple and persistence...it requires commitment and loyalty and dedication!

These are the elements of success and the currency with which you by the right to be who you are!

Spend them wisely!

Also...save them for those times that you need them!

Invest your riches and you'll achieve what you set out to achieve!

Have a great weekend!

Enough said!

The Brutal Attack on Positive Attitudes

Good Morning!

Before we jump into today...take a moment to ponder the fact of how lucky we are!  We arose this morning, in the dawn of the human age's awakening, a true consciousness of the universe and and the abstract reality of possibilities!  I was awed to think that for the billions of years (within the life of the universe) prior and for the millions of years of human existence, there has not been an intellectual and scientific awareness like ours (to my knowledge)!  And we have been given a seat within this drama!  What a priveledge!  What are you doing to participate?  What is your cosmic contribution...are you acting like our ancestors or are you an active member of the future!  This was my awe inspiring thought for this morning...what a glorious chance to participate in this chapter in the human epic!

OK...ENOUGH RAMBLING......NOT!

I bet that you have had another great week!

You "won some" and you "learned something!"  What more can you ask?

Next week will be progressively better...for your having done so...it is the path of Continuous Improvement...

The Continuous Improvement Management Methodology...CIMM for those who love letters!

The important thing is that you are committed to this path and thay you stay the course...

It is a difficult thing to constantly stay on the "High" performance "Road!"

There are times that just doing a "meets requirements" job...is so alluring!

We all get tired...but we can not give up!

Doing an average job is the "kiss of death!"

Why?

The moment that you do...the "I told you..." people will crawl from the gutters or soar from some lofty point in the heavens, to point out that all of your work in the past was just a facade...and...a farce...and that you are no different than the rest of them...

It is important to know and constantly be aware that the vermin...better yet, "vultures" of an organization are on constant vigil..."looking" for weaknesses...and failures to provide their next meal!

I have to chase down this rabbit hole...SORRY!

Vultures are interesting creatures...

For years, ornithologists believed that they possessed uncanny eye-sight!

For years, they believed that they were related to hawks and eagles...because of the way the soared while "looking for food."

They were wrong on both counts!

Let's address the latter first...

Through DNA testing they found that vultures and storks are more closely related. It "put to rest" a long standing controversy! The last thing that I read after this enlightenment was "this explains why the skulls of vultures and storks are so similar..." Scientists knew of the physiological resemblance for years...yet they wrote it off as an anomoly...a physical resemblance would not convince them that these two birds were related...they were classifed as raptors because of the way they flew...physical resemblence could not unveil the real truth...

...even after years of repeated testing of bird DNA...the controversy still pops its ugly head up...from those who refuse to take two scientifically wonderful data points...for what they mean!

Now the first...later...

Ornithologists long argued that vultures had uncanny eyesight! How else could they find a half-decomposed field mouse lying in a woods?

The answer actually is embedded within the rhetorical question...

The answer? SMELL!

Vultures have an uncanny sense of smell...

As they soar around...hundreds, if not thousands of feet in the air...they are not looking for food...

They are sniffing...and can hone in on the source very quickly!

A budding scientist proved this by burying some raw meat in a forest and watching it for a while...

Guess what?

The vultures found the decomposing meat...dug it up and ate heartily!

Fresh meat set just a few yards away was totally ignored until it too became rotten!

He repeated this experiment numerous times with the same results...and independent research found exactly the same thing!

It’s their sense of smell that is phenomenal!

Vultures do not need to be within seeing distance to find death and decomposition...they can smell it for many miles...traces on the air currents upon which they soar...I find that totally amazing!

Back to our discussion...

Cultural Gravity...

It is a normal human tendency to try to pull extreme behavior back to what they believe is the norm...

Cultures desire normal behavior in order to survive....

Cultures detest "ab-normal" behavior...anything that strays from the mean on the bell-curve!

Cultures are attuned to the identification and response to anything out of the norm...

Extrememly great behavior is reigned in because it threatens the "normal"...

And cultures attack extremely poor behvaior also...the reason being...to elevate themselves...that is when they point out a behavior or performance that they feel is below them...and the mass nods in agreement and disgust!

That behavior is what creates and maintains a culture...I call this behavior "cultural gravity!"

Like physical gravity...It is the pull by a larger body or mass upon that behavior which is tending to stray from that norm...

Think about that for a moment...it is not unlike our solar system! Planets do not stray...smaller bodies are pulled into the larger bodies...The moons to planets...planets to the sun...the sun to the galaxy and the galaxy to the universe...and so on!

Things tend to stay the same...and gravitate towards a central point!

That tendency also permeates the human condition!

Cultures do not want to change...unless...there is disruption...a crisis!

Crisis (to a culture) means pain!

Cultures do not change unless there is a benefit...

Extreme pain gives them an extreme reason to seek something different and sometimes even extreme differences...CHANGE!

Some may say that because humans and cultures are reasonable...they can be convinced (through logic) that change is beneficial...

I have seldom seen that happen...

Even in Ancient Greece...the most logical of all societies...change was VERY difficult!

There is a story of a great philosopher who was put to death because he challenged the status quo!

Hmmmmm....could that be Socrates?

So my thoughts lead me to think that trying to convince a culture that they need to change...with only words and logic is a nearly impossible task!

More often than not...it leads to hemlock!

So what is a change agent to do?

Convince them through action!

Show them that what you stand for is faster, better and cheaper than what they are doing...create internal crises by comparison!

Internalized crisis...without pain...but it is REAL!

That calls for absolute consistency in your performance...and continuous exceeding of expectations!

This type of work is adrenalin filled and demanding!

Average performance will only convince or confirm to, your audience, that average performance is OK!

Your audience must see you out-perform them consistently with less effort...ALL THE TIME!

Now you have created an environment that is in crisis!

Now you have proven a disparity!

This takes time!

This is why I say...plan what you need to do and do it!

In between the plan and the performance is an announcement of intent...(this is today's hint!)
Make tomorrow significantly better than today!

Don't talk happy talk...do it!

SPEAKING OF HAPPY TALK...

A book recently hit the stands that (with the cold precision of an assassin) attacked the Power of Positive Thinking and Purpose Driven Life and everything in between!

I believe that this was a long time coming and well deserved by those fanatics that overused this concept for their own gain!

I have watched people spend their entire life (I would rather say "wasted") looking for their purpose...and people driven to suicide by fanatically happy people around them...

I am an advocate of positive thinking and authentic happiness...but for different reasons!

Let's hit authentic happiness first...

I like being happy infinitely more than I like being sad and depressed...so I choose to be happy...

I do not choose happiness because happy get more stuff!

I advocate happiness because it is better than sadness!

END OF STORY!

Now let's look at "Purpose."

It is a bit more complex...but people believe that they have this higher calling and they seek it with everything they have...rather than realizing that where they are is their higher calling!

Talk about missing your boat!

Crazy happy fanatics...and people who have deluded themselves into their higher calling gives this whole power of positive thinking philosophy a bad name!

It is time to call these people out and isolate them from the real positive thinkers...they are not the same...

It is time to separate out the crazy happy people and isolate them from the authentically happy people...

The abnormal behavior here is not the attitude condition...but that from which the facade is built!
This book does a great job of that...

Positive thinking...purpose...happiness are all good things for wise and intelligent people who do not abuse the gift...

These are traits that are found at the beginning, during and at the destination of a true adherent's journey...it is not a means to an end...

When an individual treats a personality trait as the vehicle of success..They detract from the gift and are simply a hollow Manichean...success comes (if it comes at all) to them is through luck rather than hard work...

Plan your work...adjust and ensure success...be happy along the way...

It is a full venue or no venue at all...if you fail...or your job stinks...thse organizational "vultures" have a highly attuned sense of smell and they'll pick up on your mediocre performance from miles away...swoop in and live on your carrion!

Do not give them an opportunity to feed off of you or your performance...

Like the real vultures...they'll totally ignore true success as if it doesn't exist...that has no nutritional value to them...they thrive in an environment of failure...they find it and feed off of it!  Do not let them feed off of you!

Stand in defiance of the carrion eaters...by constantly residing in the world of the living and improving...they will not be able to even find you!

Stand, (with me) for just a moment, in awe of our role in the human journey!  Consciousness is an absolutely amazing thing and we should (the human race) not simply be a meaningless blip in the universe's history...make it better for your having been there!

Enough Said!

The "Fire's" Warmth...

Good Morning!

There are days that I can not supress my enthusiasm for life...and there are those other days!  It is a roller coaster!  Over time I have learned to create those components within myself that catalyze the feeling that I have when I am having a good day...so when the bad days come...I can fight them at their level rather than fall prey to the effects!

Everyone has "ups and downs..."

Some times your plans do not come to fruition...some times narrow minded supervision gets in the way...some times...you get in the way!

Don't let it get to you!

Pick the path and stay on it!

The Power of Positive Thinking and Positive Attitudes has been challenged lately! 

Many advocates have gotten defensive...Me?

I think it should be constantly challenged!...

Why?

I do not believe that positive mental attitude does not make anyone anymore successful...but...

...What it does do...is makes them happier...and oblivious to what is going on around them...NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS...I AM HAPPY!

...This is a situation where ignorance is bliss...AND...it is also helpful in achieving goals!

Why?

Because...What makes people successful is hard work and persistence...people that are happier seem to work harder and stay on task...so from my perspective...positive attitudes do effect success...but not for the mystical reasons that many proport...but just plain cause/effect...Work hard and you'll reap benefits!

I have to laugh...We have a tendency to make things too complex...

...Look at things from the simpliest perspectives...it is generally the real reason...

Shifting Gears!

Some of you have heard pieces of this story in the past...

When I was growing up (Late Teens, Early 20s)...I hung with many Native American Friends...

They were rather reclusive...that is...they kept to people with "like mind" and like themselves...

It was an interesting...

I was accepted into their midst and got to see the inner workings of the real culture...

In the evenings...the older members often got together and sat around a fire and talked...and sang and told stories...I loved that!

I got invited to these campfire gatherings...the strange thing was that my invitation was often over many of my Native American peers...but the elders wanted me there (not the boys...which confused me) and every time I was there...I was invited...in a way this created a bit of a rivalry and a jealousy between them and I...but I just went with it!

One evening the oldest guy started talking and everyone immediately quieted down...it was the first time I had heard him talk!

He looked right at me and said that the difference between humans and white people was that white people built BIG fires and sat far apart...humans built small fires and sat close together...sharing the warmth of the fire and of the warmth of eachother...

The group nodded respectfully and...

Then he got up and left...

They sat quiet for a while and I broke the silence by saying...

"..he is old and tired...must of needed to go to sleep..."

They laughed!

I sat dumbfounded and then one of the older guys said..."you don't get it...he left so that we could share our warmth between us!"

Warmth...I thought it was heat!

I suddenly realized that I had missed the whole message and from that point learned to dig deeper into meanings...

What a great gift that he shared with me!


A Bend in the Road...

I read a series of articles over the past few days that discussed (argued about) how much water a person should consume on a daily basis...

No one could agree on the right amount...

...a static, 1 ounce of fluid per pound of body weight...

...consumption being dependent upon activity...

...input should be based upon your output...

and on and on...

But something suddenly hit me...

NOT ONE of these articles noted that more than 1.7 billion (YES 1,700,000,000) people do not have access to fresh clean water on a daily basis...ZILCH, NO WATER, NADA...ZERO!

That seems a bit more important to me...than how much we should suck down!

Should I drink 80 ounces of water per day or 160 ounces...?

Is warm water or cold water better for my body?

What a narrow and selfish existence!

Why can't every article written about fresh water, be required to include a tag line about how many people need water...PERIOD?  REMEMBER THAT NUMBER 1,700,000,000  1.7 BILLION!  UNTIL THAT NUMBER IS ZERO!

How sad!

Shifting gears!

I am jumping all over the place...aren't I?
Our myopic view of life often creates problems...and even more sad is that we remain clueless even after the catestrophe is caused by us!  Or we refuse to take any blame...or responsibility...

I just had a discussion, with a VERY wise man who blames all of the world's woes on the most subtle of "greeds."  All of our problems stem from greed!

I remember being intrigued by a theory called the "Butterfly effect."

To refresh your memory it says that every event is somehow infinitely linked to many occurances in the future...

The batting of a butterfly's wings in western Africa leading to a major hurricane that wipes out a Gulf Coast City...is a more direct example...but it could be a set of absolutely crazy and unrelated connections...but it is a seemingly inconsequential event leading to something of world shattering significance...

The insignificant splitting of one single atom, effecting 4 more and so on...until we have a thermal nuculear  explosion!  Interesting?


Shifting gears AGAIN!

How about your purpose?

Courtney and I got into an interesting discussion tonight...she is working on her next Science Fair project...

It is about isolating and confirming the presence of sugar in the husk of the Queen Palm seed and then converting that sugar into ethanol...to be used as a bio-fuel...it is a carry-on project from last year's "extract the plant fat and conveert it to diesel fuel project...and uses the waste from the oil refinement to get more fuel from this source...

As we talked about plants and seeds...we discussed that plants have many different ways of spreading their seeds...some just drop them...

Some use a sweet fleshy fruit to attract animals to eat them and the actual seed is not digested...so the animal spreads them...

With others the seed is so hard that animals cannot eat the outside...and drop the seed in frustration!

The Queen Palm appears to have a husk that animals like to eat...but they drop the "baby" coconuts...because they can not gnaw through the shell...

Seems like a combination of 2 of the concepts!

But that was just the beginning of the discussion...

We talked about purpose...What really is a plant's purpose...or an animal's purpose...

When you think about a plant...it only grows and lives to create seeds to make more of that plant...but why?

And as we talked...the same holds true for animals...their only purpose is to propagate...but for what purpose?

There really is no meaning to life...or living...when you look at it this way!

When considered on an individual level...there is no reason or value for existence!  There is no purpose!

EVEN FOR HUMANS!

That is pretty deep!

It is only when the entire existence is considered in a system that there is any purpose...then a plant does exist to feed herbivores...and so on...then there is some meaning...but is it enough?...but think about it...we exist to serve another level?  I do not exist to die!  But in the system...many of us do!

Deeply philosophical but think about that for a moment...

Why are you existing?

Are you an individual or part of a system?

Is there a purpose for you...some worthwhile conntection...or are you a drain on the earth's resources...?

Purpose breaks down when you attempt to stand as an individual...and only exists in the connections between things...are you food...fodder...or...just plain useless...or do you really mean something?

Those are deep and  freaky thoughts!  The coolest thing is to share this type of philosophical thinking with a 14 year old!  I LOVE THEM!


Are we there yet?  Are we there yet?

Yes we are!  Let's tie this all together!

We have to be VERY careful about narrowing our focus and the effect that it has on our meaning and the impacts of our actions!

When you worry about eating right or drinking enough...think bigger than yourself and take an extra moment to consider the impact of your actions...am I taking food or water out of the mouths and stomaches of people who have nothing?

Are my actions and my narrow thoughts impacting others in extreme places?

Does my driving a block instead of walking add to the global warming issue?

Is the narrow and self-serving nature of my opinions keep me from real understanding and perspectives?

Am I experiencing the true warmth of others?

Do I build a small fire and share its warmth with others...and sit close enough to them to share the warmth that they have?

These are questions that you can answer for yourself in the privacy of your own assessment of your actions and the subsequent impacts...

Your meaning and purpose will never be found in your substance...but only in your connections...outside of yourself...the things most intangible...

It is nothing mystical...it is hard work!

Enough Said!