It was Monday; New Year’s Eve in Atlanta; the Chick-fil-A Bowl in the Georgia Dome; the SEC versus the ACC; LSU versus Clemson. And, it was a great game with a great finish. (Hang with me. In the end, this will not be about football.)
With 1:39 left in the game and LSU leading 24-22, Clemson got the ball at its own 20 yard line. The LSU fans fully expected their 7th ranked defense to hold; the Clemson fans were hopeful that their 9th ranked offense could move the ball far enough to kick a winning field goal. (Earlier, LSU had blocked an extra point, so even the most ardent Clemson fans were nervous, even doubtful.) Nobody was leaving.
97 seconds later, Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired (yes, zero on the clock) to give Clemson a wild 25-24 victory. Quarterback Tajh Boyd had led the team on a ten-play, eighty-yard drive that included one 26 yard completion on a tension-filled 4th down. Wow, what an ending!
Was it luck? Was it a miracle? Was it mistakes by LSU? According to Quarterback Boyd, it was “none of the above”—it was preparation.
When asked in a post-game interview about the drive, Boyd’s response was, “I was confident because one of our drills in practice every Wednesday is what we’ll do with only 90 seconds left and eighty yards to go to win. We were prepared for this.” In other words, we play on Monday (or Saturday or Sunday or …), but we win on Wednesday by how we prepare.
There is an old adage that “success (or luck) happens when preparation meets opportunity.” So when Boyd walked onto the field with 99 seconds and 80 yards to go, he was prepared and confident. Arthur Ashe said it this way: “One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.”
Whatever your game (business, ministry, education, government, other) and whatever your game day, you win on Wednesday—your preparation day. Relying on luck or miracles is a losing strategy. Preparation is a confidence-building winning strategy. So whether it is a sales call, sermon, board meeting, or football game, the long-time motto of the Boy Scouts applies: “Be prepared.”
I am leading a strategy session at a local college this morning (Thursday). I’m ready. Why? Can you guess how I spent Wednesday?
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© Copyright 2013 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
2013 is only four days away. Are you ready? Here are a few suggestions that will help you.
#1 Have no more than three personal goals for the year. Choose three things that are doable that will really make a difference in your life.
#2 Choose one goal that is primary—an “if-I-only-get one-thing-done” goal, this is it.
#3 Plan (something that can be measured) in detail for January through March. It is important to get off to a good start. In late March, plan for April through June, and so on.
#4 Make sure you have an accountability mechanism. Post your plan on the refrigerator (my way) or give it to a friend who won’t say “don’t worry about it” if you begin to slip.
Remember these principles:
Erwin McManus—“Living in the past is an enemy of the future.”
Don’t let past failures keep you from trying again.
Chinese Proverb—“If you don’t change direction, you’ll end up where you are headed.”
Nothing will change without change.
John Maxwell—“You don’t have to be great to start; but you have to start to be great.”
2013 is as good a time as any to start. Why wait?
Tom Landry—“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.”
It won’t just happen. You need a plan.
Best wishes for a great 2013. I’m pulling for you to hit the mark—dead center!
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
Many of you have just 12 days working days left this year (12/11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28).
If you are in retail, things are probably crazy for you (I hope so), but for many of you it is a time when things slow down a bit—clients are out a lot; there is a leave-it-until-next-year attitude about work; lots of office parties; and so on.
It is a good time to relax and enjoy the season; however, it is also a good time to get ready for 2013.
Here are 12 suggestions, in no particular order, which will help you get a good start next year without wearing you out this year:
If all 12 don’t apply to you, substitute something that does. The point is, it’s okay to slow down, but don’t come to a dead stop. Don’t start 2013 with “I wish I had…”
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
The commander of the U. S. Third Army in WWII, General George Patton, is credited with originating the phrase pressure makes diamonds.
Robert Griffin III, the star rookie quarterback for the Washington Redskins, wears a T-shirt that says, “NO PRESSURE, NO DIAMONDS.” (He shines like a diamond when the pressure is on; his “diamond play” beat the Giants last night.)
While it’s true that pressure makes diamonds, it’s also true that pressure makes coal. And in fact, it makes a lot more coal than diamonds. That is why diamonds cost a lot more than coal. A one pound diamond is worth anywhere from $2-6M depending on its grade. A pound of coal is worth a few pennies.
Paradoxically, though diamonds cost more than coal, coal is more valuable. I can image a world without diamonds, but a world without coal? Almost half of our electricity comes from coal. Coal is central to steel making and the chemical industry, and thousands still heat their homes with coal. If the world runs out of one, I hope it’s diamonds.
All organizations have both coal and diamonds, and need both.
The diamonds are easy to spot: they shine, attract a crowd (fill the stadium seats or worship centers), get the endorsements and applause, and make big plays that are crucial to winning.
The coal is less glamorous and less visible, but just as important.
The Alabama offensive line is the team’s coal (ask the running backs how important they are).
Nursery workers are a church’s coal. (Imagine listening to the sermon with fifteen babies crying in unison.)
In publishing, editors are the coal. The UPS drivers are coal; maintenance workers are coal; the sound board technician is the concert’s coal; well…you get the idea.
One of the challenges of leadership is meshing coal and diamonds into a winning team. It starts with the recognition that the diamonds may cost more, but the coal is just as—maybe even more—valuable.
Why don’t you take a few minutes to let your coal shine in your spotlight? The diamonds already get enough attention.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
The second half of August was an exciting time for those of us in the Nashville area because we were represented in the Little League World Series (LLWS) by a team from Goodlettsville (north side of Nashville). By the way, the LLWS is a true “world” series—half of the teams are international.
Led by Jayson Brown, Brock Myers, Lorenzo Butler and manager Joey Hale, Goodlettsville had a great run, won the U.S.championship, and lost only to the “megatron” team from Tokyo, Japan, in the finals.
Between games, the Goodlettsville players spent their time hanging out with the other teams, most notably the team from Lugazi, Uganda; the first ever appearance of a Ugandan team in the LLWS.
Earlier this week, I was listening to a sports talk radio show that did a 3-months-later interview with manager Hale. What was the primary topic of discussion? Uganda.
Manager Hale shared a conversation one of his players had with a player from Uganda. Actually, it wasn’t so much a conversation as a question: “Why do Americans complain so much? You have everything.”
In Uganda, the per capita GDP is $477 per year—about $1.30 per day; in the U.S., it is 100X as much ($48,000 per year).
In Uganda, the life expectancy is 53 years; in the U.S., it is 78 years.
In Uganda, 61 out of every 1000 babies born die; in the U.S. it is 6 out of 1000.
In Uganda, people die of starvation; in the U.S., we die from overeating.
In the U.S., we complain if our cable TV or internet connection is lost for a few minutes; in Uganda, millions live with no electricity at all.
In the U.S., we complain because the water “tastes funny” in Florida (I’m guilty); in Uganda, well…you know what the water story is in Africa.
In the U.S., most of us have 10-20 pairs of shoes; the team from Uganda practiced in their bare feet because they couldn’t get used to wearing shoes (which they had to do in the games).
In the U.S., we complain about…enough already.
My purpose in writing this is not to make you feel guilty. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Instead of complaining so much, wouldn’t it be a really good idea for us to all be truly thankful for what we have and how we are blessed?
Why don’t you sneak off to a back room tomorrow and spend 15 minutes alone, making a list of 50 things you are really thankful for. Simple things like clean water, central heat and air, indoor toilets, etc.
Also, take a few minutes to thank God, the giver of “life and breath and all things.”
Let tomorrow be a “no complaining” day. I’m going to try. (I might even like it.)
By the way, the Goodlettsville LL Association has adopted the Uganda LL team and is providing them with equipment, etc. They want to go to Uganda next year to encourage the fledgling Uganda program. Want to help? Check it out at www.goodlettsvillebaseball.com.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
I have seen the movie 127 times, never missing it for about ten years as my two daughters begged, “Daddy, please watch The Wizard of Oz with us. Please. Please.”
Because they did not often hear “no” from me as they grew up (they still don’t), I would plop down on the floor with them and pretend to be enthralled by it one more time. Not infrequently I would hear, “Daddy, Daddy, wake up, you’re missing the best part.”
If you have children, you know the Oz plot as well as I do. The four main characters—Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion—all need something which they can get only from the wizard who resides in the Emerald City at the end of the yellow brick road. Dorothy wants to go home to Kansas; the Scarecrow needs a brain; the Tin Woodman yearns for a heart; the Cowardly Lion hopes for courage.
After days of perilous travel down the yellow thoroughfare, the four arrive at the Emerald City, excited to see the wizard who they believe will give them everything they ask for. At least, they are all excited except for the Cowardly Lion who has a panic attack as they walk into the wizard’s foyer. The dialog goes like this:
Cowardly Lion—“Wait a minute, Fellows. I was just thinking. I really don’t want to see the Wizard this much. I’d better wait for you outside.”
Scarecrow—“What’s the matter?”
Tin Woodman—“Oh, he’s just scared again.”
Dorothy—“Don’t you know the Wizard’s going to give you some courage?”
Cowardly Lion—“I’d be too scared to ask him for it.”
Dorothy—“Well then, we’ll ask him for you.”
Cowardly Lion—“I’d sooner wait outside.”
Dorothy—“Why? Why?”
Cowardly Lion—“Because I’m still scared.”
Butterflies in the stomach are common. Junior high boys get them when Brittney walks by and smiles. High school seniors get them when The Letter from The College arrives. Few things cause more butterflies than meeting The Parents for the first time. (My future mother-in-law’s reaction was, “At least he doesn’t have long hair.”) “Apple-ites” get them while standing in line waiting for the new iWhatever. My older daughter, Elizabeth, in spite of taking the stage hundreds of times, still gets butterflies, especially on opening night. Athletes get them on game day (even if their name is Michael or Peyton or Tiger). And many leaders have a pack of TUMS in their top drawer to quiet the butterflies they experience before an important meeting with The Board, or a potential big customer, or every pastor’s nightmare—The Deacon Body.
The Cowardly Lion was trapped in a classic catch-22: he needed to see the wizard to gain courage, but he didn’t have enough courage to see the wizard. Until he overcame his fear, he couldn’t get what he wanted and needed. The Cowardly Lion was confused. He thought that if he was afraid, it meant he didn’t have courage. He had to learn that courage means acting in spite of fear, and so do we all—especially when we are in a leadership role. We can pray and plan for months, but when game day comes, so will the flutters. It’s a good time to remember that:
“…God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.”
(2 Timothy 1:7 HCSB)
If you are in the foyer with butterflies in your stomach, breathe a prayer and walk through the door. Not much significant ever happens in the foyer.
[This post is an excerpt from my first book, 16 Stones, to be released in December, 2012.]
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
Tomorrow is November 1. There are only two months left in 2012 and they are crammed full of diversions: a presidential election; football season; Thanksgiving; Christmas; New Year’s Eve. But looming only 61 days away are the challenges and opportunities of 2013. The question is: Are you going to “wind it down” or “wind it up” between now and year end? Will it make any difference? Oh, yes.
How you finish 2012 will have a big influence on what kind of year 2013 will be. You can wind down and enter 2013 with little momentum, or you can wind it up and enter 2013 with momentum. It’s your choice.
Here are a few suggestions:
At work:
◊ Stay focused and wound up on Monday through Friday, but shut it down on weekends.
◊ Make a list of 8 things that if done, would really jump start 2013. Get them all done (that’s one per week).
◊ Repair or refresh some working relationships. Spend 15 minutes per week with people you have been avoiding because of tension.
At home:
◊ On those shut-down weekends, spend time with your spouse and kids doing what they want to do. It’s okay to miss a football game.
◊ Free up weekend time by doing one errand every day on the way home from work.
◊ Do less. You do not have to win the neighborhood award for the best decorated house and you do not have to have 15 courses at holiday meals.
◊ Spend less. Don’t torture yourself the first three months of 2013 paying off 2012 bills.
Personally:
◊ To free up time, cut back the length of your workouts, but not the frequency. That way you will “maintain” but not slip back.
◊ Eat all you want on Thanksgiving and Christmas, but cut back on the days leading up to the turkey.
◊ Worship more. Thanksgiving is about gratitude and Christmas is about Jesus.
◊ Give more. You already have enough stuff.
If none of these suggestions are right for you, make your own list. It’s simple. Ask yourself: What will really make a difference in 2013 if I do it in November-December of 2012—or don’t do it? So wind it up, but not so tight it breaks. Then when January comes, you won’t dread it.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
“…in terms of wrongness—it’s 11 on a scale of 10.” That is how Judge Legrome Davis described the illegal activities of a Pennsylvania medical device maker that resulted in at least five deaths and four executives going to jail.
How did this happen? The company had “a corporate culture where people could not ‘stand up and stop things that were wrong, especially when they were coming from the top.’ ”
Who was at the top? An “800 pound gorilla” who ran the place in a way “where employees did what they’re told”—apparently even if it was illegal and dangerous. The gorilla was “intimidating” and “didn’t tolerate dissent.”
The quotes above are from Bad To The Bone, an article by Mina Kimes in the October 8, 2012, issue of Fortune. It is a shocking exposé of how greed for profit led to a “callous disregard of patient safety….” (Read the entire article at http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/09/18/synthes-norian-criminal/ or better yet, buy the magazine.)
So how does the story end? Five people unnecessarily dead; four necessarily in jail; the 800 pound gorilla is living happily ever after on the $10B he reaped from selling the company. That’s right. The one responsible for the anything goes culture was not prosecuted. Hopefully—at least I hope—he will be held responsible in the civil courts as lawsuits from the victims’ families proceed to conclusion.
How does this apply to you?
If you work in an organization led by an 800 pound gorilla, get out or get ready to take a stand. Sooner or later, you’ll have to do one or the other.
If you are an 800 pound gorilla, lose some weight. You may escape justice from the courts on earth; you won’t from the courts in heaven.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
In Hollywood, Optimus Prime is a super hero from the planet Cybertron who transforms from a modified 379 Peterbilt Cab into a 30-foot tall, 10,000-part robot. He is the leader of the Autobots who roam the earth protecting humans from the evil Decepticons. However, in real life, Optimus Prime is the “baddest bull” in the Yunnan province of China (WSJ article by Bob Davis, 8/28/12).
Bull fighting in China is not a match of matador vs bull; it is bull vs bull. Like big horn sheep, they charge at full speed, smashing heads until one gets a migraine or is sent sprawling. Optimus Prime enters the ring draped in scarlet and gold like the champion he is. He doesn’t wait for the bell, but charges his unlucky opponent on sight, bashes him with his horns, sending him running away in panic—like a first round knockout in boxing. He celebrates his victory with four dozen eggs; his owner gets bragging rights and prize money of up to $8000—big money in that part of China.
By now, you are asking: what does this have to do with leadership? Be patient; I’m getting there.
Optimus Prime hasn’t always been Optimus Prime. He started his career as…Little Bull. (I didn’t make that up.)
A typical match went this way:
Announcer: “Little Bull is fighting Megatron in the next match.”
(Who would you bet on?)
One minute goes by.
Announcer: “Megatron is on the run. He wants no part of Little Bull. The Little Bull has taken out the big bull again.”
The point of this is that it is not his name that makes Optimus Prime a champion. He is a champion—the best—whether he is called Little Bull or Optimus Prime.
Now the truth is, from a marketing and branding standpoint, Optimus Prime is a better name than Little Bull. But if he were not the best bull, it wouldn’t matter what he is called.
The same is true for your organization. Having a great name may attract attention, but only being the best bull will win the prize. Is Apple a better name than Hewlett Packard? Toyota better than GM? Coke than Pepsi? Coke is the champion because it is better than Pepsi, not because of the name. (I admit to a bit of southern bias here.)
You can change your name from Little Bull to whatever, but it won’t matter unless you focus on being better than the other bulls. And that’s no bull.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
Does your organization make heroes out of arsonists? Probably; most do. In my experience, it usually happens something like this:
TUESDAY AFTERNOON—TELEPHONE IN THE OPERATIONS VP OFFICE: RING….RING…RING!
Operations VP: “I’m busy. What do you want?”
Assembly Manager: “If we don’t get Part # 427bgf109942A by next Monday morning, we are going to have to shut down the assembly line.”
Operations VP: “What the #@**><*!@^%!! do you mean! We can’t shut down an assembly line. That will cost us thousands.”
Assembly Manager: “We will run out of work-arounds on Friday, so I have to have it by first thing Monday morning.”
Operations VP: “What happened?”
Assembly Manager: “Fabrication was expediting the part for us, but it got scrapped out in machining and they don’t have any more material to make another one.”
Operations VP call to the Fabrication Manager: “What the #@**><*!@^%!! is going on down there? You guys are about to shut down assembly because they don’t have Part # 427bgf109942A because you guys scrapped it.”
Fabrication Manager: “We got the material late and had to rush it. My best machinist, Williams, was at the dentist, so I put Jones on it. He set it up wrong and the finished part was out of tolerance. If we had got the material on time, Williams could have made the part and we would have had it to assembly yesterday.”
Operations VP: “When will you get more material?”
Fabrication Manager: “Not until Friday. We’ll work overtime all weekend to have the part by Monday morning. I’ll be in here personally to make sure it happens. And Williams has agreed to come in to make the part.”
Operations VP call to the Purchasing Manager: “Why was the #@**><*!@^%!! material for Part # 427bgf109942A late and why can’t you get more here before Friday?”
Purchasing Manager: “We got the purchase request from Production Control late. We have a special order at the vendors, but the material—it’s a casting—won’t be ready until late Thursday.”
Operations VP: “Late #@**><*!@^%!! Thursday! There is no way you’ll have it here by Friday, even with an express truck run.”
Purchasing Manager: “Yeah, I know a truck isn’t fast enough, so we have chartered a plane to fly it in. It should land at the airport by 6:00am Friday.”
Operations VP: “A #@**><*!@^%!! charter! How much did that cost?”
Purchasing Manager: “$12,000.”
Operations VP: “It’s coming out of your budget.”
Purchasing Manager: “It’s Production Control’s fault. They should pay for it.”
Operations VP call to the Production Control Manager: “Why can’t you guys get the #@**><*!@^%!! purchase requests down to Purchasing on time? We may have to shut down an assembly line on Monday because we don’t have Part # 427bgf109942A. And we don’t have it because we had to use Jones instead of Williams to do the machining because the casting was late, and the casting was late because the stupid purchase request was late getting to purchasing.”
Production Control Manager: “Sorry, boss. But the Program Manager didn’t release the production schedule on time so we were behind the eight ball from the get-go.”
Operations VP call to the Program Manager: “For crying out loud. Are you guys too busy going out for drinks with customers to release the production schedules on time?”
Program Manager: “Not our fault, boss. The computer was down 4 days for reprogramming. We have really been scrambling trying to catch up.”
Operations VP call to the IT Manager: “What the #@**><*!@^%!! is going on down there? We have a crisis in the shop because you guys shut the computer down for four stupid days!
IT Manager: “You must have forgotten. That new software you ordered us to install turned out to be a disaster. It took us four days to get it debugged. Even now I’m not sure it’s working right.”
Operations VP: “#@**><*!@^%!! #@**><*!@^%!! #@**><*!@^%!! #@**><*!@^%!!”
FAST FORWARD TO THE NEXT MONDAY MORNING OPERATIONS MEETING
Assembly Manager: “We got Part # 427bgf109942A at 4:30am this morning. We’ll have it installed by noon and be back on schedule by tomorrow morning.”
Fabrication Manager: “My guys did a great job this weekend. I was here all Saturday night with Williams to make sure we set up the machining correctly and carried the part to heat treat myself.”
Purchasing Manager: “The vendor really came through for us. The buyer was there Thursday to carry the part to the chartered plane and flew back with it. It was a Citation V. Did you guys know they serve free drinks on those things?”
Operations VP: “I am really proud of you guys. You saved the day for us. I’ll make sure the corner office hears about this. He’ll want to personally thank you, maybe even take you to lunch.”
END OF STORY
This is a classic case of making heroes out of fire fighters for putting out a fire they started themselves—heroes out of arsonists.
Don’t fall into this trap. There are people in your organization who prevent fires, or put out fires other people start. They seldom get attention in meetings because they aren’t often in crisis mode. Take a few minutes today to seek them out and thank them. Maybe even take them to lunch. They are the real heroes.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
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