Musings at Altitude

We had a wonderful sermon at church today.  At one point during the sermon, our Pastor read Ephesians 2:3-7:

3 – Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

4 – BUT God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love which He loved us,

5 – even when we were dead to our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

6 – and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

7 – so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Our pastor emphasized the “but”, and he pointed out that when things seem most bleak, one of the most uplifting words we may hear is “but”.  In this case, we could easily take great liberty with the translation and say this:

We are sinners, BUT God through His grace forgives us of that sin and raises us up with His Son.

What a thought provoking point about “but”.  It truly is a word that leads us from deep despair to great hope, and for an optimist, it may very well be the single most important word in any discussion.

In my personal life:

• The checkbook is empty, BUT we’ve struggled before, we’ve made it through and we’ll do it again.
• Things aren’t going good for you at work, BUT I have great confidence in you and I know we’ll be ok regardless.
• You made a mistake, BUT I accept your apology and I know it won’t happen again.

And then in business:

• We’re very short on cash, BUT we have great people in our company and we will find a way to make do with less.
• We can’t do everything we wanted to do, BUT a “no” today will be a “yes” in the future.
• The economy is hammering us right now, BUT we’ll make it through this storm and emerge better than ever.

I’m thankful that God didn’t stop at our sin BUT through His grace raised us up.  I’m thankful that my wife didn’t stop at my flaws BUT loved me in spite of those flaws.  I’m thankful that in business we don’t lose hope BUT in hope look forward to good things that lie ahead.

“But” really is an uplifting word!

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I confess.  I struggle with humility.  I struggle with stepping aside so someone else can take over.  I struggle with letting someone else lead.  I struggle when there are two ways to travel to the same destination and the path chosen is someone else’s path and not mine.  And I struggle when I see folks lining up to follow someone else when my deepest desire is that they follow me.

One of the many great sections in the Bible covers John the Baptist, and it’s a lesson on humility.  Till that time, John was a voice crying in the wilderness announcing the coming of Christ.  In John 1:26-27, John the Baptist says, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know.  He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am unworthy to untie.” 

Later, John baptized Jesus, and as Jesus’ ministry grew, John’s disciples grew concerned because folks began following Christ instead of following John.  To this, John responded, “I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him…He must become greater; I must become less.”

John gave us a perfect lesson in humility.  John had indeed prepared the way for Christ, and when his time came to step back, he willingly became less for Christ.

I need to remember John every time I let my ego and my pride get in the way of allowing others to lead.

And on this day of worship and rest, I thank God and His Son for the models provided in God’s Word that show us how we should respond to the struggles that we face.

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We heard on the news earlier that tonight the moon would be the closest and brightest this year.  We couldn’t resist the chance to see it, and here’s the proof:

View from the Front

But we also wanted to get a view out back, away from the moon and towards the mountains:

View from the Back

Although this picture is dark, the fact that we can see the mountains at all this late at night is tremendous.  In fact, the moon is so bright that street lights aren’t necessary this evening.

What a beautiful evening!

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Today’s Schedule:

7:00     Wake up and be reminded that the Avs play today

8:00     Eat breakfast and talk Avs

9:00     Talk more Avs

10:00   Talk more Avs

11:00   Leave for the Avs game and talk Avs all the way up

12:00   Arrive at Avs game

1:00     Avs Play

3:30     Avs game over

4:00     Leave Avs game

5:00     Talk more Avs

At breakfast this morning, the fanaticism already started as my daughter chastised me for not being a true fan.  She already had her jersey on.  My wife had her Avs shirt on.  I had my Avs long sleeve t-shirt on, but it was hidden by an otherwise mundane, non-show-of-spirit sweatshirt.  While I ate my loaded eggs, my 14 year old ate her turkey and chipotle cheddar cheese omelet, and my wife ate her yogurt, my daughter forced my wife to go to the Avalanche web site to take the virtual tour of the arena so she could see the view from where we’d be sitting.  Disappointment set in when she realized we’d be on the opposite side and opposite end of her favorite player (or as she says, “he’s so hot”) who wasn’t scheduled to be playing today.  She built off that disappointment to tell me that I needed to quit printing the tickets at home because if we pick them up at “will call”, then she gets real tickets for her scrap book.  She then reminded us of exactly when we needed to leave, asked my wife if we could use her camera to get pictures of her favorite player at the game, and talked about several other things about the Avs that I just can’t remember now.

I quickly finished my eggs and scurried to my office because this banter about the Avs will escalate now until it reaches a phenomenally loud and screeching level when the Avs take the ice – and that’s just for the warm ups!  Her fanaticism will crescendo when it’s over and they announce the stars of the game.  Win or lose, she’ll still be screaming for her Avs.

Last year we had season tickets and this pattern of behavior and fanaticism was exercised sometimes 3 or 4 times a week.  This year, we pick and choose which games we go to, and as a result, the fanaticism has days or sometimes weeks to build up.  OH MY GOSH!  I can’t imagine the fanaticism being any more extreme by the time the day of the game arrives!

So today, my goal is to survive.  My goal is to protect my ear drums.  My goal is to feed the beast of 14 year old fanaticism without succumbing to the fanaticism myself.  Ok…I admit…it would really be cool if the Avs win.  But while the 14 year old jumps and down and screams in victory, I’ll just smile in knowing that a good team played a great game and gave her another thrill of a lifetime.

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Fellowship

I’m Southern Baptist in upbringing, and two things that are intimately tied together for Baptists are food and fellowship!  At any gathering, there seemed to be food…lots of food!  And I was always amazed that when the food looked like it wasn’t nearly enough to feed the masses, somehow all the masses were fed and plenty of food was still left over!  It always reminded me of Jesus feeding the thousands with just a little bit of bread and a small number of fish and still having lots left over!

At work, I enjoy food and fellowship equally as much, and there isn’t much that brings smiles quicker than having food show up on the conference room table (bonus checks may bring bigger but not necessarily quicker smiles).  And today, we’re having fellowship Friday at work.  And the anchor food of today’s fellowship is tamales!

I’m already smiling because of the food and fellowship to come, and it’s still several hours away.  But work can be very burdensome at times and these timely breaks that give us the freedom to put those burdens behind us for just a little while during the business day can be priceless.  I fully expect today to be priceless!

January 8th – Assessment

I failed miserably on my goal of networking.  In fact, of the 7 people I wanted to connect with, I only tried 1 of them and didn’t connect with him.  I got caught up in the needs of the moment and never freed myself up to work those opportunities for the future.  That in a nutshell is a microcosm of the problem we face in our business and the problem many businesses face today.  We are so focused on the tactical that we struggle with making any connections to strategically important people or opportunities.  I’ll revisit yesterday’s goal today, and I’ll make those connections somehow and in some way.

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Work the Network

In the last three days, I’ve had emails from a friend in Ireland introducing me to a new fuel storage monitoring program, a voice mail from a business partner in Ireland asking me to call for us to talk, and emails from several “lower 48” business partners asking for when we can talk and visit once again.  Each of these have been put on hold as our team has hunkered down together and focused on the strategic goals of our owners and the path towards greater maturity for ourselves.

But today, I get to smile and break away from that internal focus and work on my network and see how this product and these calls can advance our business or help other peer companies or partners in their business.  I find great energy in networking, but I’ve come to realize that I spend days at a time completely immersed in something and thus letting those that want to network with me just hang.  That’s not good; that’s not right.

So today I’m going to network.  I need to respond to network contacts before the close of business in any given day.  If nothing else, I need to say, “I’ll get back with you tomorrow”.  Any response is better than no response at all.

January 7th – Assessment

I looked in the mirror and smiled last night.  Though the conversation wasn’t always uplifting, the candidness and the complete honesty was refreshing.

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Constantly Look in the Mirror

These are tough economic times, and business leaders across this country are making decisions (and in some cases having decisions made for them) that not only affect their businesses but also affect each and every team member within those businesses.  We hear stories constantly of business leaders still getting big bonuses in times of economic collapse and huge severance if they indeed lose their jobs, while we see huge numbers of team members being let go without any real economic support or sustainment and maybe a thank you.  When I read these stories, I wonder how those who reap such huge gains in times of such great loss can look at themselves in the mirror and smile.  I hope they can’t, but I bet many are immune to feeling bad about such egregious actions.

In tough times like these, everyone is worried in some fashion about jobs, but business leaders can tackle those worries and any anxiety through open and candid conversations.  The business leaders and the team members should be united in understanding the current situation (financial and otherwise) and unified in commitment to do those things necessary to either succeed or survive depending on that current state.  Together they should be crafting and executing plans for survival and success, as well as planning for contingencies if those plans don’t work out as projected.

As we plan forward with the teams I now lead, I want to be able to look in the mirror at the end of the day and know that everything I did was in full collaboration with those very team members who would be impacted by my decisions and actions.  When looking in that mirror, I want to feel good in knowing that I focused on what was right, but not what was right in just my own eyes, but what was right in the eyes of the team as well.   And I want to make sure that everyone possible feels like they have a voice in the dialogue and debate and they have an advocate for them during any decision making cycle.

In tough times, every single decision and action is closely watched and often times then whispered about.  I can do my part to amplify those whispers through my own interactions and my own openness.  I can also use those whispers (if I listen closely) to broaden the voice at the table and to include many others in the decision making process. 

At the end of the day, I need to look in the mirror and smile just like Audrey above.  And those smiles will only occur if I’ve done the right things throughout the day to allow others to have their voices heard and to be part of the decision making process within the business.

January 6th – Assessment

I confirmed my theory that listening isn’t my strong suit.  I found myself cutting people off mid sentence to spout something of my own and also inserting myself at times when I hadn’t really listened to the previous discussions or questions that were asked.

This will be a work in progress!

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We had 4 wonderful months with our granddaughter close by, but now she’s a resident of Texas!

Let's Play!

She certainly looks like she’s adapting well!

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Listen

A very good friend sent out a note early yesterday morning saying he’d come down with food poisoning, so he wouldn’t be on any of the calls that morning.  A few hours later he was feeling just a little bit better (yet still in bed), and we scheduled some time to talk.  As we exchanged pleasantries (as pleasant as it can be when one of the two talking is down and out with a food related, purging causing illness), I got quite personal about the cause of his illness:

I asked:  “What did you eat?”

He responded: “We had baked potatoes last night, and I looked in the refrigerator for sour cream.  I found some, but it was dated January 5th.  I smelled it and it seemed ok to me.  My wife smelled it and said, “I wouldn’t eat it”.  I ate it anyway.”

I chuckled at that (not the illness, but the dialogue) because I do exactly the same thing.  In fact, this weekend, my wife reminded me that I typically ask her opinion on something but do whatever I wanted to anyway.  So she legitimately pops, “why do you even ask?”

So today, based on the lessons I learned from my good friend and the feedback I received from my wife, my goal is to listen.  Truly listen.  And to use the feedback and input I get from listening to enhance or change my desired action or path.

This won’t be easy.  I don’t listen well.  I’m about as stubborn as they come.  But I do learn through examples.  And I do hear my wife about the third time she tells me something!

January 5th – Assessment

Yesterday was a good day for getting things done.  I cleared out over 2/3 of my “to do” list, and actually completed some things that had been hanging for weeks.  I have a few more that have to be done today, and then I’ll  feel a real sense of accomplishment.  I must admit though, follow through is not always my strong suit, especially on those things that don’t incite passion.  I figured out one thing yesterday while looking at my list – those things that sit the longest waiting for action are those things that really don’t dramatically affect business success…the bureaucracy issues typically.  But I’m learning that those bureaucracy issues may be the full passion and lifeblood of someone else in the organization and that I owe them a response so that they can complete their mission and achieve their goals for the company.

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Finish Something

As I now look back on 2008 and look forward to 2009, I’m stunned by the number of things that I’ve started and moved forward to some level but have not yet finished.  They range from little things like review of company policies to big things like implementing new bonus programs.  I’ve had people I need to call on my “to do” list for 6 weeks now – and I’ve yet to make that call.  In fact, I carry over half of my “to do” list on any given day, and I’ve carried over half of that half of the “to do” list for several weeks.  Does it really belong on a “to do” list if there’s no urgency on my part to get it done?  Hmmm.

My goal for the day is to get things done.  If folks are waiting for me to respond to something, then I’m slowing down the entire enterprise by not responding in a timely fashion.  If I have a contact that needs to be made in order to further a strategic objective and I’ve put off that call for weeks, then I’m delaying any momentum towards that objective until I make that call or contact.  If I have made a commitment to have something back to someone by a specific day or date, then I need to honor that commitment.

Of course, in finally getting things done, I’ll also need to apologize to those that have been waiting for me to move something forward.  I know at least two that are waiting on me for something right now, and they’ve been patiently waiting for a while.  I’m sure the apology will be well received, but even more so if the apology is accompanied by the documents or actions they needed reviewed or completed, respectively.

January 4th – Assessment

Mission Accomplished!  I am revived and rested!  On the spiritual side, we had a great sermon out of the book of Colossians.  My spiritual reservoir has been filled!  On the physical side, Denise and I pulled on the winter coats and shoveled snow at our house and our neighbor’s house.  My physical reservoir has been filled!  On the emotional side, we spent time with my boss back in 1994 and caught up on many year’s worth of happenings in each of our lives.  My emotional reservoir has been filled!  Yesterday truly was a day of revival and rest!

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