Good Morning Friends! Here are my 5 Things to Consider this week!
From one year ago this week. 8/19/19
Culture – Art and Science. There’s a certain finesse to the way we do things at LNS and Odds. An unusual combination of systems and creativity that we’ve molded together that create the well-oiled ecosphere that we all call “work.” The “Science” part is all of our systems, processes, standards, rules, and specifications that create the framework for which we thrive. Our daily objective tasks. It’s the “brain” of our operation. The “Art” piece is the creative side of what we do. It’s our Mission, Vision and Values. Our design. Our presence on Social Media. Our voice. The way we choose to treat each other. It’s our beating heart. And like any living and breathing creature with a brain and heart, one can’t survive without the other and neither is more important than the other. Without “Art”, we’d be just a cluster of soulless processes. What I call a “who-gives-a-shit?” business. A place that exists simply to make money. Without “Science,” we’d be just a group of creatives with our heads in the clouds. Never worrying about sustaining. Never worrying about the actual business of the business. I can’t tell you I know what correct ratio of Art and Science is that makes us work. I don’t know if one exists. But I can tell you that it’s up to each and every one of us to pay attention to both. Science allows us to survive. Art allows us to shine.
Leadership – HALT – Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. How are you feeling right now? Great? Not so great? Happy? Sad? Content? Stressed? Perhaps a combination of a million different things? If you’re not feeling like your “best self,” taking a moment to HALT might be the best thing for your mental health. HALT is an acronym for Hungry, Angry, Lonely and Tired. This mechanism is often borrowed from the realm of addiction and recovery, but it’s perfectly applicable for everyday life. A combination of self-awareness and self-care is so important in the daily life of a leader. When you’re Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired, you’re way more vulnerable to poor decision making. HALT invites us to pause for just a moment so we can “check in” with ourselves and assess our energy and our presence. In one moment, this exercise can provide us both the diagnosis and the cure. We, as leaders, have to look at this in two ways. One, how am I doing? Two, how are the members of my tribe doing? Poor self-care and unchecked emotions can keep you from living your “best life.” Set a reminder in your phone for every two hours. Each time the alarm goes off, pause for a moment and ask yourself, “am I Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired? It will help you understand why you’re feeling the way you are and point you in the direction to feel better.
History – Woodland’s Tavern. About 8 or so years ago, a couple of buddies of mine we’re sitting at this new bar that just opened up in Grandivew and chatting with the bartender. It was a Saturday afternoon and my friends noticed the bar had a kitchen, but it was dark and closed. They inquired the bartender about why the kitchen was closed and the bartender said it was because the new owners “wanted nothing to do with food.” Like any good friends, they promptly let me know about this opportunity and about a month later, we proudly opened the 3rd Late Night Slice in Woodland’s Tavern. It wasn’t always easy to be a guest in someone else’s building, (a lesson we wouldn’t fully learn till years later) but I’ll always look back at our time together fondly because we (LNS and WT) sort of “grew up” together. We learned a lot in that 4 years and we made a lot of friends. A good number of you reading this started with us at WT. I still get, as I’m sure a lot of us still do, people commenting about how much they loved us at WT. I can confidently say, we wouldn’t be where we are today without our stint in Woodland’s Tavern.
Motivation – “Anyone can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way that is not within everyone’s power and that is not easy.” – Aristotle
What I’m Reading or Watching – Right now, I’m about half way through a Tim Ferris Podcast and his guest is Charles Koch. As in, one of the Koch brother from Koch Industries. I was really interested in this episode because of the controversial nature of Koch. If you pay even the slightest amount of attention to politics, you’ve for sure heard is name. I’m really enjoying hearing an old school business man discuss the techniques and influences that got him and his company to the point they’re at, which is larger than both Boeing and Disney! But they’re about to dig in to the reason why they’re so hated and vilified – the massive amounts of money they inject into the “system.” This is the part I’m looking forward to…
5 Things to Consider Archive 