Don’t Make Important Decisions in February

February 14, 2022

Good morning! “To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.”  (HD Thoreau) We’ve achieved the Ides of February, you and I. “Don’t make important decisions in February.”  (KM) Always been among my favourite aphorisms since first hearing it expressed forty or more years ago. It’s so, so, so true… and if you don’t know why, you’re not at work or life involving other humans. Well, TBH, this is probably a geo/ ethno-centric aphorism, with sincere apologies to the Southern Hemisphere and Equatorial Zones.

• We’re on the final lap of a trifecta of holy days — three one right after the other — with another to come in just eight days.
  • From among these, which is most important to you?  Will (Did) you take time off work?  Enjoy special foods?  Reflect spiritually or religiously?
  • Feast of Valentine (February 14)
  • Mr. Lincoln’s birthday (February 12)
  • George Washington’s birthday (February 22) — don’t forget the cherry pie, even though its origin is a lie
  • NFL/ AFL Championship football (February 13)
  • Of these, Mr. Lincoln’s birthday is perhaps the one with the fewest traditions associated with it.
  • There is a growing trend having germinated in Princeton, New Jersey:
  • All day long each February 12th, greet each person you see with a penny — an exchange of pennies — and the words, “Let’s keep workin’ on Mr. Lincoln’s vision!”
  • (Or, a fin, or as they used to say, a Lincoln; i.e., a five dollar bill.)
  • Let’s make it go viral.
  • All traditions start small, often with just one person.
  • Madame Curie might have said that first.
• What about this inflation come to visit?
  • More on that next week, or the week after next week.
• “Good leaders make you feel safe.”  (Sinek via Dave)
• “To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step.  We will fail when we fail to try.”  (Parks, R.)

Meetings Can Crush Your Soul (Continued)

• And now, continued from last week (Meetings can crush your soul).
  • Here are a few tips for making your ZOOM or GoToMeeting meetings go better — and, it would seem, your in-person gatherings, too.  (Chugh)
  • Back to the basics… we so often forget!
    • Have a facilitator — seems obvious, but can you imagine not?!  But apparently…
    • Bring in more perspectives; e.g., why talk about customers or clients when you could have one join the meeting and learn from her/ him/ them?
    • Put names with faces; i.e., automatic name badges;
    • Clarify nicknames and preferred names;
    • Pronounce people’s names correctly/ accurately/ respectfully (yes, it still happens all the time);
    • Read the room by conducting polls as the meeting progresses — for larger assemblies surely, but even for smaller ones;
    • Use the Chat function to elicit several ideas at the same time; allow time for this, don’t step on the process, a big part of which is time;
    • Carefully consider when/ if recording a session might be useful and helpful; respect concerns that might occur and realize behaviour might change;
    • Move gracefully in and out of small groups, concurrent discussions, reports back to the larger group;
    • Relaunch… literally start conducting your meetings differently than what has been tradition… unless they’re already highly effective, then share your secrets.
  • At the end of the day, don’t let meetings crush your soul, or your spirit — and especially not the souls and spirits of your staff or team!  (Chugh)
• From Tom Hanks’ character in the movie, Greyhound:  “I wouldn’t need to take this risk if I’d been smarter yesterday.”
• The XO’s response:  “What you did yesterday got us to today.”

• On the topic of vision… since that’s what this Newsletter is all about:
  • “You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things so that all the small things go in the right direction.” Alvin Toffler
  • “Leadership is transforming vision into action and sustaining it.”  (Bennis)
  • “A great leader’s courage to achieve a vision comes from passion and not from position.” (Maxwell) — (though the two need not be at odds.)
  • Vision is a destination – a fixed point to which we focus all effort. Strategy is a route – an adaptable path to get us where we want to go.” (Sinek)
  • “Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision.” (Ali)
  • “A person without a vision for the future always returns to the past.”  (Unknown)
• “To become a successful philosopher king, it is much better to start as a king than as a philosopher.”  (Taleb via Jordan)
• “Revelry comes to those who make it.”  (Crosby)