Ignite the Promise

Business Heroes

What are the definition of a business hero?  This is a timely and intriguing question.  I am using the seven attributes provided in the May 2012 editorial from SmartCEO magazine (Jeanine Clingenpeel, editor, SmartCEO magazine; May 2012) but have added my personal thoughts to the attributes. 

1. They have strong visions and inspire others to follow:  A vision pictures one’s future state.  In other words, what does one want to become?  It is a destination not yet achieved. A grand vision excites and inspires those who would follow.
2. They give back to the community more than they take:  Some of the most successful business persons have a giving heart.  They believe that they have a responsibility to give back to the communities in which they thrive.  The do 'good' to do 'well' in the marketplace.
3. They set an example:  The best leaders have ‘followers’, i.e., people who look up to them as examples and are willing to join the leader.  Heros lead with their behaviors and actions.
4. They create something where nothing existed:  A successful business hero has a powerful, grand vision of the future.  They articulate a new future that is exciting and beneficial to many.  The idea that something new will be created is a compelling draw.
5. What they build is built to last:  They stay to see each effort to completion and empower others to enhance and sustain each success.  The goal is sustainability rather than a momentary success.
6. Where others see challenges, they see opportunity:  Heros have a positive attitude around challenges. Their positive attitude is contagious and their efforts engage others to the task which enriches all who join.    Success comes from seizing opportunities.
7. They change the world:  The world is changed mostly one step at a time and one person at a time.  Most interesting is that heros don't set out to change the world, they just want to make a difference in the world around them.

© Baldwin H. Tom CMC
www.tbgroupconsultants.com

Attitude (again) Leads to Healthy Success

Every once in a while it is useful to revisit what it takes to feel successful.  This list of ten is authored by someone else but I lost the reference.  I apologize ahead of time.  I have, however, added my own thoughts to each entry.

1. Be grateful:  This may be the foundation of it all.  It is so easy to complain and fix blame because life is not perfect.  An attitude of gratitude is a positive affirmation that the cup is half full.  It changes the body's chemistry to positive 'good feeling' neurochemicals.  Bottomline?  Dwell on the good things and not the bad things in work and life.
2. Practice positive thinking:  This state of mind increases positive neurochemicals that make difficult days pass by more quickly.  Bottomline?  People enjoy being with people who are positive.
3. Retrain your brain: Learn to see the glass half full rather than half empty.  Look for the silver lining, for the good and not the bad in each situation.
4. Show appreciation:  Even more than money, a sincere thank you and appreciation for receiving a favor is a powerful response and remembered.
5. Think solutions:  Rather than dwell on problems, think solutions instead.  Solution seekers tend to become more creative and innovative.  Solutions also energize.
6. Resist sarcasm:  Sarcasm elicits negative neurochemical changes that affect optimal performance for both the giver and receiver.
7. Accept mistakes:  The quicker you acknowledge your mistakes, the quicker you move forward.  This release and acceptance also reduces the anxiety as well as the increase in blood pressure.
8. Use positive self-talk:  Affirmation of an intent and reinforcing a willingness to take action is worthwhile in keeping one moving forward.
9. Stay healthy:  There is no other way to maintain optimal performance.  A healthy body sets the stage for a healthy mind and spirit.
10. Let it go:  It’s about dealing with what you can control and letting go of what you cannot control.  Complaining about the traffic or the weather are no-win arguments.  Complaining about someone else’s attitude is also not useful.  But you can respond to a challenge you can control!

© Baldwin H. Tom CMC
www.tbgroupconsultants.com

 

Grief -- this too will resolve!

The past few weeks have been somewhat extreme for me.  In a 60-day period, I attended my daughter's graduation for her masters degree and my nephew's graduation for his bachelors.  During this period five friends and family members died -- three before the graduation, one right at the graduation and one after.  My brother died a week before his son's graduation, so we attended in my brother's place.  My wife and I have been flying back and forth across the country (from Washington, DC. to Houston, TX back to DC and then to Long Beach, CA and back to DC).  We will be heading to San Francisco for memorial services shortly.

I am trying to act normal and carry on with business as usual, but it's more like business as unusual. The best way to say this is that I'm not myself lately.  Life has changed in ways not yet clear to me. The friends were good friends who died so will be missed.  I guess I want to share my thoughts so you can understand why I'm not myself and maybe learn from my situation.  It may even be important to second guess me because I don't guarantee my decisions may be the best for the moment. 

When my parents were killed in an air disaster (that we believe was sabotage) nor when my sister died decades ago, I did not cry.  I am crying now as I prepare my brother's eulogy for the memorial service.  No doubt it's pent up grief being released.  I was given a book to read and it says that if one does not grieve, then the bottled up grief will surface in unexpected ways somewhere in the near or distant future (H. Norman Wright, Experiencing GRIEF, B&H Publishing Group, Nashville, TN. 2004).

We grieve first in our head, intellectually.  In order for grief to resolve, we need to move grieving from the head to the heart, i.e., we need to emote to release the trauma of grief.  Denial is the first phase of grieving.  I see denial as not denying that the traumatic event did not occur, but in rejecting the fact that the event really affects me.  In other words, I tell myself that the event was not that traumatic for me so I deny the need to further grieve.  As I read the book, I find I am wrong.  Why?  Because I now understand that I cannot avoid the need to grieve, to release the 'pent up' pressure from the original trauma.  The 'pressure' will find its way out whether I want it or not!

Wright says that grieving is not a linear process.  It is disorganized and unpredictable.  "Grief disrupts your mind and thinking ability.  Confusion moves in and memory takes a vacation."  "You may find yourself easily distracted and perhaps disoriented even if you are normally a decisive person."  One cannot hurry past grief.  You cannot compare your loss to someone else's.  Losses of friends can be more traumatic than of a family member.  We grieve and heal differently.  No one can tell you to 'get over it' because only you can move from grieving to resolution. I am sorting out how grief has affected me these years.  Maybe it's in my tiredness, in my weeping over simple things, in my sudden inability to spell, or in my forgetfulness.  Wright says that grief is like a wave -- it rises up and then falls again and that it's all normal.  We have to let it 'out' to get past it.

I am still reading the book.  It has been helpful thus far and I look forward to reading more. It's a small book, but it won't be a rapid read because I am reading it word for word and underlining words, phrases, and sentences that 'speak' to me. I know the lessons I will learn will help me resolve my pent up grief and move me to a better place, or at least to normality.

I feel better now that I have acknowledged my grief by documenting it here.  I'm moving forward.

© Baldwin H. Tom CMC
www.tbgroupconsultants.com

Change – Like it or Not!

I may be harping on the obvious, but work and family life will continue to change faster than I would like because the economy is still dragging.  When the military budget takes big hits, you know that all federal agencies are going to suffer as well.  In FY 2008, the Army weapons budget was $67 billion.  In FY 2012, the budget was $26 billion.  For fiscal year 2013, the Army’s request is $24 billion, even lower than the budget of 2012. 

These are truly challenging times for federal agency leaders to stay on mission with reduced funds and resources.  What this means is that creative minds will need to imagine ways to get the work done with less.  Like it or not, this means that all of us working in the government sector will need to change the way we interact and do business to help with mission success.  It is our expectation that every single government agency and its units will be engaged fully in changing the way they do their work, both on the task as well as the people sides.

What this all means for the rest of us is that our government will continue to tighten its belt.  The goods and services we expect will be reduced or eliminated.  Personally, I will be more careful seeking things I need versus the things I want, plus be frugal with my time and resources.

© Baldwin H. Tom CMC
www.tbgroupconsultants.com