Author Archives: Jim

Ticking the Boxes

I have developed a strong track record in business of solving problems, cleaning up messes, driving improvement and building strong teams. I can accomplish more in my waking hours than others and some of this comes from my skill to plan, breakdown the tactics and knock them off one by one – I call it ticking the boxes. I was so successful that I brought this same philosophy to my home life. After years of ticking the boxes at home I realized that I wasn’t enjoying the moments in life. Buy a house – tick, start a family – tick, we all get caught up in ticking the boxes. I was introduced to Mindfulness by a friend about 20 years ago and it has become a part of my life. Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

A few years ago I became interested in trail running. Nothing extreme but around 100 km to 150 km a month. You see, trail running is my opportunity to unwind, find time to meditate and pray and to get away from all life’s distractions. The last few months I started to set goals for myself – 150 km a month, 200 km a month. This past weekend as I was finishing my monthly challenge, it was my last 5 km and I realized that I had started to tick the boxes in my personal life again.

Stop from time to time and make sure you aren’t ticking the boxes. Enjoy the journey.

Ticking Boxes

(Ego + Coachability) x Learning Culture

Quite often as leaders we confuse high performing individuals as having too big of an ego. On the contrary, we want our team members to have big egos. “Ego” can be defined as “a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance”. Shouldn’t everyone be proud of themselves and proud of their achievements and excited about their potential? We have to look no further than the current world class talents in soccer – Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. As explained in this article when you have a team member with a big ego that is coachable, it is your responsibility as the leader to provide a learning culture for that individual to thrive in. (Ego + Coachability) x Learning Culture = World Class Results

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/33255194

Skills vs Values

When putting a team together do you consider skills and values? Do you prefer one over the other? Most high performing teams have a similar set of values. Two articles below relate to Alex Anthopoulos and his journey as the GM of the Toronto Blue Jays. Take some time and consider how you evaluate skills and values.

Toronto Blue Jays and Skills vs ValuesDownload

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13101638/josh-donaldson-russell-martin-making-impact-toronto-blue-jays

Passionate Team Members

Have you ever read the Animal School fable? If not, I have attached it below. Too often, in business or life we fail to maximize the potential of our teams by failing to put the team members in roles they are passionate about. Following your passion is one of the keys to success. Not everyone knows what their passion is and needs to discover it along their journey. Take time along your journey to understand what you are passionate about and choose to do more of that.

The Animal School: A Fable (by George Reavis)

Once upon a time the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of a “new world” so they organized a school. They had adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.

The duck was excellent in swimming. In fact, better than his instructor. But he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his webbed feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school so nobody worried about that, except the duck.

The rabbit started at the top of the class in running but had a nervous breakdown because of so much makeup work in swimming.

The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of the treetop down. He also developed a “charlie horse” from overexertion and then got a C in climbing and D in running.

The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class, he beat all the others to the top of the tree but insisted on using his own way to get there.

At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceeding well and also run, climb and fly a little had the highest average and was valedictorian.

What Johnny B Taught Me About the Key to Success

I met Johnny B after I graduated high school and was in a Mechanical Engineering program at University. Johnny B and I met through mutual friends one summer – Johnny B was also in Mechanical Engineering but at a different University. Johnny B not only did well at school, he was also a world class rowing athlete. About my size but a cardio machine. Through Johnny B I learned the key to success was to be passionate about your goal. Johnny B would get up every morning, go to the rowing course and practice for hours before school. I learned about the discipline required to be a world class athlete – diet, exercise and rest. I learned about VO2 and how to measure progress. Johnny B was a world class athlete. He went to Olympic qualifiers but never broke through. As I got to know Johnny B, I started to listen more. You see, it was Johnny B’s father that woke him up in the morning, drove him to the rowing course and got the scull out. As I looked into it more I learned that Johnny B’s Dad was actually the driving force. Johnny B’s Dad was a rower as well. In his Dad’s case though, he broke through and competed on the world stage in the Olympics and other competitions. I understood that Johnny B was chasing his Dad’s dream and his Dad’s passion. Johnny B’s Dad passed away and within a few years Johnny B had found another sport. His dream was to compete in the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii. Johnny B got up in the morning on his own, trained vigorously and had huge gains in the sport. And then the unexpected happened, Johnny B had a stroke. It came out of nowhere. Between the ages of 41 to 44 , Johnny B had three strokes, the second of which led to Johnny B being partially blind for months. Johnny B didn’t stop because he had found his passion, not his Dad’s. Johnny B finally qualified for the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii at the age of 50. He competed and placed fifth in his age category, achieving his dream. Johnny B taught me that the key to success is finding your passion, not someone else’s. Whatever happened to Johnny B ? He moved on from the Ironman Triathlon dream and opened a local rowing school for children. Everything came full circle. If you aren’t passionate for what you are doing , keep looking. That is when you will truly reach your top performance.

Why Lead?

As my leadership journey at work started it was simple, I was an effective worker accomplishing goals, meeting deadlines and helping to increase profits. The hope from my leaders at the time was that as a leader I would motivate others to succeed. It wasn’t until years later as my scope increased and also welcoming children into my life that I realized the power of leadership comes from understanding your why? I love the song Sunday Best by Surfaces and the simple message:

Every day can be a better day, despite the challenge
All you gotta do is leave it better than you found it

My leadership goal is simple – leave people, processes and teams better than when I found them. There is nothing more gratifying than helping others.

Yes, If vs No, Because

Walt Disney and his team of Imagineers became famous for innovation and continue to be successful developing new ideas. Part of this success comes from their Yes, If mindset. When looking for solutions it can be very easy to get caught in the trap of No, it won’t work because we tried it before. No, it won’t work because it will take too long. No, I can’t lose a few pounds because it is genetics. When you find yourself in that zone try something Walt Disney did. With the Yes, If mindset you move to different solutions. Yes, it will work if we get additional training. Yes, it will work if I go for a walk three days a week. Next time you think something is not possible shift to a Yes, If mindset. If you can do this in a group setting even better, ideas build off one another and working together dreams can become reality.

The Mirror and the Window

Too often when things are going well we stand in front of the mirror, admiring ourselves and thinking how successful we have become. This happens on the leadership journey as well. I have found we don’t often look in the mirror when things are not going too well. We look out the window and wonder “What is wrong with everyone, don’t they get it?” Next time, try the reverse. When things are not going as expected look in the mirror and ask “What could I have done differently?” When things are going well, look out the window and congratulate everyone on doing such a great job.

Spots on the Ceiling – Creating a Safe Zone for Bad News

To be a successful leader your team must be comfortable in providing you with timely updates. Everyone is eager to provide the latest good news but how does your team handle bad news ?

My greatest teacher in this has been my daughter. We had just finished a bathroom renovation. One of my greatest concerns through the process, being an Engineer, was to properly size the exhaust fan so we wouldn’t get moisture buildup and mold. Measurements of the room, calculations of air changes and fan selection complete and I was confident we were ok although I was considering upsizing to the next fan. In the end there was no need to upsize and we completed the renovation.

A couple months later I noticed some spots on the ceiling! Not possible, I calculated everything. First step was to repaint the entire ceiling with stain reducing paint and the next was to look at ripping open the ceiling and putting in a larger fan – I knew it! Before I went too far my wife relayed a message from my teenaged daughter – the spots were from hair colouring and not mold. She was just worried to tell me because of the reaction.

At home, as at work, my reaction to someone “not following the plan” or “not having the necessary discipline” or “not working hard enough” was not always constructive. I still work at this. One of the first messages for my teams is that there is no good news or bad new. It is all information we need to provide on a timely basis so we can react. Whether at home or at work when presented with bad news – Listen and don’t jump to conclusions, share the pain, don’t say “I told you so”, watch your body language, absorb the information and then work together to a solution. Reacting in the wrong way will stop the flow of information and you may find yourself needlessly spending time, effort and money on the wrong solutions.

Leaders Can Build Others Up or Tear Others Down

Entering Grade 8 I was introduced to a new style of leadership that I will never forget. My home room teacher assembled the class and stood at the front of the room behind a podium. The first words out of his mouth were “I am God to you this year. I hold your future in my hands. Follow my rules and you will be ok”. I can’t remember the rest, I only remember the message. Like many of my classmates, this took us off guard and set us back a bit as we were all looking forward to high school followed by a post secondary education. I didn’t respond too well to this type of leadership and did not have my best performing year coming off a string of good years. At the end of the year, the recommendation from this self proclaimed God was that I set my sights lower and not consider post secondary education, just get the basics.

Thankfully my parents built me back up, convinced me otherwise and I was capable of much more. I went on to high school and ended up with an Engineering degree followed by a career of increasing scope and leadership.

My preference in leadership has always been to build people up and help them reach higher, knowing that I will be there to support them should they stumble. Build confidence rather than tear people down and destroy it. Thankfully I didn’t listen to the advice of my Grade 8 leadership.

One day when I returned to my hometown I took a trip to the local hardware store to pick something up for my Dad. To my surprise (and to be honest bringing a smile to my face), the Grade 8 self-proclaimed God was stocking shelves. I never understood his motivation in his leadership style and really didn’t care enough to ask him.