Month: June 2015

#1104 in or out

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As part of a leadership program I’m in, I recently spent time talking with senior leaders about their philosophies and styles.  

One of the most striking differences among the people I talked to was the value they placed on external commitments.  For some, involvement in the community, boards, national associations and other similar forms of volunteer service were an essential part of the role.  Another believed it to be more prudent to minimize the time away from the home office and to focus on the internal work at hand.

Both are right for their personality, length in the position and the environment they are leading.  What I took away from the conversation was that opportunities will present themselves, and it is best if you have an intentional strategy of how to evaluate them and respond.

Even if you are not the CEO, you will likely be faced with similar decisions at any point in your career.  Do you coach Little League or serve your professional organization? Will being a Girl Scout leader allow you to still be visible at events on campus?  Do you need to choose between serving on the school board and leading a major project at work?

Knowing how much time to spend “in” and how much to devote to “out” has consequences either way.  Evaluate what you give and what you get before you make a decision.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#1103 exit 12

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When we were kids, vacation consisted of many weekend camping trips to local parks and one “big” vacation to the shores of Lake Michigan.  

The trip to the Lake was a monumental journey for our family.  We went through three states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan.  We were in a different time zone.  They had deposit on cans and different stores. We had to wait through many toll booth lines. It was like going to another country for us.

We stopped going for many years, and then the siblings decided to make a reunion trip there.  We got out a map and looked all along the shoreline for the park we had frequented, but could not find it.  It turns out we were looking in the wrong place.

We felt like we were in Northern or at least Central Michigan because we had traveled “so far”.  In reality, where we camped was at Exit 12 in Michigan!  With open road tolling and no camper to pull, you could make the trip in under two hours.  But never did we imagine we were only 100 miles away.  

Our parents were on to something. They created an experience that was special, memorable and attainable.  It was within reality for them to provide, yet made us feel rewarded and giddy.  We looked forward to the trip and enjoyed it as much as we would had we traveled much further.

Think about how you can replicate this illusion within your organization.  Can you provide a perk that your employees cherish that won’t break the bank? (e.g.: closing at 3pm on summer Fridays)  Or what about offering something of value to your clients that makes them feel important for being affiliated with you? (e.g.: free tickets to an exhibit my bank is sponsoring)  What can you do to alter the experience into something that becomes special? (e.g.: having a hot dog cookout during Bring Your Dog to Work Day)  Or how can you maximize the experience by paying attention to a few select parts of it? (e.g.: vacation in Quebec with a different language)

You, too, can make Exit 12 feel exotic and special if you try.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com





#1102 powerless

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Last week, my electric toothbrush died.  One minute my molars were getting polished, and the next minute the rotations puttered to nothing.

When I went to the store to purchase a new one, I discovered that there were lots of choices, and that except for the price tag, they all looked alike on the shelf.  So I went home, did some research, found one to purchase, brought it home and plugged it in.

Nothing.  It was as dead as the original.

It turns out that the problem was the outlet, not the toothbrush itself.  It’s the only thing on that circuit, so I did not know until the battery wore down. Lots of time wasted on solving the wrong problem.  

The next time you have a dilemma, even if it is one that seemingly has a simple solution, take a minute to assess the situation.  For the time it takes to brush your teeth, you could save yourself lots of aggravation.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#1101 not your grandfather’s

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When I think of “gourmet”, I think of (someone else) making known items taste better: richer chocolate, creamier sauce, more tender beef, premium vegetables.  But it seems to no longer be enough to make things better; now the quest is to make things different.

I recently was offered a “haute chocolate” bar from an assortment.  My choices:  hickory smoked almond, reishi mushroom and walnut, coconut ash & banana, uncured smoked bacon and smoked salt, peanut butter with pink Himalayan salt and Maldon sea salt, Tibetan goji berries, Rogue Ale’s chocolate stout beer, burnt sugar caramel and Alderwood smoked salt, acai & golden berries or pomegranate & yogi.  

I did not know where to begin.  When has chocolate expanded from milk chocolate and dark chocolate to this? 

These bars came with directions on how to enjoy an “exotic” chocolate bar:  see, smell, snap (eat two pieces at a time), taste — by pressing a small piece to the roof of your mouth and letting the sumptuous taste melt on your tongue, and the texture on your palate.

It appears that chocolate has also gained health benefits.  The coconut ash and banana is a “superfood” that offers detoxification, enhanced brain function and general wellness.  Reishi mushroom & walnut and the acai & golden berries are also superfoods, providing stress reduction, heart health and enhanced brain function.  

These bars are just another example of creating an experience around what you offer.  Whether it be chocolate, service, business, education or entertainment, there is room for innovation in ways unthinkable before.  How can you repackage what you are offering in a way that turns heads if not taste buds?

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com





#1100 greener

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I wrote yesterday about the specificity involved on construction sites.  Apparently the forethought and planning doesn’t always continue after the building is built.

I recently saw this strip of grass that continued for several blocks:

There was a full complement of grass on the other side of the sidewalk, but only this 6″ band between the sidewalk and the street.

I wonder whether someone thought this was a good idea, or, more likely, just blindly followed the code to make the sidewalks X” wide.  They could have benefited from one of those weekly construction meetings!

If you are faced with carrying out instructions that may sound good on paper, but have some issues when they intersect with reality, I hope you care enough to question them.  

The grass may be greener on the other side of the sidewalk, but only if there is enough of it to matter.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Thanks to bg for pointing this out to me!

#1099 building

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I recently was able to tag along with the building-to-be owners on a tour of a construction site.  The building is about a month from completion, so we had to wear hard hats, walk in through the one door that was accessible and use our imaginations as to what the finished product would look like.

I was struck by the number of people who were actively working on the site: painters, plumbers, gutter installers, and electricians.  There were people grading the entrance ways, pouring concrete, building walls, installing glass and doing about every task imaginable.  It was a beehive of activity, and everyone seemed to going about their work independently.  

I was impressed with the orchestration of this project — that the paint was there for the man to paint with; the nails were on hand to hang the drywall and the rock was sufficient to fill in the ramp area outside.  And then I realized that construction projects mostly follow two key principles that I have written about:

1) They Start with Why*
2) Specificity

The “why” of construction is very tangible.  People know that why are there, doing what they are doing is to build this building — and to have it ready for the hard grand opening on July 11.  

And the specificity of construction is tangible too.  Everyone there is following blueprints that specify, in nitty gritty detail, what is expected and required.  (For example, line 1 has a 14′ RJ45 Cable (2080-9047) and RJ-31X Jack supplied by EC.)  I observed seven professionals debating for 20 minutes about how to address a 2″ lip on a platform (carpet) and whether to leave space between the building and the sidewalk or to have the sidewalk butt up to the building (the option chosen to make snow removal easier).  Everything is specifically specified, and for what isn’t, there is a weekly project meeting to get it clarified.

If you are having trouble getting different components of your organization to be in sync, see if you can arrange to spend some time on an active construction site.  The coordination could be something your organization can build on.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com



*Start with Why concept by Simon Sinek


#1098 used to

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At a recent board meeting, we were discussing the merits of paying off the organization’s office building mortgage and using the payment money to obtain a higher interest rate in another way.  

The conversation did not go very far, because one member made the point that it was a dangerous policy.  He felt it would be too easy to “get used to” having this extra money so when we needed to make payments again in the future it would be difficult to find such a sum in the new budgets.  

He was right.

It is so easy to “get used to” things.  Spending money is one example; once we start making car payments, a mortgage payment or paying our smart phone bill it becomes part of the routine and just “is.”  

The same is true with saving.  Once you “get used to” a routine deduction for retirement or investments, your monthly paycheck levels out and it doesn’t seem like an expense for long.  People rarely notice their raise past the first few checks; you get used to that “extra” money and it quickly becomes the norm.

If we can adjust and become accustomed to something with little pain past the initial change, think of how you can use that to your advantage.  Can you get used to getting up earlier so you can accomplish a goal?  Or become used to walking a little further each day to make 12,000 steps your norm instead of 10K?  What about using a little less salt on your food or less sugar in your coffee?

Take a pledge to become used to something new starting today.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#1097 make it easy

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When I was walking along the riverbank in South Carolina, I came upon a container to recycle something I had not seen before:  fishing line.  I am not sure whether it will truly be re-purposed into something else, or whether it is just a vehicle to keep the line out of the water and free from doing damage to the marine and wild life in the area.  Either way, I applaud the service.

The collection of fishing line makes sense along the banks of a shallow river, and they had accessible containers that made it easy for people to dispose of their line.  

Think about what you could collect in your organization or neighborhood:  A place to put unused school supplies as students clean out their lockers at the end of the year.  Boxes for the food pantry as college students move out of their residence halls or apartments.  A sharing space for unwanted water toys or sand tools at the beach.  A community collection for empty gardening pots and containers.  A common place where those who move can donate their moving boxes and wrap to someone else.  Or what about an easy way to leave magazines or books for others to swap at airports.

We utilize so many things that are of limited on-going value to us.  What can you do today to make sharing or recycling easy to do?

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com




#1096 happy anniversary

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Today is the three-year anniversary of leadershipdots.  Over a span of almost 1100 days and through over a million characters, I have tried to impart thoughts that make you think.

When I look back, one of the most striking observations is that I did not include any pictures during Year 1.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, I think of how many more words I have written visually beyond the 275,000 words I have used literally.  (I thank Colleen for posing the question as to why I did not incorporate photos to illustrate my point.)  My iPhone has become an invaluable tool in blogging.

Today, so much of our communication is through visuals.  Through Instagram, Flickr galleries and sharing of selfies, we see and learn with a heavy emphasis on pictures.  Could it be another trend coming full circle as we replicate the cave drawings and sharing of the stories of those times via visual art?

This blog has given me a new appreciation for cartoonists who need to generate daily content for their comic strips.  Daily is an arduous task; a beast that needs to be continually fed.  But on the positive side, it makes me more aware of what is going on around me and instills a discipline that translates into other areas of my life.

I did not wait for a “perfect moment” to start writing this blog — June 2 is a non-consequential, random date.  Take today’s lesson from that.  You can begin now — at whatever is inside you to be shared.

–— beth triplett

leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com





#1095 alert

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It seems to me that weather notifications have become more complicated lately.  I remember severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado watches/warnings, but that was about it during the summer season.  

Now there are things like a “significant weather advisory” (also known as heavy rain), a “special weather statement” (aka thunderstorms with possible hail) and “severe weather alerts” that cover a variety of things other than sunshine.  As often as not, I check my weather app to find an orange banner with some proclamation.

Two fears I have about this process: 1) that warnings have become so diluted it is hard to know what action you should take and 2) that the plethora of alerts will numb us to one when it is really serious.

The ability to reach people and push out special notifications has become so easy.  The hard part is to show restraint to use them only when it truly warrants.  

Take care not to flood your constituents with messages so much that they drown and fail to give your notices attention when they actually are noteworthy.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com