Play Ball!!!!

With baseball’s opening day right around the corner, there have been several articles and blogs reminding us all of the “Great American Pastime” and the joys that some peanuts and cracker jacks can bring. I find it curious to find parallelisms between the sport and leadership. Consider…

It’s all about TEAM…successful leaders recognize that the whole team is greater than the sum of its parts.  There may be other organizations with better this or that, but it all boils down to TEAM.

Be prepared for ANYTHING…you can anticipate a fastball, but you have to be prepared for that eventual sinker. Great leaders are adaptable.

Strong, fluid swings result in HOMERS -  BIG thinking needs BIG action.

It’s an embarrassment to “go down SWINGIN”  - Great leaders never leave their bat on their shoulder when action is necessary. Your followers will understand swinging and missing over just standing there waiting for something to happen.

MVP’s usually have the dirtiest uniforms – The best in any organization isn’t afraid to get the job DONE!

And perhaps my favorite…Great talent win games….but TEAMS win Championships…

Play Ball…

Be good to yourself…

Awe...Embrace It!

Recently I was reading a review of a book which claimed the contents would aid the reader in: 

• Managing energy levels • Keeping the soul alive • Taking new paths • Reducing stress • Developing the "Human Touch" • Attacking fears • Living in awe • Savoring small successes • Burning brightly without burning out • Hanging on when the storms blow through  

It was “living in awe” which caught my attention. Awe is a word not often used and a word defined as: “A mixed emotion of reverence, respect, dread, and wonder inspired by authority, genius, great beauty, sublimity, or might.” 

In our hurried life, do we take the time to be “awed?” Where do we find our inspiration? Do we lead inspired? Has there been a time where we have been “awed” by others as a result of our actions or accomplishments? Should being awed even be a goal? When’s the last time you found yourself in awe? Did it motivate you? Make you think? Make you question?  Did it open your mind to possibilities? So many questions…for a word so small…yet so powerful… 

Perhaps we need to open our eyes, our hearts, and our minds, and appreciate the value of being awed…and living in awe… 

Be good to yourself…

Where Is Your Focus?

Photography has been a hobby of mine for a number of years. It has proven to be a curse and a blessing. I have found, at times, I completely miss the beautiful views the vistas have to offer as I’m so concentrated on a small, delicate, flower nestled in an obscure, dimly lit cavern.

I recently saw a quote that gave me pause to ponder…”The world we see is created by what it is we focus on. It’s never too late to adjust our lens.”

So my friends…where is YOUR focus? Is it so laser sharp that you can’t see the forest for the trees? As leaders, we sometimes lose sight of the “whole picture” as we’re too concentrated on only a very small, delicate, obscure, part of the entire landscape…which is OK, as long as you adjust your lens often…

Be good to yourself…

A Lesson From Our Feathered Friends...

This past week my wife and I had the good fortune of spending a few days in sunny California visiting family and simply dusting off the chill of a Midwest winter. The days on the beach, the gorgeous sunsets and the hikes in the various valleys gave us a chance to breathe, relax and reflect.

On one such hike we couldn’t help but to notice the various hawks soaring in the air, hovering, gliding effortlessly against the blue skies with the mountains as a backdrop. With the slightest of movement, the bird could change course, dive in an instant to its prey, or simply circle again with the slightest of effort.

As leaders, how often do we fear change as involving too much effort, or that drastic measures must be initiated to create the change desired? How many opportunities missed as we feared the energy needed wouldn’t be worth the results achieved?

Sometimes we simply miss the fact that the slightest minor adjustments can indeed produce drastic results. Don’t believe my fine feathered friends? Just talk to a golfer about moving their left hand just an inch….minor adjustments...

Be good to yourself...

Better To Sleep On It...

It’s currently 3 AM and I’m experiencing one of those nights we all have, where, for whatever reason I simply cannot sleep. There’s a million things swirling about in my head, so I thought if I could just focus on ONE subject…one idea, I might be able to calm my thoughts and find a restful moment to fall into that wonderful subconscious state we refer to as sleep…

Over the years I’ve heard about Einstein who thought sleep was a waste of time only logging in about 4 hours a night, while Bill Gates is said to get 7 hours. In a recent article in The Harvard Business News found that 43% of business leaders they polled indicated that they were sleep deprived at least 4 times a week. 

Research shows that getting less that 7 hours of sleep can impair an individual’s performance level to that of a blood alcohol level of .05% , the legal drinking limit in many countries. Four hours of sleep renders that same person’s performance with that of someone with a blood alcohol level of 0.1% which is the legal definition of being drunk in the US. 

There is an abundance of research that suggests that sleep has an impact on all stages of learning, on making decisions, and tasks that require integrating multiple emotional responses. The less sleep you get, the more difficult the task.  One study showed that a good night’s sleep can lead to new insights, to the degree that participants who enjoyed a good night’s sleep were twice as likely to discover a hidden short-cut or a creative solution as those who didn’t.

Perhaps it’s a waste of time NOT to get enough sleep as the hours awake are more difficult to maneuver when sleep deprived…perhaps my mom was right after all when she would advise to “sleep on it” before making that tough decision…sleep on it…ahhhhhh…sounds like a great idea…g’nite all

Be good to yourself…