Leadership Training Class Development

Before anything else, preparation is the key to success. ~Alexander Graham Bell

I have finally completed development on my second leadership training class. All told, I put something in the range of forty to sixty hours into the presentation, forty to sixty hours of preparation for a three hour training. Luckily for me, it's a labor of love, a task which in which I enter the zone and get lost for hours at at time.

I have been asked to shorten the time between classes from a month to two weeks. Two weeks to between training sessions for a class that takes one to one and a half weeks to create. Plus, I need to read some additional books to bolster my knowledge base.

I for see a very busy next couple of months ahead.

Sound of Music

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. ~Aldous Huxley

I have been a music fan for as long as I can remember, a music fan from the very first record I purchased, a 45 rpm of The Candy Man by Sammy Davis Jr., a song that can still be found on YouTube. My tastes have evolved since those early days, evolved in ways that I could never have fathomed. I went from an adolescent with an affinity for pop to a High Schooler digging head banging, heavy metal to a middle aged man with few limits on the music I appreciate and allow to enter my ears. My collection covers a wide array of genres dating as far back as the 1940s through current day.

Wednesday night, I attended a concert by a composer from India named Anoushka Shankar. She plays a sitar in a musical style which she terms as a fusion between Classical Indian music and Spanish flamenco. I first became acquainted with Classical Indian music during a visit to India when my friend, Inayat, took me to a morning raga by one of his favorite Indian musicians.  I have found myself enjoying Classical Indian music ever since so, when I discovered Indian music in the form of Anoushka was to be playing in the Chicago area, I immediately purchased tickets to the event.

She was accompanied by five other artists. Two of them played a variety of Indian instruments including an incredible flute type instrument, one was a percussionist playing western instruments of a less common variety, a flamenco guitarist and a female vocalist who switched between Spanish and haunting Indian vocals. The blend of instruments created a intriguing musical texture with a result that was nothing short of magical. The music was nothing short of incredible in it's fusing of the East with the West and had me entranced the entire concert.

On the way out, I overhead someone saying he was surprised it was mostly in 6 / 8 beat. He may well have been speaking Hindi for, though I heard the words, I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. I simply cannot connect with music in an academic way. For me, music is never an academic encounter. For me, music is always emotional. I connect with music at a base level, a feeling level. Music drives my body to sway, me feet to tap, my fingers to strum, and my emotions to dance. For me, few things are as gripping as the sound of music.

Working Myself Sick

Burn out is theoretical, psychological, a fuzzy thing. Burn out is standing at a lathe for 10 hours doing the same thing. (in) an exciting job, you are turned on every minute and wanting more and more and more.... ~Jack Welch


I must admit to being obsessed the past few months. Not my normally obsessive personality where a hobby consumes the majority of my awake time such that I become immersed in something so deeply I learn a new skill and have a new stack of magazines sitting on the back of my toilet.

I have become obsessed with the development of my Leadership Training Program for my company so my 9 to 5 job has become a 6:30 am to 8:00 pm job. The obsession does not stop at the company walls. My waking hours have become soirée that views all sensory input from the perspective of, "how can I work this into my training program?"

What is the best progression of leadership topics for my training? Does that TV show (the one or two I watch in any given week) have an angle that would help drive home one of the multitude of leadership principles I'm am attempting to instill into my team? How can I use the scenarios in the book I am reading to develop my students? Will the next book I read have leadership undertones that will give me new insights I can share in my program? Should I read a book of fiction such that I will continue to grow my own emotional intelligence? How do I capture those seemingly random gems that pop into my head while I am riding my bicycle on the busy streets of Chicago? Should I be riding my bicycle in Chicago traffic if I am not 100% focused on the steel behemoths flying past my shoulder? When driving somewhere, should I listen to music or pop a book (leadership, fiction, business, psychology, etc) in the mp3 player so I don't miss out on the next piece of this multidimensional puzzle? What is the optimal balance of work and play and sleep?

I am not complaining. No, far from it. I enjoy wrestling with these issues. I enjoy having a focus, a passion, an endeavor, an obsession, if you will. I enjoy that my mind, when it surfaces to consciousness in the middle of the night and the fuzziness clears, is focused on improving my training program.

I feel my skills are being utilized close to their potential. I feel my company, more importantly, my students are benefitting with my myopic quest to create and executing a leadership training program for inexperienced and new leaders. I feel I am making a difference in my student's lives and the lives of the people they touch through their leadership

I am swimming in my own creative juices and watching my baby gestate, watching my baby take shape concept by concept by concept. I am enjoying work more than I ever have in my career. I am so consumed with this activity, I have found myself missing lunch, forgetting to go home from work, not caring about my gym regimen. Yes, this did lead to a slight dip in my health which resulted in me making sure I carve out time for exercise and nourishment.

Despite my health being compromised for a period of time, I have not put the brakes on this obsession because I am getting a great deal of enjoyment out of this endeavor. I never knew it could be so much fun working myself sick.

Unblog

I enjoy the freedom of the blank page. ~Irvine Welsh



This page is intentionally left blank. It has no witty phrases, no pithy statements, no creative turns of word. It does not bring to light the weariness of a  tormented soul, nor does it examine the musing of a troubled mind. It does not seek to bring order to a chaotic world nor does it endeavor to bring chaos to a mind stuck in a rut for so long it no longer understands it is deeply entrenched in routine delirium. It does not challenge, it does not cajole, it does not seek to alter reality. This page does not pretend to be more than what it is. This page just is (or isn't).

Betrayed By God

To me, the thing that is worse than death is betrayal. You see, I could conceive death, but I could not conceive betrayal. ~Malcom X


I just finished the book "Running With The Giants: What the Old Testament Heroes Want You to Know About Life and Leadership" by John Maxwell.. I bought the book because I am a big fan of John's writing on leadership. The book is built on the biblical verse:

My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord has set out for me. ~Acts 20:24b

The gist of the book is that we are in a race in a stadium and greats from the Old Testament come out of the stands to give us encouragement. For, as John says:

Encouragement is the oxygen of the Soul. ~John Maxwell

The book got me reflecting on my own life and a race that I started when I was in my early 30s. At that time, my life, thanks to living it on my own terms, was a shambles. I was recently divorced and, once I realized my folly, was trying desperately to put things right, which meant, reuniting with my ex-wife and recreating the family that I had broken apart because I was a very selfish individual. I was depressed, lost, a mess.

It was during this time that I started going to church. At first, it was to manipulate my ex into liking me again for she was a long time Christian but it became for me, a spiritual journey. During that journey, I felt I was being told to stay the course, to keep focused forward and run the marathon required to reunite my family. It took me a few years but I did put it back together. The reunification was seen as something of a modern day miracle.

Fast forward 13 years, and I was again divorced. This time not of my own doing. It was at this time, that I felt betrayed. I felt betrayed by a Christian ex and I felt betrayed by God. I had run the race set out for me, run the race consistently and ended up having my heart broken. For this pain, I blamed God.

Because of what I view as betrayal, I have a difficult time trusting God has the best in store for me despite that being a theme of the New Testament. My faith that God exists has not wavered but, I have a difficult time putting stock in some Biblical precepts. My attendance at church is spotty. My reading of the Bible a rarity. For the most other parts of my life, I do live by loving my fellow man, by trying to serve those that are part of my life.

My logic (or lack of logic) is that I was betrayed so it is ok if I do on my terms. Is this rational? Perhaps not. Still, I have a hard time completely trusting again. I have a hard time believing that God has the best in store for me. I have a hard time believing God has got my back. It is very difficult to trust God when I have this undercurrent of belief that I have been betrayed by God.

The One

When two close kindred meet What better than call a dance? ~William Butler Yeats

 If we are fortunate, we find the "The One", the mysterious one with whom we develop a connection, an interconnectedness in multiple dimensions - physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. We find the one with whom the attraction is so powerful we cannot pull ourselves from them for a moment, our co-lead without whom we cannot envisage a life, we cannot envisage an existence without that person as a main character in the play of  our life, the protagonist and the antagonist on the stage of our world.

If we are fortunate, we connect with the one person with whom we feel interconnected, the one person that perfectly fits the puzzle piece we need to complete our soul, the one person that makes us whole.

If we are fortunate, we bump into that one person for whom we want to forsake all others, for whom all others become devoid of color and disappear into a misty morning fog, that one person with whom we feel loved so deeply we cannot fathom an existence without the person at our side as we navigate this crazy, insane, joyous journey that is life.

If we are fortunate, we encounter that one person and we take a long walk, a never ending walk that outlasts a lifetime yet feels like it's over in the a bright flash of lightning cutting the sky to shreds in the dead of night. We take that walk and never look back because a journey without the person is just a plodding, lonely march through a barren desert devoid of life.

If we are fortunate, we stumble upon that one person who we love completely and makes us feel completely loved. We find that one person who transforms a heart as dry and barren as a desert into a vast sea of color, a desert populated when the suns rays melt, seep into the ground, and emerge as a rainbow of ephemeral flowers each attended by a jeweled hummingbird with feathers sparkling in the sunshine, hummingbird wing beats become the murmured song of our heartbeat.

If we are extremely fortunate, we find that lightning can strike the heart twice.

Book: The Book of Leadership and Strategy - Lessons of the Chinese Masters

Learn without thinking begets ignorance. Think without learning is dangerous. ~Confucius


 I am almost always eager for two things. The first is to continually improve my leadership skills through as many means as possible. My first choice is generally reading because I can learn from a great many people in a relatively short period of time. The second is to learn from and about people brought up in cultures other than my own.

It's not that I think people from other traditions have some inherent wisdom or are somehow more intelligent than those growing up a world view similar to mine. I seek out books written by people from other cultures because they will give me a perspective that is decidedly not like mine. Not better than mine. Not worse than mine. Not right. Not wrong. Just different.

I feel it is an important skill to be able to see from a different perspective, a strength to look at a problem with eyes of the West, eyes of the East, eyes of everywhere in between. I think a person that understands there a multiple possible views of life and embraces that knowledge and seeks out the understanding of others is better prepared to travel this lovely little planet, to comprehend all the world has to offer.

It is with this perspective that I read "The Book of Leadership & Strategy: Lessons of the Chinese Masters." It was formatted similar to the sayings of Confucius or the book of Proverbs in the Bible, phrases or grouping of phrases extolling wisdom. Nothing in the book was shockingly new. Most were variations of sayings I have heard time and again during the course of my life. The book claims these were recorded in ancient times in old China prior to the rise of Confucius. I guess, in that context, the were on the radical side of cutting edge when originally conceived.

I was struck by how congruent the sayings were with the concept of Servant Leadership, the style of leadership I try and emulate. It that respect, these sayings are also radical for modern leadership. And for that 'radical' perspective, I recommend this book.

Ridin' in the Rain

Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly. ~Author Unknown


For as much as I enjoy riding my motorcycle, enjoy the freedom of the open road with wind in my face, I really dislike riding in the rain. It's not the drops that accumulate on my helmet visor at a stop light.  It's not the soaked blue jeans that leave one frigid at 30 miles an hour.  It's not the raindrops pelting my body at 40 miles an hour. It's not so much the horizontal streams of rain that fly by at 50 miles an hour. It's the streets that I perceive to be slicker than wet clay that give me the willies. I don't really mind the straightaways but, when I am coming to a turn, my hands grip the handlebars like a vice and my speed drops to almost a walk.

I have never gone down on a motorcycle in the rain. However, on a bicycle, I have gone down on wet surfaces three in the last year. None have resulted in lasting injury but the sure did hurt. I was crossing a wooden bridge on my mountain bike a couple of hours after the rain had ended and didn't realize there was still a glaze on the wood. In an instant I was on the ground and sliding. The other two times occurred on my road bike. One was in a downpour as I was heading home and I bounced on the concrete a couple of times. The other I was making a turn at decent speed on a slightly damp spot when my wheels slid out and I found myself looking up at the sky with quite an ache in my elbow.

Those incidents have made me cautious, perhaps overly cautious, such that I turn corners like a granny whenever the pavement is wet...slow and very wide. Perhaps it's time I found a safe place to practice my ridin' in the rain.

Morning Glory

Just wrap your legs round these velvet rims, And strap your hands across my engines. ~Bruce Springsteen

First thing this morning, I mounted her, threw my leg over her sexy body settled comfortably on the slight depression in the middle of her erotic body, ran my fingertips up and down her luscious curves, those silky smooth curves, those curves oozing sensuality, settled my hands on her controls, press the magic button and felt her come to life, felt her purr like a young kitten lost in pleasure, rotated my wrist felt the full measure of her power rumbling between my legs, power that surged again and again with every twist of of my wrist. Once she was good and hot, once I could feel the tension in her body straining to be released, I slowly loosed my grip, the grip keeping her balanced on the edge between tension and ecstasy, gave her one last impassioned twist of my wrist, she bucked then screamed into action, escaped the confines of gravity and we flew down the street in the first sweet drops of morning twilight. Within one block, we blew past 50 miles an hour, the cool wind ran over our bodies, body less fingers caressed all exposed flesh infusing life into a weary soul, tingling a fatigued body with exhilarating freshness unique to first dawn on a spring day.

This was the first motorcycle ride of the season, an early morning ride on the way to work, a ride on a day that was perfect in temperment. Though short, the ride was intoxicating, seemed to wash away the cares like a skinny dip in a cool mountain stream on a chilled spring morning while the birds broke into morning song. It made me feel alive. Ecstatic. My senses stimulated by the cool morning temps after an night when I tossed and turned in the unseasonable heat despite two fans in my bedroom blowing on my naked body. My fatigue was erased at the first twist of the throttle. My energy peaked as I shot down the street, a jet fighter on two wheels cutting through the morning air, a fighter pilot dodging the endless array of enemies in their four wheeled cages as I flew down the black ribbons.

I was soaring on adrenaline, loosed of worldly cares, unbounded by thought, unencumbered by the incessant demands of everyday life, free as a satiated newborn fresh off the teat with milk drop sliding down a creased chin. I was a being fully immersed in the now, in the present, timeless, weightless, immortal. It was at that moment, the moment when I was pure existence, pure bodiless energy that I saw it. It was at that moment when my eyes feasted upon the sun just above the horizon in all it's celestial glory, the sun in tangerine robes shimmering on the horizon, the sun hovering at the end of the black ribbon beckoning me onward, beckoning me ever onward.

It was a moment of clarity in a life frequently cluttered with must dos and have tos, a moment as pure as morning dew on a petal just opened, a moment pregnant with understanding, a birth without pain. At that moment I understood, at that moment I was utterly free, at that moment I understood eternal truth, at that moment I understood that I am.

Past Lives

Seasons change and so did I, you need not wonder why, you need not wonder why ~The Guess Who


It defined 20 years of my life, was the centerpiece of many of my waking hours, was the cornerstone of our lives. It defined our weekends, weekday evenings, was how we measured the passing seasons of our lives. The year always began in August, our Fall season, followed by Indoor season and Spring season which lasted until mid June where upon we took a couple of months off before starting again. And I loved every minute of it. The it was soccer, specifically, my kids playing soccer. I watched, I coached, I cheered. For almost 20 years, it defined the rhythm of our lives.

These were my thoughts as I watched my seven year old grandson, the next generation, playing recently. Once when he was asked if he would like to try other sports, basketball, baseball, he declined. His comment, "No. I want to play soccer. It's what our family does." Out of the mouths of babes.

Those years were some of the best years of my life, some of the happiest, some of the most frustrating. When they played high school and college, I was no longer coaching them. During their games, I would sit high in the stands for the overall view, and in the corner as far from other parents as possible with headphones on so I wouldn't have to listen to their inane comments about the referees, the coaches, or anything else they didn't agree with. I was perfectly content just watching them play, to just watch the joy the received from participating in this most beautiful of games.

I coached my grandson a year ago, coached thinking it would rekindle the great joy I experiened from coaching young kids, the great fun I had given up 5 years previous to help raise my grandson. But it wasn't there, the passion wasn't there, the joy wasn't there. I was surprised because I used to coach multiple teams and couldn't wait to leave work and get to the fields, couldn't wait to watch the kids learn, watch them have fun.

I thought about that for many days, still think back to why I no longer had the passion to coach, no longer found joy in instructing young kids in the art of soccer but coud find no rhyme or reason. The only thing I could think of is that I changed, that there was a season in my life where coaching filled something in me that is no longer empty, no longer seeking completion.

I guess it's true that everything has a season and my season of coaching had gone the way of leaves in the fall.

Cincuenta y Uno (51)

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. ~George Bernard Shaw


Today, I turned 51. If you were to ask me where I would be at a one plus a half century when I was 20 or 30 or even 40, I doubt the portrait I would have painted would depict my current life. I don't even know if life at 51 years old had even crossed the twisted trails of my imagination.

As an example of how my mindset has changed, at 20, I was young and foolish, some would say extremely foolish. It was a time in my life when I never wanted kids and was looking for a sweet girlfriend. By the time I hit 30, I was divorced and my 3 kids were the center of my universe. 40 rolled around to find me struggling with preteen and teenage children and helping them (an me) navigate the perils of life in elementary and middle schools. Now that I am 51, I have obtained a measure of wisdom, a wisdom still tinged by foolishness, my kids are grown and all have turned out to be quite awesome and I can't wait to see the ways in which their lives will unfold. Now that I am 51, I finally have that sweet girlfriend I dreamed about when I was 20.

At 51, I have a good life, a very good life, a happy life, a life that finds me satisfied with what I have achieved and, at the same time, with enough discontentedness to say I am not finished, I have not arrived at my final destination, I am not the person I will be or can be in the next day, next year, next decade. I believe life should be a continual striving to better ourselves, to become the best we can possibly be, to grow all of our days, to make learning a lifelong process, to always be driven by the insatiable curiosity.

In my early 40s, I learned about knives, the qualities of various steels used in blade making then bought blades for which I crafted custom handles of exotic woods, metals, bones, and animal horns. In my late 40s, I crafted the body of a 30 year old when I started mountain bike racing and began bodybuilding. I spent at least three days every week in the gym and started my annual goal of riding 1000 miles per year. This year I started a blog in which I continue to hone creative writing skills that were first forged when I was not yet 30.

As I have aged, I have developed a great fondness for international traveling, found great joy in learning about and experiencing other cultures. In May, I will be traveling to Turkey with that sweet girlfriend to explore an ancient land, to immerse myself, for the first time, in a culture that blends the mysterious East with the modern West. While there, we will visit the ancient ruins of Ephesus and walk in the footsteps of Paul the Apostle and will step our own feet in the Blue Mosque, a Moslem architectural wonder. Next year, we may go to the Philippines. If not there then somewhere else that will challenge my palate, somewhere else that will require me to learn words in an unknown tongue.

After that, the next year, the next decade who knows what page will turn in the saga that is my life, who knows what will be added to the portrait depicting the wild ride that began 51 years ago today, who knows what I will be or if I will still be.

I do know that, for the rest of my days, I will continue to grab opportunity by the horns and enjoy the wild ride, continue to sip bold wine, continue to partake of exotic fare, continue to push the bounds of what it means to be me. I do know that I will not be the same person I am today and that excites me for I quickly grow bored with routine. It excites me for I love reading the novel with many twists and turns, love reading the novel in which the next page cannot be predicted, love reading the novel that is the story of a life, love writing the novel in which the next page is blank and I am the author of my story and must adapt my story to every surprise, every peril, every opportunity that rounds the bend and comes my way.

Tweeters

Be grateful for luck. Pay the thunder no mind - listen to the birds. And don't hate nobody. ~Eubie Blake

They are back. I heard them as I lay awake in bed this morning. Some of them never left, never made the long journey, never caught the currents of cooler air and soared to warmer climes. Perhaps they were always there and I was just unaware. 

I slept with my windows open last night, slept with them open because Chicago has been embraced by unseasonable warmth, record warmth this mid March year, a warmth that is, possibly, a portent to an unusually warm Spring, of the Spring season that is knocking at our door. Slept? Slept is a misnomer for the time I lay prone in my bed during the dark hours of the day, the hours before the sun brings life to animals and people alike.

My eyes slowly opened to the pitch darkness in the early hours of the morning as I came to consciousness after a fitful sleep when I became aware of them. The fitful sleep that is typically a burden I suffer upon returning from Europe, a burden that takes the better part of a week to morph into my regular sleep rhythms. 

The benefit of not being able to sleep tonight was to hear them, to hear the birds tweeting and twittering and singing in full voice. The songs remind me that the earth will soon be awakening from Winter sleep that trees will bud and flowers will bloom and people will emerge from their hovels for months of frolicing, for months of mayhem, for months of life living before returning to the long slumber of Winter. The benefit of not being able to sleep tonight was to be made aware of the glory of God's creation.

Home Sweet Home

There's no place like home. ~Dorothy


As much as I enjoyed my trip to Switzerland, I am glad to be home. The trip was very good in that I was able to bond with my teammates both local and international. Those bonds will help ensure our projects, going forward, will be successful. There wills still be problems, still be turf protection, still be those that are too focused on their own puzzle piece instead of the overall puzzle.  Having spent that time together will help us bridge those divides that slow down the project.

Last Tango in Switzerland

Please, just for me, forget the steps... Hold me, feel the music, and give me your soul. Then I can give you mine. ~ SallyCat


It's my last evening in Switzerland, the last dance in this pretty little city situated in the middle of the country and, pretty much, the center of Europe, the last tango on the cobble stone streets in the old part of Zug with peoples from many countries around the world. I enjoy the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Zug where everyone seems to be from somewhere else, where dinner with my friend and his friends is a conversational dance through Poland, Denmark, Hungary, Slovakia, America, quite possibly, very likely, anywhere in the world, in a decidedly Italian bistro overlooking the sea, bathed in the orange glow as the sun sets gently beyond the horizon.

The lead in the conversational ballet is always changing as words sway to the smile, the nod, the eye brow raised in wonder at the stories shared by the many dance partners, the eyes dancing in the candlelight as we share of ourselves. To try and dominate the conversation, to try and always be in control is to kill the soul of the conversation, to stamp on the very rhythm that comes when lovers embrace. To try and drive the conversation is to miss the ebb and flow of the music, the music that, at times, brings intense interchange, at times, is a murmur as you watch your friends smiling broadly while you take a drink of the brilliant red wine and swirl it over your tongue before letting it trickle down your throat.

Good conversation is always a give and take, an ebb and flow, a deep breathing of sweet air. It's the building of story upon story upon story creating a beautiful tapestry with the fingerprint of each person woven deeply in the design. It is the sharing of our lives, the interaction of souls bringing the tapestry to pulsating life that grows more intensely colorful as each person weaves in the threads of their life experiences.

Meaningful conversation always leaves the feeling that one has been enriched, leaves one feeling that a bond was crafted out of words, out of speaking but, primarily, out of listening, primarily out of giving one's full attention to the speaker, primarily out of letting the speaker know that they are worth the listener's time. Meaningful conversation always leaves all parties feeling valued for the uniqueness with which they bless the world, always leaves the dancers waiting for the next song, always leaves the participants anticipating the next tango in Switzerland.

Brain Dead

I have become comfortably numb. ~Pink Floyd quotes


There comes a time after four solid days of meetings, that the brain seems to go numb, that one feels brain dead because concentration, when achieved, can only focus on trying to keep ones eyes open without ever putting attention on the words from the speaker.

I don't descend to this level of numbness very often but, when it does, I am pretty not going to absorb any of what is being shared. I hit that point this afternoon. Try as I might, I could not focus. I bought tea. I stood up. I took breaks. All served only to give a few moments of concentration before I would catch myself head down and eyes closed. I wasn't snoring, at least I hope I wasn't snoring, I really have no way to tell.

What to do? The part of the meetings that were scheduled for the latter half of the afternoon had little to nothing to do with me so I packed up and left, left for my hotel room where I could get to work on something I need to do for work, something that captures my attention and keeps me focused for hours on end. I will be comfortable for the next few hours as I work on my Leadership presentation. Hopefully, I won't be so comfortable as to return to the state I descended to at the meetings, I won't become comfortably numb.

Face to Face

International relationships are preordained to be clumsy gestures based on imperfect knowledge. ~Rebecca West


Since I first started multi-shore product development about 5 years ago, I have believed to the depths of my soul the best way to improve the product development process is not with improved processes but with honest to goodness face to face interaction. The interaction is not about sharing more in depth knowledge about the product. The key factor is getting to know your international counterparts on a personal basis, having a meal together without the constraint of the job, having a meal together during which, what was shared, was the common bonds that make us human, the common bonds that links all of us in the brotherhood of man (and woman), spending time together and getting to know each other in such a way as to transcend those things that would see us protecting our territory on a project.

I had such an encounter tonight. I ate and shared with people on my project, grew closer to people in a way that hundreds of hours on an international phone call could never begin to approach. I learned of Erik's half Dutch half Swiss heritage, I learned that Kurt is an international traveler that spent six weeks walking around Spain and speaks fluent Spanish. I learned that Massimiliano, at twenty four years old, is the youngest key Engineering technical leader in the company. I learned that Gianluca is a connoisseur of fine wines and, through his expertise understood that a 3 year old red wine is too young to have fully revealed it's flavor. I learned that no matter what country we call home, we are human and have similar aspirations. I learned that our native cultures are not what defines us, rather, is the framework in which we express our humanity and that humanity is fundamental to us all.

Peaceful Easy Feeling

'Cause I got a peaceful easy feeling ~Eagles

Some days there is nothing better than sitting down in the afternoon and enjoying the sounds of Spring, especially when the Spring day is unseasonably warm and the place you are visiting in only vaguely familiar. Today is one of those days. My meetings ended earlier than expected so I finished up some work and headed back to my hotel enjoying the warm sun perched on my shoulder and the backdrop of snow capped mountains.

It is Tuesday, my third day in Switzerland on my current business trip. I am slightly fatigued but not due to jet lag, fatigued because I was up late enjoying the companionship of workmates, workmates that are also friends. People are a big part, the primary component to what makes work more than a job, more than a way to make a living.

Sitting on a bench outside my hotel, I am surround by a good many birds that seem to be enjoying the Spring day as much as I am. Their voices, to me, are unfamiliar, as indecipherable to as the German language spoken by the inhabitants of this little hamlet, save for the crow sporadically calling from the line of trees that cast long shadows in the setting sun, in the shadows where a bright white cat, white as my hair will one day become, prowling the hillside whose start white coat contrasts against the brown leaves, remnants of the previous Autumn days.

If the cat could whisper into my ears the secrets of catdom, would open it's cat world to eyes that are decidedly human, decided to cross the threshold, the chasm separating our two species, I believe, on this gorgeous Spring day, the cat would tell me that the secret to life is to sit back in the sun and enjoy the moment.

And that is exactly what I am doing. I am sitting on this long wooden bench allowing the sun to bathe my face in light, basking in a warmth I desperately missed during the winter months. Listening to the bird song, the fading purr of a motorcycle engine, the animated voices of men deep in discussion, thinking fondly of my blessed life, thankful to have people in my life that I love and who love me, just relaxing and enjoying that peaceful easy feeling.

Brain Trust

He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. ~Albert Einstein


I am in Switzerland for a week of meetings on the next generation of a product my company is developing. As I was sitting in the meeting room, I realized I was sitting with some of the brightest minds in my company, sitting with people who apparently, without effort, are able to turn the abstract into the concrete, convert intangible words into software that does the bidding of people with a click of a button, a click that causes bits and bytes to tumble and assemble themselves into information easily displayed as information to a user.  I sit here in awe at the intelligence which surrounds me, sit in awe that I am blessed to be surrounded by 30 of the brightest minds in my company, am excited to be in the presence of such intellegencia and watch them create our future.

The Bird Has Landed

Visits always give pleasure - if not the arrival, the departure. ~Portuguese Proverb quotes

Arrived in Switzerland during the late morning Swiss time. The flight was uneventful, for the most part. For some reason, smelling the food made me feel nauseous. I was very glad when they took my tray away, which was left untouched except for the tapioca pudding, and I was able to fall asleep.

Upon waking, I was groggy and was experiencing some difficulty with both balance and distance vision. I have never had this happen to me while fly which I normally am able to do with nothing worse than a feeling of fatigue. Today, I felt nauseous. The nausea culminated with me vomiting in the airport. I felt some relief in my stomach but still was not feeling good. At the hotel, I immediately took a nap.

The 6 of us on this trip met for an early dinner. We walked around the city of Zug finding most of the establishments were either closed or not yet open for dinner fare. This lack of availability on Sunday's is one aspect I have trouble with in Switzerland. I am used to being able to go to a restaurant or a store almost any time of any day.

Our walk took us to old town Zug then back to the newer portion, to a restaurant called Cha Cha in the Metalli mall for a meal that lasted, in typical Swiss fashion, for 2.5 hours. I was good to finally be able to put some food down and, so far, keep it down. Tonight will be an early night for, tomorrow, the meetings begin in earnest. I hope my stomach has settled by then otherwise it will be a loooonnnggg week.

Excitement of Travel

You know what the three most exciting sounds in the world are? Anchor chains, plane motors, and train whistles. ~George Bailey, It's A Wonderful Life


 The excitement is building, my anticipation is piqued for tonight I will be boarding a plane and in the blink of an eye (an eight hour blink) I will be setting foot in a land far, far away. The distance will be far away in terms of miles but not really that far in terms of culture when I land in Zurich Switzerland for Swiss land has a Westernized culture. As is the case of cultures the Swiss like every other culture has nuances that take getting used to but, all in all, it is comfortably Western in nature.

To go really far in terms of culture I would need to travel somewhere like Asia, Africa, the Middle East, or India where My pasty white skin, red hair, and overall ruddy complexion never did quite blend with the native population. This was made very evident to me when, while touring Mumbai, I was stopped not once but twice to have mt photo taken with the locals. It gave me a glimpse into the lives the rich and famous must live when they go out in public. To that life I say, no thanks. I don't mind being on stage once in a while, actually I enjoy being on stage once in a while but, to have that as a life style would be overwhelming.


I really enjoy traveling these days especially international travel. I am very excited about my upcoming trip to Turkey in May where I will be traveling with a seasoned (and sexy) international traveler in an exotic land where West and East blend. I will be traveling with my Asian girlfriend which waxes poetic because we are also an East West blend.

Travel was not always something that grabbed my attention. Growing up, my family typically traveled no further than central Wisconsin, which we did most every summer of my youth. It wasn't until I was in my 30s that I made my first trip across the pond and went to England. Since then I have been to a few other countries and find myself enjoying it immensely.  My only regret is that I did not start international travel at a much younger age.

The Season Has Begun

Chasing records doesn't keep me on my bike. Happiness does. ~ Lance Armstrong after his third Tour de France victory

Tuesday was unseasonably warm in Chicago so I made sure to get home from work at a reasonable time allowing for a bike ride. My preference would have been to mountain bike in the local forest preserve but, by the time I would have mounted the bike carrier on my car and gotten there, the sun would have been setting allowing me a scant few minutes to ride. I wanted to get at least an hour in the saddle so I mounted my road bike, a trusty carbon fiber steed that is light, quick and a joy to ride. It is the first road bike I have ever purchased where it feels like the cockpit was designed specifically for me.

I had been riding a stationary setup in my garage a couple of days a week to keep the muscles at the ready for the warm days to descend. When riding in the garage, there is no wind to contend with. This is not so during the Chicago Spring. I was hit by a heavy wind which, when met head on, taxed my lungs and I was able to feel the low level of my conditioning.

A situation that cannot be simulated on a trainer is hill climbing. No matter how heavy I set the combination of  friction and gearing, it seems I am never prepared for hill climbing early in the season. Last year I made it a point of attacking hills, attacking every hill by getting out of my seat and hammering from base to summit, and found my climbing abilities vastly improved over the previous year.

I was hoping there was some residual strength left in my legs from last year's riding season, a reward for the effort expended last year. To test this assumption and as is normally the case near the end of my rides, I headed over to Payton's hill, the hill Walter Payton used to create his incredible leg strength. Last Fall, I was riding the loop 10 times without much difficulty. This time, I was only able to complete the loop 5 times, 5 times with the last couple of climbs being a struggle between mind and body. I am glad to say, the mind won this round.

The ride whetted my appetite for the upcoming riding season. I am  checking the weather every day in hoping the conditions will be conducive to more time on my bike. I am looking forward to my solo rides, my rides with friends, the handful of mountain bike races in which I will participate, and to completing another century, a 100 mile road bike ride for they all bring a smile to my face. I am very excited that the riding season has finally begun.

One Week From Now

There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign. ~Robert Louis Stevenson



One week from now I will be 4500 miles from home in a country few from the USA have had the opportunity to visit, a country known for cheese, craftsmanship, and beautiiful mountain scenery. One week from now I will be 7 time zones into the future, I will have been in that time zone for 4 days so my body will have had time to adjust to the shock of waking up in a morning which is still night in my home land. One week from I will be in Switzerland sitting at a table with Germans, Indians, Italians, Swiss, a Catalan, and Americans dancing in a conversational ballet during which we navigate the nuances of cultures bearing little resemblence to our own, a dance which, when performed well, makes use of the unique strengths of people raised continents apart. One week from now, I will be with a team of 30 people planning the future of our product, envisioning a world in which we build upon the relationships we have developed over the past 7 years, relationships I expect to grow deeper over the next 7 years, relationships which are critical to the success of our company, relationships which add flavor to my life creating a product that will be used around the world.

I am forever amazed at the technology we use that allows us to have real time meetings with people half way across the globe with delays so small it seems we are talking to a person sitting across the desk. I am amazed how technology has flattened the earth and I am able to interact with diverse people from around the globe as easy as if they were my neighbor living a few blocks away on a tree lined street in my suburb. I am amazed at the fact that all the technology in the world pales when compared to face to face time when it comes to deepening relationships. I am forever amazed at technology that allows me to board a plane in Chicago and set foot in Central Europe less than 10 hours after takeoff and on that flight I can select a movie to watch on a screen embedded in the back of the seat in front of me.

I am grateful that I have the opportunity to know people from these cultures. I am grateful that I can count as friends people from countries my parents never had the opportunity to explore, in countries relatively few have the means to visit, in countries which were, in my childhood, pastel colored, two dimensional objects on a map in a land existing solely in my feeble imagination. I am grateful for the spice of life that is the people we meet on the journey from birth to death, people that add color and texture to a canvas that would be black, white, and shades of grey were it not for the personalities we encounter, the laughs we laugh with others, the obstacles we overcome, the lives we touch, the meals we share during which we are blessed with intimate glimpses into each other's lives, into the living history that makes each of us a unique vessel,  an imperfect vessel carrying the adventure of our lives.

I am grateful that I will be in another world just one week from now.

What Can You See?

For me the greatest beauty always lies in the greatest clarity. ~Gotthold Ephraim Lessing




Have you ever had your vision blurred and were completely unaware it was blurred until you were able to view through a lens that brought clarifying focus? Have you ever faced a problem which had you completely befuddled until someone pointed out a simple answer and you were shocked by the clarity of the solution? Have you ever had a preconceived notion, a notion you held onto with deep conviction and had that notion obliterated when receiving new information? I find these moments of clarity hitting me upside-the-head on a fairly regular basis these days.

I may be getting these on a regular basis because for many years I was pig headed and refused to see anything that was not illuminated by my own 'brilliance''. I may be getting these because I have chosen to blog every day and my mind has become more attuned to seeing that which has been sitting on the tip of my nose, more attuned to 'aha' moments. I may be getting these because, after 50 years of life, I have finally matured enough to put infantile ways behind me and filter life through the lens of painfully earned wisdom. I may be getting these because life experience is gradually washing away the film that has obscured my vision since I lost the intense wonder of early childhood in the grind of schools requiring conformity to achieve good grades. I may be getting these because I allow books from all walks of life to wash over me cleansing me of culturally biased thought.

I love these swirls on the surface of the lake that is my consciousness spreading in concentric, overlapping circles as far as I can currently see. I love these moments of clarity, these moments of understanding, these moments of inspiration because they let me know that my mind is functioning, that my mind is actively absorbing life, that I am still growing.  I love this clarity because I am gradually being able to appreciate the beauty that walks by our side every day of our life. I love these flashes of clarity because they give credence to my belief that I am living, that I am fully alive.



This growing clarity allows me to appreciate the beauty inherent in the uniqueness of everyone that walks the earth, the beauty that emanates from all people when we take the time to look past the surface that may be jaded by life and peer into the flower of their soul.


If your eyes were clear what wonderful sights would you see?

World Authors

The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. ~Dr. Seuss

I am currently reading "Please Look after Mom" by Kyung-sook Shin, the debut English language book by an acclaimed South Korean novelist. A habit I have cultivated over the past half of my life is to seek out books by authors writing about other cultures with which they have intimate knowledge or books written by an author raised in in another culture. I found reading these books exposed me to thought patterns other than those foundational to my upbringing, to thought patterns that challenged my view of how people around the world function, to thought patterns that challenged the foundation on which I viewed life.

This habit started when I discovered the Tony Hillerman mysteries while listening to National Public Radio. Tony wrote thrillers based on the Navajo people with the intent of his readers understanding the Navajo, a people he loved. I enjoyed reading fiction to learn about the Navajo and made it a point to devour every one of the Navajo based mysteries Tony created. In many of his books he used the same characters so the reader watches as they grow, as they develop over a long period of time, develop until they feel as if they are real people with real lives.

When my company decided to send me to India on a business trip, I employed this same technique to get a feel for the culture of India, to get an approximation of the mindset of people raised in India. I had a cultural training on working with the people of India which I found fascinating but found I wanted more, wanted more knowledge, wanted more understanding so I read a few different books by various authors. I am unable to determine how much these help me understand the people but I do know they were enjoyable to read.

The beauty of reading books by these world authors is that one's understanding of the world, of the people inhabiting this planet, is stretched, is forever altered and that is a change for the better. The view I have of life is no longer looking at an image through a keyhole of my own culture. The view I have now is of life that is much larger, a view that is looking at an image through a partially open door. I can see more but still the view I have is partially obscured. While this partial view is better than the keyhole view, I am hungry to knock the door off it's hinges so there is nothing obstructing my view.

The more I choose books authored from around the globe, the more the door opens, the more of the incredible beauty of this world is available to my eye. I will continue to make it a point to read world authors, read until the door is wide open, read until I have the entire world at my fingertips, read until I have a global view gained by looking through the eyes of world authors.

Book: The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason

To read a writer is for me not merely to get an idea of what he says, but to go off with him and travel in his company. ~Andre Gide

I guess I should consider it time I quit reading murder mysteries. While the tales can be intriguing, the predictability at the end typically leaves me frustrated. I spend multiple hours reading a book and the end does not surprise me, the end is something I could have predicted some hours before having the murderer 'revealed' to me. When reading I like to be surprised, like to not be able to figure out the answer before it is supposed to be revealed. With this book, I figured out one of the two characters that was most likely the murderer about two thirds of my way through the book.

The book was not a total bust. The story partially takes place in East Germany during the Cold War. I found the descriptions of the time interesting, enjoyed how the characters from that time were awakened to the realization that the life they had chosen was not what they expected. The flashbacks to the 1960s were, for me, far more interesting than the lives of the characters trying to solve the crime.

My favorite part of the mystery was gaining an understanding of the Icelandic culture. The book takes place in Iceland so we get a picture of the people, the mindset that develops when living in a small country with very long, dark winters and summer days when the sun almost never sets. I also got a feel for some of the political climate both in the 1960s and in modern day.

I can only recommend the book as a tool for learning a little bit of Icelandic culture and of life behind the iron curtain during the Cold War. As a mystery, I found it to be lacking.

Hooking A Heart

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. ~Oscar Wilde

I would never want to hook someone's heart, to capture someone's heart.  Hooking carries as baggage the images of fish being pulled to the boat while thrashing vainly in an attempt to free a pierced, bloody mouth and escape it's captor, it's tormentor. Capture implies bondage something held prisoner, something conquered. The conquered longs to be free, dreams of being freed, desires a return of freedom stolen. Love cannot be forced, does not exist in bondage. Love only exists in freedom

 For true love to exist, for a heart to flourish there must be no compulsion, no external force requiring compulsion. For true love to exist, a heart needs to have the freedom of the open sky, the freedom to perch, the freedom to chose flight or perch.

For true love to exist, a heart cannot be captured, a heart must not be hooked. For true love to exist, a heart must, by choice be given away, given away without fear.  For true love to exist, conscious choice must be made each and every day to give their heart to the beloved. The beloved cannot hold tightly to the heart for that would be to restrict the heart, to capture the heart, to hook the heart. The beloved must allow the heart to perch on the soul, to nest within the beloved's heart, to perch with a view of the open sky, to nest with the knowledge that it is free to love, free to not love for one cannot find true love by hooking a heart.

Recertification

The trouble with referees is they know the rules but they don't know the game. ~Bill Shankly


Today was my annual USSF referee recertification. Being forced to attend a full day class and take an exam on the Laws of the Game that have barely changed in a recent years, is not something I typically enjoy doing on a Saturday especially when my work world has required very long hours. I can make a case for having a short class or, even better, an on line class to explain significant changes in the laws so the federation of Referees receives a common understanding, but this is not the case with the USSF who require an 8 hour retraining session every year. I started refereeing soccer in 1980 with just a few years off between then and today so I have attended on the order of 30 classes. I must attend the full day class and pay $80 just so I can have the privilege of officiating soccer. I think the big reason US Soccer has these classes is so they can collect the fees from the referees and, their claim that we are the best trained officials in the country, is secondary, a selling point.

Today's class was better than most because it was taught by seasoned referee veteran, Paul Tamborino, a man that reached the pinnacle of the game before retiring and who was also an assessor of referees and is currently an assignor for the College conference know as ACC. His teaching emphasized the practical side of applying the laws as opposed to following the letter of the law. This was a nice change for I have heard the legalistic side so many times that hearing the letter of the law application lecture again and again nauseates me, especially when no decent referee ever works in such a way. Those that do follow the letter of the law come across as police officers rather than aficionados of the beautiful game and their stick up the butt style tends to destroy the joy that is of paramount importance to the game. Paul was entertaining and knowledgeable so the time passed relatively quickly.

After the talk, we are required to take a 100 question exam. The exam, to me, is an insult because it is to simplistic and at such a base level. The problem with the exam is that even if you score 100% there is no guarantee you will be able to referee soccer. A good referee knows when to apply the laws while a great referee knows when to set aside the laws for the good of the game, for the enjoyment of the players, for the entertainment of the spectators. This practical side can never be assessed by a written exam. I think the exam should be waived for veterans that have been on the field for many years.

Oh well, my USSF recertification is done for the 2012 leaving me free to enjoy another season on the pitch, the best seat possible from which to observe the beautiful game. All I need do now is the HS recertification in the early summer but that will be a rant for another day.

One Down Five To Go

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. ~Seneca quotes

My first Leadership Training Class is over. The many hours of preparation paid off as the class, for the most part, flowed very well. There were a couple of sections that need minor realignment to remove some bumps but, overall, the sequence in which I presented the concepts seemed to address the needs of the students.

 I have enjoyed the preparing my training class so much that hours seemed to pass in seconds, long hours became the norm for my workday. During these extended hours, I neglected taking appropriate care of my body. Exercise has fallen by the wayside as has getting ample rest. The result is that I let myself get run down and a virus hit, a virus that has now been plaguing me for five days. My throat has been raw and eating has felt like I am swallowing tiny little sea urchins, felt like thousands of little razor blades slicing my throat with every swallow of food. After class, when I got home, I crawled into bed, crawled beneath the covers for a short rest.

As the class was parting for the day, a couple of the students were very complementary. I was told by one that he normally falls asleep half an hour into the meeting. This class was so interesting that he was captivated the entire three hours. Another told me this class is filling a much needed void in the company and that he is looking forward to future classes.

So, the class has started off with a bang but the bang is just a start. I have a laurel but not enough to complete a laurel wreath as worn by the ancient victors of the Olympic games. I don't believe in resting on my laurels so, after this weekend, the long hours will resume as I work on the remaining five classes. Luckily, this is not a job, it's a labor of love.

Kick Off

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift. ~Steve Prefontaine




Tomorrow is a big day for me, a day for which I have been in preparation since I first dreamed up the idea of creating a leadership training program one early morning last November when I found myself wide awake in the early hours of the morning having just crossed 7 time zones on a return trip from Switzerland. The past months have found me immersed in the development of my Leadership Training Program. It would be accurate to say I have been consumed with preparations as, it seems, I have spent most of my waking hours thinking about the program. When I wake in the middle of the night, my mind inevitably is drawn to the program where it generates ideas for the presentation of the information which, in OCD fashion, I must log into my iPad before I am able to even considering a return to slumber. My reading habits, my listening habits, my thinking habits are all filtered through the lens of this one activity.

There are some that expect me to fail, don't believe I have what it takes to train leaders for my company. As much as I would love to succeed to prove to them wrong, I can't let that be my focus. This program is not for me. It's success is not for me. This program is, first and foremost, for the benefit of 7 people that will be attending. It's important that I keep my focus on the students, measure success by the benefit to the students, and not if I can slam dunk my success in the face of manager that expects me to fail. This program is not about me. It is about the students.

I view leadership as a sacred trust between the leader and the lead. I believe a leader owes it to the lead to be the very best leader possible. I take my leadership responsibility very seriously so have become a student of leadership spending a significant portion of my time learning what I can to improve my ability to lead people, to help them get from where they are to where they want/need to be. The responsibility of training beginning leaders is, for me, an even greater responsibility. When you lead one person, you affect that person. When you develop a leader, you affect that person and all the people that person leads so, training leaders has a multiplicative effect. This effect will multiply both the good and the bad. I am doing everything possible to ensure the effect that is multiplied is through my training is very positive. I owe it to my students and the students of my students....