My Last 30 Days

Several Years ago, I lived through the passing of my mother; although she was told that she would not survive for more than 12 months after she was diagnosed,  for 11 years, she fought a good fight as she survived Lupus,. Today, I still reminisce the passing of my mother but also deliberate the question: “If I am told that I have 30 days to live, what would I do within these 30 days?”

What would I do? Fundamental, the answer rests within what I would consider my legacy—am I self-centered focus or others-centered focus? 
1. Why would I want to be remembered? 
2. What do I want people to remember about me? 
3. Are my achievements really worth remembering? 
4. Is it what I do for myself or what I do for others?

Looking at lives of great leaders of the past, what they did to help others stood out as the greatest of their legacies; it is what made them who they were and who they are now. Simplification, if I am given 30 days to live, logically, what I can do for others with selfless habits of giving my all should be my pledge. Wait a minute, why couldn’t I do this every day? Why wait until 30 days before I die? 

Well, life has her blinder on and naturally leads me down the aisles of my own ambition making me believe that “I am a mortal to my destiny and the captain of my fate” as I obsessively seek achievements. Do I seek the top of the mountain only to find bloody trails that others left on the way up? Am I chartering new trail of injustices with the only just thing to do is to achieve? My victims are those that I have shut down their voices, those that I’ve turn away their helping hands, those that I have obliterate their open hearts, and those that I’ve murdered their souls. 

Let me passionately curious about the last 30 days of my life each day; let me be dimensionally mindful of the natural engagements that surround my path each day so I can remove the blinder of my egotistical passion to achieve and let me be a zealously person of give 

Yes, my last 30 days are days to Forgive and Give and NOT to Achieve. "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."   

INVICTUS by William Ernest Henley

For my unconquerable soul, 

out of the night covers me.

Black as the pit from pole to pole

I thank [God perhaps]

For my unconquerable soul

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid

It matter not how strait the gate

How charged with punishments the scroll

I am the master of my fate

I am the captain of my soul

Provocation or Explanation, Language we must

Our language is more powerful than we often imagine. I was talking to a team member this morning, asking, how he is doing and his answered was, “hanging in there.” As this morning and every other morning when I am at work, I greet team members each morning and always take interest in their responses; some gives the standard answers and some replies with how they really feel but for the most part, we greet each other with neutral words that have no power. Think of the last time you heard someone else (or even yourself) respond to a greeting of "How are you?" with "Oh, I am doing so-so," "Hanging in there," "I'm surviving" or "Not too bad." It probably wasn't much past yesterday or perhaps today.

Fundamentally from a macro level, language drives the changes to any culture. As most changes in this world; they are often driven by a charismatic rhetorical figure that has the ability to conjure language that cause changes in people hearts and minds. Hence, language is always the provocation of any changes. Therefore, our usage of language is just as critical to our daily interaction as anything else that we do. We can either use language that describes our current situation, language to change our situation, or language that ignite changes to someone else situation. Therefore, it is severely important for us to understand that our language carries this much power. 

Suggestion, the next time anyone asks, "How are you?" whether it's one of your team members or a cashier at the store, respond with strength. Give them an energetic, enthusiastic, “I am Grateful!” “I am Awesome!" or "I am Terrific!" At times, it will be hard to do without a smile on your face but you are likely to get one back. You will likely feel a physical response of increased energy. Hence, your words will send a message to your mind that will be consistent with feeling Grateful! Awesome! or Great!

To see the results, you have to do this often and with sincere enthusiasm (not robotically). When you do, you will subconsciously begin to act on what you are saying and begin to design your reality to be consistent with your thoughts and words. Speaking with power also creates a sense of accountability and commitment to get the best from yourself and others.

Hence, I challenge every one of you to consciously seek language that ignites positive behavior from oneself and others and to avoid using words that provoke negative energy. Thus, think about it when you are talking to someone: are you creating positive or negative situation?

Patrick Lencioni - The 5 dysfunctions of a team

Vulnerability of my Soul

My sweet soul that occupied everything but inhabit nothing

Imagine how it could be?

How I don’t fit into your pattern?

Imagine how it could be?

How could I have woven a new pattern?

Imagine how it could be?

Pattern that woven around the vulnerability of my soul

Imagine how it could be?

Dancing to the Defenseless Pattern of my in-habitation 

Imagine how it could be?

This life I live, happiness is my choice?

Imagine how it could be?

This life I live, sorrow is my choice?

Imagine how it could be? 

Vulnerability show me your strength

Imagine how it could be?

Faith I may follow from the nothingness of thy self

Imagine how it could be?

For death I will be, usher me my savior

Imagine how it could be?

Thanksgiving will always 

Imagine how it could be?

                   - Tanga'otalakepa 11/28/2014 

We Teach Life Sir!

Velonika 2

what nature tells us

“When I say... "I am a Christian"

“When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow.”

― Maya Angelou

Be an Anthropologist

The other day I was asked by our new District Director about my Personal mission Statement; I am not sure if it is personal because it is not all about me, here we go: “Under the infinite mercy of our Lord, I am showered with undeserved Grace while trying to figure this life out; It is my mission to make a daily positive contributions to humanity.” However, I am often caught up in this “me” world and forgot about the selfless part of my mission.

Why am I telling you this? Let see, as human, everything that we do is at the mercy of someone or something else. Right! You heard me, everything. Unfortunately or perhaps, fortunately, we do not exist in a vacuum. Today, I said to myself: “Why does good thing happen to bad people?” Yep, that’s me. What have I done right?  Truth be told, someone else have done something right and not me. Therefore, I think, we must all be an Anthropologist – we have to figure out what makes human human. Why do I think the way I think? Why do I think that I am undeserving of good things? Frightening thought but, as leaders, we have to venture into this realm of what makes me me and what makes you you.

Back to business, “Know What You Don’t Know” by Michael Roberto talks about the notion of being more than just a problem solver and stresses the importance of being a problem finder. Roberto points out that “most large scale failures have an incubation period and are not the result of a single root cause, but a chain of errors.” However, as we improved with our numbers and performances, it gets tougher to see small errors incubating beneath us. This is why we have to rely on communication with everyone in order to keep small problems from growing into big ones. Inevitably, this means dealing with the challenge of filtering and finding ways to connect straight to the source.

Roberto shared two basic techniques for developing yourself as a problem finder: 

Circumvent Gatekeepers

It’s important that we remember that we all are gatekeepers and are trying to do our best to boil down information into simple sound bites and talking points for the sake of time an simplicity. But that often means blowing over small, peculating issues and leave them tucked away. As Gatekeeper, we decide what need to be dealt with and what need to be tucked away. 

To combat this, Roberto recommends that every so often we carve out time to review the raw data of our Team—this is why we have the daily Tracker for our Priority Metrics and you are encourage to analyze them daily by looking at them with your Problem Finder's eyes. The idea is to break away from the standard routine of reports that have become staled and predictable. Take a look at data you don’t normally review, or read some of the reports that are available in sharepoint, business object, or Field Reporting. Hence, as you are looking at the metrics that has been assigned to you, look at it with problem finder's and QDM's eyes; thus, what other information that I can find to help me understand this metric? Whether you at goal or not, you should always look at what are the potential problem that could prevent you from improving. Thus look at these metrics with “how can I improve?” eyes.  

I will also change up metrics assignment to maximize the diversities of problem finders. Often, some team members will be less constrained in what they are willing to tell or share from their problem finders—As we are moving into a New Year with a New District, my challenge to all of you: “Be an Anthropologist” and understand why makes a person that person. I also encourage you to be a Gate Keeper that does not discriminate on the finding by analyzing the process with a holistic approach. 

By now, all of you know how much I love football, watching it anyway; nevertheless, I spoke about this before when I was watching the Florida State University vs. Clemson last fall. The name of the quarterback for FSU is Winston; he threw a pass to his running-back which is 5 yards in front of him and then ran up to block for the running-back-- that is “rolling up your sleeves” leadership. Do not limit yourself to the parameter of your task. If you are on the field, every play from start to finish is yours, regardless of position. You can’t throw the ball and sit back—you throw the ball and run up and block.    

Encourage Useful Failures

The most successful Teams started out by failing, but they were willing to take a shot, and then another, and another… until they made it. Sometimes you have to do a little experimentation before you figure out the right answer. There is quote that is framed up in my office by Jacob Riis "... Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two ..." This should be the approach for Team Abilene. Should someone ask how do get things done in Abilene, quote them Jacob Riis. I spoke about this before “failing your way to success.” And I've use Riis and Thomas Edison example before, we cannot stop on the number 100 failures, it maybe the 101 attempt the get us the victory. Thomas Edison was fired twice and failed at his first 1,000 attempts to create a working light bulb. Oprah Winfrey was fired from an early job as a Baltimore TV reporter because she was deemed unfit for TV news. Go figure! 

When it comes to failure, Roberto advises not to wait for a failure to create a learning opportunity, but instead create opportunities to fail. In other words, create experiments and pilots to test ideas in an environment that is safe. This will encourages everyone to acknowledge and address failure in a positive way they can learn from, and will lead to a more open culture where employees will be more willing to share little errors before they erupt into major problems.

To Conquer is To Obey

One of the old sayings that I’ve heard growing up: “In a fight between the world and me, lets bet on the world” Yes, this makes a lot of sense – the world is much bigger and stronger by the numbers. But truth be told on MY Reality is, I spend most of my time fighting against the world and betting on myself. The unfortunate thing is, my perception of who I am is always telling me that I am RIGHT. The fact is just not true!

 Here is a relief—Not a Single IDEA was a good idea on the day that it was perceived. IDEA is just new and not necessary good. More often than not, we stop on the bad idea and never get to the good, that is when we are conquered. Look at Thomas Edison, prior to his invention, in order to create light, you have to burn something—you burn oil, wood, etc… What he wanted to create is, create light by preventing something from burning? The fact is, he spent numerous hours and hours on many many bad ideas before he got to the invention that won over the world.

 We are surrounded by an environment that is full of innovation waiting for our creativity button to be pushed. I remember Emmanuel Kant saying: “The light dove, in free flight cutting through the air the resistance of which it feels, could get the idea that it could do even better in airless space.” The fact that this is the very air that enable the dove to fly; thus, an airless space would kill the dove and everything else, for that matter.  Yes, sometimes we resisted the very environment that allows us to be creative not knowing that this is the very thing that keeps us going—bite the hands that feed you! Instead of resisting the “air”, we should ask, how can I create something with the air?

Here we go, the best way to have good idea is to have many ideas: remember QDM brain storming! If you want to think, obey the “law of thinking.” If we want to be creative, we have to “obey the law of creativity.” If we want to change, we have to “obey the law of change.” The bottom line is, “we have to obey the forces that we want to command.” Hence, in a fight between me and the world, I have to obey the law of the world in order to conquer it. But remember, some of these are not as obvious!

 Therefore, how we can conquer? Lets look at Einstein, for the new creation of the State of Israel, he was proposed to be the president of the new state. Obviously, he resisted this proposal. What about Churchill and Gandhi? [I’ve talked about this before] If we switch role between these two great leaders (Churchill-Gandhi), they would fail so as Einstein as the first president of Israel. Hence, pick the forces that you want to command and obey it’s law.

To be continue…