I’m out. I’ve written this column/blog for the last 2 years and it’s time to stop. I don’t know why, it just is. The last few things I’ve written have felt forced. That’s not good.
I’ve enjoyed the time, the sharing, the ideas, and the inspiration. The truth is I’m on to what’s next. There are new responsibilities, new things to do, and my attention is elsewhere.
I’m always here to kick around ideas, and my blog will certainly stay up, but the weekly column is done.
Thanks again for reading; it was appreciated more than you’ll ever know.
I volunteered to help coach my son’s flag football team. I’m the Defensive Coordinator. I have no idea what I’m doing, and it shows
Two games deep into the season, and we can’t stop a parked car.
Here’s the problem. Nobody on the team has any idea what their specific job is. I’m trying to give every kid a chance to play each position, and what’s happening is that nobody really understands fully how to play any of them.
Our teams at work face the same challenge; we have to provide clear lanes and clear direction or nobody will be able to drive down the field or make a play.
Do something crazy, sit down with each employee and ask them three questions.
What do you think your job is?
Are you clear on what it is you need to do and how you can achieve your goals?
Is there anything I (the company) can do to support that effort?
If things are working, this should be embarrassing, and you’ll have a good laugh. If things aren’t, you’ll figure out what needs to be fixed and fix it.
I made a grocery run last weekend in pursuit of corn on the cob. Our grocer stages trash barrels so you can do the shucking on-site. I generally hate this job, but I had help, so my son and I got to work on four ears. After his first one, he looks up at me and says this:
“Can we do more than four? This is cool.”
“Really?” I thought. “You want to just stand here and shuck corn?”
“Totally!”
We kept going, three then two more, than another three. We started handing them to strangers. We laughed, made fun of ourselves, he kept telling me how great it was.
In the mean time, there was a guy running around in the tomatoes chatting with someone through his Bluetooth ear piece. He looked like an idiot. Two little ones in tow, he just wanted to get in, get out, and get some work done. He missed an opportunity to engage with his kids.
Connecting with your audience is no different. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the transaction, that we miss out on listening and learning from them. That’s the good stuff, that’s where the great ideas and inspiration come from.
It’s just like crossing the street:
Stop. Look. Listen.
If you don’t do that, you’ll never make it to the other side. If you don’t do that with your customers, you won’t get your brand to the next level either.
You’d think I’d be talking about how busy I am or how urgent everything on the “to do” list is, but I literally mean everything is on fire. It’s been a horrible 3 weeks for this country and after an earthquake and a hurricane, I guess it’s no big deal that we have an outbreak of wildfires here in Texas.
We’ve been in a drought for quite some time, and this past weekend the Austin area lit up like an old Christmas tree. Suburban neighborhoods evacuated, homes destroyed, deaths, one fire has burned over 35,000 acres.
Times like these are when we stop. We have to. The stuff we’ve been working on takes a back seat to the stuff that matters. Our family and friends, our communities, they need us, and we want to be there.
There’s another interesting thing that happens, I’m sure it happened with you in the last 3 weeks; we start wanting to do something to help. Anything. We’ll give money, donate stuff, volunteer or pray. Something inside us says “go”. I wish it didn’t take events like this for the “do” switch to be turned on, but sometimes it does.
I love these two. Wouldn’t they make the cutest couple? And then they can get married and have some really pretty and really talented babies. I also love that Zac can play the guitar…and SING! Check out the “couple’s” appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show which included an impromptu duet. They were on Ellen to promote their […]
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There’s an awarding winning barbecue joint here in Austin. It started out as a trailer and soon graduated into its own building. The barbecue is so good that you have to line up at 10:30 in the morning, wait an hour until they open the doors at 11:30, and when the meat is gone…they close. [...]
I’m out. I’ve written this column/blog for the last 2 years and it’s time to stop. I don’t know why, it just is. The last few things I’ve written have felt forced. That’s not good. I’ve enjoyed the time, the sharing, the ideas, and the inspiration. The truth is I’m on to what’s next. There [...]
I volunteered to help coach my son’s flag football team. I’m the Defensive Coordinator. I have no idea what I’m doing, and it shows Two games deep into the season, and we can’t stop a parked car. Here’s the problem. Nobody on the team has any idea what their specific job is. I’m trying to [...]
Facebook’s latest update has people and brands scrambling to manage their digital history. All those status updates from days gone by will be front and center once again. Photos, Activities, Check-Ins…it’s all there. Welcome to Timeline. I’m annoyed. Not with Facebook’s changes, but with the amount of time I have to spend reviewing and caring [...]
On the way to work today, I had a couple of different ideas converge with each other, and it’s made me rethink how we look at employees. We’ve often heard how important it is for people do be doing what they love. Are they? Morgan Spurlock’s TED talk in 2011 challenged us to think about [...]
I’m out. I’ve written this column/blog for the last 2 years and it’s time to stop. I don’t know why, it just is. The last few things I’ve written have felt forced. That’s not good.
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