How significant are you?
Date: 29 July 2020
Over the past year, I have been fortunate to meet, and in some cases, work with some amazing startup founders, successful entrepreneurs and so many hard working and passionate people who are doing amazing and significant work around challenges being faced in education, poverty, healthcare, and helping struggling young adults.
I always walk away being inspired when meeting these people and working with them. Some are at the start of their careers, and others are at, what most people would think, at the end of their careers. What they all have in common is their passion, relentless pursuit and vision to make the world a better place for so many people.
At the same time, I also walk away feeling very insignificant ... and I am, compared to what they are doing, or have done. During these times, I remind myself of a poem I saw posted at a summer camp for kids that is titled ‘Be the Best of Whatever You Are’ (see below).
It reminds me that I may not be as significant to many, compared to the people I am meeting, but I may be significant to one person I will interact with on any given day.
Be The Best Of Whatever You Are
By Douglas Malloch
If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill, Be a scrub in the valley — but beThe best little scrub by the side of the rill; Be a bush if you can't be a tree.If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass, And some highway happier make;If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass — But the liveliest bass in the lake!We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew, There's something for all of us here,There's big work to do, and there's lesser to do, And the task you must do is the near.If you can't be a highway then just be a trail, If you can't be the sun be a star;It isn't by size that you win or you fail — Be the best of whatever you are!
How do you know when you have failed?
Date: 13 July 2020
Last week I dusted off my road bike and got back on the road after many months of not riding or exercising for a number of reasons, some of them being excuses.
As I started my ride, I quickly realized that this was not going to be an easy ride! Twenty minutes into my ride, I reached the hill I was regretting. Halfway up the mountain, yes, the hill turned into a mountain at this point, I was ready to just give up and walk the rest of the way. Then I remembered a saying I had heard many years ago about failure, ‘you don’t fail when you fall off your bike, you only fail if you don’t get up and ride again’, … so I kept going.
I have reached this point many times in my life, sometimes I kept going and plenty of times I did end up falling off my bike. The times when I did fall, I got back on the bike and never looked at my falling as a failure. Instead, it was just part of the journey. It was part of what was needed, in order to achieve a goal, and I have been fortunate enough to have had many people to help me during these times.
Keep riding!!
Content vs Style
Date: 06 July 2020
In my post from 31 May, The Smile Behind the Mask, I mentioned I would write about the conscious use of our words and listening with intent. What I meant by this is how we chose to communicate, as in the style, and if we are listening to the content, or are we listening to the style.
I have been involved and seen many conversations where the listener was purely focused on the style of the speaker. Listening this way, has the potential for the listener to miss out on some important content, for example constructive feedback, not having the ability to understand why the speaker may be frustrated, or having clarity, just to name a few.
For the speaker, if you are not ready with the content or if you have a certain style of speaking that can be ‘off putting’, then most likely your listener is not listening.
As usual, I have been on the wrong side of listening and speaking. When I was the listener focused on style, I missed out on the content that was important, meaning the learning. When I was the speaker that focused on style, then I never connected with my listener, which meant I missed out in teaching. Over time, I have learned to not get pulled into the emotion of the conversation but to really focus on the content so I can be an effective listener and speaker. Because of this, I have learned so much more and I was able to bring the conversation to what the real issue was.
So, what is the right starting point, to listen to the content or to focus on your style? It is really up to you because you need both to have an effective dialogue. The path I have taken as a listener, is to first focus on the content and get this right. As a speaker and to be an effective leader, I know that style can make or break a teaching moment.
We are humans, we are emotional, and we are imperfect; but never let style take away a learning point and be conscious of your style if you want to connect with your audience.
We are one
Date: 08 June 2020
Our prime purpose in life is to help others and if you cannot help them, at least do not hurt them - Dalia Lama
The Danger of a Single Story
‘The problem with stereotype stories is not that they are not true but that they are incomplete’
Note: I mentioned last week that I would expand more on my comment, What I hope the use of a mask is forcing us to do, is to be more conscious of the words we are using and to listen with intent.’, from last week’s thought; but following the events of the past few weeks, my thoughts were elsewhere.
The Smile Behind the Mask
Date: 31 May 2020
As villages, towns, neighborhoods and cities open up, most of us will be learning how to interact and communicate with each other in a new way – with a mask. When one is wearing a mask, one loses a majority of their ability in using their facial expressions to communicate. We do not see the smile, the frown, the laughter and many other facial expressions we use as reaction or as a way to say something. That being said, I have been pleasantly surprised how people are showing their smiles through their masks.
As I ‘re-enter’ the world, I have been fortunate to experience so many simple acts of kindness from the people I have interacted with at stores, professional areas of business and even just walking in town. What has been a real pleasant surprise is the effort people are making to show you their smile using their words. People are saying hi when before they never did. People are asking more about how your day is or how you are, when before there was never the need to do so.
What I hope the use of a mask is forcing us to do, is to be more conscious of the words we are using and to listen with intent. I will have more on this in my next thought-for-the-week.
I hope this will last as I am enjoying the effort people are making to make sure they are communicating with a smile and me listening to the content and not the emotional facial expression.
Leading through a Crisis
Date: 18 May 2020
During March and April, I participated in a Harvard Business School (HBS) series of webinars on Crisis Management for Leaders. The webinars were led by HBS faculty, with over 2,000 HBS alumni from around the world participating. Each hour and a half session was presented via Zoom web-conference to the alumni community, and is now available in recorded format via this link to all.
I share with you my summary of three webinars that pertain to how one leads in a crisis, how teams work during a crisis and a HBS Case Study on the Chilean Mining Rescue of 2010.
My key learning from the webinars relate to the importance of 1. Leading with values - In the crisis situations we reviewed, all the leaders led with their values and/or the values of the organization.2. Innovating - When innovating, uncertainty goes up, but if done correctly, learning will increase. Due to uncertainty, it is best to lead and innovate using lean and agile practices. 3. Effective leadership traits - Productive communication is about being direct and honest, while providing hope (The Stockdale Paradox). Ensure that all voices are heard. During certain times, get out of the way and be guided by the subject matter experts.4. Empathy - It was inspiring see, the leaders we reviewed in each case and the business leaders on the call, all led the crisis they were facing with empathy of the situation and towards the people that were being impacted.
I hope you enjoy them
hbs-covid-19-as-a-novel-event-and-risk-management-framework-v1.00-20200325Download
hbs-structuring-the-organizational-response-v1.00-20200402Download
hbs-case-study-chilean-mining-rescue-and-summary-v1.00-20200410Download
Toughest Job in the World
Date: 11 May 2020
Definitely the toughest job in the world
Happy Mother’s Day to all Moms
A special Happy Mother’s Day to the Moms that are part of the Armstrong Wolfe Women in the COO Community. It is an honor to work with these successful Mothers and Executives.
The Armstrong Wolfe Women in the COO Community’s mission statement are to
To inspire women in Financial Services to have no limit to their aspirations. To educate women on business management and the COO role as career destinations. To establish exclusive and confidential networking opportunities with peers. To enable a cross-industry business dialogue to address common challenges.
Another Not Another VC Call idea to break up the day, is to allocate certain hour(s) in the day to have the team take a break from their computer and have the time to themselves.
Not another VC call
Date: 03 May 2020
Not another VC call
A number of us have become pretty good at using video conferencing (VC) these days. I would not say that I am a master, but I am slowly getting there. My VC platforms have been Zoom, FaceTime, Skype, Whereby and this week it will be Microsoft Teams. During some of these calls I have experienced moments that some people would want to hit replay and do over again, but we are all learning on these new ways of working.
For most of us, living and working through video conferencing is fairly new and has brought about two challenges: replicating the work collaboration environment and no longer having that barrier that separates one from work and their personal life. This week, I thought I would share a couple of ideas that were shared with me on how to deal with these challenges.
Collaborating
How do you create that feeling of bumping into someone in the hallway to grab a quick conversation? If you are the leader with an office, how do you leave your ‘office door’ open so anyone can come in to shoot the breeze or talk to you about a topic they need your help or guidance on. Instead of setting up yet another VC meeting, why not dedicate an hour to work at your desk and leave your VC channel open. This way anyone can just pop in to talk as if they met you in the hallway or stepped into ‘your office’. The conversation may trigger you to bring someone else into the conversation to collaborate even further.
I miss taking a walk with a colleague to get a tea, coffee or a snack just to get a mental break from the day. How about taking that 15- or 30-minute mental break by playing an online game with a colleague? We all need a mental break from being in front of our work or on another VC. There are plenty of online games that you will have fun with and feel energized afterwards to tackle that email you are trying to find the right words to reply with.
Work and Personal life
One of the benefits of the work and personal life barrier falling, is that we realize that we are more similar than not. We also need to ensure we give each other the time and respect with this barrier falling as people are managing work and life at the same time and at times, in the same room with you.
One way a leader is appreciating their co-worker's work-life balance is by sending pancake mix to their co-workers’ home so they can enjoy it with their family over the weekend. The leader only asks that everyone send a picture of their favorite pancake shape to share with the group.
Do a team audio conference call but require all to do the call while they are walking. But what about notes or actions, then take turns with one person staying home to write up the notes and actions.
One company is telling team members that between certain hours, they are all to take a break from their computer and have the time to themselves.
Spend the first 15 minutes of your team meeting sharing ideas of how they are trying to enjoy the weekend. Maybe new hobbies and friendships will be formed, or you may realize that we are all pretty much the same.
I hope you have a great week
... hard to say
Date: 26 April 2020
This week, I saw a TED Talk titled “Good” and "Bad" are incomplete stories we tell ourselves by Heather Lanier. She starts off with a parable that has made me reflect on my past events and has me thinking about how I will see future events.
The transcript of her telling the parable is below.
Don’t forget, if you need a smile, watch the SomeGoodNews network
There's an ancient parable about a farmer who lost his horse. And neighbors came over to say, "Oh, that's too bad." And the farmer said, "Good or bad, hard to say."
Days later, the horse returns and brings with it seven wild horses. And neighbors come over to say, "Oh, that's so good!" And the farmer just shrugs and says, "Good or bad, hard to say."
The next day, the farmer's son rides one of the wild horses, is thrown off and breaks his leg. And the neighbors say, "Oh, that's terrible luck." And the farmer says, "Good or bad, hard to say."
Eventually, officers come knocking on people's doors, looking for men to draft for an army, and they see the farmer's son and his leg and they pass him by. And neighbors say, "Ooh, that's great luck!" And the farmer says, "Good or bad, hard to say.”
To be mostly aligned
Date: 21 April 2020
A number of years ago, I was asked to present the topic of Digital to a senior executive committee. The guidance I was given was that I had 15 minutes, that was it.
Digital is a very broad topic as one can talk about many of its subtopics for hours. I could have used my 15 minutes giving the committee an overview of what digital is, what digital projects I was working on at the time, or what the future may look like. In the end, I decided to have the focus of my presentation be on a request I needed from them.
I started off with a bit of education and context setting. I explained that Digital is part of one’s strategy, marketing plans, operational efficiencies projects, client and employee connection, data and much more. I then gave some examples of ‘startup’ digital initiatives that had been successful in large enterprise organizations. I explained the many reasons why these initiatives were successful, as well as explaining the importance of accepting failure to gain learning through a number of inspirational quotes. Then came my request, the one action I needed from them that I was not able to do myself.
Before my presentation, I sent the group an article by Ken Perlman, an engagement leader at Kotter International, titled The Disastrous Effects of a 'Mostly Aligned' Executive Team. As Digital becomes embedded in aspects of our work life, our interactions with clients, our ways of working and our learning, it is challenging to come to an agreement across a global enterprise organization to move in a certain direction. My request was for them to spend time working on getting into alignment with certain Digital topics because if they did not, then the thousands of employees that work for them would be going off in multiple directions, creating inefficiencies across the organizations, with employees and clients.
The disastrous effects of being mostly aligned, whether it is with an executive team, a team you lead or are part of, and even just between two people, is costly, a time waste, can create unnecessary assumptions and builds bridges that do not connect. The time you spend in getting in sync, will be time well spent in the long run.
snoitseuQ
Date: 12 April 2020
Have you ever been afraid to do something you had never done before? During these times, I had more questions that had answers telling my why I could not or should not do it.
I was having a conversation with someone this week who wanted to start a business, but they had no experience with the industry. They had a passion and a purpose but they also had questions that told them why they should not do it. So we turned the questions around to ask, not why it cannot be done but how it can be done.
We are better off with questions we do not know the answers to, then answers we cannot question
Need a smile?
Date: 08 April 2020
It is hard to describe this new News Network by actor John Krasinski.
Warning - only watch if you are in the mood for a smile, a laugh or a cry.
Here is the introductory episode - Some Good News with John Krasinski Ep. 1
This one is for the Hamilton fans
'God bless them, God bless them, God bless them' ...
Date: 06 April 2020
This is what Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of NY State, said at a press conference three weeks ago when asked about healthcare workers and the situation they will be entering as the COVID-19 virus progressed in New York.
The picture is a representation of the iconic 'Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima' photograph, which shows six United States Marines raising the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in the final stages of the Pacific War.
The photograph was later used for the construction of the Marine Corps War Memorial in 1954, which was dedicated to honor all Marines who died for their country since 1775.
As the virus accelerates in New York, and all around the world, seeing Healthcare worker’s dedication, heroism, and courage is really unbelievable. They know the dangers better than most of us, yet they continue to face that danger to care for others. When being interviewed by the news, the question, ‘How do you feel about the situation you are putting yourself into', the standard response from multiple Healthcare workers has been, ‘This is what we do'. How we will ever thank them, I am not sure.
But, the thanking and recognition does not stop there. This week in Barcelona, Doctor and Nurses stopped what they were doing and gave a huge round of applause to the cleaning staff that work all day and night to keep the hospitals clean. Here in the US, there was a project for kids called ‘Kindness 101’. Kids were asked to write a thank you letter to someone to show appreciation for what they are doing to help during these times. Letters were written to garbage collectors, postal service workers, police officers, grocery store workers and delivery drivers to name a few. There are many people we need to thank that are keeping critical parts of our ecosystem operating during these times.
We cannot all be doctors, nurses, postal workers, or delivery drivers, but we can all give them a smile and thank them.
A way to help in the UK
Dan Blake, a former HSBC colleague is one of the founders of The National Care Force The National Care Force is our response to the crisis, with a commitment to supporting those who depend on vital services - like care homes, home care and other such organizations - for as long as it takes to help every user. Social care is separate from the NHS, and its 1.6 million care providers are crying out for aid in this time of need. These providers will not receive NHS funding or volunteers to combat the effects of the virus.
They need people to join them in helping their social care system - from volunteers and care providers, to donors, technology and media partners.
Getting in sync
Date: 29 March 2020
I love the Abbott and Costello comedy skit - Who's on First. If you have not seen it, then you must stop what you are doing and watch it. If you have seen it already, then it never gets old. (For those that are not familiar with the sport of baseball, think of baseball like cricket with players in many positions trying to get the batter out.)
Last week I spoke about Levels of Communication and I mentioned the importance of getting in sync. People who have worked with me would have heard me say, ‘Are we in sync?’ (something I learned from my Bridgewater days). This was done to ensure that what I am communicating is heard and understood in the way I am actually thinking, and vice-versa. There have been so many times when I say ‘go left' but I meant to say ‘go right' or I say go right but it is understood as going left. This happens for many reasons. Sometimes I will speak faster then what I am thinking and miss out on pertinent content. It can also happen because at times we hear what we want to hear or we are not speaking with clarity. Or just simply, we are overwhelmed and it is easy to be out of sync. Bottom line, we all have varied ways of communicating and listening.
My ‘are we in sync’ question is not to look and change how one communicates or listens, but to ensure that at that moment in time, we are each understood. The more one does this, the more we understand each other, because we are constantly learning how we communicate and listen.
This Abbott and Costello skit shows you in a funny way, some of the conversations I have had where we were just not in sync … enjoy!!
Levels of Communication
Date: 23 March 2020
First of all, I hope everyone who reads this finds themselves, their families, friends and work colleagues safe, healthy and well.
There are so many topics and themes to talk about these days and I find it challenging to determine which topic is best to write about this week, as I have had many interactions that triggered a 'thought for the week’.
I have decided to write about two particular interactions I had this week. One around having a truly meaningful conversation and the other on how to have some fun and learn new ideas that will help you, your family and your team during these times and potentially innovate new ideas.
Having meaningful conversations
I had conversation this week with someone about a topic that one would wonder if they will be 'crossing the line' by bringing it up. I even said to the person, please let me know if I am crossing the line. But as I brought up the topic, what followed was a truly meaningful conversation where we both were able to have a real open and truthful dialogue on the topic and we both were appreciative of the time we spent in having this dialogue. Now that the door has opened on the topic, the dialogue will continue to develop and grow as we are now comfortable talking about it.
Why I bring this up is to share something I learned many years ago when I heard Greg Searle a 2012 British Olympian Rower at the age of 40, speak to our executive management team. He spoke about many topics in regards to team building but the one topic that I have kept with me was the topic on Levels of Communication Model (see below).
When we meet someone for the first time, we will most likely operate at the Ritual or Cliché level. For example it might be about the weather or about our commute. At this level we are really not taking much risk in exposing our true selves, hence we are not building up much trust at this level. As you move up the pyramid or the Level of Communication, you begin exposing more about your true self, your inner beliefs, your opinions and true feelings, and by doing so, you are taking more risk but you are building up critical trust in that relationship. It takes time, a lot of time, and it means respecting each other to effectively move up that pyramid. It also takes events to test the stability of the pyramid. You may think you are operating at a certain level with a certain relationship but are you both in sync on this? Events will test this for you.
The person whom I was having this dialogue with was someone who I was 'moving up the pyramid' with over the years, took the time to really listen, get to really know the person and also respecting the stage of where this person was in their life (that could be age, career or other).
By moving up the pyramid of your Level of Communication, in the short run you are taking risks, it will feel uncomfortable but in the long run and especially when it really matters, you are building trust, true relationships and a team.
Remember, the best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago, the second best time to plant a tree is today Take your time, keep assessing but do not stop building your pyramid until you get to the top.
Here is a nice TedTalk by Celeste Headlee on 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation
Mindmaster
This week I participated in a 1-hour workshop hosted by Barry O’Reilly which he calls Mindmaster.
This workshop has a group of people to focus on a challenge that is top of mind for them, in a virtual, highly interactive and extremely fun way. The mission of the session is to offer your skills, share your problems and walk away with two new behaviors to try for the week ahead, while tackling your current challenge(s). We defined problems, articulated outcomes we would like see, solutionized and committed to implementing two new activities or habits based on the workshop - then sharing back what worked, did not and how we go forward.
The group I was with had never interacted with each other before but we were able to immediately connect and interact in a very open and respectful way. This is a great activity for your team to try out, your family or just yourself. I then did this workshop with my sons with the topic being. 'how do we stay active during these time and how do we connect on a daily basis'. The outcome from our session was that I have committed to play FIFA with them (I am starting from scratch) and we began a push up contest!!
If you want more details, follow the Mastermind link or contact me through my thought-for-the-week website if you want to understand how it can apply to your team now.
The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago, the second best time to plant a tree is today
Date: 13 March 2020
First of all, I hope you, your families, friends and colleagues are healthy and doing as well as possible.
At the risk of getting overloaded with yet another Coronavirus article, here is a Harvard Business School article - ‘How Chinese Companies Have Responded to Coronavirus’.
The article highlights 12 business lessons on how Chinese companies have prepared for and / or are preparing for the recovery. As we all know, China is in the front of experiencing and dealing with this crisis, and as they start showing signs of recovery, they are in front of business recovery plans.
The overarching theme that I get from this article is that it is even more important than ever before, that we change our Ways of Working to be Lean and Agile, especially in times of uncertainty, i.e. if you were a startup (we also need the right level of leadership in caring for the people and guiding us to the light at the end of the tunnel … as we will get through this).
Organizations, eco-systems, groups that have been practicing lean and agile methods are obviously ahead of the game. In other words, they planted their trees already, they are getting feedback from their tree on what is going well and what is not, they are adjusting and those trees are growing as expected or in different ways. Those that have yet to transition and implement these Ways of Working may be worried in the short term but need to focus on the longer term and start planting your trees today.
But it is not just about obtaining the Lean and Agile Ways of Working playbook that will solve the problem. One needs to practice it over and over again and continue to make improvements, adjustments and innovate. This reminds me of one story from the book - ‘The Lean Enterprise - How High Performance Organizations Innovate at Scale’ by Jez Humble, Joanne Molesky & Barry O’Reilly (great book). The story is from Toyota’s origins when it used to build its own automatic looms (the color coded wiring for a car’s electric system). Toyota had one of their loom plan stollen and upon hearing this, Mr. Kiichiro Toyoda is said to have remarked the following:
'Certainly the thieves may be able to follow the design plans and produce a loom. But we are modifying and improving our looms everyday. So by the time the thieves have produced a loom from the plan they stole, we will have already advanced well beyond that point. And because they do not have the expertise gained from the failures it took to produce the original, they will waste a great deal more time than us as they move to improve their loom. We need not be concerned about what happened. We need only continue as always, making our improvements.'
If you need help in planting your Ways of Working tree, or do not know where to begin, below are links to two coaches that can help. Or feel free to contact me if you want some guidance.
Stay safe, be smart and be kind to each other
'I have a dream, not I have a plan'
Date: 08 March 2020
What inspired me this week - The Why?
This week I spent some time doing some work with one of my mentors. I am constantly impressed by how hard he works, how he is constantly learning and how he sees things that I just do not see. But the most impressive trait that inspires me about him, is the ‘Why’ of what he does.
We were talking about a new idea he has and he spent time not on what it is, how to execute it, who to sell it to or how to profit from it. Instead, he just spoke about the purpose - the Why - of the idea. But it was not just about his purpose or ‘Why' he needs to do it, instead the purpose is why we all need to do this.
I find this trait about all the people I call my mentors. They are driven by a purpose. What they do or what they create (or try to create) is driven by Why it needs to be done.
Motivate your team, your children, your friends, anyone not by what to do or how to do it but why they should do it.
A great TED Talk to watch about the Why:
Simon Sinek, is an American author (British) and motivational speaker. He is the author of five books, including Start With Why and The Infinite Game (https://simonsinek.com) https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en
Finally, in celebration of International Women’s Day, check out this great venture called The Wing. It is a growing community of women across the country and globe, gathering together to work, connect and thrive
We all have drunk from the wells other have built
Date: 02 March 2020
I recently read a piece of research titled, ‘Historical Roots of Agile Methods: Where did “Agile Thinking” come from?’, by Noura Abbas, Andrew M Gravell and Gary B Willis - University of Southampton (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/39996418_Historical_Roots_of_Agile_Methods_Where_Did_Agile_Thinking_Come_From)
For anyone interested in agile thinking and methods, and especially for anyone who is not familiar with this thinking, I highly recommend you read this piece of research.
Reading this reminded me of an old thought-for-the-week blog titled ‘Remember Where You Came From’, which I share below.
Agile thinking and methods are one of the biggest movements in software development. Some people will have heard of this recently and some people will have learned to work this way for the past 5-10 years. 'Agile Thinking’ is now really growing, moving outside of the engineering department and into the front office and day to day life. We now have an industry of Agile Coaches (or Innovation Coaches), teaching us this way of thinking, methodologies and helping us change our habits.
What made me share this piece with you is that I am a big believer in the saying, ‘We all have drank from the wells others have built’. Even though Agile Thinking may be new for many of us, Agile Thinking actually goes back to the 1950’s. Agile Thinking is not a new concept but a concept that has been developed over time, with the building blocks being built over the past 60-70 years.
We all have drunk from wells others have built, reminds me that a majority of my success is due to the effort that others have done in building those wells that I have had the opportunity to drink from and hopefully, helped improve.
If you are interested to see how today’s technological successes, leveraged and learned from technological developments going back to 1843, read the Walter Isaacson’s book – The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
As well, did you know that
The first iPhone was created in 1998
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InfoGear
https://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco/2012/03/26/the-first-iphone/
The first touch screen was created in the late 1960’s
https://www.thoughtco.com/who-invented-touch-screen-technology-1992535
https://thought-for-the-week.com
Remember Where You Came From
We have had several Town Halls lately, which is great to see, as we get to hear of updates, ideas and thoughts from many of our leaders, but there was one recent Town Hall that caught my attention. One of the speakers in the Town Hall spoke about how certain things were not good enough for them and how they set out to change things around. I am a big supporter of change and constant improvement, so it is great that we have people who look to change things around (assuming the change is meant to progress, improve or solve a problem). Credit to the speaker and all who have implemented change, as driving change is not easy.
But why this speaker’s comment (or maybe it was how they presented it) caught my attention is that the speaker did not talk about what others (both internally and externally) have done before them, in order to achieve the change they achieved. My point here is to not forget where you came from and remember that for the most part, we are leveraging from the ideas, accomplishments and failures others have thought about and experienced. At times change will come from connecting dots, ideal timing, luck and building on top of what was built.
I prefer our leaders remembering where they came from
Excuses
Date: 23 February 2020
If you have not seen the HBO documentary titled 'The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley’, you need to watch it (https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/the-inventor-out-for-blood-in-silicon-valley). The story is about Elizabeth Holmes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Holmes) and her rise and fall in Silicon Valley due to her ‘deception’. I watched the show a number of years ago and it has stayed with me.
One of the interviews in the documentary is with one of her Stanford Professors, Dr. Phyllis Gardner, MD, Professor of Medicine. She is interviewed in a couple of segments but towards the end of the documentary, Dr, Gardner talks about the ownership of issues / problems. She goes on to say, [as if she were speaking to Elizabeth]:
Don’t blame anybody else. You have full control. The bucks stops there (as in with you as CEO). People make mistakes, but you must always admit it
Dr. Gardner goes on to say that one of her husband’s favorite line is:
‘Excuses are like a..holes, everyone has one'
I now think of this line when I use the word excuse or but.
Definition: Excuses - attempt to lessen the blame attaching to (a fault or offense); seek to defend or justify.
Kindness can be the greatest gift that you can give a person. Especially when they are not expecting it.
Date: 15 February 2020
Thank you Mark Friedman and Howie Cohen
On January 28th, I had a phone call with Mark Friedman, Ph.D., an executive coach. The call was scheduled for 45-60 minutes but we ended up speaking for 2-hours. He not only gave me 2-hours of his own time, but he also gave me some great guidance and some insight about myself that I had not seen. I was extremely appreciative of Mark’s time and guidance. We ended with the usual agreement to try and stay in touch and wished each other the best.
Four days later, Saturday 1 Feb, I received an email from Mark introducing me to his nephew, Howie Cohen. Mark wanted to connect me to Howie as he felt we shared similar interests. That weekend, Howie took the time away from his busy family and life schedule to speak to me. Howie was extremely generous with his kindness and offered to introduce me to people he felt would be of interest for me meeting.
I have had some incredible support from so many friends and relatives. It would be wrong for me not to recognize them all and thank them, but the list would be too long. But to get the time and help from people you do not even know, has been one of the kindest things that has happened to me.
Thank you Mark and Howie