Archive for June, 2006

If you’d ever visited my bedroom while I was growing up, you’d have seen posters and memorabilia all over the walls. My room was that of a typical child of the 60′s and 70′s. One poster of a wilderness scene bore the quote, “The man who is the richest is the man whose pleasures are the cheapest.”

Today, in as much as I do enjoy luxuries and comforts, I continually run into executives and managers whose balance appears lopsided. They think that having everything means everything, often to the detriment of their families, their health, and their organizations. I understand that material gain serves as a measuring stick for success, but be careful not to miss the simple pleasures that enhance quality of life.

One such pleasure that I personally love is cooking on our grill, eating outdoors, and then enjoying an evening with my family and friends sitting around our fire pit.

Quality of life whether one is at work or play is an important goal. Building systems and structure into your work life will help you gain time, thus increasing your ability to enjoy life’s wonders. Enjoying life feeds into your ability to lead better, as well.

There is nothing more powerful than someone in a leadership position who is worldly, well rounded, grounded by family, and healthy. It helps you and everyone around you to have such balance.

Age used to help define one’s wisdom. Someone who was old had experience and tools that could aid others in life. That’s still true, however, more and more I’m finding I can learn a lot from young kids that have grown up in a world where it’s commonplace to discard an “old” idea of two months old and replace it with a new one—typically due to the rapid growth and change that technology hits us with at lightening speed.

While I was with Michael Treacy, the author of Double Digit Growth, he told a story of his last visit to the airport with his son. When they dropped off their car at the airport, his son immediately snapped a picture with his cell phone. Confused, Michael asked him what he was doing. To this his son replied, “I took a picture of the signs were we parked the car.”

After taking over hundreds of flights over the years, I personally have mastered the activity of creating different ways of remembering where I parked my car, I created phrases or thoughts that triggered me. 2D with 2 Davids or 3F Flying for 3 days. Yesterday I parked my car, took out my cell phone and took a picture.

I’m so proud of myself. I just hope I don’t lose my phone, I may never find my car again.

Another friend, Craig Ferris from RetroGraphics, believes that if we’re not careful, with age we may also stop seeing opportunities to view the world in new and creative ways. Our “patterns” may not be as helpful as we might think.

Here’s his example: Craig needed something from his son; his son told him that the item was located in the drawers under his bed. The father, an engineer by trade, entered the room and quickly realized that there were three drawers in the bed’s L-shaped configuration. If he pulled them all out at once, the drawers would conflict with one another.

Using some basic concepts, he figured that if he pulled out one particular drawer first, he would then be able to access the other two. Craig’s son walked in as he was working through the steps and asked what was his father was doing. After receiving a quick explanation, the son gave the dad an odd look, then lifted up the mattress above the draw he needed, reached his hand in, and pulled out the item.

Go figure.

Here’s a strategy for dressing for success. Get the very best you can afford so that when you’re in the right environment, you shine. Does that mean everyone will know you spent $275 on a Facionable shirt, $400 on Prada shoes, or $1700 on a Dunhill jacket. Of course not. It’s not for those who don’t know, it’s for those who do know. Those that do will recognize the clothing or brands faster than you can say Ferragamo.

Have you ever used the phrase, “You need to give 110% or some version of this quote? Well, it’s wrong. Think about it. If you run an engine at 110%, what happens? It burns out. Even more importantly, how have you given 110%? Some days you go to the office and you’ll work all day long and not accomplish much. Maybe around 41%. It could just be you’re tired or you found out that your guinea pig just died. Then on other days, you might work all day long and then at 4:42 you figure out a logistics problem you’ve been wrestling with for 4 months! The day still was not 100%. If you were to then look at a year of activities and a graph of your productivity or effort, I bet you’d see a sign wave and not once did you hit 110%. So don’t ask your employees to do the same. It’s not about energy, it’s about productivity during that time, or gains you’ve achieved. Next time ask for 100%, because “You can’t give 110%.”