Normal Rockstar

Obama, Leno, and the Special Olympics

Four months ago I don't know that I would have given this story a second thought. Today, as the proud new father of a son with Down syndrome, I am unable to overlook last night's "offhand comment" spoken by the most powerful man in the world on late-night TV.

President Obama made history last night by being the first ever sitting President to appear on a late-night television show as a guest of Jay Leno. I understand his attempt at self-depreciating humor (in case you didn't watch the video clip, go here for the transcript [HT: Huffington Post]) - generally that's always a safe bet for a good laugh. I'm sure it wasn't mean-spirited or meant in an offensive way. I know he called the president of the Special Olympics and apologized even before the show aired; I know he has now extended an invitation to Special Olympics athletes to the White House to bowl and play basketball (I'll keep my opinion on that to myself... you do the math). The fact of the matter is that "off-hand" or not, I expect more of the American President.

Being is a position of such visibility and responsibility is a tough task - people hold such people to a higher standard and rightly so. By accepting such a position one agrees to live by that higher standard. I am personally learning the power of words all over again - whereas just a few short months ago it would not have been uncommon to hear me call myself "retarded" when I make a silly mistake, now as the father of a son who's mental and physical development is technically "retarded" (i.e. slower than normal) I start to see red whenever I overhear someone make such an "offhand" comment even though I know the intent is most probably not harmful or derogatory.

I really don't have much more to say. There's plenty more that could be said and IS being said around the blogosphere - many are turning this into a political "look what we've gotten ourselves into!" thing - my intention is not that. If anything, may this simply serve as a reminder that it really doesn't matter who you are - the President of the United States, Joe the Plumber, a rockstar, a housewife, a blogger - think twice about the words you speak. They have the power to wound or to heal. And once they're spoken, there's no taking them back.

Life Coaching: Does Your Life Need a Coach?

A while ago I Twittered about a meeting I had with my Life Coach. A number of folks were intrigued with the concept and asked that I expound on that idea a little more. Well, it's not an overly complicated idea: you and I need help to make it through life. Just like a football coach helps his team prepare and execute their gameplan every week (shout out to Jeff Fisher and the 6-0 Tennessee Titans here!), we would be foolish to think that we can make it through life on our own.

Now we've all run into the "self-made man" - that person in your community who has built his/her business from the ground up, overcoming impossible odds through "self-discipline", "a tireless work ethic", and a "never-say-die attitude", pushing through when no one else would support them. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that when pushed, 99% of these "self-made" people can identify at least one person that made an impact on them at some point in their life. 

A "life coach" could specialize in any number of different areas: relationships, careers, or personal growth, for example. Essentially, this is someone you would typically hire to help assist you set and achieve specific goals. For some this is an unnecessary expenditure - others have found that hiring a life coach for a few months has directly impacted their productivity, profit margin, and life. 

For me, the bottom line is this: make sure you have people investing in your life who you respect and look up to. If you have to pay someone to play this role in your world, do it for a bit and see what happens. I don't believe we were meant to be "self-made" - life is much richer and fuller when we allow others to walk it with us.

Parents & Email Productivity

My parents have been in town this week which has been fantastic. We've done some touristy things, eaten plenty of ice cream (my mom is where my love of ice cream originated), and even worked some on the house/yard one day. So I've been somewhat unplugged from blogging this week - real life relationships are STILL more important to me, believe it or not!

However, a couple of days ago I posted on my Blogsites.biz site about an email management system developed by a guy named Merlin Mann (he blogs over at 43Folders). If you're like me and have a ton of email coming in every day, this will be an extremely helpful tool for you to deal with your email in a quick and efficient fashion and not be bogged down in your inbox all day. Click here to read the post - then start implementing it and let me know in a couple of days how it's working for you.

Blogging Seminar at re:Create

Well, re:Create is in full swing, and the blogosphere is definitely alive and well. If you're at all interested and want to know what you are missing, go visit any one of these blogs - they're all blogging from location:

Ethos
John
Rich
Carlos
Justin
Chad
Bethany
Nathan
Pat
Mark
Whittaker Woman
Bobby

I'll be popping in and out throughout the week as there's plenty for me to do work-wise before I go on my first cruise next week (and we get paid to go - what a sweet deal!). During the blog seminar on Monday, someone asked this question:

"Why should I blog?"

Well, the answer is really simple: in this, the Free Agent Nation (author: Daniel Pink... get it, read it, live it) we live in, your blog will often act as your resume. Employers these days are looking at blogs, MySpace sites, Facebook profiles, and all sorts of other places online to find out about their potential hires. So be aware - not only do your friends and family read your blog, but quite possibly your current or future boss and co-workers.

Fast Company has a couple of articles on their website that talk about the importance of your blog and being aware of what you're putting out there for the world to see. Here are two articles of interest:

Use Online Networks to Find Your Star Employee
Joblogging (if you're going to read one, read this one)

If you don't have the time to read an article, here's some brief pointers from David Teten and Scott Allen's Joblogging article:

"Here are a few simple do's and dont's to keep in mind:

  * A blog is forever. Even if you delete or edit a post, many people will have already read it and possibly commented on it, and an archive of it may be available in many other places. If there's any possible negative consequence of something you might post, it's best left in your head.

  * Make sure that all your posts are technically accurate. It's much better to err on the side of fewer, higher-quality blog posts, than many blog posts that do not represent you well.

  * Be "personally professional." Blogs are by their nature informal and personal. If you're overly formal, you may not connect well with other bloggers or potential readers. On the other hand, venturing off into every dark corner of your life may not sit well with prospective employers.

  * Don't list your blog on your résumé unless it is relevant. If you're seeking employment as a risk management analyst, list your economics blog if you have one, but not your political rant blog.

  * Make sure your blog is reasonably attractive and presentable. It is part of your personal appearance every bit as much as your résumé, your clothes, or your hygiene and grooming.

  * Read and connect with other job search and recruiter bloggers. You can get relevant, current tips to help with your job search, share leads with others in the same and similar fields as you, and connect with recruiters who specialize in the type of jobs you are seeking. Use your blog both to build and leverage your network.

Chick-fil-A & Truett Cathy

Last year as a band we did a couple of radio promotional events at Georgia Chick-fil-A restaurants. We had a great time visiting with the people who came by the restaurant to meet us, get a CD signed, or get a picture taken with us; we had a great time visiting with the radio station personnel who were our gracious hosts for the day; we had a great time eating Chick-fil-A food (for breakfast and lunch!). However, what most intrigued me were the conversations I had with the restaurant owners - Operators, as they're referred to in the Chick-fil-A world. so much so, in fact, that when I saw the book Eat More Chikin: Inspire More People, written by Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy sitting on the counter beside the "Cows in Shining Armor" calendar, I decided to purchase it (and, true to Chick-fil-A style, the Operator refused to take my money for it). That was late last year - I was finally able to get to it in early January and finish it off. Quite an interesting book - Cathy is definitely not a literary giant, but his story is amazing - he continues to build on an already amazing legacy. Let's just start here: Truett and his wife have been married for over 50 years. They have 3 children, 12 grandchildren, and more than 120 foster children. Yes, you read that correctly: more than 120 foster children. Many, many years ago Truett realized the importance of loving parents in the life of a child and started looking for ways to influence hurting children by inviting them into his home. One of the ways he has developed to do this is through The Winshape Foundation, a non-profit organization developed simply to "shape winners".

Near the end of his book, Truett tells the story of a girl named April, who came to live in one of his foster homes at 8 years of age. When she was 14 she wrote a speech about "Grandpa" for a school assignment. Truett arranged for April to present her speech to The Newcomen Society, a foundation that recognizes achievement in American business, when they awarded him membership in 1997 and invited him to address the members. April wrapped up her speech this way:
Truett Cathy, the businessman, inventor, and benefactor, is not my real grandfather. you see, it is my privilege to call him Grandpa because I am a WinShape kid, sort of an adopted grandchild of his. I have learned from Grandpa the importance of hard work, practicing your beliefs, and helping others. I strive to be a graddaughter who will make him proud. I hope that by hearing some of his story today that you will be encouraged to be like my Grandpa. Thank you, and eat more chicken.

There's plenty more I could go on about - the story of Chick-fil-A is really quite remarkable (get this: chicken wasn't even served in the first couple of restaurants Truett owned before Chick-fil-A. The Chick-fil-A sandwich came about by accident!). Truett really knew how to hire great people and then took care of them - that has always been one of the keys to the success of his business. Here it is in a nutshell - wrapped up in the core message delivered at the very first Operators Seminar in 1971:

Build the business.
Guard the brand.
Take care of your people.
What counts in this business is not how much money we make or how much chicken we sell. What counts is the difference we make in the lives of others.

This is applicable not only to those who owned Chick-fil-A restaurants in 1971 - this is applicable to us all today. Just replace "how much chicken we sell" with whatever you do - "...how many people we get in church on Sunday morning", "...how many houses I get built, "...how many CDs I sell" - you fill in the blank. You'll be surprised at what happens when you start to think of the well-being of others...

Gallup Strengths Finder

My wife and I spent this past weekend at a artists' retreat with World Vision (definitely more to come from that!). We had a great time reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. I was thrilled to find that a new friend of mine, Jon Ramsay, was not only a fellow musician and marathoner but a passionate student of leadership development! We became kindred spirits instantly, and we haven't even known each other a week yet!

The thing that really got us both fired up was a book called Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Cunningham and Donald Clifton, both researchers at the Gallup Organization. The premise of the book is that to effectively manage personnel, the best approach is to focus on enhancing people's strengths rather that try and eliminate their weaknesses. The authors have analyzed results of interviews conducted by Gallup of over 1.7 million employees from 101 companies and representing 63 countries, resulting in the formulation of 34 positive personality traits. Here's the best part: printed on the inside of the cover is a code for a web-based interactive questionnaire developed by the Gallup Organization that allows readers to instantly discover their own top-five inborn talents.

I stumbled upon this book when my wife was interviewing for a position. They gave her the book and required her to complete the questionnaire so that they could see her gifts and make sure that she would be a good fit for the position. I was so impressed with the accuracy and usefulness of the results that I bought my own copy of the book so that I could take the questionnaire too! It was pretty cool - and was neat to show Jon both of our top 5 and hear him marvel at how well our areas of giftedness complimented each other (we knew this already, of course - that's why we got married! - but it was definitely affirming).

I will be headed up to MN in the next month where I will hopefully get the opportunity to spend some time with some of the gentlemen who are involved in educating and implementing the principles of this book. I will post some more once I have been able to meet these guys - in the meantime, let me strongly recommend that you go out, buy this book, and start discovering your strengths!

Gen Y on the cover of USA Today

I've been toying with the idea of writing a book over the last couple of months, and last night I took the first step towards that end. A good friend of mine who happens to be a literary agent flew into Nashville yesterday for some meetings this week, and we were able to connect for an hour or so and shoot the breeze, get caught up on each other's lives, and chat about this crazy idea of mine. He was very helpful and encouraging (thanks, Don!) and gave me plenty of food for thought. We decided that the target market for the book would be those ages 18-35, or my generation - makes sense, doesn't it. Here's the crazy part: I picked up a copy of Monday's USA Today in the lobby of the hotel before Don came down for future perusal. Well, I finally got around to it this morning, and much to my surprise, the lead headline in the Money section read: "Generation Y: They've arrived at work with a new attitude" (read the full article here).

It was a great article - really insightful into the way Generation Y will impact the workforce. Who is Gen Y? Bruce Tulgan of RainmakerThinking Inc. says this: There is no consensus over the exact birth dates othat define Gen Y, also known by some as echo boomers and millennials. But the broadest definition generally includes the more than 70 million Americans born 1977 to 2002. Generation X was born roughly 1965 to 1976... Narrower definitions put Gen Yers as those ages 16 to 27, born from 1978 to 1989.

I love the lead sentence of the article, written by Stephanie Armour: "They're young, smart, brash. They may wear flip-flops to the office or listen to iPods at their desk. They want to work, but they don't want work to be their life." Further down in her article she quotes Tulgan as saying: "Unlike the generations that have gone before them, Gen Y has been pampered, nurtured and programmed with a slew of activities since they were toddlers, meaning they are both high-performance and high-maintenance. They also believe in their own worth."

Generation Y - my generation. These are my peers and those I am passionate about helping. What a cool confirmation from the Lord this morning as I sat down to start to flesh out what this book will actually look like. This could be the start of a long and exciting journey. It's time to tackle one more item on my "things to do before I die" list...

Good to Great: Part I

I have been putting off this first installment of my Good to Great series under the auspices of not having enough time to sit down and actually write. I got so far as to grab a couple of books - Maxwell's The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and George Barna's Leaders on Leadership - from the "Leadership" shelf of my personal library and a couple of papers I wrote on the subject in college, all with grandiose intentions of writing a well-referenced commentary worthy of publication in the likes of Fast Company or Leadership Journal.

That was a month and a half ago.

So here I am; enough is enough. With only my computer and my marked up, beat up copy of Jim Collins' bestseller, I present to you Part I of my mini blog series of thoughts and reflections from reading and putting into practice Good to Great. (You know what's funny? As I read through this last paragraph, it almost sounds like you, the reader, have been knocking down my proverbial door begging for me to get started on this, and I've finally given in to your demands. The fact is, most of you probably stop in because you're related to me or like my band and don't care a lick about Level 5 Leadership or Hedgehog Concepts. That's a humbling thought...)

Are You Fully Engaged?

You are what you repeatedly do. - Aristotle

I woke up at 4:45am this morning to go to the bathroom, and by the time I got back into bed, my mind was racing knowing I had to get up in an hour and get ready to leave again for the weekend. So I decided that instead of tossing and turning for the next hour trying to get my mind to slow down, I'd do something productive and get this post taken care of and out of the way - besides, I've got a 12-hour drive today to catch up on missed sleep!

I'm not avoiding the next installment in my series on the book Good to Great, I promise. In fact, that's another thing I'm going to work on today on the road. The problem is that I keep having "I need to blog about that!" moments! Take last night for example: my Tuesday morning small group (including fellow bloggers Brock and Auny, Randy, Mark, and Chad) got together on a Thursday night with our spouses to watch a DVD of a session from the Willow Creek Leadership Summit by Dr. Jack Groppel, co-founder of LGE Performance Systems Inc. (soon to be known as The Human Performance Institute), a company who's mission for the last 25 years has been to systematically identify and train the skills that people require to perform effectively under conditions of high stress.

The session was pretty incredible. Dr. Groppel based his talk on a book his co-founder Dr. Jim Loehr co-authored in 2003 called The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal.From the LGE Performance Systems website: "The book introduces a groundbreaking new paradigm based in the understanding that managing energy, not time, is the key to full engagement and maximum productivity. Because human beings are complex energy systems, full engagement requires drawing on four separate but related sources of energy -- physical, emotional, mental and spiritual."

Good to Great: Introduction

I live a two-faced life in many ways. One face looks like a rockstar - traveling the world in vans, planes, and tourbuses (only on extremely rare occassions), playing in front of thousands some nights, hundreds and tens other nights (more regularly than our tourbus travel), and scribbling my name illegibly on posters, CDs, t-shirts, pants, shoes, lampshades (only once so far!) in the name of an autograph. My uniform consists of t-shirts purchased at thrift stores (if I buy them) or ultra-hip vintage clothing stores (if the record company buys them) and jeans - the more holes and the rattier they look the better. Little sleep, long drives, frequent stops at gas stations, the ever-present search for free wireless internet, hotel rooms, and deep conversations with my wife via cell phone (as deep as you can get!) are some of the things that accompany my life as a "rockstar". [Sidenote: I'm also reading So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star by Jacob Slichter, the drummer from one-hit-wonder Semisonic - the book is linked in my sidebar. This is a must read for any musician dreaming about getting a record deal and being a professional "rockstar".]

My other face is one of a businessman. I am one of 4 primary shareholders in a 6 year-old start-up company that has done business in over 10 countries. We are currently in the process of refining our vision and re-examining our current team, moving people into positions that may better suit their abilities or simply replacing them all together with individuals and companies better suited to help us pursue our vision, among other things. This is an exciting time for us - one of new beginnings and new opportunities, new faces and new energy, new dreams and aspirations... A landmark time in the history of our company where years from now we'll look back and point at this time as the time we as a company went from good to great. This side of my life is characterized by days behind a desk replying to email, leaving voicemails and anxiously awaiting return phone calls, scheduling and attending numerous meetings, fielding phone calls and requests from all parts of the country, reading industry periodicals and websites in an effort to keep up on what's going on and where our particular industry is heading, thinking up different scenarios with the help of my solar-powered calculator in order to make sure salaries are paid, bills are kept current, and capital funds are available when needed... among other things.

One of my passions and the things I've been wanting to use my blog to explore is the whole area of leadership development - I thrive on building into people and helping them marry their passions and abilities to their work and watching as they find fulfillment in what they do from day to day. I have really been impacted as I read Jim Collins' book Good to Great - in fact, as a company we have used a lot of the information from this amazing piece of research in our whole self-examination process. In the next few weeks I am going to take you on a journey with me as I look at some of the things that really stood out to me in Collins' research and how they will affect my life, both as a rockstar and as a businessman. I trust that you will learn some new things that may help change your life and bring you fulfillment as well. Hang on for the ride!