Illuminators and Diminishers

Some people just light up a room. Nowadays that room is probably filled with brady bunch squares on your computer screen, but nonetheless, they amplify their energy. The best ones bring an authenticity to how they engage. It’s not for show, it is their true personality pouring out of them.

It’s contagious.

It’s uplifting.

Other people present differently. They certainly have a presence about them when they join the room. However, their negative energy often precedes any words they offer. They can quickly extinguish the present mood, sometimes unknowingly. Other times, it is simply an embarrassing power flex that falls flat…again…with them typically unaware. 

Which energy source are you?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

Our Job Is To Focus On All the Shiny Things

Q: How many times do we jump on the latest trend in business?

A: Constantly.

Consider this…how many times have you used the word tariff in the last two months? Yes, they were massively impactful (I’ll let you decide if they were positive or negative); yet they instantly evolved into the ‘crutch of the moment.’ 

Did work stop? Did the need to provide care to patients suddenly disappear? Did the demand for new cars, appliances, clothes and tech suddenly evaporate?

No.

Q: Confrontation is still the biggest barrier to business success, right?

A: An emphatic, yes.

Consider this…you’ve identified what needs to happen in order to jump start growth for your organization…or to solve a persistent operational challenge…or to make a bold move to take your team to the next level. You have the tools in place to execute and the timeline is set up to begin. Yet…the direct conversations and accountability necessary to ensure success is simply dropped at the last moment. 

Why?

Fear. In the end, we’d rather be popular than effective.

Chasing quick fixes and latching onto the latest round of business excuses may provide some sort of odd comfort to justify poor performance, but at the end of the day building a plan, staying patient, executing consistently, engaging your employees throughout and achieving results is what it’s all about.

Harvard Business Review states that “only 16% of top leaders were rated very effective at either strategy or execution. Only 8% were very effective at both, while 63% were rated neutral or worse on at least one dimension.”

Surprised? Me neither.

Mindset and execution, as always, are everything. 

- What do we ultimately decide to focus on? 

- What do we allow to distract us?

- What do we identify as opportunities for our own continuing learning and growth (vs convincing ourselves we already know it all?)

What do you think?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

Legacy

The word legacy often brings to mind our personal circumstance with respect to our families. Who will follow us, carry our namesake, and (hopefully) be proud to continue the tradition that we have nurtured while we were here.

There is another legacy however..one that represents what we’ve spend the majority of our waking hours focused on. That legacy is our professional one.

Some things to ponder…

What would your colleagues say is your strongest leadership trait? Great at excel? ‘Hard-charger.’ Work a massive number of hours? Sacrifice family time repeatedly all in the name of your ‘work ethic?’

Or, perhaps they might offer a different set of labels: 

…supportive, thoughtful, good listener, balanced employee needs with the needs of the business, believed in me when others did not, the best leader they ever worked for…

What legacy are you building right now? Is it one that you are proud of…is it one that others have been inspired by and want to replicate? Or, is there an opportunity for you to pause, step back, and reflect on how your legacy could be something different? 

Thank you for being here.

Jay

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Dream Stealer

We all started with one. Astronaut, firefighter, teacher, executive, police officer, President of the United States (maybe that was just me) and on and on.

“Dream big!” we were told…but did real life match the dream?

Has your life worked out in a way that aligned with those early goals? Probably not..and I don’t say that because you’ve failed somehow; actually, we learn and grow and develop new interests that are even more exciting than our original dreams in many instances.

What you dreamed of for yourself….what you settled for…what you can still do, are all still in play, right?

Except there is noise. Family noise, society noise, work noise…and the worst noise of all…the kind in our own heads. It tells us what we’re supposed to be, or do, or become. Rarely does that voice say “go for it, you can do it!” Sadly, that internal voice is often one of negatives, not inspiration.

So despite our awareness of what we would truly love to do, or be, or let’s face it, even give a try, we are confronted by so many voices that simply tell us we are wrong and should do something else.

What have you done with your life opportunity? Did you settle? Did you go for it? Or, perhaps you’re just waiting for the perfect moment to make your move?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

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Nothing Burns Like A Memory

I struggle with memories sometimes. Not the good ones; they good ones often pop into my head as a blessing out of nowhere. The memories that aren’t so good are the trouble. They stick around for a long time. They remind me of when I’ve failed myself, when I’ve failed others, and how those failures have resulted in so many ‘bad’ things for all involved.

Memories can be a heavy burden. 

There is a self-talk spiral that sucks me in every once in a while. It usually hits when I’m not ready to deal with it…I’ve just laid down to sleep…I’m feeling really good about life…or I’ve finally found a few moments of peace to just relax…

…then, bam.

My inner voice reminds me that I’m not everything I think I am. And it does so in a cruel way. We’ve all seen the memes about running through all of our mistakes in life in the middle of the night. That’s not my focus today.

I’m talking about the pain that comes from the really personal memories that most people don’t even know about. In fact, we rarely admit to ourselves that they are part of our story at all.

Those moments are hard.

What happens for you when the waves of emotion and regret sweep over you? It can be a lonely place. And yet, it is also important (for me) to remember that those deeply painful memories are only part of my life…they are not my whole life.

So easy to say in a blog post…so difficult to manage in the moment. Yet, we have to manage them. If we don’t, they will start to define us vs remind us of times when we struggled and carried on.

We actually carried on, even in those dark times.

Carrying on is a new way to define those memories that feels a lot better than burning myself up.

What do you think?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

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Resume Virtues and Eulogy Virtues

I had the privilege of hearing David Brooks speak recently, and his message inspired this post.

We spend our lives focused on what we do, our title, our productivity, how busy we are, using all the fancy words, and trying to sound refined and sophisticated and successful….and successful…and successful….

And then people gather to remember us. 

No one says the word productivity.

No one says our job title.

No one mentions how successful we were at improving employee engagement in Q3 of 2014.

Instead, if we had put any time into it…

they remember our volunteerism. 

they remember our kindness.

they remember how we routinely reached out to take care of others before we took care of ourselves.

they remember our impact in our respective houses of worship.

they remember how we were there for our friends.

and they remember our character.

It’s puzzling to me that the most important things in life…only seem to matter in death.

How do you feel about resume virtues and eulogy virtues? 

Thanks for being here.

Jay

Pic: Randy Hain

Shrouded in Darkness

We don’t talk about it much. It’s such an awkward topic to bring up, let alone get into a deep discussion to better understand it. It’s something that ‘happens to other people, not the ones we know.” It’s simply easier to just avoid the topic altogether.

Hold on a minute…

In 2022:

- suicide was the 11th leading cause of death

- 49,476 Americans died by suicide

- men died by suicide 3.85 times more frequently than women

- white men accounted for 68.46% of all suicide deaths

And yet a whopping 94% of adults believe suicide can be prevented.

Silence is a killer. Literally. Particularly when it comes to men’s mental health and suicide. It seems like a good starting place to tackle this issue is to openly talk about it. When we avoid difficult topics to remain comfortable, are we really helping anyone, including ourselves? Or, are we just taking the easy way around a massive problem?

Imagine if 49,476 Americans were wiped out in a single day in some sort of horrible event? It would be a massive news story with congressional hearings and calls for action in every chamber of government.

Yet, we don’t talk about it. At least not enough. Maybe being more vulnerable, venturing into those uncomfortable conversations, posting more content, or simply reaching out to check in on people could make a difference?

I don’t have the answers…but the data is downright scary.

This is a difficult topic. What do you think about it? When was the last time you checked in on someone, just for the sake of checking?

Thanks for being here.

Jay

Data source

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