Street Cred

There is a distinct difference between having it and not having it. Your customer knows, just ask them. The tribe you lead knows. People you work with, engage on a daily basis know.  They can hear it, see it, even smell it a mile away. It may be the single most impactful component of your show up. Street cred makes you. Street cred breaks you.

How do you know if you have street cred?  Honestly if you have to ask, that may be an issue all on its own, but it’s worth naming. Street cred is the knowhow, the skills, or product knowledge about the services you provide. Street cred is the experience you reference in the place you teach. Passion, belief, understanding = street cred. It’s a been there capability.

So do you have street cred?

People underestimate the power of street cred. If you have been in the role, sold what your audience is selling, have a shared understanding of the direction of where your TEAM is heading you can help to navigate them safely. A trust that what you are saying or doing actually works is the power of street cred. Street cred is knowing your audience so well you don’t have to guess at the results they will deliver.     

How do you get street cred? You don’t. You earn street cred.

Earning street cred is not easy. It’s all about frequency and involvement. The frequency of what and how to communicate, plus the consistency of your involvement. It’s practicing constantly, on the same playing field as the audience you are trying to reach.  It’s communicating often, tirelessly driving your TEAM forward. Street cred is being visible, available, and willing to learn. It’s about being real, authentic, and honest in your conversations. It’s being the first to say great job and when needed being the first to ask how we can do better. It’s not letting a coachable moment pass you by. Street cred is putting yourself in the most vulnerable spots to get honest feedback from the TEAM you support. It’s immersing yourself in what they do, asking questions to understand, and engaging constantly. It’s relentlessly seeking out what YOU could do or how YOU could have done it better. It’s the willingness to be coached when needed.  

So how’s your street cred?

Does your street cred make you or break you?

Why?

Why?

Great question! Can’t think of a more concise way to uncover what’s next. As a child it’s probably the first question we learn to ask, why this or why that, naturally curious about the world around us. It’s simple asking to learn, innocent even. We become masters of this question by the age of 4. How is it that years later we grow to abandon this beautiful question?


Imagine walking into your kitchen to find an entire box of cereal spilled all over the floor. Your little one is standing over the mess, box in hand, and has a startled look on their face. How do you respond to what you see? (Pause.Think.)

Are you a “What happened?” person, focused on the activity and the happenings? Sure your question opens it up for dialog and depending on the age of the little one, that could be fun. It is however focused on the something that occurred, good or bad, cereal spilled. Besides, it seems a little obvious to me, the little one figured out yet another way to free the trapped cereal.

Perhaps you are a “How did this happen?” person, focused on the actions it took to spill cereal all over the kitchen floor. Again, good dialog could come from this, and you could learn how to coach the actions that the little one took to unleash the cereal on the floor. I offer this may be a great opportunity to demonstrate the different techniques to getting all of the cereal out of the box and onto the floor.

What if you were a “Why did this happen?” person, focused on how the happening and action can be prevented. Better yet, how could you have prevented the sharing of cereal with the kitchen floor? Wait, what? How did I become the fall guy? Great question. Think preventative. Think in anticipation. Think beyond blame or understanding and instead focus on why the cereal picked a fight with the kitchen floor. Not sure how this shows up for you, but I’m sure there are millions of possibilities.

Our world is consumed by what has happened. CNN & ESPN are very good at reporting the “what”. We get text alerts that tell us the “what” all day long, short, specific, yet no depth… standard definition television. As we tweak our “what” and improve to “how” by asking questions to confirm, understand, or learn. At very least there is some understanding and ability to provide feedback and coaching. How things happen is fascinating, the process and techniques that I have learned to understand the “how” have made all the difference in my life and my relationships with people. Think of this as HD TV, great definition, crisp and brilliant. I dare you to take the next bold step to understand the “why”. Seek out root causes or triggers. Go beyond the obvious. What new depth of learning can you uncover? What could you prevent, better anticipate, or further advance by asking why more often? This is like 3D TV, a new lens to see the same material, unlocking all sorts of new possibilities.

“What” is needed less. “How” is needed more. More “why” is needed. Amazing how some of the first ways we learn can be the most effective. Channel your inner 4 year old, ask why more often. Go from think, to think differently, to think crazy differently!

Present... Presence... What Gifts Do You Bring?

We have all had _________ that are present. They show up. We have all had ___________ that have presence. They show up differently. 

Present suggests physical, to be there live and in person. Show up at your work, your school, your homes; present. It’s the single most important thing to you can do or be. Nothing can begin unless you are present.

Presence is something beyond physical, not necessarily live and in person. It shows up at your work, your school, your homes; presence. It’s the single most important thing you can have. Nothing can advance unless you have presence.

Think of both of these definitions in the context of how you filled in the blank above. What gift have you brought? Present is showing up. Presence is engagement, being involved, and exactness. Present is being there. Presence is anticipation, knowledge, and timeliness. Present is something you do, presence is something you are. As a person, leader, parent, teacher, sibling, partner, employee, co-worker, or coach what do you offer?  You can be present yet have no presence. If you are present, congrats you have done the easy part. If you have presence, well that's different. 

Different is difficult. Practice is difficult. Good practice is different. Presence is practice.  How do you practice?

Different is not popular. Homework is not popular. Homework is different. Presence is homework. When do you do your homework?

Different is trust. Thinking is trust. Trust is different. Presence is trust. Where do you trust?

Different is a lot more. What is different for you? What presence do you need? Your TEAM need? Your family need? Just imagine all the ways you can add presence to your roles. There are millions of ways to practice, lots of homework to do, and great people to trust... will you just show up or will you show up differently? Before you embark on your next adventure, pause, think about the gifts you bring.  

You care, don’t you?

You care, don’t you?

No really, do you care about those around you? Whoa deep question I know. Take the next 30 seconds to think about that question before you proceed…


Ok, so you do care. Good. Not sure I completely expected you to close up this message and go about your day; however I do hope you thought to consider this question… How would people around you know that you care about them? Let that set in…


I assume that you love and cherish your family unconditionally (although I believe the same principles apply with loved ones), so for the moment let’s remove them from the equation. Think about everyone else. Think about every single person you encounter throughout your day. From your barista to your co-workers, the server at lunch to your customer. How do those people know that you care about them? How do you share with them the AWESOMENESS that they are? What ways do you explain the actions, perhaps the behaviors they exhibit that demonstrate such leadership? Or do you?

Caring is tough to quantify, not sure there is metric that measures how much one cares for someone/something else. Half the time I’m not sure people know what it means. My biggest fear is leaders don’t know how to identify, teach, or coach “how to”, “why to”, or “if to” care. Early in my career I believed that you were either born with it or you weren’t, that caring was an inherent thing you just had. Nope. Sorry, all learned.

So how does one begin or further this journey of caring? If it is indeed that simple, how can just anyone begin to care at a level that makes all the difference? You have to communicate it. It’s the actions of caring that make it work. Just saying you care isn’t enough. I am reminded of a quote my former boss had up in his office. “Who you are speaks so loudly I can't hear what you're saying.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was posted at his desk facing anyone who was going to have a discussion with him. Bold but true, fierce yet accurate. A great reminder of the simplicity of caring.

Perhaps the question I should have asked at the beginning should have been, “What actions do you do, that show the people around you that you care for them?” Think about the million different ways you can show the people you work with, live with, or chat with, how much you care. Think about the bus driver, the mailman, or your boss. What ways do you communicate your care for them? Maybe it’s a simple note, a text, or a call. Perhaps you surprise your TEAM with lunch, give a free cup of coffee to the next customer, or hold the door open for someone. Small meaningful gestures that demonstrate how much people mean to you. I am fascinated by the role Social Media has played in helping to further advance the way people can share their care for one another. Video, audio, or otherwise, people are finding different ways to connect with other people via Facebook™ or YouTube™ following them with Twitter ™or using “check-ins” on GoWalla™. In turn, this has allowed businesses and brands to become better at showing how they care, further deepening their relationships with consumers. Ultimately those who do this well are separating themselves and building loyalty. The whiz-bang is great but it has to be built on a platform of caring.

Trust me, your ability to care will win out. There are enough distractions out there, noise about fastest this or best price of that, end of the day what is left? What is the essence of any product, brand, or company? I argue it is the ability of these products, brands, or companies to care. As a wise woman once taught me, “It’s simple, but it’s hard, but it’s simple.” (Thank you again Sue!) The cool thing is if you care, you are already armed with a secret weapon. Care is the closest thing to a silver bullet, a-one-stop-fix-everything-right-at-this-moment piece of brilliance!

I challenge you all to think about who, what, when, why, where, and how you go about sharing your care for others. Needless to say I am intrigued by this and would love to learn more from each of you. I would be honored if you shared your “Who you are” and “How you care” (not only with those close to you) stories with me. Think about the day you can make, the impact that you can have, and impression you can leave.

Sarcasm or humor?

Both effective, both leave lasting impressions, only one that positively gets your point across.

There is a fine line between sarcasm and humor. Your ability to manage both can make all the difference in whether or not people follow you. Adding humor to highlight a topic or opinion is effective, even necessary to get a point across. I challenge that humor becomes sarcasm when "highlighting" a topic becomes "defending" a topic. It's when healthy banter or the volley of opinions becomes a game of who has the last word or who is right and who is wrong. We have all witnessed when that line of humor and sarcasm gets crossed. A leader's impact is made, feelings get hurt, credibility erodes. Humor becomes a taunt or sneering, backhanded remark. A verbal assault and bullying of the recipient becomes irreparable.

Understand that sarcasm comes from insecurity, a lack of confidence or knowledge on the particular subject. It comes from judgement, rumor, or even gossip. Yikes! Neg-a-tive! As a leader of an organization, why would you want any part of that? All roads end badly. Alarmingly many leaders don't even know they do this and are shocked when coached about it. they cant understand why their perception or image is not more healthy. It would be easy for me to further highlight all the bad things sarcasm can cause or delve into the things to avoid saying. I could even share all the benefits of adding humor to your dialog. Instead lets focus on the things we can do or say to overcome your insecurities.

Ask questions.
Read.
Talk less, listen more.
Write down your thoughts.
Do more thinking.
Exercise.
Find a mentor.
Travel.
Join a community.

Just imagine the possibilities...

History

You know when you hear a song on the radio and it reminds you of some moment in your life that you wish lasted forever or you smell something and it triggers something similar? Sounds and smells that seem to remain frozen, etched in our brains for a lifetime. We remember where we were, what we were doing or who we were with exactness. Those memories are crisp and familiar. 

I had a moment like this today during a discussion at lunch with Jamal. We discussed the state of the business, his TEAM, and life in general. I learned a lot about Jamal, what drives him and what inspires him to show up the way he does. Great conversation!

As discussions can, ours wondered down an unforeseen path, a windy road about our life's experiences, the places we have traveled and the learning we took from it. Jamal spoke of his travels to Nigeria, sharing pictures he still had on his phone (from 2006), describing his journey and experiences with such enthusiasm. As he shared how much that experience meant to him and how it forever changed his life, it hit me like a ton of bricks. My mind raced, my heart jumped, I had that nostalgic feeling, the same one you get when you hear that song or smell that smell. 11 years ago I had a similar life changing experience, coincidentally it too was on the continent of Africa.

Our discussion reminded me of my travels to Southern Africa where I studied abroad (in the country of Namibia, just northwest of South Africa) and learned so much about the world, different cultures, and myself. The nostalgia of our conversation gave me chills bumps, brought back to life the magic I experienced in the Southern Hemisphere. At that moment everything around me stood still. All of a sudden the sights, sounds, smells of Namibia all came rushing back. I could so acutely picture myself in the arid dessert land of Northern Namibia. I could so crisply picture myself sitting underneath "my" palm tree as I would write in my journal, listen to Dave Mathews Band's song "Crush" on repeat, and watch the sunset. I could recall the first time I saw Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, the smell of the water, the sound of rushing water, the state of awe that it left me for the better part of an hour. I remember the feelings of joy I had when I first arrived in Cape Town, South Africa and the emotional roller coaster of visiting Nelson Mandela's jail cell at Robben Island. WOW! So much hit me rather all of a sudden, my history flashed before me.

As we wrapped our lunch and began to walk back to the store our conversation further evolved into other influences in our lives, favorite books, movies, and music that defined our personal history and what had influenced who we are. That thought stuck with me my entire ride home. It dawned on me that in order to find out where we are going, we need to understand where we have been. History, personal or otherwise can teach us so much. The experiences, sights, or sounds throughout our life help us to re-create what was, but more importantly it helps us to drive forward. So much energy came over me, and I immediately began to think about the things I learned and experienced in Southern Africa and how they could benefit me now. How my personal history could benefit my future or others.

I'm sure you have all had similar life experiences, maybe not in Southern Africa, but somewhere in your personal history. Think about the things that would bring you back to a wonderful time in your life, a sight, sound, or smell that forever changed the trajectory of your life. Take 30 minutes to think about that today. Think about what you learned or experienced during that time and pull it forward present day. Go rent the movie, download the song, pull out the journal, read the book, go to that place. Your history will benefit your future, who knows who elses!  

You Can't Fast-Forward Experience

Admittedly I'm an impatient traveler, often in a hurry to make it to my destination. I drive above the speed limit. Take the shortest course to get to where I am going. I plan trips based on what there is to do and the amount of things to see. Let's call it an eagerness to see, hear, and do everything. An eagerness to experience it all.

I meet people daily that see the world through my similar lens, we share the same freeways, have the same need to get to the next destination as quickly as possible. We are driven by our work demands, our societal pressures to keep up, or perhaps a fear of falling back. We look for, even crave the new this or improved that, always looking for whats next. I understand how its learned, we're products of our environments. We're surrounded by it, even become impatient because of it. Not to mention its an easy thing to let happen.

Recently I was reminded of lesson I learned earlier in life, you can't fast-forward experience. Sounds simple, but its more difficult in its application. This doesn't mean we revert back to snail mail instead of email, use the yellow pages to look up something instead of Google, or never send another text message. It means that often times its about the journey not necessarily the destination. It's about making the most out of every situation you are thrust into or better yet firmly stepping into the middle of something on purpose knowing there is something to learn. Instead of placing the impatience into getting somewhere its placing the impatience into learning whats happening along the way. Easier said than done..
  
Last week I had the great pleasure to participate in a conversation that was so refreshing, so invigorating it made my day, more like made my week! A conversation with a business leader who has great accomplishments in his career, experience in leading impressive sales results, and is currently helping to lead a new organization to the next level. He shared with me the love he has for what he does. Explaining how being with his TEAM is what is most enjoyable, where he learns the most. He shared some of the journeys he has recently been on an the ones he looks forward to taking. The way he explained it gave me chill bumps. He was so focused on the journey, the lessons being learned current and in the future. The conversation reminded me that you cant fast-forward experience.

Our lives are full of journeys, collections of decisions made, lessons learned, and destinations traveled. Some journeys small, some big, all that define us. You can argue that its these that make up who we are, what we are, and how we are. Perhaps its these destinations if slowed down to experience the journey could enrich us beyond our wildest dreams. What if the journey was so incredibly AMAZING that the destination doesn't even matter? Take an extra moment out of the day to understand the collection of journeys you have traveled in just one day. What did you learn? How does that change the trajectory of your next one?

Lesson learned. It's time to NOT hurry to the next destination, to build in time to experience your drive and what's on the road. It's time to take the long way to where your going. How about plan a trip based on the fact that it is a beautiful place and nothing more. I dare you to take the leap with me.

Every Word Counts...

When was the last time you had a conversation with someone that shifted the entire landscape of your future? 

OK maybe I wrote that for affect; but seriously when was the last time you had a conversation with a leader that left your mind racing about all the possibilities next? All the possibilities within the next minute, the next hour, the next day? A conversation that didn't allow you to sleep that night because you were so excited about what could happen the next day... A conversation that made your heart race, your forehead sweat, or chills go down your spine... I had one of these AWESOME conversations yesterday!

This all began so innocent. A simple question. "How was the morning huddle?" The next hour was as enriching of a conversation as it gets. A conversation that turned into a very cool journey into what is possible when "WE" engage, involve, and/or immerse ourselves in the success of the people "WE" share our work with. I learned so much from this interaction that I am still thinking about what was discussed nearly 36 hours prior. Dare I say it was a career highlight!

Our journey took us to a place of the littlest of things, how they can have the biggest impact. We discussed how leaders can better understand their audience by their learning or teaching styles and how this can have a substantial impact on our desired results. We discovered that one word can change everything. We learned that one's definition of this word can help even more. We cranked up the learning when we uncovered how all of this knowledge can lead to endless possibilities. All it took was a single word. After all, every word counts, right? 

Of course it does! However, this wasn't all about the word itself. Anyone can say a word that describes their style or how they want to be coached. They could just write a word even. ("Positivity", for example) A word is brought to life when we begin to describe it, giving it feeling or meaning. Its all about adding character, balance, and definition. The truth is, it may just still be a word on a piece of paper. So it is about the just a single word, just with a little more homework. (Ahhh the homework! Needless to say our conversation took off to the next stratosphere when we later did the homework.) Yes every word counts, but it only counts if we understand what it means to the audience that wrote it.

Think about the work you could do once you know all of this. Think of the way you can participate in the success of those around you when you do the homework. This store leader did the homework and perhaps he will have forever changed the landscape of his future. Better yet, his homework partner may have forever changed the landscape of his! Heck he changed mine!

Think about the interactions you have with the people you do your work with, what one word would unlock their possibilities? What homework do you need to do to participate in these possibilities? What additional things can you do next to further advance what this one word means? How about when you have the time to think (I mean really think!), what one word unlocks your possibilities? 

Examine it. Name it. Share it. This could be very well be a career highlight for somebody else!

Purpose = Engagement

TEAM:

Is it true that one's level of purpose is equal to their level of engagement? If given the opportunity and empowered to engage the people around them it stands to reason that equal is at the very least! I was reminded of this very thing last Friday. Thank you Jamal & SDK!

Ever wake up and feel like that day will be insanely good? Things happen and your sure there is something or someone that has a hand in all the AWESOME things that occur? Last Friday was one of those days! I woke up 5 minutes before my alarm went (3:55am), somehow got a free Iced Venti Coffee from my local Starbucks, managed to be the last car on the 5:35am ferry to Kingston! Heck I even finished all my email by 7:30 that morning! Trust me that was just the beginning...

I joined my SDK TEAM as they began to assemble for the weeks meeting. This was the first time I had been able to attend one of their meetings and I was looking forward to it. Small but mighty we were 8 strong! I have always had a good time in my previous visits to the store so I must admit my expectations were high of this bright group. I wasn't disappointed. We began with an icebreaker game (happy to report our TEAM won, thanks to Robert!), read over and covered the weekly agenda, and discussed the weeks sales performance. The structure of the meeting, similar to what I have seen before, the content and topics just as familiar. There were two major differences in SDK's meeting however, 1. the engagement level of the entire SDK TEAM... 2. the ownership of the Store Leader, Jamal's, message. I was moved.

This meeting was only two hours, yet so much was accomplished. The TEAM shared ideas and talked about how to improve their business, working collectively to devour each topic as it was thrown out. There were suggestions, ideas, and solutions. All employees were involved and actively engaged. Thirty minutes into the meeting it dawned on me that this wasn't some show because the boss was there, this was SDK's natural state. There was nothing fake about this. AWESOME stuff! Just when I thought it couldn't get better, Jamal  took it to the next level.

The week prior Jamal had the opportunity to participate in a Multicultural Leadership event that included leaders from all over our five Region Area. He shared with all of us the learning and experiences he took from this trip. In hindsight I wished I would have recorded it. Jamal shared the topics of the key-note speakers spoke of and the members of the Leadership TEAM he met. The passion he spoke with, the emotion he shared, and the gratitude for it all he had was incredible. (I have known Jamal long enough to know this experience meant the world to him!) Jamal shared with the TEAM not only what he personally took from this recent experience but also the impact this will have on everyone else. That it was his honor to attend this conference but it was his obligation to share with his TEAM. His payback was sharing, involving, and teaching the other members of his TEAM. WOW! 

Engaged leader, engaged TEAM. Leader with purpose, TEAM with purpose. Direct correlation for sure and then some! Talk about an insanely good day! I felt so proud to be a part of that meeting. I feel so proud to a part of this TEAM. Thank you to Sarah, Laura, Kattie, Tan, Robert, Naaman, and Jamal for including me. You taught me a lot about purpose and engagement!

 

"Un-Vailing" the NEW Possible!

TEAM:
Recently I had the opportunity of a lifetime... help advance a new Leadership movement in Vail, Colorado.
I was part of a 5 person TEAM teaching a group of almost 90 Leaders. Now I have done work with these stellar colleagues before, but I find it hard to argue that this may have been OUR best work yet! I witnessed new heights of these magnificent teachers, new realms of possibility amongst this AWESOME group of game-changers. Individually WE have all done cool work, made change for the good and lead TEAMs into serious levels of achievement. Collectively WE cranked all of these up 100 fold! Small but mighty, WE worked on and practiced our skills fiercely with these 90 Leaders. In a mere 5 hours the results were dramatic.
Leaders recapped OUR session of intense practice using words like "engaged", "amazing", "grateful", & "life-changing". They talked about how things will change, what is possible for them and their TEAMs as a result of this day. Many simply came up to me, shook my hand, & said "thank you". People I didn't even directly work with during those 5 hours came up to share how they planned to deploy this new skill with their organizations. I even overheard a Leader on the phone discussing how they needed to change their agenda for an upcoming meeting. WOW!
To name all the learning that happened in that room would take me forever, even then I’m not sure I could completely do it justice. Suffice to say July 6th, 2010 will be a day WE will point back to as a day that changed the way these 90 Leaders do business and a day our cool group of 5 changed the game! WE have all been involved in this "training" before. Yes the content was familiar, the drills were similar, even some of the audience was the same. Never have I seen such immediate results, a buzz in the room like I have never felt or seen! Ironic that this AWESOME experience took place at 8,100 feet above sea-level? I think not! It was clear to me that all the attendees are operating at the highest levels! It was a dramatic "Un-Vailing" of the NEW possible!

In reflection of my time in Vail, I am still in awe. It is always invigorating to spend time with new ideas, fresh thoughts, and different perspectives. Yet, seeing my peers and 90 bright Leaders breakthrough and discover what was once unknown is incredible! To see this group of people begin to tap into what is possible almost brought me to tears. I was so excited I could hardly go to sleep that night, knowing this journey has just begun. In fact leaving the next morning I felt a little jealous of the journey that is store for these brilliant ones. Clearly an "Un-Vailing"!
Think about the "Un-Vailing" in your organization. How can you engage your peers or the leaders of your TEAM in a way that catapults them into the extraordinary? What skills do they need and how can you help to unlock the potential that is front and center? What possibilities will your TEAM "Un-Vail"?

My eternal gratitude to cool ones that shared this killer experience in Colorado! Thank you for "Un-Vailing" the NEW possible!

Are U Contagious?

Performance is contagious? Ask Nate Robinson, the micro back-up point guard from the Boston Celtics if he thinks so. For those who didn't see the game last night, one of the best sports moments I have witnessed in a long time came during the second quarter of Boston Celtics vs. Orlando Magic NBA playoff game.

There was drama... Rajon Rondo (the spark-plug point guard for the C's) took a shot to the hip and went down hard, hobbling off the floor just as the first quarter came to an end. The arena went silent and the TV even went to commercial. The fact was that the Celtics title hopes rested squarely on the shoulders of how well Rondo would engage his TEAM in this pivotal game 6 for the right to go to the NBA finals. As the TV came out of the break, the announcers talked about about the changes in the lineup for the Celts in second quarter, throwing in a final "oh and it looks like Nate Robinson has replaced Rondo" just as the Magic were bringing the ball down the court. Nobody could have expected what would happen next...

There was heroism...
In the second quarter Nate Robinson introduced himself to the world! What happened over the next 8 minutes 46 seconds was what legends are made of. Lil Nate Rob took over the game, took over offensively, scoring 13 points, and defensively holding Jameer Nelson to nothing. He had the once gasping arena on their feet, literally shaking the confines of the TD Garden. He out-played, out-hustled, and out-influenced all the other 9 players on the court. He was waiving to the fans, slamming his hands on the parquet floor, and asking for the Orlando Magic to bring it on!

There was victory...
The Celtics won 96-84 to advance to their 27th NBA Finals with the right to play for the 18th title in the storied Boston Celtics' history. They did so in style!

It's these AMAZING stories that grab hold of me and wont let go. It's these legendary moments that inspire me and remind me of what's possible. How someone who didn't even play a single minute the first two games of the Boston/Orlando series can captivate an entire TEAM, arena, and TV viewing audience! AMAZING!

So what separates Nate Robinson's performance from everyone else in the arena? What pushes someone to step up in the most clutch situations? How does Nate's performance enhance those around him to take it to the next level? Whatever "it" is, it's contagious! His effort, energy, and confidence all become contagious. Complicated to explain, easy to understand. We have all been there. We have all been in "the zone", feeling like nothing bad can happen, nothing can take you down, nothing can get in your way of your goals.

So I leave you with this, think about how you spark the people you work with, live with, engage with daily. How do you become contagious to those around you? What's your equivalent to the 8 minutes 46 seconds second quarter lil Nate Rob had? Furthermore, how do you prepare to step up in the biggest of moments to be contagious?  All so fascinating, cant wait to hear them...

I don't know...

I don't know... tough words to read. Tougher words to hear.

Honestly my first reaction to this statement is frustration and annoyance. No matter how many times I hear it said, it never sounds good. Easy to say, hard to hear.

Why do people say I don't know? Confidence? Selfishness? Knowledge? All of the above?

Its some sort of get out of jail free card with zero accountability for what's about to happen next. A response, check that, a reaction to a question that takes the easy way out. The frustration isn't because the other party doesn't know the answer, its that they choose not to. The receiving party gets cheated over not being met half way. How do we change this?

I don't know by itself is zero, unaccountable. By adding a word to the end of this phrase it becomes something fully accountable. Think about it, one word can equal the partnership in this conversation. There are a ton of words that can add instant accountability, what word would you choose?

I choose the word "yet" (though there's many more out there!). I don't know, yet. WOW! The impact this new phrase has on the answer to a question is AMAZING! Instant accountability! Responsibility on both sides of the conversation! Think about the power the word yet has. "I am not confident enough to provide a sufficient answer yet". "I haven't got enough info yet". "I'm not sure what to do in this situation yet." Whoa!

The next time we feel compelled to answer a question with I don't know, there is a challenge to include the word yet. A challenge to be accountable to the question asked. If you hear I don't know as an answer to one of your questions, speak up to include the word yet. Challenge the recipient to uphold the responsibility of your conversation. Think about what yet has in store. Think about what is possible in the word yet...

A different way to work

TEAM:

Today I took a different way to work.

Yup, I drove the most obscure, least direct way to work. Normally my drive to work isn't newsworthy, however it was the start of a day that was!

Because of my new route I met, Melanie, possibly the happiest barista on the planet, from a Starbucks I have never been to before. I saw signs I have never seen and got to hear sounds I have never heard. My drive changed the way I started my day, it changed the rest of my day.

My day was filled with great experiences, awesome conversations, and very cool people. Perhaps these interactions were one notch higher due to my not so routine way to work.

Think about how a different way to work can change your day.

ENJOY IT!

Why do you get up in the morning?

TEAM:

New week; double the TEAM, double the learning! Heck I learned enough in one day to write a book let alone a one page blog! All week I saw LEADERS stepping up, inspiring their TEAM's for better results, partnering with each other to blaze new trails, even breaking the "business as usual" mold to achieve better communication as peers. All this learning reminded me of why I love what I do. It reminded me of why I get up in the morning.

Why do you get up in the morning?

There was a day that I couldn't easily answer this question. In fact those days weren't so far off. Of course even when I thought I knew why, it changed daily or weekly or monthly. What inspired me to get out of bed to do what I do was a means to an end. I worked to live. I think its fair to assume that most of us cant afford not to. Our common denominator is working to pay the bills, provide for our family, etc. I don't think that's a bad thing to want to provide or support for yourself or others. Its also not a bad thing to want something and work to purchase it. Our culture is driven by consumption and purchase, all of that comes at a cost. We work to pay that cost.

What if you asked the same question (Why do you get up in the morning?) but the answer was not because you work to live? What if instead you lived to work? No really, what if you lived to work? (pause....deep breath...)Instead of hitting the snooze button 47 times before you get out of bed in the morning you sprang out of bed determined to make today better than the last. Instead of not caring or having enough respect for your peers to bother showing up to work on time you decided that being early would contribute more to being a part of the TEAM and lead to better results. Instead of updating your Facebook and IM'ing your friends every waking moment you decide to have a conversation with your peers about how your business could run more efficiently and grow. What if you lived to work?

I was reminded this week that indeed I live to work. I live to do the work I do because I see first hand the impact it has on others. My work is deeper than the company, the money, or the title. My work is about the people. Inspiring the people I work with to do the same with the people they work with. Advancing knowledge and skills in others only to be paid back with more learning and development of myself. I live to work!

What gets you up in the morning?

When you get that next quiet moment to yourself, think about the work you do. Think about the impact it has currently or could have if you lived to work. If you feel bold enough share it with me I would be honored to receive it! Thanks!

Here's to the heroes!

TEAM:

This week was another spectacular display of what is possible. I saw tremendous effort and amazing results! There was collaboration to drive new products, enthusiasm to communicate with new partners, and engagement at unprecedented levels. There were some pretty extraordinary things that occurred. Incredible (no pun intended) efforts. Dare I say heroic?

Stay with me on this...

The word "hero" is a bold one. Its a word we reserve for the most epic of people. If you look up the meaning of "hero" in the dictionary you get a multitude of definitions that center around bravery, ideals, or achievement. The origin of the word even references mythological figures and warriors. WOW! It's certainly not a word to use lightly.

All of this makes sense when I think of my heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or Tony Gwynn, Steven Biko or John F. Kennedy and the list goes on. In fact dozens of civil leaders, politicians, CEO's, sports idols, authors, rock stars, movie stars or other agents of change come to mind. Primarily I think of people I have never met (yet) or are no longer living. Leaders of epic proportions or extraordinary performers in their craft. Their images are cemented in my head, the moments that define these people and gave them life, leave me in awe. I get chill bumps thinking about the idea of meeting some of the heroes I have studied, read, or learned from. I often catch myself thinking about what would I ask these people if given the chance. If I could have dinner with Nelson Mandela, what would I say? Where would I begin? I would probably be stuck on do I call him Mr. President, Mr. Mandela or should I call him Nelson?

After further thinking there are more epic people out there, more heroes. I'm not just thinking of heroes in the historical sense but the everyday heroes. Its the people that I have met, the ones that helped to shape who I am and what I do. It's Richard Stevens (My Grandfather) or Mr. Callaway (My High School English Lit Teacher) or Brad Hunter (My first Director of Sales). Its even the ones you read about in the local paper, see on TV, or hear on the radio. It's our military folks, police or firefighters that do heroic things on a daily basis. So many different examples of heroes all around us.

It's not entirely fair for me to compare what happens in our work

today to the heroism that happend on August 28, 1963 in Washington D.C. or to think that Gandhi's movement is on par with the conversations we are having in our stores. I do however think that the messages that our heroes provide us finds its way into our daily lives. Our conversations have some small ounce of heroism embedded in them. The heroics we read, watch, or listen to become a part of who we are. In retrospect all my heroes, some living, some passed on, some I never met, and some I talk with everyday all have something in common, they all move me. They inspire me to be the best, they give me something to aspire to, and they have purpose. These people remind me of what is possible.

So as I recall what I witnessed over the past week, I can honestly say I saw some heroism. Maybe not direct in nature but some resemblance of the heroes I have learned from and the heroes of the people I witnessed. I saw a TEAM making things happen. It moved me. Inspired me. Reminded me of what is possible.

Here's to the heroes, mine & yours.

Who are your heroes? Why?

What have you learned from them?

How does your heroism show up in your craft?

Share with me your thoughts...

Inspiration... Watch out! It's right next to you!

TEAM:

It's often that I wake up and cant wait for the day to get started. I know that sounds cliché, heck even rehearsed, but its true. I'm an early bird and often awake by 5am each day. Weekends I normally sleep in til 6am, today being the exception. Yep today I slept in til 8am! It must have been that extra rest that led me to write this.
As I checked PEAK this morning I was reflecting on my week. Reflecting on who I talked with and what I accomplished over this busy week. Tons and tons of inspiring thoughts and ideas raced through my head. Almost all these brilliant moments came from a common place, PN05. Yes the District that is my home away from home. The best people, in the best stores, in the best Region in VZW. I know I'm biased but when you know its true why not yell it from the mountain tops?! How inspiring is that?!
How inspiring is it to have such an AMAZING TEAM to spend time with and to learn from? How did I get so blessed to work with such talent, such incredible individuals that band together to make things happen? I mean here I am in my jammies writing an email to you all, grinning ear to ear, thinking about what's AMAZING things I got to be a part of this past week. The coolest thing about it, its my job! You see you never know when things will happen next to you that will forever change the way you think, do, or be. You never know when inspiration will hit you right between the eyes. I have shared my definition of inspiration vs. motivation with many of you so I wont bother repeating myself, but in the spirit of naming I feel compelled to share what inspired me just yesterday. Call it therapy by email.
I felt inspired to sit amongst the Seattle Downtown TEAM yesterday in their meeting. The ideas they discussed, how original and organic they were, refreshed me. Everyone contributing, involved, and active throughout the entire meeting. I was in awe of what was happening. Small yes, but inspiring nonetheless. I was especially moved by William. He talked about how the first 30 seconds of each customer interaction is so critical. His passion and excitement was felt. He was practically jumping out of his skin to talk about something so minute in concept yet so critical to our business. WOW! How he named it, the way he articulated how he approached each opportunity was inspiring! I wish I could have video taped that and sent it out to everyone I know!
As my day progressed my inspiration grew. I had a career discussion with Mike at Northgate. We talked about how he can continue to grow his scope of influence, what's next, how he gets there, so on and so forth. We discussed leadership and what that meant. Mike was talking about a recent conversation he had with one of his reps regarding their career. He went on give details of this conversation and how he felt it had impacted this rep to perform at a higher level (maybe even inspiring them to do so). Something struck me during our conversation, something different. I wasn’t surprised that Mike was having great conversations with people, but it was the passion at which he described the interaction. I have seen this passion before in other forms, but I never took the time to take in where it came from. I have been too focused on the content of material vs. the way it was delivered. I learned something new. I learned HOW Mike inspires his people.
I wrapped my day in Northgate by sending an organizational announcement to you all, Ryan had been promoted to ASM. I sent a text to him explaining so and congratulated him again on his accomplishment. We exchanged a few more texts, but it was the one he sent at 3:44pm yesterday afternoon that inspired me the most. It ended with "I wont let you down." Now the thought had never crossed my mind that indeed Ryan would let me down, but the fact that those were the words he chose to send meant a lot. Those few words inspired me. It got me thinking about how I need to show up again and again, day after day, because he was counting on it. Those words inspired me because he expected me something from me and I wasn’t going to let him down.
So today, Saturday (I guess it should be my day off), I send you something to think about. What's right next to you that inspires you? Who is next to you that inspires you? What are the many things in just a day that move you to do what you do? Share it with others, heck share it with everyone that will listen! Share it with your customer like William does. Share it with somebody you mentor like Mike does. Share with someone who is mentoring you like Ryan does. Trust me, inspiration is all over and life is too short not to share it!

How Albert taught me how to "make the team"

TEAM:

Solid finish to the work day. As I hung up the phone after my last "car coaching", I tuned into ESPN Radio eager to hear about the busiest sports day of the year. After all I was on my way home to watch the big game. But it wasn't the talk about the Men's NCAA National Championship, or the Donovan McNabb trade, or even Tiger's return to golf & the Masters that got my attention. It was baseball that got me. Yes, today was opening day for Major League Baseball, but it wasn't even the start of season that excited me. (I have grown apart from baseball over the last couple of years with talk of steroids and HGH.) It was a discussion that MLB personality John Kruk was having about his favorite to win the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals and the reigning MVP, Albert Pujols.

Kruk went on to share a discussion he and Albert had during Spring Training. He asked Albert what motivates him, Pujols replied something to the effect of he comes to Spring training every year to make sure he makes the team. Are you kidding me? Wait, did the best player in the land just say he goes to spring training to make sure he makes the team? There is no "respect me" because I have won multiple MVP's (3), have been an All-Star several times (8), or World Series Champion (1)? Heck there wasn't even a line about how he works really hard or how lucky he has been over his career, the crap you usually hear from professional studs.... I almost crashed my car.

I don't know Albert Pujols, and I don't think we all have to be sports junkies like myself to appreciate Albert's perceptions. I have read of Albert's accomplishments on the field (thank you Google), but today I learned everything I need to know about Albert off the field. I learned that respecting the game is about showing up everyday like its your last and not taking anything for granted. I learned that playing to "make the team" means practicing your craft over and over no matter if you are "the best". Naturally there is a connection to what happens on and off the field, but the fact that he respects his craft so much not to call attention to it, astonishes me. WOW!!

So I leave to ponder the following: What can Albert teach you about your craft? How can we respect our craft enough to make sure we show up everyday to "make the team"? What impact will this have on how you practice or your results? What would happen if we didn't take our customers, partners, or TEAM members for granted? What results would change if our TEAM had Albert's mindset?