Plant a Tree

My son is out of his mind with excitement! The Lorax is coming! In preparation for this most anticipated artistic event, I have had to recall the story of Dr Seuss' epic tale. The Lorax is, in essence, a story of boy who wants to impress a girl. The songs I have loved, the movies I have cired over, and the athletic feats I have performed have mirrored this boy's ambition. On Friday, my son will join the tribe of boys who do things to impress girls.


Time has a way of wearing down our romantic sentiment. Logic trumps risk, routine becomes standard operating procedure, and our days blur together. The magic tends to fade when the chase is over. My son is sailing on an all together different ship! I look up from my lap top at him in the backyard: running in circles, frolicking among cotton candy trees in his mind, conquering the evil forest....all to impress a girl in his day dream. What a wonderment; to wake up every day full of possibility, to be impressed by everything, to be new!

We have not lost our way, dear readers, we have merely forgotten the power of our imagination. Your perspective can change without venturing to the cotton candy forest in your mind. Those we are tasked with teaching have something to teach us as well. Everyone has something to teach. May we remember the simplicity of escaping convention through original thought....and how easy it is to do that.

Fear Not The Unknown
Ominous in the distance of anyone's mind is a dark forest. It is a place fraught with risk, unknown twists and turns, and evil creatures. We are often terrified to go there for fear of getting lost or being bitten. Without knowing the forest that exists within the trees we choose to ignore the unknown. Our time could be spent performing a task on our "to do" list...and it's better to spend our time wisely.

So you wake up, perform the day's tasks.....and eventually you die having never tried anything new. Safe, secure, and bored! Every great thinker explored new frontiers. Every great athlete ignored the detractors who told them they could not compete at the highest level. Every nerd who kissed a hot chick did so by having the courage to sing her a song.

Our time here is fleeting and no one gets points for doing the safe thing! Try something new today!

Plan An Adventure
An older gentleman I know once told me he got through his career planning one personal vacation a year. Each day on this way to work he imagined himself fly fishing....and it motivated him to get through that day. Vacation time to many of us has become a thing of the past but we all need to take a break from time to time.

Where will you go? Take a week off to travel, go see an old friend, take the kids to the forest...? Whatever it may be you need the assurance of escape to keep you moving through the hard times. When you get there you owe it to yourself to enjoy it! Life is too short to be a slave to your cell phone.

Plant a Tree
Our hero in "The Lorax" lives in a land that is completely manufactured. He embraces the seemingly impossible goal of planting a tree in a plastic world. He will travel to great lengths and will brave danger to attain and plant this wonder of nature. A heroic premise with the hopeful conclusion of getting the girl!

Do you remember the last time you wanted something so badly that you would brave the deep dark forest to attain it?

It's time to start believing again. It's time to put the romance of adventure back into your life. It's time to start a journey into the unknown. You may fail, you may encounter danger, but it will be worth it when you get to kiss the girl!

Be a Hero! Plant a Tree!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

When You Were Young

Last night I watched the Fab Five documentary on ESPN. It was a tear jerker. I went to High School in Michigan during the University of Michigan's greatest recruiting effort. These five basketball players were our age, they were amazingly talented, and they were not taking any BS from anyone. Fresh out of High School they got on to the hard court and beat the crap out of the Seniors who had been on the big stage for 4 years.

For the first time in our lives, My friends and I had comrades who were changing the world. If they could do it, we could too. We, like them, were cocky and full of life! It was an amazing time in my life....young and full of hope!

And so we revisit the Generational Phenomena in the workplace: The tired generalization that Gen Y is an entitled group without discipline. The Fab Five were held to similar stereotypes of Generation Y...Full of Talent, lacking discipline.

I teach Human Relations courses through Dale Carnegie University. My latest group of students includes a Fab Four entrepreneur group in the Computer Programming world. I am enamored by their uncompromising drive to conduct their professional lives by their own rules. They navigate their careers with a chip on their shoulder with the same confidence that the Fab Five had when they took the court. I remember that point in my life and how great it felt to be untethered by the regulations of the 'more senior' workforce.

The questions surface:
Do You Wish to Lead your Millennial Superstars to Success?
or
Do You Wish to Regulate the Motivation of your Millennial Superstars?

Allowing Awesome
At Harvard, MIT, and other elite educational institutes; the purpose is to create a career not qualify for a job. These institutes have empowered the young upstart geniuses who grew up with their heads in computer monitors. The premise: why would you want to work for someone who you are smarter than? Awesome Question and one that fuels the motivation of the young.

Why not change the world instead of fitting into it?

The Leadership Perspective
Most organizations have a logical formula for success. Put people in positions to navigate a system that will produce results. Makes sense.....to those who are of the stability mind frame. However, the systematic development model is a prison to the creative minds that will soon run our country. Bless Them!

If you wish to curtail energy...you are a Manager not a Leader!

Generation Y is not an entitled generation! They simply have greater potential than we do...end of story! They are less programmed for predictability. This should be celebrated!

Let's Celebrate!
You know if you see the 'new girl' as a threat and she knows that you wish to categorize her motivation..."slow down, your making us look bad". Lame!

When I was young I thought I wanted to climb the corporate ladder. I did what I was told, made my numbers, and completed every task on time....only to receive more tasks. I was miscast in an organization that lacked the ability to utilize my strengths. I wanted to do everything....they wanted me to do nothing. I wish someone, anyone, would have told me to create something instead of advising me to 'slow down'.

I hope I never stop moving forward. I hope the youngsters in this world keep me practicing. I am 100 times more motivated by the young than the old. My direct and extensive experience has given me no reason to think otherwise. Sorry....

Mark Zuckerberg, Tony Hsieh and Blake Mycoskie have shown us that motivation does not need a predetermined system of efficiency. That if we choose to categorize, we limit ourselves. That the gift of creativity is what makes companies great.

The Age of Predictability is Over! Generation Y will take over much quicker than Generation X has. Your position at the negotiating table may change much quicker than you think...

You Better Get on The Bus!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Desire Driven Work

This is the final installment of the Employee Purpose Perspective (EPP). We embarked on this journey together to find relevance between clock punches.


Today we ponder the final step to freedom:
Professional purpose is a willingness to fulfill personal desire



We have talked about engaging your team by making it personal, you have been sequestered to make your work a practice in passion. Yet, fulfilling personal desire through work is a seemingly absurd ideology.

What Does It Mean?

Desire is a drive within you that is of irreplaceable importance: that long term goal, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, your personal 'bucket list' objective. Assume you have made your employer happy, food is on the table, and your career path is secure.

What do you DESIRE?

Maybe it's the opportunity to start your own company, the idea of sailing around the world, or a 1967 cherry red Ford Mustang. You know you don't need any of these things, but when you have given all you can to those who matter, you will need something for yourself. Or will you?

What if every day you received your 'bucket list' rewards. What if right now you could embrace lifetime achievement. What is stopping you from having the life you want? Are you a slave to your lifestyle? Are you drown in expenses? Have you been trained to be afraid to take chances? Have you been following for so long that you forgot how to lead? Are you such a good employee that you have neglected to build your personal irreplaceable talent?

It's never too late to be everything you wish to be in life. It is never too early to start living life in the sunset.

It's not your job that matters, it's how you live your work. It's not your company's duty to inspire you...it is your duty to inspire yourself. Don't wait for instruction, CREATE your future...now.

The Employee Purpose Perspective is an Empowered Mission. I came upon it because I lived a life of misery for far too long. I was always uptight, I had a retort to every instruction, I was entitled, I was selfish, I gave advice without being asked, I offered my assistance only to elevate myself, I bitched and complained and made everyone around me miserable. I was not confident, I was afraid. I blamed my inefficiencies on others because I was too afraid to commit to greatness. I wasted the part of my life I should have most enjoyed...locked up in a self-created prison.

I don't want that to happen to you!

Be aware that we condition ourselves to follow the system. To do our work well in an effort to earn more work. Unfortunately, all roads lead only to a wall. We have been conditioned to turn around when we hit the wall and navigate the maze again.

TEAR DOWN THE WALLS!

The key to the EPP is to find a way over, around or through the wall. Very few will be willing to break out of their routine to help you get over the wall. You need to get creative in your thinking. To find new ways to do things. To realize that a wall...is really a door.

I leave you with 3 ideas to put DESIRE into your work:
Take Action
Find Outside Influence
Debrief

Act Now, Apologize Later
People want to hire people that they don't have to coddle. If your boss is always telling you how to do your job, you are more of a burden than an asset.

You will always be commended for taking initiative. YOU MUST, however, make sure you do not repeat the same mistake twice.

Barkeep...
Bartenders, Baristas and Valets make for great advisers. Don't ever underestimate anyone's advisory ability. Determine your audinece, present your challenges, and chew on it together.

Better to fumble through an idea with your Barber than your boss!

Action without strategy...
...is like swinging at shadows. You have to learn from each and every day. Develop the ability to debrief. Learn from your mistakes, bounce ideas off informal 3rd party advisers...and (most importantly) look deep into YOURSELF to find the answers.

Every day must be capped with a few minutes of silent reflection. Retrace what you have done, why you succeeded, and what you could have done better. Take what you have learned, make it part of tomorrow, and grow from it.

I don't write a blog to improve my resume or enhance my job prospects. This, I do, to help YOU. I don't want you to make the mistakes I have. I want you to recognize your worth and to stick up for yourself. The EPP is designed to help you find meaning in this life, not while you are on vacation, but while you are at work.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

The Unseen Divide

It's 5:00 - punch out and run to the bar, gym or to your daughter's recital. Take off your tie, untie your boots and put the day behind you. Work for the weekend, TGIF, work to live.

The paradigm between ones personality and the work he or she does has often been more like a great divide. The phrase "work hard, play hard" is often used to explain a way to make money through vigorous effort and then to use a similar motivation to blow it all on the fruits of the night. Essentially, when you have hit the peak of your motivation go out and knock yourself down several pegs so you can spend Monday and Tuesday rebuilding your confidence. We wouldn't want you to get too focused and apply your energy directly.

These days we spend less time in an office, yet our hours of work are extended...9 to 5 is certainly a thing of the past while a mid day motivational recharge has become essential.

My Continued Proposal: Use the Energy Behind that which you Love to Motivate you at Work!

No more dividing your hobbies and interests from professional task management and careers; they do not have to be separate.

People love you at the Happy Hour because you are honest in your direction, supportive of others aspirations and expressive in your motivational intent. Why are you less honest, supportive or verbose when the loud mouth soup is no longer in your hand.

You dedicate yourself to your favorite sport of rowing. Out on the water every Saturday morning displaying leadership, courage and teamwork. Yet on Monday, your hand sits at your side when project volunteers are requested.


The Violin is the key to your soul; your outlet.....why can't symphony be part of your professional development....why must you escape to it?


We do not have to live this way!!! Love what you do and you will thrive every day!!!!



Dave