Take The Time To Take Time Off

Take The Time to Take Time Off
By vmstevo

Mountainous terrain of greens and browns jaggedly approach the ocean. Dark blue water that bleeds turquoise as the twin screws kick in. Headed west out from Los Suenos marina passing ancient volcanic structures emerging out of the water like huge titans, teeming with foliage and wildlife. Two hours out, the Captain releases the outriggers as Mainor and Alberto finish the bait prep of rigged ballyhoo, blue runners and split tail mullet. 78 degrees, a fair wind from the South, massive rolling waves we mull over as we troll the Pacific. A shock of broken dialect excites even those still sleepy from the night before as they are awakened by a 130lb Sailfish, in the boat, pictures taken, released, repeat.

Fourteen sailfish and a dorado later, the Captain signals it’s time to head back. Cocktails in hand, forward looking to marinating poolside as we survived to fish yet another day. Complete relaxation, reset and highly recommended.

See you in the trenches - vmsteveo

Are You Too Trusting?

Are You Too Trusting?

To succeed in business - especially at the executive level - it's imperative that you are able to discern whom you can trust and whom you can't. Watch out for people with the six most dangerous character flaws:

1. People who rarely do what they say they will do.
2. People who push their work on to you.
3. People who are late and dont apologize.
4. People who tell you "I am too busy."
5. People who reject your ideas out of hand.
6. People who won't let you off the hook when you're in a jam.

Source: Executive Leadership; Staying Street Smart in an Internet Age, Mark H.McCormack, Viking (Penguin)

See you in the trenches - vmsteveo

The Speed of Trust - The One Thing That Changes Everything

The Speed of Trust – The One Thing That Changes Everything
By Stephen M.R. Covey with Rebecca R. Merrill
review by vmsteveo

This is a shout out to all you Covey freaks! Stephen M.R. Covey is following in his fathers footsteps with his first book "The Speed of Trust". If you don’t know who Stephen M.R. Covey is, he was the "Green and Clean" son from his fathers book "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People". That great story of his sons stewardship of the family yard and his trials and tribulations with self management and accountability has stuck with me for the past 17 years!

Anyway, Stephen M.R. Covey hit a home run dialing into one of the most important yet overlooked aspects of any personal or business relationship, trust. Covey sets the stage with an abundance of data citing various publications that point toward an ever growing lack of trust in today's society from corporate scandals to broken personal relationships and everything in between. He begins by simply breaking the cause and effect of trust down to the essence of a mathematical formula:

Covey explains when trust is non-existent, speed of the transaction goes down and costs go up.

6Trust = 6Speed 5Cost

In comparison, when trust is present, speed of the transaction goes up and costs go down.

5Trust = 5Speed 6Cost

He continues to explain that a well thought out strategy (S) is important as well as the method of execution (E) which equals the end goal or result (R):

S x E = R

Add the multiple of trust (T) and the "true" result can vary greatly depending on if it’s a trust tax (low or no trust) or a trust dividend (high trust). Coveys formula is expanded by a trust multiple:

(S x E)+/-T = R

For example, if your business plan has a go to market strategy rating of 10 (on a scale from 1-10) and your method of execution a 10 the result equals 100:

(Strategy (10) X Execution (10)) = 100

But, if we take into consideration the lack of trust, then we have to include a trust tax of 40:

(Strategy (10) X Execution (10)) - Trust Tax (40) = 60

In comparison, if the relationship has a positive trust factor, then we have a trust dividend of 20:

(Strategy (10) X Execution (10)) + Trust Div (20) = 120

Definitions of the trust multiples are explained in detail and can be inserted into the above equations.

Next, Stephen explains the 5 waves of trust:

Self – The confidence we have in ourselves. Under the Self wave there are 4 Cores on Credibility:
1. Integrity – Walking your talk
2. Intent – Our motives, agendas and resulting behavior
3. Capabilities – talents, skill sets
4. Results – Track record, performance

Relationship – Creating “trust accounts” with others. This section beaks out 13 chapters for the following behaviors that drive successful relationships:

Behavior #1: Talk Straight – Be honest
Behavior #2: Demonstrate Respect – Care for others
Behavior #3: Create Transparency – Tell the truth in a way people can verify
Behavior #4: Right Wrongs – Make things right when your wrong
Behavior #5: Show Loyalty – Give credit freely
Behavior #6: Deliver Results – Establish a track record
Behavior #7: Get Better – Continuously improve
Behavior #8: Confront Reality – Address the tough stuff directly
Behavior #9: Clarify Expectations – Disclose and reveal expectations
Behavior #10: Practice Accountability – Hold yourself accountable
Behavior #11: Listen First – Listen before you speak
Behavior #12: Keep Commitments – Say what you do, then do what you say
Behavior #13: Extend Trust – Demonstrate a propensity to trust

Organizational – Spanning trust across all kinds of organizations, non profit, governmental
Market – Your company brand being trustworthy
Societal – Creating trust for society at large

In summary, The Speed of Trust is packed with great advice on increasing trust on a personal and organizational level. Like most of the Covey books, this one comes equipped with worksheets, matrices and exercises to enable you to determine and improve your trust factor.

So I leave you with one thought provoking question: What can you do today to increase your personal and professional trust factor? I would enjoy hearing your comments.

See you in the trenches - vmsteveo

Life Balance

Everyone always talks about the balancing act between family and work... I decided, since I have been very busy, to see where my time goes... Here is what it looked like:

Midnight - 4:30a: Sleeping
4:30a - 5:00a: Shower and Dressed
5:00a - 5:30a: Commute to office
5:30a - 4:30p: Work
4:30p - 5:00p: Commute to home
5:00p-5:30p: Get settled at home and get out of work clothes
5:30p - 6:30p: Cook and Eat Dinner
6:30p - 7:30p: Walk outside, chat with neighbors
7:30p - 9:00p: Work while sitting with Wife
9:00p -11:00p: Watch TV with wife
11:00p - 12:00a: Sleep

By the end of the day, the only balance I hope for is that I am still standing on my feet.

And... I am the lucky one as my kids are much older and do not need a lot of my time. So hear I sit... instead of being with my wife and kids, I blog. Funny isn't it. Well, I would like to write more, but my wife is calling me and asking me to go to the store with her, run some errands, visit the parents, cut the grass, clean the cars.... I wish it was Monday.....

the dip - Seth Godin

The Dip – A Little Book That Teaches You When To Quit (And When To Stick)
By Seth Godin

book review by vmsteveo

“the dip” is definitely my kind of read as it’s a smaller book in size compared to your average business book and is only eighty-eight pages. However, don’t let this fool you as it is packed with great advice about when to throw in the towel and when to suck it up and press on with that one endeavor or endeavors you are having second thoughts about. As I have said in some of my past reviews I am from the school of thought that says work hard and your efforts will be recognized and rewarded. This ideal would be true if you were the only one who believed this, but….your not. Enter the dip or the barrier to entry to anything worthwhile and where most people give up. It’s the area or cycle of an endeavor where things get really, really, really tough for most to say “screw it, I’m outta here!” or to settle into mediocrity. Only a mere few push through this “dip” and come out the other end as extraordinary.

The concept of the dip comes into play after the honeymoon or newness of the endeavor (ie new job, workout regime) passes and you truly begin to understand the complexity and quality of the work that needs to be achieved by you to get through the dip. The reality of the dip is the guys and gals that have gone through the dip and are at the top are betting on your failure through the dip, in fact they count on it. There are tough obstacles that they set up that only the few can hurdle and accomplish. They know you are going to quit which allows them to remain number one for a longer period of time.

Think about it. My local YMCA in Davidson can’t possibly hold the number of members that they sign up during a given year. If all of them showed up, guess what? No one would be able to get to the equipment. It would be chaos. It’s sad to say, but they are betting on a good chunk of those members will quit soon after they sign up. Now if the majority quits, who benefits? First and foremost, the YMCA profits from members that have paid their fees and don’t use the facility but also the remaining members benefit from easy access to the equipment and lower membership fees, right? What a concept!!!

Let’s face it; everyone has been through the dip and quit mid way through it. It can be a sucky place to be if you let it get the best of you or an area filled with opportunity as you lean into the dip with everything you’ve got. I am convinced that those people that choose not to let the dip get the best of them end up on the other side as extraordinary.

Next Seth sizes up what scenarios within the curve to stick with and those to run like hell in the opposite direction:

The dip is a situation to evaluate and determine if the work involved to go through the dip is worth the prize on the other side. A good place to be.

The Cul de Sac as the French define as “dead-end” reflects an endeavor that is neither moving forward or backward. Get out, leave, reevaluate, and redefine.

The Cliff is a scenario where you are so afraid of quitting this endeavor that it overpowers any judgment you might have. This scenario screams, run like hell in the opposite direction. Bad.

The problem with the Cul de Sac and the Cliff is that they both lead to one thing… failure. Quit immediately if you sense one of your endeavors are in either of these two categories. So in summary, the safest place to be is the dip.

So you’ve made the conscious decision that a given endeavor is worth the dip that you must go through to be extraordinary, now what? How do you level set yourself to get through the dip knowing it’s going to be very long and hard journey?

To answer, this should be easy as you have already made the decision that the benefits of the other side far outweigh the pain of the dip. That commitment/decision to yourself will help you along the way. Once you make the commitment, stick to it, do it with vigor, enthusiasm, and a little bit of anger and never, never, ever give up.

Finally Seth gives us three questions to ask yourself in the event you are thinking about quitting any endeavor:

Am I panicing?
Who am I trying to influence?
What sort of measurable progress am I making?

So I ask you:

Which endeavors will you remove to make your remaining endeavors extraordinary?
Which endeavor will you pursue until you are #1?

I would enjoy hearing your comments.

See you in the trenches - vmsteveo

Blackberry Tips...

Yes, I have heard them all... Crackberry, the Other Ball and Chain, and Addictberry.... all I know is that it can cause a marriage to fall apart or save it....

Here are some more good tips...

U - for going through unread messages one at a time
Alt I - for looking at incoming messages only
Alt O - for looking at outgoing messages only

While typing an email...
Hold down a letter and it makes it a CAPITAL Letter
Hit the space bar twice and it makes a period.

And do not forget the AutoText feature... where you can create shortcuts for words.

I love my blackberry... Do I love it better than my wife... no... but a close second.

Blackberry Tip for Message Scrolling

Every leader can use a Blackberry tip every now and then. This one is painfully obvious but one I overlooked to the point of almost accidentally throwing my device out the damn window....

Have you ever tried to get back to the top or most recent messages through scrolling and scrolling that stupid mouse wheel until you had a blister on your thumb? Well I found out from an engineer two magical commands that will get you to the top and the bottom of your message stack:

Press "T" to get you to the top or Home
Press "B" to get you to the bottom or End

Pretty damn simple, but the simple as we know is usually overruled trying to make things more complicated.

See you in the trenches - vmsteveo