The view in my backyard this morning.

The word is that many of you are snowed in this morning.  Even here in Phoenix there are news stories about remembering to wearing a jacket.  Things are rough.

I was recently in Minneapolis teaching Ownership Spirit to MMIC Group and while I was there I had a chance to visit my son and his family where we braved the weekend in the snow and the cold.  I arrived home to find the oranges on my trees ripe and ready for eating.  It occurred to me how very different our view of February is.  In my part of the world, this is the glorious season we live for — lovely, sunny days of bike riding and picnics — while my son is just hoping that “the sun will come out tomorrow.”  When either I or my son hear the word “winter” we each have very different feelings and impressions.  Our “presets” are different.

At work, one area in which our presets can hinder our performance, efficiency, and team-building, is generationally.  Every organization is made up of people from different generations — Millennials (18-30), Gen Xers (31-45), Baby Boomers (46-65), and Traditionalists (66+) — and these differences have the potential to create roadblocks in communication, in trust, and in productivity.

Each generation has specific and critical contributions to make in an organization.  Millennials excel at flexibility, technology, creativity and collaboration.  Generation Xers are innovative, independent, results-oriented, balanced and energetic.  Baby boomers are focused on sustained growth and expansion.  They are optimistic, seasoned, savvy, and stable.  Traditionalists are consistent, loyal, and have invaluable perspective and experience.

Clearly, each generation has strengths and skills that are unique and beneficial.  The problem comes when, as George Orwell said, “Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.”

It is easy to make assumptions about our coworkers because of their age.  These assumptions lead to beliefs which change our behavior – making us less likely to collaborate, share, delegate, ask for help, seek advice or assistance — and this change in our behavior results directly in less powerful outcomes, less innovation, more working in silos, and making more avoidable mistakes.

My son-in-law couldn’t wait to turn thirty.  I teased him about getting so old, but he said he was relieved to finally be there.  He said that now people might take him seriously, because now when they asked he could say he was in his “thirties.”  He felt like his skills and talent were less important than his age, and that he was always having to “prove himself” over and over again.  On the other hand, there are entire courses dedicated to teaching baby boomers and traditionalists how to appear younger and “hip”-er in this job market.  When they write their resumes they’re instructed not to list the actual dates of their education or employment (the dead giveaway), to only list the last ten years of their experience (since when did too much experience become a bad thing?), “act energetic,” and to set up social networking sites so that they look tech-savvy.

The biggest problem with all of this, of course, is that by black-balling any one particular generation, we miss out on cohesive insights, synergistic breakthroughs, and multi-pronged approaches to solving problems.  We end up with defensive, disengaged, unproductive teams.  All of us can benefit from examining and taking ownership of our own presets and biases about age.

Challenging your own presets takes humility and Ownership.  Be honest with yourself about how your assumptions and stereotypes have influenced your beliefs and behaviors.  Does the word “millennial” create as much dread in you as the word “winter” does for my son?  Is there another way to see it?  Does having a few traditionalists on your team inspire you with confidence and appreciation for their knowledge and experience, or give you nightmares of old-school, antiquated ideas that have been rehashed a thousand times.  Could it be that your own perspective is the element that makes the difference?  By questioning and examining our presets, we are more likely to find the benefits to having and using all the generational resources on our teams to their very best advantage.

I am interested in your thoughts.

This week I’ve been across the entire country.  I started my week in Washington, DC and I’ll finish up in Portland, Oregon.  And it’s the new year every where I go.

There are endless lose-weight and get-organized and quit-smoking commercials on every television and radio station in the country.  The gyms and the yoga studios and the indoor tracks are packed.  There are crates of scales stacked next to crates of Jack LaLanne juicers stacked next to bins of free weights and Slimfast in every Walmart and Costco in every town in America.

We’re six days in now, long enough to realize that keeping up this pace and this level of personal improvement is not going to be easy, long enough for our muscles to be really sore, and long enough for our minds and bodies to start mounting a campaign of revolt.

There is something so hopeful and energizing about a new year and a fresh start.  An ever-present upward reach impels us to consider our present state and strive for better, especially because most of us don’t have Calvin’s hubris.  Down deep we know there’s a significant need to grow and improve.

So we set goals and make resolutions.   But even as we turn over new leaves, there is a doubtful thought nagging at us in the back of our minds… that is, of course, that for most of us, the resolutions we just made are eerily similar to the exact same ones we made last year.  We’re not getting very far.

A few years ago, my youngest daughter was diagnosed with an eating disorder.  As part of her treatment, she was taught a powerful tool that I think can help many of us as we try to replace our bad habits with good ones and resolve (once and for all!) to achieve our goals.  The principle they taught her was “the next right choice.”  Her doctors and counselors explained to her that she wasn’t going to be perfect, that she was going to slip up, that the destructive compulsions inside her would most likely show up again in her life.  But the one thing that would make the crucial difference in her overall recovery was her ability to make “the next right choice.”

What my daughter’s coaches knew was that sometimes the biggest deterrent to our progress is the sabotage that takes place in our own minds when we make a mistake.  The negative self-talk and guilt and berating thoughts can be like a poison to our hopeful new resolutions.  It becomes a destructive spiral — we beat ourselves up over a small infraction which leads to the erroneous conclusion that we are incurably defective, which leads to the defeatist question, “So why even try?”  The answer is obvious and, at that point, we give in and give up.

The antidote to this spiral is the idea of “the next right choice.”  Whatever it is that you failed to do — missed your run, spoke impatiently to your kids, traded your wheat-grass shake for a chocolate brownie — put it behind you and make the next right choice.

Here is a method for doing just that: 

1.  Quash the self-recriminating thoughts by redirecting your mind back to your goal and visualize the desired outcome as vividly as you can. 

2.  Then break the long-range goal into a more manageable “first milestone.”  Project yourself forward to that milestone moment — a reasonably proximate improvement point — and envision and sense the satisfaction and encouragement even that modest achievement will bring.  As you do, you will probably notice a shift in your emotional state.  The gnawing knot in your stomach that whispers “Who am I kidding?” will be supplanted with a more calming feeling of  “I can do this.” 

3.  Then, visualize the next moment of choice — the next time for your run, or the next meal, or the next frustrating moment with your children.  Visualize yourself making the right choice at that next intersection.  I can promise you that, at that moment, you will notice an appreciable increase in confidence and a feeling of well-being will beckon you forward.

Using this approach in “making the next right choice” in conjunction with vivid and positive visualization breaks a destructive mental cycle and will create breakthroughs in your achievement.  It creates an immediate course correction and generates a sense of confidence and validation.  Best of all, by continually applying this tool, you create cumulative forward progress toward your goals and eliminate the very common, self-defeating, sidetracking discouragement that is the enemy of every good resolution.

Will Durant said, “Forget mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it. “  Make your resolutions.  Make your goals.  And then make the next right choice.  And the one after that.  And you will see remarkable progress toward those lofty personal and professional goals.

I’m interested in your thoughts.

The other day, as I was doing a few Christmas errands, I drove past a poignant scene.

There was a gentleman, about my age, directing two young men who were hoisted up on a lift, hanging a paper sign over an already existing, faded and broken sign.  I could tell the new sign was hand-painted, but it looked professional and sharp in the afternoon light.  As I watched them hang their new sign, I could see other changes to the property as well.  The trim on the building was freshly painted a bright, cheerful red, and someone had then painted words using stencils in crisp white:  OIL CHANGE, TUNE-UPS, BRAKES, TRANSMISSIONS.  It was the absolute earnestness of the scene that got me.

Here was a man, who had seemingly just bought a failed auto repair shop, and with a little paint and a lot of hope he was making the shop his own, starting over, and giving it a go.  I imagined all his hopes and dreams and savings tied up in that little shop.  I imagined that when he went home for dinner that night, he told his wife with both excitement and guarded optimism about how good the new sign looked and how this was just the beginning of many good things in their life.  I imagined her smiling at him encouragingly and then biting her bottom lip when he wasn’t looking.  I imagined them in bed, whispering about their plans, sharing their worries and concerns, and daring to dream of success.

And perhaps it’s just this special time of year, or the fact that Judy Garland was singing the sentimental “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” over my radio, but I was struck by the tenderness of this little human drama.  And in how many other towns across this nation, this same scene was unfolding for someone else.

It was easy for me to imagine, I suppose, because I have done the same thing myself–had an idea, invested my life and my savings, had hundreds of just such conversations with my wife, and dreamed of good things to come.  And they have.

I feel so blessed to be able to interact and work with brilliant companies and incredible leaders, to do the work I love, for people who are striving to make a difference and to achieve lofty goals.  I imagine each of you in your own work, metaphorically, hanging out your own signs and I consider it a deep privilege to be a part of your success and your earnest endeavoring.  At this time of year, when we remember our blessings, here at Quma we count the chance we’ve had to work and teach and learn with each of you among our greatest ones.  We are grateful for the trust you put in us to train and inspire your teams, your leaders, and your front-line workers.

As I watched this not-so-young man, unveil his hopes and dreams and step onto the precipice of his new business adventure, I thought there was a message for all of us in his bravery:

Hope for better things.

Believe in your dreams.

See success as the inevitable outcome of your efforts.

All of us here at Quma wish you and yours the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of holidays.  May your celebrations be merry and bright, and all your dreams come true.

I am interested in your thoughts.

Christmas Eve, at the White House, 1941

As the holiday season nears its apex, like you, my thoughts have been drawn to deeper things–to my family and friends, to reflections on the past year and the new one  just around the corner, to my faith and my blessings.

I have also spent some time thinking of “Christmases long, long ago,” as the carol says.  I have recently had the privilege of studying about Winston Churchill’s life and quite by coincidence also came upon a quick Christmas read entitled, In the Dark Streets Shineth. In all my reading and pondering, I have not only been struck by Churchill’s leadership, bravery, and doggedness, but most especially by the verity of the power of one person to make a difference, to even change the whole course of human history.

Churchill became Britain’s Prime Minister on the very day that Hitler invaded France, and his tenure ended just as the war was ending.  It was as though he was prepared for that very moment of history, that critical period when the world was on the brink, as he said, of either “the broad, sunlit uplands” or “a new Dark Age.”  All that stood between the end of civilization and freedom as we know it, was the wide English channel, the vision of this remarkable man, and the people he inspired to stand their ground.

In the darkest days of the war, Churchill’s confidence and determination were undeterred.  By anything.  He had a vision of what Britain had to accomplish, he had a vision of what it would mean to the world if they failed, and he had a vision of the absolute certainty of victory.

In his maiden speech, as the new Prime Minister, he went to the House of Commons and said:  “You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror; victory, however long and hard the road may be.”

Nearly three weeks later he was back before Parliament. “We shall not flag or fail,” he vowed. “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

Churchill was able to motivate his country, the United States, and the entire free world because he had a vision.

Each of us who are leaders–in business, in families, in communities–have the same opportunity.  We each have our own struggles, our own battles, our own defining moments.  We all have our own dark streets to light.  And though the course of human history may not rest upon us, there is still no limit to the power and good that one person with vision can make in his own “little world.”  What is required then, is vision–to see victory despite the cost and the odds, and to lift and inspire those around us with the confidence and power of that vision.

As we look around us, at the economy, at the uncertainty of the markets, at the persistent recessionary trends, and the general gloom that seems to hang over many business endeavors, the darkness could be overwhelming.  It may seem like there is very little standing between us and our deepest fears.  But leaders with vision know that it is in these moments, that real vision shines the brightest.

At the height of World War II, Winston Churchill said to the people of England: “To every man there comes … that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a special thing unique to him and fitted to his talent. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour.”

I have been inspired by these words.  I hope they will do the same for you.  That rather than surrendering to doubt and pessimism and fear, that you will see the bright vision of what you can accomplish, what you and your teams can accomplish, when you “fight” to reach your intended destination and absolutely, unequivocally, steadfastly refuse to surrender for anything less.

I’m interested in your thoughts.

Some of you who have called the office have had the pleasure of talking to our director of client relations, Jennifer Lee.  And not only is Jennie capable and efficient and an all-around office wonder woman, she recently ran a half marathon.  Her experience is one we can all learn from.

Jennie’s race was the 2nd annual Shun the Sun Race.  She had run the 5K portion of the race the year before and felt it was “grueling,” but she watched her sister finish the half marathon and wished she could do the same.

Jennie started 2010 with the decision to focus on her physical health.  She studied and read and made significant changes in her lifestyle and diet.  As her strength and stamina increased, she decided to “step up” her exercise goals.  While she had been running weekly, she wasn’t formally on a schedule.  She needed a goal to help solidify her commitment.  In her mind she had a picture of her sister crossing the finish line after her half marathon the year before, and this mental picture sparked Jennie’s own dreams and desires.

With this picture in her mind, she determined to run the same race.  She had nearly 16 weeks to train to be able to run 13.1 miles.  Before this time, the farthest Jennie had ever run was 5 miles.  She studied and researched and found a training schedule that she customized to a pace that she thought she could manage.  She saved her long runs for Saturday and found it was always the high point of her week.  For these long runs, Jennie would map a course out a few days prior and mentally prepare to go the distance.

She later said, “I found that some days were harder than others.  If I didn’t eat right that week or if I didn’t get sufficient sleep the night prior, my runs would be harder and more challenging.  As I got deeper into my training I realized how important a role my eating habits played into my abilities to run distance.  I also began to sacrifice Friday night outings with friends to ensure I would get enough sleep to do my long runs on Saturday mornings.  I quickly found myself learning that my running became my greatest priority.

“There was a Saturday in October I was running the peak distance, 12 miles before the big race.  I knew that if I could do 12 I could certainly do 13.1!  Mentally I told myself that I could do it.  No matter how long it took me, I would run the 12 miles without stopping.  It was probably the best run I had ever had.  Yes, even better than the actually race. . . I was prepared and rested.  Before I knew it I was at the ten mile mark and I felt good, I could feel the smile on my face and knew that I was then ready for the race.”

Jennie had prepared.  She had studied.  She had trained.  She was physically ready.  What happened next is instructive for each of us.

The day of the race she felt great on the first loop (the first 8 miles) of her race.  Then she said, her body started to hurt, and started to beg for her to stop.  She said, “My ankles were sore and my legs wanted to stop.  I remember reading a sign that said something to the effect that ‘You can’t let your body tell your mind what to do.’  I remember thinking that my mind is more powerful than my legs.  So for the last 4 miles or so, I would tell my mind to tell my legs and feet and ankles to keep going.  My mind had to take over in order for me to finish this race.”

And then came the moment she had pictured all those many weeks ago…the finish line.  Jennie said, “I always pictured the finish line, a cheering audience, tears streaming down my face, pictures being taken.  And you know what?  It was similar, but I felt like the greater accomplishment was the effort invested in the preparation.  As I reflected, I realized that I was more satisfied with all the effort and dedication and commitment that lead up to the race than the race itself.  Our minds power our bodies, our minds give us the will to go forward when our ankles are weak, our minds are the start and finish of all mortal races!”

The day before Jennie’s race I sent her an email with a couple of my favorite running quotes. One by Steve Prefontaine is confirmed by Jennie’s experience.  He said, “You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.”

Jennie had a goal.  She had a mental picture of that goal.  She trained consistently and doggedly at her own pace.  And in the heat of the moment, when her body wanted to stop, she refused to listen.

These same principles apply to each of us, no matter our goal.  I believe there is a moment in every achievement, every success and human endeavor–no matter how prepared or ready we are–that begs us to stop, to give up, to quit, to ease up.  Real satisfaction, power, and success is found in mentally willing ourselves past this moment to the finish line.

I’m interested in your thoughts.