Stone Soup...

Good Morning!


Another opportunity to wish you a happy holiday!

The holiday season (for whatever reason you celebrate) and the special offering it offers (for me Christmas) has come and gone...or has it?

I have come to realize (with more than just words) that I do not have wait, an entire year, to live like I do on that day...

I refuse to let this holiday go...and it feelings and its actions...

I have found that one of the most basic elements of people is that everyone (except for a meager minority) has greed at the ultimate base of their existence...

Since people are basically greedy...choosing what we are greedy about is very important.

I choose to be greedy about Christmas...and what it means...charity...giving...caring...love with not expectation with return...

If I have to be greedy about something...let it be about Christmas...

My pre-new year's resolution is to work to make as many days like Christmas as I can...

Enough Said on this...for a while...

The pressures of the season are behind you...and it is time again to take count of where you are at and where you wish to go...

Again...That sounds a lot like News Years Eve!

Another holiday...to be celebrated and enjoyed!  (One of my favorites!)

That too should be an everyday event

It is for truly successful people! It is one of their habits!

If you look on your life on a daily basis...you'll never get depressed...

...Look at what you've tried...

...Look at what didn't work...

...Look at what did work...

...And look how far I have come!

Nothing can stop you!

An early New Year's toast...a special one in remembrance of my mentor...

"We won some or we learn something...in either case...we were successful..."

Life is a blessing to those who look at each event in its proper perspective...

Shifting Gears...

Of all the pathogens that effect mankind...can you identify the one that has no immunization or cure and will never have one?

Here is a hint...it has destroyed many societies and cultures...far beyond the impact of the black plague...or the flu...or starvation...or thirst...

It remains as much of a threat to societies and cultures...today...as it did to primitive man...

...think...

...think...

...think...

Many will answer HIV...

Many will answer cancer...

The fact of the matter is...our science recognizes that both of these have the potential of eradication...so there is time, effort and money being spent on it...they will be cured!

It is not those...

The answer to that question is much more allusive...

Without belaboring this discussion...to the point of frustration…

The incurable threat to society and culture disease oft is "an idea..."

It is "ideas" that threaten to change the foundations of society...

It is "ideas" that threaten the existence of cultures...

It is the thoughts of people who threaten the status quo and spark meaningful and significant change...

Ideas as the well-spring of change...and a threat to status quo...that is not all bad...when they are the right ideas!

...for those who are brave enough to think them trough...feed the right ones and give them substance...

We would not be here if it were not for "ideas."

Ideas can not be stopped...and the proponents of stability and comfort fear them...and will attempt to suppress them as if their lives depended upon it...because they do!

Do not allow your ideas and thoughts be stopped...think...and allow it to expand!

Inside those thoughts are the beginning of change...

Buckminster Fuller once said, "...we do not have an energy crisis...we have a creativity crisis!"

Use your thoughts and ideas...and insight to make your world a better place...or "at least the part that matters!" (that's my line)

Shifting Gears...Again!

A little over 18 months ago...I recalled the old story of "Stone Soup"

One of the things that I didn’t mention then was that "Stone Soup" is a story about Christmas (I know that it is a push, but go with it)...OK...not about Christmas...but about people who ultimately refused to let the season pass...and as a result sparked the giving spirit within individuals...to share what small amounts of food they had as an ingredient in a soup...

The result of the sharing was something bigger than the individual part added up to!

A wonderful soup...a feast that fed the entire town!

You are capable of stone soup!

By bringing the thought and ideas of people together...the sum of the individual thoughts will provide a feast, far beyond the expectations of the entire town!

Christmas does not need to be behind us!

And many of the gifts that we share can not be purchased...

It is those gifts that carry the most special value...

The season of sharing and giving should carry on...it should be a habit...

Do not be afraid to share thoughts...

Shifting gears...AGAIN!

Effective people dedicate a portion of their blessings to help the less fortunate...They recognize their blessing and share it without an expectation of return...

A benefit of who you are is that you receive more than you need as a result of your work...

It is easy to start believing that you earned it and deserve it...

Don't fall prey to that...

Do not be afraid to give a portion of your blessings back...

Charity is a wonderful trait that does not truly happen enough...

Reaching today's destination...

I could write for pages on keeping the spirit of the holidays alive everyday...but let's be realistic...it will not happen...

We'll get caught up in the "fray of today" and it will die a quick death and no one will notice...

It is sad...but that's life...

Perhaps the best that we can expect is that during the year...the holiday season will spark and we'll notice and have it again for a moment sometime in March or August...or October...who knows...

If that happens...don't ignore it...

Have a Happy Every-day...or just a fun time!

21st Century Mentoring Opportunities...

Good Morning!

I bet that you have had many challenges this week...one of the most challenging is that the year is winding down and there is the temptation to take time off and rest...others are worried about what next year will bring...

The "year end" is a threatening time for many reasons...

It makes you step back and assess your accomplishments over the past year...and inevitably you feel like a failure...DO NOT allow the world to do that to you...

Many organizations (in good times or bad) are reorganizing for the year ahead and there is the chance that you'll be on the next reduction...BIG DEAL!

There is a temptation to stop...because noone else is working...DON'T

This is oftentimes is the best time for your to make huge headway...do not fall prey to complacency...

It is easy to use the holiday spirits and get off course...

It is also a time to be with friends and family...DO NOT get me wrong...YOU need to do that!

Yet...it is time for you to pick the vital few things and focus on them...use the season to your advantage to make BIG things happen and create a foundation for your legacy!

I am always on the look-out for opportunities to coach individuals who can take my advice and combine it with their experience and take themselves to the next level.  Of late...that face to face opportunity has ebbed...and I miss that...you know how I light-up when I find one of those situations...

Then I realized that there were many of those situations all around me!  Their faces had just changed slightly and I hadn't recognized them!

Shifting Gears!

I have been challenged by some huge out of the box thoughts this week...they (in all probability) are way-off course if taken for what they are saying...but dig deeper and find the lessons within them...allow them to free your brain.  They remind me of how we can allow arrogance to get in the way of truth...

Think about this one...(Sitzen Denken)

Our ancestors (of homo sapiens) first appeared on the earth about 4.5 million years ago...most of the initial variants became extinct as a result of a global catestrophe.  It is estimated that only about 40 females of child-bearing capability survived whatever it was...at the lowpoint...that is pretty scary!  We were more than an endangered species...

Homo sapiens (us) appeared about 100,000 years ago...and the intellectual development has just blossomed.  Think of where we have come from our stone age tools to the International Space Station...and our understanding of the universe and physics...and...whatever...

It absolutely boggles my mind...

In a flash...we have increased our intellect in logarithmic proportions...

Think of what our intellectual development would be if we are allowed to exist for 200 million years!

That is the point...

There have been creatures that did!

The dinosaurs...their reign was 2000 times longer than ours!

Shear probability tells me that the possibility that they were intellectually more advanced than us exists!

But my human arrogance stands in the way...they were just animals...lizards at that!

Do you realize that there is a period in which sea creatures existed that is 2000 times longer than the reign of the dinosaurs?

The statistical probability of them being more intellectually more advanced is HUGE!

But my human arrogance gets in the way...they were just fish and crawly things...

There was an obscure statistical theory once presented that attacked the significance of human intelligence...it mathematically showed that everything ever written can be done so by putting millions of apes banging randomly at typewriters (keyboards in modern terms).  All you need is time and randomness The significance of intelligence decreases in significance and it actually becomes just a part of the way things are...

Given enough time...language will randomly will develop...given enough time...intelligence evolves...

Time was on the side of the "fish and crawly things" and the dinosaurs...

Time changes the significance of human intelligence!

It is important for us to recognize that Nature itself has shown us that intelligence is just a part of the natural progression.  It is an attribute that evolves...it was given to humans...but why should we think that it was reserved solely for our species?  It is not an exclusive trait...

Given this logic...dinosaurs were smarter than us...

What are the ramifications? 

I do not believe that, but what I learned from this exercise is that it is important to consider various versions of reality and even obscure logical possibilities to avert biases even when there is no logical evidence direct proof that those possibilities exist!

It is about our seeing through the fog of arrogance...even when nothing is evident to prove that the obscure is true...

OR IS THERE?

If you think the last few paragraphs run the potential of getting me labeled as WEIRD...the next one will get me a tattoo!

While I was reflecting on the discussions that My Mentor and I had about the pyramids...I realize a human arrogance based paradigm exists in it also!

That paradigm is that we assume that the pyramids were built by humans!

Consider a lowly band of nomadic people roaming across the Nile Delta...suddenly they come across these huge monuments...at first they are apprehensive...and watch them from afar...and they realized that they were abandoned...or the builders were long since dead...so they moved in...and claimed them as there own...

About the same time some Yucatan natives got tired of Cancun and moved slightly inland...guess what they found?  Pyramids!  They watched from afar to ensure that the builders no longer resided there and they took them over...

There were a few druids skipping across the plains and what did they come across...a stone hendge...noone was around so they claimed it as their own!

I am not claiming that some extraterrestrials built them and took off...

But is to say...perhaps they were not constructed by humans...

Logic tells us that is is a stretch to think that humans can cut and handle 40 ton blocks!  That is 80,000 pounds or the equivalent of 2 fully loaded tractor-trailers...

What if they were build by a creature that handled 40 tons blocks like a child handles wooden building blocks?

Our arrogance forces us to believe that because the structures were advanced...they were built by humans...

Whether it be Stone Hendge or the Central American pyramids and temples?

What if the HUGE statues of people were decoys like the ones used by duck hunters?
What if man was nothing more than a remodeler who adapted the existing structures to their own needs...after finding the foundations prebuilt?

A little far fetched...but there is no proof or dating available related to the actual construction...it is all theory and speculation which has at its very foundation that anything done that appears advanced was done so by humans...

When you take into consideration the earlier part of the discussion...dinosaurs could mess with 40 ton blocks a lot easier than frail and underfed humans!

This is some weird science...and not meant to be considered as a theory of construction...but as a word of caution that specific types of arrogance can blind us from the truth! OR...at minimum taint the direction of thought in such a way that we miss reality entirely!

If you think about all the great developments in society...and assume that they can only be accomplished by people with PhDs...you will be tainted in the same way!

Be ever conscious of even the slightest hints at human or organizational arrogance...they can taint your efforts in discerning the truth!

Shifting Gears!   
The Power of Possibility thinking

During the late 1980's and early 1990's the heros were the "nay sayers"...and those who could identify the weaknesses within ideas and recommendations and relentlessly pound on them until the real heros gave up!

These people were lauded...

The creative people retreated and were cloistered...

Then the climate changed again and the "nay sayers" were shown for what they really were!

"Killer phrase" emails went viral!

The "nay sayers" couldn't stand for their loss of stature...

In a counter attack...they changed their language (ever so slightly) so that they could jade their demented strategy...they began using terms like "positive pushback" and "challenge"...we have opportunities...not problems...and so on...

I am sad to report that the "nay sayers" still exist...

Some outdated and dying organizations still promote "nay saying"...but let me assure you that these people are passe!  This management methodology is poison..."Nay Sayers" are a detriment to organizations...especially to those who wish to survive in the 21st century...

A 21st century organization can not afford to have anyone waste valuable time and resources...pushing back on ideas and concepts...or challenging them...Time arguing senseless views is one type of waste...

The 21st century organization needs people who can take an idea and make it reality...or take it to the next level...

Let me put this into an example that makes it easier for me to communicate...

Surviving in the 21st century is like challenging one of the top 5 mountain peaks in the world...

You are finalizing your trip....and now...you have to select a climbing partner...

What kind of partner are you going to choose...?

One that says...As we are climbing Mount Everest...I will push back and challenge you all along the way...(The Nay Sayer)

...or...

A possibility thinker who says that he or she will help you make this happen? in fact we'll get to the K2 peak?

Is my point clear?

That is why I recommend that you make the word "but" extinct in your vocabulary...and replace it entirely with "AND."  "But" is the purvey of "Nay Sayers" and the word of "push-back!"

I refuse to hire people who promise me pushback and challenge!  It is a waste of my valuable time and energy...I have mountains to climb!  I do not need people who create resistance...I need path clearers!  Their presence is there to make things happen and make them better than I could ever have!

Possibility thinking is part of my CIMM (Continuous Improvement Management Methodology).

We can not afford to be like the 20th century losers and promote we can't do that because...this does not mean that we can not voice your concerns...Find the problems and bring with them the way to show how you can adapt...That is possibility thinking!

Animals that can adapt...survive...animals that can not go the way of dinosaurs...

The last thing that I want is a climbing partner that pushes me backward as I near the summit...

Shifting gears...again!

I find inspiration and lessons to be learned in the most unique places and experiences or the experiences of others...

As of late...Napolean!  I refuse to reference a personality without a knowledge of that individual...I was about to use his "name in vain" when I decided to research him further...

The Napolean that we know from history is a tyrant and his name used by psychologists for a "short person disorder" and we know little of his 40 to 50 major military victories,,,but his "Waterloo."

What I discovered was interesting...the history of Napolean was primarily a "slur campaign" propagated by British historians.  Napolean was an embarrassment to the British empire so much of what is written and recorded was done so by the British, with defaming him in mind.

I found some interesting information about him on the opposite end of the internet too!

Realizing that the truth is probably somewhere halfway in between...I read those also...

What inspired me was not the military genius or his Napoleanic code (which was brilliant) or his vision, but one year of his life...while he was in exile.

Napolean was ousted from power as Emperor of France and exiled to the island of Elba.  Elba did not have to be a prison...it was worse...just being dropped on its shores was a death sentence.  Elba had 12,000 inhabitants.  Ships would not stop there...it was the worse of the worse...

Napolean's wife and son were sent to another city...so they were separated...

Napolean could have fell into depression...or retirement...but instead...he set about to unify the island and help it be, what it could be...I can see him saying..."Well all I have is Elba to help...France didn't want me...I will do what I can do with what I can do it with..."

In one year...Napolean created a centralized landfill, a public water system, a sewer system, build a navy, and army, 2 or 3 iron mines. a smelting factory...and many other things...

The 12,000 inhabitants became unified...a nation of sorts...

IN A YEAR!

Napolean then returned to mainland Europe to find his wife and son and during his trek...was again recognized as Emperor of France!

Great leaders do not take sets backs...they do what they can do...with what they have...

If you can't have France...OH WELL!  Help Elba!

Great Leaders are appreciative for what they have and earn the right to move on to bigger things...by first showing appreciation for where they are...

High aspirations are great...but there is so many great things to extract from the present...learn to be TOTALLY engaged in the here and now...use it as a stepping stone back to your mainland!

Keep the right motives in mind!

Napolean did amazing things in 1 year!  Elba is still a jewel...and Napolean is the reason!

Enough Said!

The Christmas season is a time to reflect and be thankful!

I was thinking back to what last year was like!  We were on a high...and lifting higher...

The "Project Science Fair" was presented in Alpharetta...it was showing the organization...what we could do at minimum!  The sky was the limit...it was an awesome day...

It was a time of soaring...What a great thing to be thankful for...

Do not forget that time in your life...look back a year and see how far you have come!

I am constantly thankful for the opportunites that I have been given and where that has been taken by great players like you!

I am constantly thankful for what I have now...and I am constantly striving to do the best with what I have!

You should consider this also...

You should not move on until you have proven that you can do amazing things with what you already have!

Take this time to identify the VITAL few things that you need to do great and beautiful things with...

Everyone is an exile...turn your Elba into a gem!

Enough Said!

The Greatest Injustice Done...to our Children...

Good Morning!

What a week!

Things do not comes easily all of the time...

...sometimes it requires sheer effort...and will power...

Most important is the realization of the fact that most great things are not done in a vacuum...great accomplishments require help!

DO NOT ever give up...no matter how frustrating it may get!

I am continuously reminded of this important characteristic of success.

Shifting Gears!

I was watching a TV show the other day...Criminal Minds...

I really like watching the psychology of it...it is quite accurate...and contains many little lessons that we can learn from ...especially things to avoid!  LOL!

There was a discussion between two of the FBI officers, that sparked some thoughts...and further investigation...and I found it was true...

One agent asked a second...Do you know what the biggest injustice done to the youth of our society?

The other on answered..."Stranger Danger..."

Many of you probably remember seeing the little session put on by well-intentioned schools and law enforcement agencies...but the fact of the matter is...

Children are in more danger from people they know than from strangers!

Stranger Danger totally shifted the attention away from the real souce of child dangers!

It was so catchy that it became a fad phrase!

People believed it!  Our society promoted it blindly and made it part of grade school programs and TV ad campaigns...and it got numerous awards...

The fact of the matter is that 100s times more children are hurt and molested by people that they knew than strangers...

The laws of probabilities support that...it is just that stranger abductions get a lot of sensationalized publicity...especially when it is compared to some issue within a family...which is generally swept under the rug...

The same thing holds true in organizations...

Your danger lies not in the people you do not know...but in the people that you do!

The threat is from people that you trust...

Especially people who ask you to trust them...

The fact of the matter is that we tend to trust them...because we know them and somewhere deep in our subconscious it has been planted that since we know them we can trust them...

Guess where that came from?

"Stranger Danger!"

Organizational criminals use that weakness to their advantage!

The solution is a VERY simple one...We must be ever-conscious of that fact to safefguard ourselves from the dangers of organizational molestation!  And that these sick people are people that we know and trust...

On a less figurative topic...and much more pressing...

We must safeguard our children from these threats...not from strangers...but from those that they know...

The focus should be on identifying abnormal behaviors...and not on bad tags...like strangers!

The tag "stranger" is an unwarranted predjuice...it is no more valid than "ALL Germans drink beer in excess!"

ALL strangers pose a threat!  What about the doctor or specialist...or the policeman...or a counsellor?

We predisposition our children to distrust the very people who are sworn to help!

Do you see what I am saying?

We allowed a bad public relations program skew our thoughts and actions without question...because it was catchy!

These are the things upon which damaging paradigms are built upon!

Drop the "Stranger Danger" from affecting your behaviors and look closer to home...the real criminals stand in your midst!

Enough of the fatherly advice!

SHIFTING GEARS...sort of!

iTalentCafe...(I know that you are sick of it)...the new website is being built as I write!  I am so excited!  It really is a data collection and comparison machine!

It is integrated across numerous social networks across the internet!  By the time we get done...it will be integrated across about 100 social networks!  That is huge and it is not the effort of a huge corporation...just me and another guy!

IT IS the product of a DMADD analysis...including the Triz...

I am so proud of it!

I am going to need you help in spreading the word about it...when the new site goes live...

I hope to get it over the tipping point in relatively short order and can only do so with your help!

When it is time...PLEASE promote the link to everyone you have attached to your social networks...and ask them to do the same!

Its mission is to connect REAL TALENT to REAL NEEDS!

It will be an awesome ride...if I can get your help!

This thing is going to make Ladders and Monster and Linkedin look like a dinosaur!

OK...enough fanaticism!

For those who have ears to hear...when an airplane is climbing...it is OK...when it is descending...it is crashing!

Think about this in relation to your work and your organization...

Are you moving up in the organization...are you moving up in the eyes of your customers...are you moving up in the market?

You can gauge your health with that simple "tongue in cheek" axiom!

Pay careful attention...

Take appropriate action...

You are a person of proaction...that is OK...but the real leaders are those of prediction!

That is the "PRE" to the "PRO"

Be smart!

This is a short update this week...

Not because I have nothing to say...but because I want to emphasize the few things that are worth saying...

1 - Put Stranger Danger in its proper place...There is a direct relationship between the amount of "Danger" that a person possesses and their proximity to you...this means that those who are closest pose the greatest threat!

2 - Spread the word about iTalentCafe.  Sign-up for one of the groups on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter or the website.  Those pioneering souls have the opportunity to be our Beta testers and get extended benefits.

3 - Be "Pre" rather than "Pro"  keep an ever watchful eye on the direction of travel that you and/or your effort is going...moving up is great...moving flat is OK for a while...moving down is a good indicator of a crash...even a landing has a huge potential for a crash...do you implicitly trust your pilot?

The point to be made is that nothing worth having comes easily...
...It must be worked for...
...It must be guarded...
...It must be continuously monitored...

Do not run blindly...or deceive yourself into the "all is good" attitude...

Pura Vida!

Where did Santa go?

Here is a "Special Edition" blog that you might want to share with your children.

As I thought about it today...I realized that many of the traits that we attribute to Santa disappeared around the same time we realized that the economy was in collapse...October 2009.

Good Morning!

A little over a year ago...the Santa that we all knew and loved disappeared!

Where did that Santa go?

Let me explain...where I think that he went...

You probably heard that in October 2009 there was a significant economic event that affected the entire world. 

It actually did not happen on a specific day (or even during that month), but October 2009 was when we realized how bad it had gotten.

It was called an economic collapse or crash...

The economic crash of October 2009 was actually when we realized that...
...We were living on too much credit and...
...We had an unrealistic hope that future values of everything we owned was going to go up. 

The funny thing about it...in October 1929 someting very similar happened!  You would think that we would learn! 

It was a bad month!

Many people lost their jobs in that month and the months after that.  Chances are that someone in your family or at least, someone you know, has lost their job in the past year and can not find another one.

This time is especially sad for them...the holidays are not going to be as good as they were in the past...

Santa is not visiting many of those families...

In fact, because of October 2009, the Santa of the 1990's has all but disappeared...

Or at least what we thought that he stood for...

Yes...he disappeared October 2009!

That is...if the adults have learned their lesson about credit!

You can no longer expect to get gifts because you promise to be good and keep your rooms clean and get your homework done and be nice to your brothers and sisters...

What many adults learned in October 2009 was that the value of promises went away when we realized that we can not count on them...

It is when adults finally realized that people have lost their honesty!

This is one of the things that made Santa disappear...

What happened last October was all of our fault.

One of the reasons it happened...was that we wanted you to have everything we never had...and then you learned to expect that... 

Another one of the reasons was that...we were so caught up working and making money...that we felt guilty for not being there when we needed to...so we gave you everything that you wanted...to try to make up for not being there...

Another reason was that...we forgot to teach you some of the important lessons that we learned when we were young...and that was because we were so busy with our jobs and careers and aspirations...

Things are different now...

In the olden days...Santa only gave presents to people who earned it...or deserved it...remember the phrase "...good little boys and girls?"

But we made the mistake of allowing you to think that you deserved anything you wanted...no matter what you did or didn't do...

We were letting you live on credit...just like we were doing...that is a bad lesson to learn...

Think about it...when you played soccer or baseball or did anything...EVERYONE got a trophy...that was wrong!

Trophies are supposed to be earned.  If you do not work...why do you think you should get someting for it?  Because we taught you that...

Over time you started believing that you deserved everything and that we were bad parents for not getting whatever you wanted...that is wrong too! 

We should have been giving you important life lessons instead...
When you believed in Santa...you were living in the world of credit...just like we were doing... 

You got toys and gifts because you were cute and that we had many hopes and dreams for you...we believed in you...and your future...

Then you found out that Santa was just a story...

That was when you grew up and reality should have been put into place...and we should have started giving you the real life lessons...

Just like October 2009 did to us...

It was October 2009 when many of us grew up!

I do not know why...but when you stopped believing in Santa...we kept treating you like children

We didn't allow you to see what the real world is like...

The funny thing is that many adults are acting like kids...

They are asking the government to help them pull out of their problems...and make the bad things go away!

PLEASE MAKE THE MONSTERS GO AWAY!  BAIL US OUT!

This is a good time to teach everyone that you get what you want...by FIRST giving others what they want from you...NO CREDIT...STRAIGHT CASH...

We need to teach you that when you eat...you should not make a bigger mess and extra work for us to clean-up after you...

We need to teach you that your room needs to be really clean...
We need to teach you that homework is NOT about completing an assignment...but about learning...that handing in a piece of paper is not the real goal, but learning how to do it, without errors is more important...

We need to teach you that where ever you go or whenever you do something...you leave the place better for your having been there...

We need to teach you that you need to work first and play your video games second...

We need to teach you that about how important honesty is...

and that is just the beginning...of the lessons we should have taught you...but I think that we need to learn a few new ones too!

We are sorry...

Santa is gone...

But the neat thing about Santa is that we can bring him back to life...

We can't live on credit any longer...

Before you ask for your gifts this holiday season...ask yourself what have I done to earn them?

How many times has mom or dad had to pick up after you...or ask you to clean your room...or made you a meal...or bought you something already?

How many times did what you do cause a lot more work for your parents...

What did you do to get what you think you deserve to get?

Step up and be a real part of the family...rather than a burden!

Santa is gone!

It is up to us to bring him back!

Carrying on the Legacy...

Good Morning!

How did you do this past week?

It is always hard to reconnect after an extended weekend...but I know that you are already back into the swing!

Good Job!

I recently reconnected with a high school teacher Dr Barbara Ferguson...what a fantastic experience!

Since I was a sophomore (in High School)...we have been in touch...that is almost a span of 40 years!

Over the years...the frequency of our contact has diminished, but the connection has not!

She was one of three pivotal and life changing people in my life...

Who are yours?

What did they do?

As I reflect on them...I found a common thread in each of them...

Here are my top 3...in chronological order...

#1 - Barb Ferguson (I was 15 years old)
#2 - My Mentor (name withheld by his request long ago) (I was 25 years old)
#3 - Lori...my wife (I was 40 years old)

What do they have in common?

All of them accepted me as I was and made me believe that I was capable of much more than that...

How did they do the second part of that common thread?

Each expected it...as if their presence was at the beginning of my journey and not at an apex!

What a gift each of them have been to me...and continue to be...their presence is constant in my life...whether real...like Lori...or in my memories...

Barb believed that I was a great philosopher!  She taught me that "the unexamined life was not worth living!"

She taught me Socratic questioning...and taught me to write!

She introduced me to a fellow named Plato...

She taught me to deconstruct and reconstruct...

During a teacher's strike she risked her position as head of the high school history department and met me at a dumpy restaurant to review a term paper that I was writing...she read it and said that it was excellent for a high schooler...and I was elated!  Then she said that it was not even close to what she knew I was capable of writing...and that I should go back and write it at my level of performance...and I did!

I have never lost that lesson and that passion! 

When we talked the other day...it was if no time at all had passed!  In 4 more years she'll be 80 years old!  She is still teaching!  Teaching is her passion and I have been blessed by her belief in me!  I know that many others have too...she planted a seed of inquisitiveness in every one of the students that she engaged with!

She believed in me!  I will not make her wrong!

My Mentor...what can I say!  He believed more in me and what I could do than I ever believed was possible.  I am still striving to live up to his expectations!  He believed that I was and could continue to be the best manager that people could ever have...he believed that my road would be tough...yet I would at some time in my life...be recognized for my efforts!  I believe him...and will do that because I do not want to see him wrong!

Lori...she picked me up at one of the worst times in my life!  I was shattered...and yet...she believed in me!  She continues to do so...and her belief drives me to ever higher performance and constant re-examination of my life...and my efforts...and my values...I will not let her down...why?

Because she believes in me!  I do not want her to be wrong!

All of these people have created a legacy...for themselves...but

They also are driving me to create one for myself!

It is easy to get disillusioned and depressed and frustrated and impatient...and just give up!

But I will not for them and for me!  They believed in me!  I will return that confidence by living up to what they believe I am capable of!  I will work as hard as I can to make it happen!  I will not wait for it...

Good things do not come to those who wait...it comes to those who work for it!

That is one of the ingredients of a legacy...a legacy does not come easily...it requires work...

Who are the three people in your life that have most influenced you?

Why?

Will you carry that legacy on?

Enough said on this topic!

Listen to the words of this song...it has something that we can learn from our youth!

  

Success has a lot to do with being what others see you can be.  I have learned that lesson.  I did a ton of research on the Pygmalion effect while working on my Masters degree.  An interesting thing that I learned from the study was the relationship between what others thought a person was capable of and the overall performance of that individual.  The bottom-line...others play as much of a role in your success as you yourself!  There is no longer such thing as independent successes...you can not go it alone!

That does not mean that your performance and success is entirely in the hands of others...I have a simple formula that can help get the control back into your hands...

That will be the topic of future updates!

I wouldn't want to give it all to you today and never have you come back! 

SHIFTING GEARS! (Kind of...iTalentCafe)

For those who follow on Linkedin, Facebook, or Twitter, you have probably noticed that I initiated "Groups" called iTalentCafe on each site.  It also has a corresponding website http://www.italentcafe.com/. 

I have a cool vision for this site.  It will be a place that is built for world-class professionals, by world-class professionals.

The purpose is to connect the best and the brightest with organizations with needs.  People are at the bay of job search sites like Ladders, Linkedin, Monster...and many more...They are relatively the same...

This is a place where people get discovered!

We need a world-class web designer to build this into something great!
We need a world-class web marketer to get the word out
We need world-class recruiters to post real needs out there
and so on...

It is purely voluntary....

But think about the kind of visability!

Who built that marvelous website?
They get the credit and the publicity!

Who marketed that?
They get the credit and the publicity!

Who was that guy running the open mike night?
They get the credit and the publicity!

If you know world-class people with talent...

Push them our way...while they are job hunting...they can be making a contribution to the website and show off what they can do...perhaps they get discovered and make it BIG TIME!

I am loving this...I need your help to make this great...please join in and pass that news and the links around...get them to join our groups...and step up to this great challenge!

Have a great day...

Make next week even more successful!

PURA VIDA!