Tag Archives: training

2 Degrees

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2 degrees can make a huge difference in your performance. I speak from experience as I have been training in Seattle this winter. The first triathlon on the schedule for the season comes in late March. This equates to running and biking outside NOW, because, of course, the miles have to be put in. Having lived in AZ for 20 years, I never thought I would be able to mark an important difference between 48 and 50 degrees.

I can now say with experience that those 2 degrees can make a HUGE difference in performance. It can be the difference between staying indoors and getting out there putting in those much needed base miles.  It can be the difference between getting by and excelling. Ultimately it can lead to the difference between success and failure.

The more I thought about it on my last 48 degree training ride, 2 degrees can have a HUGE impact in leadership too. It represents a small but important gap between yourself and everyone else.
- attitude
- budget margin
- risk allowance
- wisdom
- education & information
- motivation

Often times we are inclined to think that gap between the uber-successful and ourselves is tremendous, when in all reality it is almost always a matter of 2 degrees. The challenge, identify areas in your preparation and in your leadership to improve the conditions by just 2 degrees. Ultimately, the small improvements in key areas will lead to more wins.

[I wrote this for www.SummerTreks.com - I look forward to seeing their venture take off.]

Game of inches

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Football is referred to as “a game of inches” and often you will hear announcers describe scoring drives as getting “stalled”. Another artful cliche states that “a Super Bowl is won a play at a time”. So coaches implore  their players to “keep moving the ball down the field”. You gotta keep moving the ball down the field. Vary the plays. Keep your opponent off balance. Have your momentum carrying you forward. Do what ever it takes to keep moving the ball down the field.
Leadership on a daily basis looks exactly the same way; you have to keep moving the ball down the field. As the point person, that is your role. So how do you do that? Solve problems that can’t be solve. Encourage your team. Devise a strategy. Go with the forward momentum. Stay focus on one play or deliverable at a time. Enjoy the process along the way. You have the idea… Leadership often is play by play. One play at a time.
Master plans & 5 year strategic visions (do people do those anymore?) are useful and sometimes necessary — each long term component serves it purposes. But do you have your team moving forward OR are you in danger of letting your mission get stalled?

Unconventional Audio

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[I have been contemplating this idea for a while, so here is a new twist for the blog.]

I thoroughly enjoy sports talk radio to break up a long drive , as interesting listening while putting in the mileage on a long run or as a relaxer at the end of a long day. Some guys are quite talented and worth their paycheck. However, one stands above the others — Colin Cowherd. He is intelligence far exceeds his average listen, he understands that he is in entertainment so he doesn’t take himself too seriously AND he also has some brilliant insights about life and definitely about leadership. About once a week he ends up sharing a very insightful segment that lasts between two-to-five minutes. Here’s the first one. in what will probably be a semi-regular installment. Hang with it till the end. GREAT LEADERSHIP STUFF.

Ultimate Communication

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I was re-introduced to “Ultimate Frisbee” this weekend; the main difference this go around being that I played for real. ‘Ultimate’ (the players’ shortened name for the game) is like soccer meets football but with less contact, more scoring and a disk (frisbee). It evidently is a viable recreational sport with leagues and all in the Pacific Northwest. While taking part in the pseudo-competitive team atmosphere I was reminded again about just how far a small bit of well timed communication can take a group of individuals who desire to win together. In fact, I would say it was the differentiator between the ‘winners’ and the ‘losers’.

On the field communication incorporates the the small and easily overlooked items. It takes into consideration the quick assignments of responsibilities in the heat of the action. Our ‘normal’ roles are accounted for by the definition of our pre-assigned position but in the heat of it all there are always fine adjustments to be made. Field communication doesn’t have time for egos, arm chair decision making or sulking about small assignments. In fact, it is usually less focused on what others need to do and more focused on communicating quickly and precisely what I will do and contribute; who I will guard on defense, where I am going on offense, immediate scoring opportunities and also urgent threats to the team which could result in a defeat or at minimum a score against us. And throughout the entirety of a game, teams with great communication skills assess their situation regularly, dole out encouragement, bark about adjustments to be made and remain committed to the blaring fact that the only way they win is if they work together as a team.

less work

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Leadership demands that you grow. Leadership also demands that you grow your organization or business. Don’t be tempted to just ‘go to work’, get the job done, and then go home. Think bigger than that! Think about what COULD BE for the people that are following you. Dream ahead of the current reality. Start charting a course to an alternate future. Quite worrying about how bad things are right now and start believing in you and those around you to lead a way to a better place tomorrow.

Linked here is a post of mine as it relates to leadership in a small business; the content is good in any context.

this job sucks!

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hasn’t everyone had a job that really sucked? i hate to admit it but while i was in college – in the era before the current laws on phone solicitation – i was that guy who called during dinner to sell you a time share that you didn’t need and couldn’t afford. i took the job because it promised ‘bonuses’, had a flexible schedule and was better than what i was doing before (believe it or not). the only thing that was promising about the job was the information i had about it before i started. i carried on through it all — the rah-rah motivational first session, the stupid script training, the half truths i was being told concerning the homes i was calling being (secret= they weren’t actual ‘winners in jeep grand cherokee drawing’), and of course the necessary shady characters that were running the joint. i got hung up on, cussed out, lied to, cheated out of bonuses and worked in a cruddy office. beyond that, i really didn’t like talking on the phone or with strangers.

however, that single sucky job has paid dividends time and time again. i have become convinced that having learned how to sell time shares over the telephone (a product and an environment i didn’t believe in) that now i could talk to anyone about anything. today, if i have a product or an item that i actually do believe in, with all integrity, i can talk with anyone about it at any time. i also learned to be concise, articulate clearly and to not give up – cause there will be someone out there interested in what i have to say. + talking on the phone to strangers these days —- no sweat!

so the question to you is this… what is your sucky job?  AND what have you learned from it?

with the right frame of mind, i think we can grab great leadership concepts from our worst experiences.