Independence Inspired Success

This coming weekend here in the US we’re celebrating the Fourth of July, or Independence Day, the day that congress declared independence from Great Britain. With all the talk that’s already been happening around the holiday I thought today I’d share some success insights based on this holiday.

It started with courage. It wasn’t easy at the time to choose to leave the safety of Britain, it wasn’t easy to start over in a completely foreign place without any of the resources that you’re used to having access to, it wasn’t easy to figure out a completely new place and the nature-based challenges that came along with it. So it took great courage for not only the first couple groups of people to head over to the US, but also for all people through Independence Day and the American Revolutionary War to choose this new and developing nation.

It continued with teamwork. The only reason the signers of the Declaration of Independence were able to do so, is because they had the foundation from the people who originally colonized the US, as well as the support of all who were alive and part of the revolution in the 1770’s. Each of the men who put pen to paper, each of the men and women who fought in one way or another to make that independence a reality, to the children who were given the opportunity to live in “the land of the free, and the home of the brave,” are all part of this team and the motivation behind these people coming together to take a stand.

It is still a work in progress. Any good victory starts with one step of success. Independence Day was one of the steps in the long journey of the US, a journey we’re still on today. No, we’re not still working on our independence, but we sure have a ton of kinks we’re still working on as we develop our nation, just like other nations around the world who have been around for much longer than the US.

So as we continue to navigate 2020 it’s more important than ever to look back at 1776 and the first Independence Day, and remember what it was that helped it succeed, because those same things can help us succeed in bringing this country to the next peak on its journey.

Relationship Blessings

As I was thinking about relationships this week, I was reminded that we have a responsibility to love or change our relationships, which got me thinking about how we interact with the people we see (usually) most often, and at our best and worst: our families.  At the end of the day how do you return home from wherever you are?  Do you return home to relax, to eat, to sleep, and/or to bless your family?

I was reading recently about a leader who had just completed a great task, and the chapter ended by saying that he went home to bless his family.  I was taken a bit off guard by that statement.  After all, we all give all day long at our jobs or in our businesses, so having the attitude of continuing to give once we’re home may surprise some of you as well.  Before I go any further let me tell you the number one reason you should consider blessing those in your home: because a large percentage of people go home to an unhappy, at odds, tired, unpleasant home situation.  If you’re the least bit interested in looking forward to going home and being with your family, I encourage you to keep reading.

What does it mean to be a blessing anyway?  Dictionary.com shares that being a blessing means to bestow good of any kind upon someone.  There are tons of ways you can bless someone!  A few are:

Come home a little early or on time instead of being late.

Bring dessert home.

Help your kids with their homework so your partner doesn’t have to.

Read an extra book with your kids before they go to bed.

Help make dinner or set the table.

Clean up around the house without being asked.

Instead of coming in and complaining or asking questions, greet your partner with a hug and a kiss.

Listen to what your partner is saying instead of ignoring them.

Spend some time doing something different like giving your partner a massage or letting them have the TV remote.

Play with your pet (they need love too).

This week I encourage you to find ways you can be a blessing at home, and see if it doesn’t transform your life at work and at home!

In the Business of Gratitude

This month I read Leading with Gratitude by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton. Gratitude has emerged as one of the reasons why people say they leave a company, or at the very least the lack thereof is a reason they choose not to stick around. Gratitude is something that we should be practicing on a personal level (i.e. in our relationships and throughout our non-work activities), and it’s also something that is practically cost-free and can have a big impact around the office. It’s something anyone and everyone in the company should do, but especially something that should be started and consistently modeled by the leadership

If all these studies have been done on the power of gratitude, why isn’t it done more at work? Part of the answer has to do with leadership insecurity, fear, presumed effort, and lack of desire to invest in their people. While I understand the idea that bosses/leaders may have that if they’re compassionate and give praise to employees they won’t be seen as the authority figure they are supposed to be, too many leaders have proven that idea to not be valid. In fact, the book said that many leaders find great joy in being part of a gratitude-based team, and find out more about challenges their teams are facing/issues they’re having before they become serious and cause tons of damage.

So what are we talking about when it talks about sharing gratitude at work? While there definitely is a place for general gratitude (“hey, good job today”), the book talked about the best or most empowering gratitude being authentic, specific and timely. Beyond just being appreciated at all, most of us prefer getting specific gratitude and knowing exactly what we did well and getting the recognition that someone knows exactly what we did. But I don’t think we always take the time to think about how much more power a timely gratitude statement has than a list of praises saved up for performance review time.

One interesting point they highlighted about having a gratitude practice at work has to do with how it can be tied to your values and mission. Many companies set out a list of values or mission statement when they start the company, but then don’t follow up on it, and many of the employees can’t even tell you about a company’s values or mission. So not only can you recognize employees/team members in the moment you see them living a company value, you can also make that recognition part of weekly/monthly/quarterly meetings, so that everyone can not only appreciate their fellow employees, but also get some examples and reminders of how they too can live company values and further the company mission.

If you’re not ready to start with outright praise and gratitude, start with something simpler and just (positively) acknowledge what people are doing. It all comes back to recognizing that we’re all human, that we all work better together when people are more empathetic, respectful, and more open so that everyone can work together as a fully functioning and knowledgeable team. Have you thanked or celebrated someone recently?

Productivity, Procrastination and Fear

So the other day as I was wondering where all the hours had gone to, I got to thinking again about productivity, but this time about procrastination and why sometimes we struggle to get things done even if we’re not doing any of the things that might be seen as traditional procrastination activities. And the word that popped up is one that we’ve talked about a lot as a world over the past few months, and that’s fear.

Do we delay or struggle to get things done because we fear having nothing to do when it’s done? Do we fear running out of work? Do we fear missing details (even if they may not be as important as we think they are)? Are we stuck on the concept of working a specific set of hours and are fearful of what someone will say if we don’t work those full hours? Are we doing things in ways that take longer because we’re afraid of doing them in a different way that someone might not agree with or approve of?

I think on one level or another one or several of those fears do resonate whether we want to admit it or not. Some fears are healthy because they help us be prepared or warn us when something bad or dangerous is in our path, so it should not be our goal to get rid of all our fears. But if you’re feeling rather rational and logical at the moment, you can come up with “well, then…” answers in response to each of those fears, like listing all the other things we could get done (including resting) the sooner we give our full attention to our activities. Depending on the situation we may be able to then conquer those fears and get back up to speed on our productivity right then and there, or at least begin the process of making changes and catching ourselves when we fall back into old, unproductive patterns in the coming days and weeks.

Of course it all comes down to whether or not we feel a desire to conquer those fears and/or be more productive. After the last few months many of us have learned that there’s a lot to be said for both getting stuff done and having time off, so now might be exactly the right time to break through old habits and practices that hurt your productivity or hold you back. What have you been learning or experiencing about your productivity levels lately?

Being a Dad Who Loves

The past few months have shown some really good examples and some really not good examples of humanity. A lot of it has been encouraging because people are stepping up and seeing or accepting or understanding issues that they haven’t been willing to deal with, from seemingly simple issues of product chains to serious issues of racial discrimination. Something that we haven’t been talking about much though is about parenting, and the role that it plays in setting up the future for all of us.

Any adult is technically responsible for the growth and education of the next generation. The way we each act in the stores we visit or the places we go and how we interact with others online all sets an example for anyone and everyone to see. We may not be picking out the food kids eat or doing homework with them, but as we know there’s a lot more that goes into becoming a wise adult who contributes to society and our future.

One of the most important things is love. We can’t always provide our kids with everything that we would like to, we can’t always be there for them or give them the same step up that other parents can. But it doesn’t cost anything, doesn’t take extensive amounts of time, or tons of effort to show them love. When you start with love anything else is possible. Having a foundation of love helps people work through the inevitable mistakes and failures that happen as we live and learn and work and live together.

So this Father’s Day, I encourage you dads especially to choose love. Show your kids that you love them, let them know you are thankful for their love, and take time to be with each other whether virtually or in person and have more experiences that will create lasting memories and help all of you learn more about living with love.

Better Business Feedback

Each week I read hundreds of business related emails and blog posts. As you know I am an ardent supporter of both communication and education, and am always open to hearing new perspectives on leadership, business, marketing, success and working with each other. This week one of the posts I read talked about one of the frequently played commercials on TV right now, and it had a really negative opinion of the commercial. It’s one of the commercials that has emerged from and is based on things we’ve experienced over the past few months, and while I’m not particularly fond of the commercial or the brand behind the commercial, I don’t dislike it for the reasons that they talked about in the post. I can definitely see how they would come up with those opinions, and how other people seeing the commercial might feel offended as well, but I also think that they may have overreacted on their opinions regarding the commercial. I don’t know what the process was for creating the ad, but I think a few more discussions with the target audience would have helped with those little tweaks and have given people less to criticize about it (there will almost always be someone who dislikes something about your company/marketing especially if you’re a big company).

As part of the discussions all businesses are having right now, I think it’s more important than ever to get feedback from people on marketing campaigns you’re planning that will go out to a big audience, new products you’re considering offering, and what is and isn’t working for your business right now. Whether you’ve got a large number of people who work for your business or a small number, it’s good to have a team of people you can check in with for detailed feedback, taking time to ask your email/social subscribers for their feedback, as well as taking advantage of some of the companies out there who can survey broader groups of people that would fit in your target audience.

So what does this look like? For broad information gathering sessions you can do both lengthy and short surveys. For your email/social subscribers typically you’re going to do short ones, probably not more than once a month depending on your business and audience. You can also check in with people in the company at meetings to just get some quick feedback and first thoughts.

I would also recommend though that you have a team of carefully chosen people both as part of an email list and as part of your company that you can talk with more frequently, who are willing to give you honest feedback and opinions and ask you questions/share their questions. This team can be compensated either through discounts, merchandise, team gear, or other bonuses to thank them for their time and effort, and should be those that you would call fans, supporters or very knowledgeable about you and your company.

Getting feedback isn’t about having your ideas thrown out or trampled, but instead discovering what others might see that you don’t see. Typically, that means that your ideas will only be improved upon by talking with others. You’ll also get good feedback on what people are looking for or concerned about or ready to invest in by having these crucial conversations. And, as I said, they don’t have to take a long time, and thanks to technology if you keep the questions easy-to-answer and the overall survey short, it will be easy to process the results and act on them quickly. What great feedback have you gotten for your business lately?

Not My Problem?

On Monday the US Supreme Court decided a case regarding discrimination “because of” sex at work. The decision was in favor of LGBTQ rights and the LGBTQ community, saying that it’s illegal to discriminate or have job bias on people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. It’s interesting timing for this case to be decided, because it’s Pride month, and for many it’s the first bit of good news they’ve gotten since the year started.

I was reading this article which summed things up, and read an interesting line that I wanted to talk about today. Unfortunately, the article has since been edited, but essentially the line from one of the dissenting judges was about how it wasn’t a Supreme Court issue. It got me thinking about how that could be said about a lot of life. The people who pick up garbage and recycling from our streets and dumpsters could argue that our garbage isn’t their issue. The people at the phone stores could argue it’s not their issue when we screw up our phones. Those who don’t have any damage after a natural disaster could argue that their neighbor’s damage isn’t their issue so they don’t have to help. Those who have never done any outright discrimination against any of the many segments of our world population could argue that the many issues people report in the world aren’t their problem.

As I was thinking about the comment in the article, I realized that while all of those things may be true, sometimes you have to step up and do the clean up even if it’s not your “fault” or directly your issue. There sometimes comes a time when you just have to choose to be the bigger person and make the tough decisions; decisions that people haven’t had the courage to make or aren’t able to come to a consensus with. Sometimes you have to think about what’s best for the community, for the people that you share the world with and let that be your guide. For example, countless businesses and people stepped out of their comfort zone over the past few months to create and share products to support their nation and the world in the fight against the virus. They didn’t have to, but they chose to do it any way because it was the right thing to do or they could do it.

There’s a lot going on in the world right now, people struggling in many different ways, some for longer than you may have ever known if you even know. I’m not going to suggest that you try to fix everything or help everyone, it’s not realistic. Instead, I simply suggest that when you run into someone facing a challenge or dealing with an issue, while it may not be your issue, if you can do something about it or something to help them, consider doing so.  It may not be your problem, but it is someone’s problem, and everyone needs a little help from time to time.

Men Who Set The Example

One of the holidays we have this month here in the US is Father’s Day. While the world has changed a lot in the past few months and years, some things remain the same, and one of those things is that children everywhere need are good male (and female) figures in their lives, whether their father and/or another guy who can set a good example for them as a male figure. I don’t know why it seems like there are fewer good male figures in the world, maybe because men don’t have the same physical connection women have to their children, or feel like they aren’t as needed when it comes to the next generation, or because they tend to succumb to the poor lifestyle choices more than women do.

The world is made up of men and women of all cultures, histories, experiences, and life paths, some of whom have made good decisions and others who haven’t. One of the best ways to make sure that the next generation is given the best advantage they can to learn and grow and make the world a better place, is if they’re able to build healthy relationships with both men and women. Obviously, the original intention was to have the parents and grandparents have close relationships with kids, but sometimes that doesn’t work out. And I’ve always encouraged the concept of tribes, that we have a network of people who work together to raise children in the best ways we all know how.

I do believe that women can be great leaders and do just about everything by themselves if they’ve got the experience, will or training, but there’s something about many men that make them natural leaders, and a woman isn’t a man and only men can share what it’s like to be a man or explain things from a man’s perspective. I’m thankful for the male friends I have that are doing the hard work of being present and raising their kids the best they can. The only way we’ll be able to turn the tide of crime and prejudice and violence in our world is if we all step up, and one of the most important places to do so is with the next generation.

It’s my hope that this Father’s Day, with all the challenge and change we’ve seen over the past few months, that it will inspire more men than ever to truly step up for the next generation, showing them how to lead a life of integrity, hard work, wisdom and love. It’s not about being perfect or having lots of money, but about making good decisions, showing how to get up when you’ve stumbled or fallen, and consistently following through on the commitments you make. What have the good men in your life taught you?

A Point of Pivot

There’s a word that has trended in recent months and it has given me many mixed feelings. Today I thought we’d look at that word and what it says about our businesses, our leadership and where we go from here. The word? Pivot. The definition of pivot is “a pin, point, or short shaft on the end of which something rests and turns, or upon and about which something rotates or oscillates.” or “any thing or person on which something or someone functions or depends vitally.”

One of the reasons I think the right thing to do when the virus was wreaking havoc was a “pivot” or alternate use or deployment of business resources is because if you think about pivoting with the mental image of what it looks like to pivot around in a circle keeping one foot on the floor, pivoting means that you’re staying true to something or the one thing that’s at the core of your business and leadership at all times, even if there are other changes going on around you, and that’s the care and support of your customers and employees. Pivoting isn’t necessarily something that you’ll continue with in the new future (more on that in the next point), but it’s something that’s likely been at the periphery of your abilities or a temporary significant expansion of your resources, and in moving in that direction for the short term you’re doing your part to care for your customers and employees.

For some businesses a pivot is temporary, for example the liquor businesses who pivoted to make hand sanitizer. They’ll probably never do it again unless they see it as relevant and desired or want to use it as a gift or [fun] talking point. For others the pivot has opened doors that weren’t previously open or considered, and this gives businesses the opportunity to grow in new directions and support their physical and virtual communities in new ways.

That said, it brings us to the points that have challenged me these past few weeks and months. In some cases businesses and non profits have pivoted in recent weeks and months to points that they should have worked on for months if not years prior. One example is all of the retail businesses and faith groups that only had a physical location and hadn’t previously done much or anything when it came to technology. The concern here is that businesses and leaders chose to have an extremely narrow focus, ignoring or discarding what was within range of their core and could support it and their people.

Sometimes leaders choose not to step into those areas of potential growth to cut costs or keep costs low, sometimes they do it because they truly don’t care, sometimes they do it because they’re scared, sometimes they do it because they’re overwhelmed, sometimes they do it because they don’t understand and aren’t willing to take the time to understand, and sometimes they do it because they see that growth potential as a threat to their leadership. Another set of challenges go along with position, and how if you’re not the leader, there’s only so much you can do to get them to expand their vision and consider the pivot, and sometimes the leader can’t get enough support for a vision to expand. But leaders who really care about their business and people should be considering and aware of how their business/non profit can grow, aware of the potential that they could tap into, even if they (along with their team) decide it’s not a necessary step or right for them yet.

So this week I invite you to consider your business and your people. Are you avoiding something? Are you trying to manage too much? Do you need to get new people on your team that you can trust? What can you add or subtract from or separate within your business so that you better support your people and open your business to more [stable and consistent] growth? What if instead of a pivot you worked on an expansion or change?

Success Stuck in the Past?

This month we’ll be talking a lot about next steps and change, and today I wanted to start with talking about one of the challenges to success. That challenge is spending too much time in the past. The past has lots of important and helpful qualities to us, but I don’t believe it can or should be the only influence on our present or future lives and success. I love reading stories that were written years ago (some of my favorites are from 10+ years ago), talking about and celebrating holidays that were started years ago, and getting to know people who were born in different generations than I. I think it’s important to have a basic grasp of different events throughout history so that we know some of how we got where we are, some of the things that people experienced during their lives, and ways that the world and our cultures have changed over time. It’s also important to know a little about the stuff that happened and the people who existed that weren’t good so that we don’t repeat the wrongs that happened. The past can also guide you on the right actions to take, for example if something has worked for you in the past it’s possible and sometimes likely that it will work again going forward.

Yes, looking at the past also tells you when you need to apologize or make changes or try to fix things, because with the new knowledge you’ve got now that you’re in the future, you realize a mistake happened or things worked out exactly opposite of what was expected or planned. Apologies and changes in the present/future don’t change the past, but they can give us the relatively clean slate to make better decisions going forward and work better together in the future.

But if we only live with eyes in the rear view mirror, we’ll miss a whole lot that’s coming up, as well as opportunities to innovate and make things better. We couldn’t have gotten to here with cell phones if years ago people hadn’t decided that they didn’t like relying on the pony express to communicate or even further back of waiting for news of other places to arrive by boat or other long distance travelers (if ever). If you’re only looking in the past you’ll also not be able to fix mistakes going forward (you won’t have motivation to do anything different if you’re stuck panicking over what is in the past). Also, if you’re only willing to deal in what you’ve done, you’re going to face one definition of insanity sooner or later which is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen and experienced enough of insanity over the past few months and I don’t want to go through that again. What are your tips for mixing past and present to help with the future?