Musings at Altitude

The longest interview I ever went through was over 8 hours which occured just over 5 years ago when I joined the company I’m part of today.  I remember how anxious I was during that interview because I was briefed that it would be only a couple of hours and with less than a handful of people and it ended up being lots longer than that and with at least a couple hands of people.  During that 8+ hours of interrogation, I was scrutinized on my background, questioned about my qualifications to be a leader of the company, and debated about my vision for what the company could be and how quickly it could become that.  I remember walking out of that extensive verbal battle mentally exhausted.  I called my wife and said, “there’s no chance I’m getting this job.”  The next morning, I got a call and the caller said, “we’ve decided that you’re the best guy for this job.”  I was stunned, because at no time during that previous day did I have the feeling that this job was mine.  Quite the contrary, actually.  There were lots of times where I felt convinced that they had someone else that was a better fit and already the preferred choice.

In an extreme comparison, Barack Obama just went through a 2 year interview where I’m sure at many times during that extensive interview process he felt like the people hiring for this job knew a better fit and had a preferred choice.  He too went through an extensive vetting process, but his included an exhaustive background check, serious scrutiny of his faith and family, and intense questioning about his philosophical and theological positions.  He too was intensely debated over the vision and the path for the organization (or country) he would run, and he too was doubted at times about whether any of the dreams that he shared could ever be realized.  After two years of sleepless nights, he too got the call, “we’ve decided that you’re the best guy for this job.”

I was mentally and physically exhausted after 8+ hours of intensive interviews, and yet I was excited beyond belief when that call came.  I can’t even begin to imagine how tiring a 2 year interview process must have been.  But we all got a sense for his excitement once the choice was clear when he gave his victory speech.

Regardless of my political preferences, I’m committed to supporting our President and I’ll be joining millions of Americans in praying for him every single day.  One of the great things about our country is how we band together in the toughest of times and through our unified efforts attack our greatest challenges.  I’ll spend very little time looking back right now – there’s not a lot to learn in the rear view mirror.  I’ll spend lots of time looking forward though, committing myself to being active in the change process and fully believing that our great country will come together in unity and action.

PS.  I may have political differences with our soon to be new President – I think that would have been the case with whichever “interviewee” was selected.  But I have a hard time now with some who visibly show their dismay through any number of what I consider inappropriate ways.  Here’s one of them I saw today:

I’m jumping to a conclusion that this was this individual’s own way of protesting the results of the election. 

One of the great things about our country is the election process, and through that process, the will of the people becomes known.  Regardless of whether our candidate was elected or not, our flag should be flying high.  That’s the right thing to do.  But then again, another great thing about our country is the right of free speech which allows someone like this to protest in his own way.

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My wife and I both voted today, using the traditional wait in line and then mark your ballot mode.  It was exciting to see so many people at the polls and even more exciting to walk down the halls of the office and hear a near (if not actual) unanimous “yes” when I asked “did you vote today?”  The energy in the electorate is staggering right now, regardless of who you support!

But back to my title…I’m looking at the election returns and in one Senate race, with 84% or over 1,100,000 votes counted, the spread is only 214 votes.  ONLY 214 VOTES!!!!!  Since 2000 and the hanging chads in Florida, it’s been shown to us time and time again how important every single vote is in this country.  Every time I see one of these too close to call elections, I immediately think MY VOTE COUNTS!  Every time I see a ballot initiative or amendment with a 50-50 or 51-49 tally, I immediately think MY VOTE COUNTS!  And every time I see a concession speech or a victory celebration, I pause for just a moment and think MY VOTE COUNTS!

This is an incredible country, and one very important reason is MY VOTE COUNTS!  When I think about so many other countries in this world where votes really don’t count, I smile with pride in knowing that in our great nation, MY VOTE COUNTS!  And whether my candidate wins or some other great American wins instead, MY VOTE COUNTS!

In many things in life, I get really annoyed when I don’t get my way.  But that’s not the case in national, state or local elections.  If the will of the people does not match my will as an individual, I still smile in knowing that MY VOTE COUNTS!  Through my vote, I let my position be known and I exercised my right to express my opinion on that national, state or local stage. 

There’s a lot of excitement in this country tonight because we’re soon to have a change of administration.  There’s also a lot of excitement around the world tonight because we’re soon to have a change of administration.  For me, it’s more pride than excitement, because with all the intense focus on our national elections around this world, the message every citizen of this world needs to receive is MY VOTE COUNTS.

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I mentioned earlier that I “rolled over” and gave in to the relentless pressure of my daughter to buy her a new phone…and even more importantly, not just a new phone but a Blackberry.  Her mother and I went to the AT&T store together, her goal being to get our daughter a functional but not fancy phone and my goal being to get rid of the constant begging and nagging.  We walked out with this:

I must admit that my daughter looks mighty cool with her new pink Blackberry.  I also must admit that I’m very relaxed now that the pressure of saying “no” or giving in to my daughter is now over. 

But as I think back over the last few days, I’ve come to several conclusions:

(1) My wife talks a good and stern game, but she as much as me ends up giving in at the ultimate point of the maximum amount of pressure

(2) Although I fully understand that other phones are “good enough” for a 14 year old, this pink Blackberry is something special for MY 14 year old

(3) When you get to the phone store and see the difference between the $59, $99, $139, and $179 phones (with available rebates and the obligatory 2 year service agreement), the lower dollar phones look very cheap and the higher dollar phones look over priced; the Blackberry is right in the middle and it looks “just right” for any child of mine

(4) There’s something really special about that “you’re the best” hug that comes from the 14 year old after she finally gets her way; I fully understand that giving in is absolutely the worst thing to teach her, but the hug isn’t nearly the same (if I get one at all) if she doesn’t get her way; that “thanks for giving in Dad” hug is something hard to explain but so special to get

(5) Now that my 14 year old has a Blackberry, she can show me all the different tricks on it that I never have been able to figure out for the 10 years that I’ve had one (or something like that)

So I feel pretty good now…what an awesome Dad I am to have given my daughter the exact model of the exact phone in the exact color that she wanted.  How cool am I!

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I can think of so many things that come to mind when I think of roll over:

— moving my 401(k) from one provider to another

— giving in to my daughter when she relentlessly begs for a new cell phone (she got one today)

— what they do on CSI when they need to look at the other side of the corpse

But today I got to smile when I got a picture of the ultimate roll over:

In the life of an only months old child, rolling over is the first step to freedom.  Up next – that first crawl!

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Back in early September, I added a primary duty to my job responsibilities – CEO of an $80M company.  I smile just thinking about that statement – “a primary duty” – because actually I have at least a couple primary duties and today I think they are all making me smile.

Here is a far from exhaustive list of things that make me smile:

— food and fellowship

— a job done well

— a quick recovery to a job done not so well

– a Starbucks with a friend

— collaboration with a peer

— a sigh of relief when a tough task is complete

— a thank you note from the boss

— an unexpected note of encouragement from a friend

— an answer to a question that has bothered me for days or weeks

— a hockey game that goes to a shootout

— an unexpectedly good balance in the checking account

— an Avalanche win (because of the 14 year old)

— a Red Wings loss (because of the 14 year old)

— an omelete at IHOP

— a talk with my Dad

— a talk as a Dad

— a political debate with a good friend

— a business that achieves against plan

— a chance to help someone in distress

— an unexpected picture of the grandbaby

— an expected picture of the grandbaby

— a “thinking of you” from anyone unexpected

— an answered prayer

— words of wisdom from a business mentor

— progress over process

— a last minute goal at a hockey game

— a hug from any family member

— a great business idea from an unexpected source

— the point any business becomes cash flow positive

— a “yes” from that one person you need more than any other to help your business

— lighting a pumpkin spice candle

— listening to Jimmy Buffet

— any positive day in the stock market

— an uplifting biography

— a date with my bride

— hand delivering bonus checks

— giving someone a raise

— a note of thanks from a customer

— a note of thanks to a customer

— arrival of that check that is so desperately needed to meet payroll

— the serenity of altitude

— a glass of wine, a cigar, and a clear night to stare at millions of stars

— a butterfly kiss when my daughter says good night

There must be thousands more, and maybe that’s why I go through much of life with a smile on my face!

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Two grande drinks at Starbucks – $8.71

Parking at the Pepsi Center – $10.00

Nachos and two drinks – $13.00

Front row seats as surprise gift to my 14 year old – PRICELESS!

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My 14 year old has been begging me for a new phone for months now.  Three months ago it was a desperate need for an I-Phone, because everyone at school had one.  Three months later, its now a Blackberry Pearl – everybody’s got one of them now too.  I’ve been stunned by my consistency in response on this one – “NO!”  But today, she ratcheted up the pressure and took a new and more devious approach.

When I got home from work, she walked up to me and showed me a crushed phone…seriously…the outer screen was shredded.  Many things crossed my mind when I saw that phone, but I must admit, accident was not the first thing I thought.  As I looked at the damage though, I smiled and did what almost any father would do when something needs to be fixed – I opened the garage and pulled out the duct tape.  As my daughter looked on, I fixed her phone:

I think it’s pretty cool, and it’s quite possibly one of a kind!  But I’m sure the begging is sure to intensify now!

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I surprised my 14 year old when I got home this evening by getting her front row seats for the Avs game tomorrow night.  She’s been begging me to go all week long and after last night’s loss, it became even more urgent than ever that she be there and show her support.  When I gave her the tickets, she screamed for what seemed like an hour, and then she had to call all her friends, and then she gave me a hug and called me “best dad ever”, and then she repeated many of the above.

I’m flying pretty high right now realizing that I’m such an awesome dad and all it really took was incredibly costly tickets at a game that I really didn’t want to go to!  I’m eternally thankful that my reputation with my daughter is almost solely based on the Avs tickets that I buy her.  I’m hoping that it stays that way!

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In the past 10 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of two very different environments – one of incredible and unprecedented growth and a second of extreme austerity in market spending and thus intense competition for every single revenue dollar.  In the first, the most important aspect of our company was not great leadership but great engagement managers that responded quickly and aggressively to the needs of our clients.  In the second, the most important thing for our company was great leadership as very treacherous waters were navigated and very despondent team members needed motivating. 

After experiencing first hand the addictive environment of unprecendented growth, I started saying “even bad leaders can succeed in a totally up market”.  I saw that too close and personal – success can cover so many sins and shortcomings in leadership.  But I also experienced the intensity of a down market, where poor leadership was more visible than ever and could not be masked through any successes in the company.  I then said, “we’ll find out how good our leaders really are now that we face significant challenges.”  And that proved all to true. 

Earlier this decade, I was fortunate enough to lead a company in a period of fanatical growth.  We made lots of mistakes, but we quickly overcame those mistakes and still drove incredible revenue and income growth.  Because I was in the leadership position, I got lots of credit for my leadership skills, but in all honesty, the extent of my leadership was empowering others to “just go grow”, and they did a magnificent job of just that.  I remember vividly the phone constantly ringing as folks called and said “can you” and we quickly responded with “you bet”.  We threw people and structure at opportunities, and we pushed off any investments in corporate infrastructure instead to focus solely on client execution.  We were truly addicted to growth, and more importantly, we may very well have been blinded by that same growth.

Today, however, that spending frenzy that drove such remarkable growth has been replaced by an economic downturn that has turned prosperity to austerity and replaced the smiles of confidence with very stern looks of concern.  Those same leaders that responded to every challenge and every question with “we’ll figure it out” are now faced with the very real possibility of program cancellations and rapidly declining spending from their trusted and historically reliable clients.  Many of those who have emerged in leadership positions during this period of insane growth are now faced with the daunting task of delivering much needed revenue and income when the path to such revenue success is masked behind a very dense fog on the competitive business landscape.  Most certainly, now that we need great leaders more than ever, we’ll be quickly learning how good those leaders really are.

As someone who watches other leaders closely, I’m anxious to find out who emerges during these incredibly tough times as the leaders we can count on to deliver against expectations even in a down market.  I’m also anxious to see how our team members respond to the changing intensity and focus that is coming from each of our leaders as we all now react to the rapidly changing market place.

As I think about the expectations we have of our leaders in these tough economic times, I’m reminded of a quote from one of my favorite movies, “The American President”.  Near the end of that movie, President Andrew Shepherd breaks into a daily press conference and gives one of the most motivational speeches I’ve heard in a movie – here’s a pointer to that speech – http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechtheamericanpresident.html.

The last few lines are priceless.  “We’ve got serious problems and we need serious people.  And if you want to talk about character Bob, you’d better come at me with more than a burning flag and a membership card.  If you want to talk about character and American values, fine.  Just tell me where and when, and I’ll show up.  This is a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up.  My name is Andrew Shepherd and I AM the President.” 

I’m thinking that we’re going to need several of our leaders making an equally riveting speech in the coming months!

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I realized this morning how much I really do live two lives – the one that is somewhat orderly, makes things neat, and follows a routine; and the other one that loves chaos, likes a mess, and truly enjoys change. 

The orderly life I lead is heavily (if not solely) influenced by my wonderful bride of almost 26 years.  She’s in Mississippi today, visiting our families, and yet, after brushing teeth, showering, and getting dressed, I followed the routine and did this:

I’ve been known to say, “why make the bed if you’re just going to sleep in it again?”  My natural tendency is to leave things in a pretty chaotic state and then only create order when something happens or something is needed that reduces the chaos or the disorder.

After realizing how important it was for me to follow my wife’s routine, I then left the bedroom and walked into my office:

This is more typical of the order of things in my life – not much order at all.  I’d show you a picture of the garage too, but I’m too embarassed to show that one!

It’s amazing (or maybe not amazing at all) how much those around us influence our actions and even dramatically change our typical behaviors. It’s even more amazing how within just a few yards in the same house in two very different rooms, the very different lives we lead can show themselves so visibly! 

You can see from these two pictures that I am heavily influenced by my wife in some areas of my life, and then not very influenced at all in others.  I’m actually very grateful and thankful for her influence in those areas where we “share space”, and then even more grateful and thankful that in other areas she gives me “my space”. 

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