Musings at Altitude

It’s after midnight now, and President Obama begins his first full day on the job after a night of celebration, dancing and song.  He’ll most likely start this morning with his national security brief and then get on with the issues at hand as he motivates a nation to respond to the hope and the promise that came from his campaign and then was reinforced very elegantly in his inauguration speech.

In his new job now, President Obama wears many hats.  He’s the commander-in-chief of the world’s most powerful military.  He’s the chief executive officer of the government bureaucracy.  He’s the chief visionary for global democracy and freedom.  He’s the chief motivator for a country that’s short on optimism.  He’s the chief steward for the nation’s taxpayers.  He’s the primary script writer and then director of the movie that will become his legacy for the next 4 or 8 years.  And, he’s the principle architect of a mammoth structure/infrastructure that will take 4 or 8 years to build and, depending on the materials used during that building process, could wash away with the vote of the people or stand forever as a symbol of common values and common purpose.

On this day of new beginnings with so many new roles, I offer our President my prayers and my support.  And I’ll ask God to bless our new President the same as He blessed Solomon thousands of years ago (1 Kings 4:29):

And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore.

And I also offer our President some sage advice that comes from a good friend and fellow CEO – “you don’t lead alone”.  As the burdens of leadership grow heavy and the magnitude of decisions intensify, remember those millions of people cheering you yesterday and those hundreds of millions more viewing and listening with great excitement and great hope around this nation and around this world.  And as you remember all of those who you now lead in any of the roles I mentioned earlier, reach out to all of us.  Use our hands and our feet as your instruments.  Use our minds and our imaginations as your planners and script writers.  Use our passions and our hopes as your motivation and your encouragement.

Together, let’s drive forward with common commitment and common purpose.  Together, let’s act with dignity and respect for all men.  Together, let’s listen to the whispers of those who may not think they have a voice and respond in love to the needs of this nation and this world.  And together in love, let’s change the world.

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A year or more ago when I was at max frustration with the internal politics of our billion dollar bureaucracy, I mentioned to a very good friend that wouldn’t it be cool if our motto was JDYJ – “Just Do Your Job” – and every time any inside-the-company shenanigans occurred, we quickly popped JDYJ.

A couple months later, JDYJ showed up on my office wall and I reminded myself every time I walked in the office that I personally needed to JDYJ.

Appropriately, the Captain of the plane that landed in the Hudson River is attending the inauguration at the invite of the President-elect.  That Captain is a great hero for saving the lives of the 155 people on his plane.  BUT, that Captain has announced time and time again since the heroic landing, “I was just doing my job.”  Our President-elect picked up on that and said something like, “wouldn’t it be cool if everyone just did their job.” 

In honor of that pilot, I’m committing myself once again to JUST DO YOUR JOB.  I’m committing myself to eliminating the hallway chatter and water cooler talk that can debilitate an organization.  I’m committing myself to candor and honesty in my conversations so those that I depend on and those that depend on me will never question what I’m thinking or saying.  I’m committing myself to prioritizing my efforts to those most needed by those that expect things from me, and I’m committing myself to delivering beyond expectations in every single thing that I do.

That is after all, MY JOB.  And if at some point, just because I did my job, someone smiles, that will make me smile.  And if, just in doing my job, I can bring many, many smiles to those that work with me, that will be heroic in today’s tough environment.  Obviously, it won’t be heroic on the scale of saving 155 lives with decisiveness and skill beyond belief.  But, certainly heroic in a time when so much despair and anxiety exists and people across this country are changing their lives or having their lives changed for them based on the decisions of others.

JDYJ.  Yes indeed.

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Every now and then I find myself thinking about “how things used to be”.  I think back to the 1980’s before cell phones.  I think back to the 1990’s before computers in every home.  I think back to the 1970’s and 1980’s where cameras still had film and you could have the printed photo come out the front of the camera or take the film to a store and wait days or even weeks to get photos back.  I think back to the rotary dial phones and how you could actually dial numbers by using the rocker handle of the handset like a morse code device.  I think back to 8 track tapes and cassettes, and I still remember fondly my very first truck with a cassette player in it.  I think back to turn tables and “record albums”.  I think back to actually writing checks for everything, and I think back to actually getting a real check as a pay check.  I think back to missing something on live TV and knowing I’d have to wait for news that evening or find a paper to read about it tomorrow morning. 

This morning,  as I look at my iPod, my Blackberry, my laptop, my desktop, my CD changer for my car, my on line bank account and my DVR, I realize I wouldn’t change a thing.  I get to listen to my favorite music anywhere I am for just about as long as I ever want to listen.  I can be reached at any moment just about anywhere in the world.  I can carry my office with me on my laptop anywhere I go, and I can edit and publish anything I want to now on my desktop, my laptop or my Blackberry.  I can check my finances and pay bills when I’m thousands of miles away, and I can record any event on the TV and watch it whenever I want to now (and even skip the commercials) or even find it any time I want on the internet in some form of playback.  And, I can get “I’m ok” text messages from any of my kids at any time of the day to include pictures of things they want me to see, so I no longer have any excuse for not staying connected (unless they or I don’t want to be).

In the last few months because of technology, we’ve seen 3-D ultrasounds of our granddaughter and soon to arrive grandson.  We’ve taken high resolution pictures and printed them within seconds.  We’ve connected with our now remotely connected daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter through web cams and held conference calls with family members.  My wife and her sisters play collaborative web based games just about every Sunday, and everyone seems to now be connected on Facebook.  We use debit cards everywhere and my wife no longer keeps a check register.  We order tickets for major events on line and print them at home (although last night my daughter wanted “real tickets” for her scrapbook, so we had to wait in line at “will call” for the hockey tickets).  And maybe most embarrassing of all, we text message each other from the basement to the top floor of the house and coordinate activities that way.

As I think back, it’s amazing to remember my Mom standing on the front porch screaming my name (my entire name!) when it was time to come home for dinner.  We certainly have come a long way!

PS. Even with all this technology, I had to run to the “curb store” and get a half gallon of milk for my coffee this morning.  Our half filled carton in the refrigerator had expired 2 days ago.  Some things may never change!

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Several things to quickly mention tonight:

(1) Nothing much better than the smile on my 14 year old when her favorite team (the Avs) obliterates one of their hated enemies (the Flames) with her favorite player (Budaj – the goalie – “he’s so hot”) stopping just about everything thrown at him and two of her other favorite players (Hejduk and Smyth) both getting their 300th career goals; she’s been waiting on this game for weeks and we had row two seats; she must have taken a hundred pictures; her smile was priceless

(2) What an incredible story of the USAir jet landing in the Hudson River; the pilot (truly a hero) is a 73 grad from the Air Force Academy; I can’t imagine a better story and guest speaker at the next leadership development seminar; I’d love to be in attendance for that one

(3) Great sermon on encouragement today and a reminder that we have an obligation to support and encourage each other; in church, at home, or at the office, it’s easy to get discouraged and then sink into that quicksand of despair that follows; in that quicksand, the more you struggle, the more you sink; it’s amazing how one person stepping in with the right words at the right time can lift someone out of that quicksand; it’s also amazing how simple it is to lift someone up and yet how oblivious we are to those that need that pick me up

(4) Regardless of political affiliations, the historic significance of this week shouldn’t be lost on anyone; I’m anxious to hear Tuesday’s inauguration speech; I have no doubt it will capture the imagination and bring hope to folks all over the world

My thanks to all those who encouraged me this past week!  And for those who are on that same quest with me to find smiles every single day, I hope you’ve had as much success as I’ve had lately!

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Last night during the Avs game, she brought me a copy of the NHL Rules for how many goalies should be dressed for a game.  She basically handed them to me and said “so there”, still obviously steaming from our bus stop conversation that morning.  I read the page and a half rules of how many players should be on the bench and I quickly told her, “I was right”.  She responded, “no, I was right”. 

One big difference between me and my 14 year old is she reads things literally and I don’t.  Although the rules do say, “two goalies dressed”, the rules don’t say specifically what should happen if one of those goalies then gets hurt.

I believe the rules go my way if one or both goalies get hurt.  She believes the rule has to be followed regardless of whether one or both goalies get hurt.

Hmmm.  I have not yet figured out how I raised such a conformist.

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I received this via text from Beaumont, TX, late yesterday…what a great way to end (and start) the day!

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In this month of January, I’ve been able to take my 14 year old to the bus stop every day, and I’ve also been able to pick her up from the bus stop a couple of days.  If plans play out, I’ll be able to do the morning bus stop run every day this month – something that has never happened in the entire history of our family with any of the kids.

With this being so rare, I’m using this time to my advantage.  I’m finding out things that I really need to know in order to be fulfilled in life.  Like today, the entire 5 minute conversation that occurred between the time we got in the car till the time the bus appeared centered around the question of how many goalies are required to be on the bench in an NHL hockey game.  Now to some, that would seem like a pretty bizarre subject, but to those who know my daughter, it was a heated debate with her quoting me from the NHL rule book and me challenging her about the depth of her knowledge just to spin her up! 

As she got out of the car this morning, I said “I love you”.  She quickly retorted, “you called me a liar.”  I responded, “I love you”.  And she popped back, “I love you too”, as she slammed the door with a smile and headed to the bus.

In the last two weeks of bus stop runs, I’ve learned the following:

• she reads the NHL hockey rule book when she’s bored
• she loves science and hates math (I now know more about the forming of the earth as taught in today’s science than I ever wanted to know; of course, I always pop back, “and we were taught Pluto was a 9th planet when we went to school” just to make my point that she has a right to question things that are taught to her)
• she loves writing but only about things she like to write about (her grades reflect that – A’s in things she likes to write about and C’s in things that are boring to her)
• she loves spending time with the 1st graders (her “favorite class ever” last semester)

I’m pretty excited to have such high quality father-daughter time, even if for only about 5 minutes a day in route to the bus stop.  I’m also pretty excited to know that, like her mother, my 14 year old can remember the most unimportant facts about anything and then pop them off in defense during any meaningless debate we may have. 

I bet that trait serves her well as she follows her passions now and starts planning her life!

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I have a CD in my car called “Three Wooden Crosses”, and my 14 year old and I love so many of the songs on that CD.  I have rarely made it all the way through the CD because we constantly replay our favorites.  But the other morning I kept  listening without switching and made it to song 12, “They Don’t Understand” by Sawyer Brown.  As I drove down the highway, tears came to my eyes as I listened closely to those words and realized how guilty I am of getting frustrated by actions of others without thinking of what those individuals may be going through. 

If you have a moment this morning, please listen to this song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgFrfT5V40I

I am one of those guilty of being so busy with my own situation, lost in my own little world, trying to make my own dreams come true.  And in that busy-ness, I overlook those around me that are hurting, those that may be in pain for any number of reasons, and I just go about my own business. 

Today, I want to understand.  Today, I want to have total awareness of those around me and be one of those rare people that recognize pain and truly care enough to ask, “are you ok?”, without hoping that the answer is yes so I can quickly go on my busy way.  Today, I want to be guilty of caring for those who may be hurting so bad that they aren’t comfortable yet talking about it.  Today, I want to know what they are going through.  And some day in the near future when I’m hurting, I hope someone will care enough to understand about me and what I’m going through as well.

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When I pray in the morning, I ask God to help me be the father I need to be, the husband I need to be, the son I need to be, the leader I need to be, the team member that I need to be and the friend I need to be.  I could add more like the neighbor I need to be or the servant I need to be or the coach I need to be. 

But when I finished praying this morning, I realized that my prayer though very sincere may be very wrongly worded.  I need to ask God to soften my heart so I become the man He’s making me, and in that process, I will become the father, husband, son, leader, team member, and friend that He wants me to be.

It all starts with my seeking His will in my life and my obedience to His commands.  It all starts with a humility that comes from knowing that I am not in charge, but I am blessed by our Creator to be a father, husband, son, leader, team member, and friend.  It all starts with an admission that I am a work in progress in all areas of my life and that I won’t reach perfection (because I’m flawed) but I can with complete sincerity get better in each of these areas.

So today I want to improve in all roles in some way.  It’s a lofty goal for sure, but with God’s help and in constant prayer, I have no doubt that improvements will come.

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For some reason, today I got a lot done…an inordinate amount of things done…and I really don’t know why.  I was able to write entire strategic account plans in a matter of minutes not hours.  I was able to contact numerous folks on my “to do” list in a very short period of time, and many of them seemed to respond in minutes and not hours or days.  I was able to follow up on things that I remembered needed following up, and for some reason the follow ups were both timely and important.  And I was able to find smiles in things that have most recently caused me severe frowns and in those smiles I was able to figure out things to do in those relationships or situations that would hopefully make things just a bit better and thus minimize or even eliminate the frowns.

But once again, I really don’t know why.  I’ve never really known why on some days (though rare they may be) absolutely everything clicks.  Regardless of the crisis, regardless of the action needing to be taken, regardless of the relationship that needs to be created or fixed, everything seems to flow so perfectly that when the day ends you just don’t want it to stop.  In fact, you want to capture and contain whatever that stimulation may be that stokes the right firing of the right cells that creates the right thoughts and the right movements to make that almost perfect action take place.

In basketball, you can get in a zone and every 3 pointer will go in, sometimes regardless of how awkwardly you shoot them.  In golf, you can have 3 or 4 holes where every shot just seems to be perfect and you put that one shot at the green within 3 feet of the flag.  In baseball, you can see the pitch all the way to the bat and it seems that the 90 mph fastball is coming at a super slow speed.  In some way, I’ve experienced each of these (of course, not at anywhere near a professional or even good amateur level).

But in business, being in the zone comes much less often and when it does it’s nirvana.  It’s something that I yearn to continue or, when it stops, to replicate as quickly as possible.  But I’ve never found the tripwire that launched the nirvana.  And maybe that’s a good thing.

There’s something very special about not knowing when it will come and there’s something magical and surprising when it hits.

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