God Bless the Nation

The Red Sox Nation!!

Click on the picture to watch a montage of the run to the world series title.

Happy Halloween

He's strong, handsome, and stands up for everything that is the American dream. She is a beauty, with strength to take on both man and beast. And, with warm weather in the forecast, and plenty of treats to keep their engines and legs running, I see an action packed Halloween adventure in our future!

Happy and safe Halloween from Captain America and Belle!

Пойдем Команда Astana!

Or, for those of us not so familiar with the Russian language, Let's go Team Astana!

I did a post last month entitled Discovery is Gone, mourning the end of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team after the most successful run in professional cycling history. Well, as often happens when a great organization unexpectedly closes up shop, several of the riders and staff of Discovery Channel have found a new home together.

Team Astana Pro Cycling is headquartered in Switzerland, but backed by the Kazakhstan government. Team Astana ended the 2007 season in disgrace after having several of it's members convicted of doping, and having the entire team kicked out of the Tour de France after failed drug tests. Despite all this, the Kazak government has committed to continuing it's sponsorship and funding of the team, and has brought in the former Discovery Channel management, Directors, and star riders to clean up the program, image, and restore the race reputation of the team.

The new look Astana will be headed by none other than Johan Bruyneel who brings with him the proven team of Assistant Directors Sean Yates and Viatcheslav Ekimov. The riders making up the Astana roster for 2008 will include 2007 Tour de France Champion Alberto Contador, as well as 2007 Tour de Georgia winner Jani Brajkovic, grand tours specialists Benjamin Noval and Sergio Paulinho and sprinter Tomas Vaitkus. In addition, Levi Leipheimer, third place finisher in this years Tour de France, and overall champion of the 2007 Tour of California will provide a great leadership role for the team.

So, what were once blue's at the loss of Discovery have turned to joy at it's resurrection under new colors and a new flag. Although my heart and cheers will still be with American based Team Slipstream this season, it is great to know that my "old friends" at Discovery have found a home, and will provide many more years of great competition.

Soapbox

I am not a very political person. I am a democrat by affiliation, and by vote. I am not a person to publicly question any one's views or beliefs or to seek out a soapbox to distribute mine. Recently however, I find myself fighting back the urge to yell. To grab the American media empire and shake them. To take all of the Executive Producers and Senior Editors and ask them, "what are you thinking?", "where have your brains gone?". Maybe then, someone will explain to me how our priorities have gotten so incredibly out of whack.

Let's face it, our World is pretty damn screwed up. Scary, even. Take this week. Our soldiers continue to die in a war that has gone on so long, most people have forgotten the reasons (insert your favorite Bush-ism here) why we are in it. Such a huge section of California is burning, that just about everyone in the country knows a family member, friend, or colleague impacted. Gas prices are back on the rise (ride a bike. it's free and a lot greener than your Prius). And, a new deadly Staph based super-bug is moving through our schools.

With all of these true, terrible, things happening to real people around us, what did the media determine was the priority for America this week? Marie Osmond faints on Dancing with the Stars. With the video (if you are looking for the link to the video here. Not a chance.) and interviews played over, and over, and over. No interviews with mothers who lost their sons in Iraq. Wives who are raising kids alone. Just an outpouring of concern for Marie's fainting on live TV. Priorities people!!

Ah yes, priorities. I must be speaking of Britney and her ever evolving legal battles. According to the news this week, she got to spend last weekend with her kids AND paid off the other driver to nullify the hit and run charges. Wonder how many California families are all spending time with their kids in the shelters this week?? Ain't reality a bitch.

Okay, so my point. I really do have one. I want to know what happened. Where's my Walter Cronkite? Is the media driving us, or are we driving the media? When did the American people stop wanting to hear and feel reality? Maybe, if we all paid a little bit more attention to the reality around us, we would all be inclined to impact a little bit more change. Maybe the daily news is the one place in our lives we DON'T need distractions? Tell us what happened. Tell us how we can help. It can be that simple. It can be whatever we want it to be.

Thank you for listening.

What a day.....

Man, am I ever tired. What a Sunday! The Red Sox are headed back to the World Series after coming back from a deep series hole. Go Sox!!!

Oh yeah, and the unstoppable force Patriots moved to 7-0 with a simple little Tom Brady 6 TD effort against Miami.

Great time to be a fan of the Bean Town boys.......

Time to Rally

Break out those rally caps, the Bo-Sox need some help!! Coincidentally, in researching the origin of the rally cap, come to find out that the boys from Bean Town are at the heart of the inception of the rally cap. According to the obvious online experts at rallycap.com, the Rally Cap was born during the 1986 World Series when the New York Mets were playing the Boston Red Sox. The Mets were losing Game Six and already down 3 games to 2 in the series; it seemed almost certain that the Red Sox were going to be the 1986 World Series Champs! In the 7th Inning of that game, something amazing happened; the Mets all started wearing their caps inside out while sitting in the dugout. Catching on, the fans also started to sport their caps inside out and called it the "Rally Cap".

After that, the Mets rallied back and went on to win Game Six in the Tenth Inning-forcing a Game Seven. Then, in Game Seven, the Mets found themselves falling behind again by a score of 3-0 and in need of a little more magic. Once again, the players and the fans put on their Rally Cap. The rest is Baseball History; the Mets rallied back to win Game Seven by a score of 8-5 and became the 1986 World Series Champs! (Boo!!)

So, in keeping with apparent Bean Town history, c'mon Boston fans, flip those hats inside out, and lets get a little of that rally cap mojo working our way this time.

The Funk

No matter how hard we try, regardless of the job we have (traveler, desk jockey, middle-management, CEO, or Mom) the funk seems to roll around every now and then. You've been there. You find yourself questioning if you are in the right position, does what I am doing really matter, have I achieved my goals, and is this all there is?? And when the funk comes, it impacts work, home, family, your whole life.

When I get the funk, I inevitably find myself soul searching and looking at what I am presently holding as priorities. What I usually find, is that a contributor to my funk, is that a high percentage of my daily effort, is NOT being applied towards those tasks that I would consider a priority in my life. This high effort, low reward recognition helps to keep my priorities in check, and refocuses my efforts on those priority items that will tip the scales back to a favorable low effort, high reward state, thus moving me out of the funk. It sounds easy, but in practice is a tough mental game to play in today's business world with longer hours, tight deadlines, and limited staffing.

I enjoy reading the postings of Management Consultant and Instructor Lisa Haneberg. She recently posted a useful tool to help visualize the very exercise that I have been using for the funk. She calls it The Clump Grid.

Lisa instructs that to use The Clump Grid, and gain the most benefit, you must:

1. Include as many activities as possible. Take the time to be thorough.
2. Define "reward" wisely. This is the key, isn't it? We will each define rewards differently, but we need to be clear so we can put activities in the right boxes. And what you find rewarding might change over time. How you define rewards ought to align with your goals and how you define success.

So the next time the funk finds you, take a look inside, and give The Clump Grid a test. I bet you will find that a simple (not so much) shift in your daily effort:reward practice will make all the difference in the world.

The Unstoppable Force: Defined!!

LIVING STRONG

This has been another amazing year of Cancer support and awareness. With the support of family, friends, and colleagues who share the recognition of what an important goal it is to rid the world of Cancer, we again raised over $5200 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. All I can say to each and every one of you, is Thank You.

It will take more than one event each year to win this fight. In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I encourage all of you to make the fight against Cancer a year long event. Promote awareness within your communities, and remember what it means to LIVESTRONG.

Consider riding along side me next year, and sharing in a life changing experience for yourself. LIVESTRONG means having the courage to try.

Bidding a Co-worker Farewell

Very few people working today will spend 20-30 years with the same company. Longevity is just not possible with the volatility present today in industries big and small. Those working today, myself included, feel lucky to get 5-7 years at a company before some inside or outside force induces a change. In addition, companies rarely put up permanent structural roots, with the moving of office space as frequent as the change over in employee base.

It was not always this way. Fresh faces from college would walk into the doors of a building for their first day on the job, and walk out 35 years later having lived their entire lives within the same corporate walls. My father spent his entire career with Kodak. 32 Years. Kodak brought him and my mother to Rochester from Maine to start their lives. All I have ever known is being a Kodak family. For 29 of his 32 years, my father was in Kodak bldgs 65 or 69. Starting in the Color Print Processing division of bldg 65, he was one of the first 4 people to move into bldg 69 when it opened in 1968. Beginning with bldg 69s Photographic Technology group, and ending with Marketing Technical Support, my father spent time on 7 out of 8 floors in bldg 69 throughout his career. Kodak was his employer, but bldg 69 was a trusted co-worker.
As with many industries these days, Kodak is changing. No more the film and photopaper giant, they are transforming into a Digital provider. With this change, comes the shedding of assets, both human, and physical. To dispose of some of their largest physical assets, Kodak has spent this summer imploding buildings around Kodak Park that are now vacant due to the downsizing and elimination of film and paper production. This morning, at 7:30am, I joined my father to watch buildings 65 and 69 come down.

Istood by my fathers side as he gathered with past co-workers to reminisce about their years in bldg 69. I heard the people around us discussing their offices, their favorite floors, how many years they spent in the building, and who was missing from the gathering. I was picturing all of the times growing when I would visit my father in his office. The semi-circle entrance drive. The guard station in the lobby. The marble floors, and the elevator ride up to his floor. The pictures on the walls. The table I would sit at in his office. Those who sat around him. I couldn't help but think that I will never know a co-worker as long and as well as my father knew bldg 69.

Then, with 8 quick bangs, my fathers buildings were gone. A trusted co-worker said good-bye, leaving all of us standing there with only our memories. My father has 29 years worth as one of the first and last in the history of bldg 69. And I have mine. From my days growing up, and of today and the experience I got to share with my father. Times change. Corporations change. And the Rochester skyline is again changed forever.

10/2

Today is 10/2. The eleventh anniversary of Lance Armstrong's cancer diagnosis. Imagine how many lives have been changed in the past eleven years.

Why not log on to www.livestrong.org and see what you can do in the fight against cancer.

The Good Stuff

A few years ago, I read the following quote by an anonymous author that literally provided the clarity of direction that I had not had before.

"One hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in my bank account, nor what my clothes looked like. But the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of a child."

It has since become the cornerstone for all that I do, and is my reference point whenever I feel I need a sanity check on my priorities. I grew up blessed with parents that were guided by similar priorities, and took time to make sure the family enjoyed the good stuff. I am filled with memories of family trips to Maine, Vermont, Tennessee, and countless camping trips to various states and parks. To them, I say thank you.

The world we spend our days in today is too connected. Whether we are in or out of an office, the stresses, requests, and temptations of our jobs can find us on our cell phones, Blackberry's, or Wi-Fi laptops, making finding time for the good stuff that much harder. That is why I am so incredibly thankful that Donna, Gavin, and Isabelle all enjoy camping as much as I do. Once we are in the campground, I have one request of my time, and one priority. To be Dad. Unplugged, unconnected, unwired, and so completed satisfied.

So, to anyone who feels they may have their priorities a little mis-aligned, I say grab a tent, borrow a camper, pack a cooler, and head into the woods. I promise you, it will be therapeutic, and contagious. And, I can bet, you to will find yourself looking at your kids across a campfire and thinking, ah.... the good stuff.......