New Year, New Opportunity, New Perspective

So, 2015 is upon us.  For most of us, this means setting resolutions and attempting to follow through on them for at least the first part of the year.  For me, it means searching for a new employment opportunity for the second time since December, 2013.  Not exactly what I thought or hoped I would be doing to celebrate the New Year and my 42nd birthday.  But that being said, maybe this is not only a good thing for me, but a great thing.

In the big picture, I am beyond lucky.  I have an incredible wife whose persistence in running her own successful business while attending to the daily needs or our 7 year old daughter, is quite awe inspiring.  At least for a little while, I will get to spend more time helping out with our daughter, which can only be viewed as a great thing.  Next, I am only 42.  A mentor of mine mentioned to me today that he didn't find his true passion until he was 43, and his career was one of the most inspiring and positively impacting that I have ever had the pleasure to be a part of.  Age is only a state of mind, and I at least already have a pretty good idea of what I want to be and do when I grow up.  Lastly, I have developed an incredible network of friends, mentors and colleagues over the last nearly 20 years of employment experience.  I feel very fortunate to need multiple hands to count the people that I consider friends.

I have a feeling that 2015 is going to be one of my best years yet...I am sure it will be for you as well.

Reality vs. Sanity

We all operate in our own personal or professional realities.  There are infinite external factors that impact our realities, both positive and negative, which naturally impacts how we deal with others.  At the age of 40, I think I am finally learning that there are only so many things I can do to control my personal reality, and even less things I can do to control my professional reality.  But, I can control my sanity, regardless of the external factors that surround me.

I spent a good deal of my career attempting to positively impact the companies I worked for through process implementation and heavy collaboration.  I still believe and will continue to believe strongly in both of these practices.  However, I now know better that unless others around me have a shared vision of success, it is impossible to achieve a common reality.  This does not mean it is okay to give up on reaching a common goal or lowering the bar in order to make things easier.  It means that your reality requires a lot more effort, communication and evaluation in order to develop and implement a shared outcome.  Which most times does not equate to finding one's own personal sanity or safe zone.  While it is vital that all of us continue to work positively impact our personal and professional realities, it is important to remember that we need to take breaks and find our own sanity as well.  I have read about some companies that require their employees to take paid multiple-month sabbaticals after every several years of work.  Employees' mobile phones, email addresses, laptops and building access credentials are put on lock-down.  Individuals are forced to renew their sanity...which in turn, will make it easier for them to come back and re-create their realities.

Get To vs. Have To

Recently, well the last four months actually, I have been working with an international partner to remedy some implementation plans. The time commitment has been large and the proposed solutions have been many. There has been weekend work and some 16 hours days. My family has seen me frustrated and other times have not seen me at all. Personally at times, I felt like I did in High School taking Mr. Dill's Pre-Calculus class...I wanted to put my head down on my desk and cry. Fortunately, I did not cry at my desk this time. I am not sure the same can be said for me back in Mr. Dill's class however.

For those that know me, I am not naturally the most optimistic person in the world.  So, what changed my perspective from the negative to the positive recently?  A simple comment by my daughter...She waited up for me one of the nights that I was working late to excitedly tell me "Daddy, I get to go to the dentist tomorrow!"  Now, the only person I know who dislikes the dentist more than me is my 5 1/2 year old daughter.  She usually requires restraints to be held into her chair and the entire ordeal leaves the dentist (and my wife) exhausted.  When I asked her why she was so excited, she told me "They are going to check on my loose tooth.  Hopefully it will fall out soon so that the Tooth Fairy will come!”  Her excitement around going to the dentist, a place that has yet to provide any good memories for her, made me realize that it is all about perspective.  I don’t have to continue working on this implementation plan; I get to continue working on this implementation plan.  And beyond that, there may be a Tooth Fairy opportunity for us at the end of this plan.  All the more reason for me to view this as a “get to” instead of a “have to” situation.

Oh, and a side note to my daughter’s tooth situation.  She hasn’t lost the tooth yet, but the dentist did confirm for her that it will be on its way out soon.  My wife and I now have to explain to our daughter that going to the dentist every day will not help the tooth fall out any faster…

Quicksand

I just read one of my favorite bloggers most recent posts Confessions of an Insomniac . As one who struggles with sleep and considers five hours a night to be in excess, I know where Gates is coming from. The frustration sometimes boils over, and it feels like no matter what you do, you can't get the result that you want and so desperately need. And the more you fight it, the deeper in quicksand you sink. In the professional world, sometimes we don't get the results that we want or feel to be "fair." In those instances, it is too easy to become angry and frustrated and let a few misfortunes snowball into an avalanche of defeat. It is when you are your most tired and frustrated that you must persevere the most. Life isn't easy. Winning isn't easy. Success isn't easy. They all take incredibly hard work and the overcoming of tremendous obstacles. The grass isn't always greener on the other side, but finding a way to work yourself out of the quicksand is sometimes a great first step towards success.

Trim the Fat

I have gotten fat. Not fat with a ph, but fat as in out of shape and lazy. Fortunately, I have been working on getting back into shape and am making significant progress. My "fat" clothes are loose and my "regular" clothes are making appearances in my rotation again slowly but surely. Why am I sharing this with you? Well, for me, my lack of activity led to me getting comfortable with complacency. After all, keeping yourself in shape requires effort and daily goals to maintain your appearance. This daily effort is required in your business life as well. It is very easy to get complacent when things are progressing along normally. The true leader and Edupreneur however is always seeking out new ventures and opportunities. The excuses I used about avoiding the gym at the beginning of the year (I'm too busy, I'm traveling too much, I just want to relax) don't cut it in the business and higher education world. We all need to actively work at staying in shape and on the cutting edge. Being complacent will not only have you falling behind your competitors, but it will self-select you out of being a contributor and a game-changer.

So, if you have become complacent with your career, it is time to find your career personal trainer and get back in the game.

Faith and Leadership

I have always been more spiritual than religious. I grew up Catholic, but admittedly have been a "non-practicing" Catholic for quite a few years. I always relied on the mantra that if I treat others the way I would like to be treated and remained spiritual, I was doing enough to fill my faith quota. My wife started taking my daughter to a church called The Garden and today I joined them for the first time. I realized a number of things about faith and its impact on leadership in general, but specifically what it means to my leadership style. As was mentioned today, faith is not a one-size fits all endeavor and not everyone can be poured into the same mold. Similar to leadership styles, there is not just one fit for everyone. You must adapt as a leader and adjust your leadership style to best impact those around you. Having faith in your life helps soften the egos of those, myself included, that have large egos and enjoy being the center of attention. In addition, the presence of faith allows a person to find the inner strength to deal with adversity in life and provides the courage to be less afraid to make mistakes. Both of these benefits of faith are directly tied to being a strong leader. Great leaders make great mistakes because they are not afraid to fail and have the faith in themselves, those around them, and a greater spirit to thrive from mistakes.

The quote we discussed today is from Dan Millman and reads: "Faith is our direct link to universal wisdom, reminding us that we know more than we have heard or read or studied- that we have only to look, listen and trust the love and wisdom of the Universal Spirit working through us all." To me, this should speak to all of us as leaders as well. It is not good enough to only talk about leadership and faith...we must live our faith and live as leaders every day in order generate the best results.

2012- My Annual Contribution to the Blogosphere

Hopefully everyone has shaken off the cobwebs from an incredible holiday season. I was very fortunate in that I was able to take an extended break over the holidays and spend time at home with my immediate family and friends. It is amazing how the perspective of my four year old daughter helped keep me grounded during the winter holidays. Our daughter didn't even ask Santa for anything specific this year. She said that if Santa brought her anything she would appreciate whatever she received. That was probably the best gift that my wife and I could have ever asked for. It really did make Christmas morning that much more special for us this year.

So now that we are officially into 2012, and I am rapidly approaching my 39th birthday in a couple of days, what is next? I have never been a big fan of New Year's resolutions as I feel like we should all be striving for improvement throughout the entire year, and not just in the New Year. That being said, pick one thing. What is the one thing that you can commit to in order to make yourself better and more importantly, make others around you better? Find one thing that you can commit to doing once a week for the next 52 weeks. What if you committed to spending 30 more minutes per week with your team members at work, or your family or your friends? That is translates to 26 hours over the course of a year, or a little over 1 day. How much impact could you have on someone if you spent an extra day with them? How much would it mean to you if someone you respected and cared about spent an extra day with you over the course of 2012?

Make sure you take advantage of your time and abilities over the next 52 weeks and share those skills with someone. Make 2012 be the year that you resolve to leave your mark on someone or something...Good luck!