Month: December 2014

Here is the second best thing I learned this year:

Deep Dive – I was able to speak with CEOs at a handful of Fortune 500 companies this year. Obviously, these are smart folks who know how to adapt to the demands of the board, address Wall Street with confidence and drive employees to meet expectations. Many are challenged by the ability to communicate a higher purpose – vision that has little to do with financial results. As one of my clients said: “When the mailroom person knows what’s in the CEO’s heart, then you really have an amazing company.”

The third best lesson I learned in 2014:

Polar Opposites – At a restaurant in Toronto the waiters are deaf and the only way to order is by using ASL. While that may seem like a marketing approach, what’s at work is reverse systematic bias. If you want to eat, adapt to a different set of rules. The onus is on the customer, not the person with the disability. There is much tension in this country around justice… and the solution might be to consider what others have to accept in order to exist within the systems that are creating the challenges.

 

Number four among the best lessons I learned this year:

Seek First – The best parable I heard this year? “A mother, whose daughter was addicted to sweets, approached Ghandi and asked him to speak to the girl. Ghandi said: ‘Bring your daughter back to me in three weeks’ – so the mother did. He took the girl aside and told her all about the harmful effects of too many sweets and the importance of stopping bad habits. The mother thanked him and asked, ‘Why didn’t you just tell her that three weeks ago?’ Ghandi replied: ‘Because three weeks ago, I was still addicted to sweets.'”

 

The fifth most important lesson I learned in 2014:

Love Story – My parents married in January 1946, and are deceased. A few years ago my sister handed me a stack of letters  they wrote to each other during Christmas-time 1945… with Billie June at her mother’s home in Ft. Worth and Tom awaiting to be discharged from the Navy in New York City. I got around to reading them this summer – and felt honored to witness the deep feelings a then 17-year-old girl and 21-year-old boy shared. That generation didn’t spend much time reflecting on the past, perhaps because of the pain of the Great Depression and World War II. These 70 years later, I’m glad mom and dad chose to keep those cherished letters.

Continuing the Top 10 Things I learned this year… number six:

Auto Responder – My biggest pet peeve is inconsiderate drivers who cut in-and-out of traffic… and I typically reacted by saying: ‘What an idiot!’ or ‘Can you believe that guy?’ Last summer, after yet another incident, my son asked, “Dad, why do you care?” In that moment I realized those situations were causing me unnecessary anguish. My new response is to say, “Dude, you must be in a hurry.” Then I hum a version of the year’s biggest hit: “Let it Go. Let it Go. The road never bothered me anyway.”