In Business

Because of the work I do I get to see many teams, organizations and companies.  Some are successful and others not so much.  What’s very common in the “not so much” companies, which is the majority in my opinion, is that many of its employees don’t seem to happy or they aren’t engaged.  This leads to things like mediocrity, procrastination, loss of good people and typically doesn’t allowed for any sort of sustainable growth.  When this happens, it’s imperative that leaders talk to their employees and understand what they really want before it’s too late.  Typically though, most leaders don’t look inward.

In Athletics

I’ve been involved on many teams, some with coaches, others without.  I’ve been in a leadership role and in the role of a follower.  Just like in business, when team mates start losing engagement or aren’t happy it typically means there was a breakdown in communication or a misrepresentation of the team’s goal.  Recently I saw this on an adventure racing team that I lead and ended up failing.

In Life

Just like in business and in athletics we all have teams of people around us typically in the form of our closest relationships.  This could be spouses or kids, it could also be close friends or neighbours.  If you feel that your personal team is losing its mojo, then it’s probably best to look in the mirror to see why any relationships might be failing.

The article that inspired this posting is copied below and focuses only on businesses but you can apply the exact same logic to your athletic and personal teams as well.

Your team at work was once the very model of efficiency and creativity. The room hummed when you were at it. Managers praised the results.

But over time, the team faltered. Members began to disengage; some felt like they were rowing upstream. The work was not getting done.

They had lost their mojo.

At this point managers might be tempted to conduct surveys, or go on a retreat, or buy expensive software to manage it all. But often poor leadership is to blame.

“I’ve seen it happen,” said Julie Giraldi, chief human resources officer at the Ontario Hospital Association. “Leaders are not really leading by example. Leadership to me is everything. You can really tell the organization by its leaders and that trickles all the way down to the front-line staff.”

A team with poor leadership might have these characteristics:

• Employees don’t know the team’s chief objective. They might become more interested in personal glory, a concept that runs contrary to teamwork, experts say.
• Too few members end up doing too much of the work. Focus goes out the window, as members argue about small matters that never result in achieving the ultimate goal.
• There is no accountability. Members miss deadlines. They ponder theoretical questions, they gather information with a bent toward procrastination. They dither.
• Nobody can make a decision. This should be the job of a strong leader who considers the facts, draws conclusions and then acts on them to reach the goal.

Even if teams understand the vision, the leader must translate that into a road map and state clearly why the team exists and the outcome expected, said Philip Wilson, a human resources consultant who spent more than 10 years with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small team working on a single project, or a corporate team that’s providing service to a large group of employees, he said.

The team must also have a strong sponsor – someone who understands the vision. “If you look at any organization development model, sponsorship is probably the most important thing,” Mr. Wilson said.

In other words, the group needs someone who can clear hurdles, seek resources or financing when needed, and navigate the political environment in the organization, he said.

Other symptoms of trouble are employees who feel that they’re not being heard or understood, or they can’t make the connection between their work and the company’s strategic plan, Ms. Girardi said. “It’s all in the communication, and you need to over-communicate,” she said.

“Listening is really important,” she said. “Leaders must give team members an answer to their questions, even if it is something they do not want to hear.”

Mr. Wilson said he once had to help heal a “fairly dysfunctional” team that eventually became one of the best he has ever worked with. The issue? Personality conflicts.

After studying the team, he decided he had to remove one of its members. Then he brought other conflicted personalities together to help them understand that there was a real benefit to working together.

“Up to that point, they didn’t have a shared purpose,” Mr. Wilson said. “And once they did, they were able to get their heads around how they fit into delivering that purpose.”

He also subscribes to the 80/20 rule. If you can persuade 20 per cent of the people on a team to move in one direction, the other 80 per cent will follow, he said.

Generational differences can also affect teams, Mr. Wilson said. Younger people are more accustomed to working with a team because they’ve done it since they were in elementary school. Baby boomers, on the other hand, have been rewarded throughout their careers for their individual contributions.

Diversity is important, however. “Having a good mixture of young and old, and people of different races is only good for the team and for the business,” he said.

Back on September 21, 2011 I was hit by a car while on my bike and on my way home from work.  I detailed this story and the various steps along the way in the following articles:

1. Lucky to be alive…
2. Maybe the news isn’t so rosey…
3. Scared of biking…
4. Happier than ever…

At the end of the day ICBC makes things very difficult and because of this they are forced to pay amounts of money that they would have otherwise not have had to, if they only cared.

Today I settled with ICBC, my lawyer David Hay, and most importantly with myself.  By signing the paperwork I am officially putting this ordeal behind me.  I say ordeal because it was one, but it didn’t need to end this way.

Some tips for ICBC

When I was originally hit and originally began dealing with ICBC on my own I very quickly discovered that they were not looking out for my best interests.  Rather, they were looking out for theirs.  After speaking with several other bikers who had been hit by a car it was unanimous that I had to get a lawyer.  The ones who hadn’t felt screwed.  The ones who had felt vindicated.  I didn’t want either, I just wanted to be taken care of fairly.  Below are some tips for ICBC to possibly make claims go by easier and faster and with a lot less pain and suffering, literally, for everyone involved.

1. If someone accepts 100% fault, then do everything you possibly can to help the person who was NOT at fault.  The rest of my pointers assume this is the case.
2. If a person has a $5,000 bike destroyed, give them $5,000 so that they can get that bike again.
3. Pay reasonable amounts for things the victim needs.  Reimbursing me $17.35 for every physio, chiro, massage treatment is a slap in the face.  Pay the full bill.  If my doctor says I need it, pay for it.  Don’t make me wait for 12 months before getting that money from you.
4. You insist on doctor’s notes for everything, then follow through and do what they say.  If you won’t take my word for what I need and force me to get a doctor’s note, then pay for the damn stuff the doctor says I need and pay it up front, don’t make me wait.
5. CARE!  If I thought you actually cared about me, I wouldn’t have got a lawyer.  If I felt you actually cared about me, I wouldn’t have to feel like a victim again every time I had to go to the doctor to get another note for your file.
6. Quit your job if you hate your job!  If you don’t like your job, then please quit.  There are people who depend on you for their well being.  Don’t treat them like fraudsters and criminals.  For the most part Canadians are honest, don’t paint us all with the same brush.

Gratitude

At the end of all of this I have to thank everyone who truly did try and who still is trying to get me back to 100% physically and mentally.  These people include:

• Dana Ranahan, my physiotherapist
• John Eaton, my chiropractor
• Jim Bovard, my doctor
• MNP, my employer
• John Henry Bikes/Norco, my sponsors/supporters
• Christen Kwan and Mark Gharibians, my personal trainers
• David Hay, my lawyer
• Tanya Verret, my understanding wife

So this is an end to this chapter.  On to bigger and better things!

A still moment in midst of busyness

This seems to be the default answer in the hallways of the office, in the elevator, in the lineup at the coffee shop, on the phone. The thing I’m seeing however though, and especially with those who own their own business, is that the busyness is SELF-IMPOSED!

More and more, people are choosing to be busy. They are choosing to take more on. Typically at the expense of their health and family. This begs me to ask the question why? Why do we have to be so busy? I pose a few reasons although I’m sure there are many more.

1. Keeping up with the Joneses

If you haven’t seen the movie, The Joneses you should watch it. A family is inserted into a neighbourhood purely to purchase extravagant items to make the neighbours feel insignificant. The neighbours, needing to be “better”, go out and purchase similar or better items.

Put simply, people are buying more things or more stuff in order to be “happier”. However, in order to purchase this stuff, they have to take out an additional mortgage on their house meaning they need to work longer hours, they have to get additional credit cards meaning they need to get a second job, and so on.

This cycle of needing more “stuff” to fulfill artificial happiness or perceived success is making everyone work more hours of the day trying to make more money so they can pay for all of this “happiness”.

2. Developing proteges

Way to many parents these days have their kids in every sport, every music lesson, every art class. Parents spend their entire evening every evening driving their kids to this, taking their kids to that. The family never has a meal together. The family never actually talks to each other. We are training our kids to be busier than ever.

Too many parents think their kid is the next Michael Jordan and they have to get in 10,000 hours of training before they’re 10 years old so that they can have success. Parents want their kids to be better than the other kids. Whatever happened to letting kids just be kids? Kids don’t play any more. Rather their lives are structured every 15 minutes both inside and outside of school.

I think we’re training our kids to be just like us. Except like us on steroids. Kids are as busy as adults these days. No wonder when they hit their late teens and early twenties they’re burnt out. They’re bloody exhausted!

3. Fear of not being busy

I’ve heard this many times, “When I’m busy, I’m at my best – I get in the zone, it’s like time stands still.” What I think I’m really hearing is, “I’m so busy and running around like a chicken with its head chopped off that I don’t have time to think about all the other concerns in my life.” When these people are so busy working, they can block out that they’re overweight, they can block out that their marriage is failing, they can block out that they’re never available to pick their kids up at school.

It’s purely my opinion but people that are this busy are actually afraid of what it’s like to actually contemplate their own life. They are afraid of the slow times. They are afraid to sit down and actually think about their situation or their life. They are afraid to consider that maybe they aren’t happy. They are afraid to consider that maybe they’re so busy because they’re actually unsatisfied and being busy is the perfect mask.

I think this last one is the real reason we’re so busy. We’re afraid of not being busy and everything that brings with it.

How to break the busyness habit

I have a large amount of work that I do. I am a consultant, coach, athlete, producer/director, blogger and husband. However, I’m not busy, unless I choose to be. My wife and I have several days where we just lounge around. We love those days. I regularly will take time to myself just to think, just to see what comes in to my head. Some times I sit down and read a book. How can I do all of those things and still find time for me?

I make time. Time for me. Time for health. Time for space. Time to relax. I make the choice to have more of that in my life. It gives me balance. It let’s me make sure I’m on the right track for me.

Yeah sure, I manage my time, and I have systems in place to make me as efficient as possible, but I also CHOOSE to take time out and play, take time for fun, take time for dates with my wife, take time for dates with myself. I no longer am busy and I feel so much better because of it.

Post article thoughts and other articles on busyness

When searching for a good image for this post I came across the following articles on busyness. I’m obviously not the only one who has an opinion on this subject.

- The Busy Trap by Tim Kreider.
- Busyness is the New Spirituality by Dave Kraft
- Sunday Supplement – Busyness by Todd Bumgarner
- Sleeprunning and Knowing When to Cut Your Losses by Kathy Kluthe

Step 1: Love yourself

Nobody will love you unless you love yourself first. So not until you stop putting yourself down, not until your stop beating yourself up, not until you stop saying you’re not good enough, not until all of that will anyone really love you for you. Why? Because all they’ll hear you talk about it your flaws and that’s all they’ll end up seeing too.

Step 2: Put down the walls

If you’re guarded about relationships, or scared of trusting, the only way you’re truly going to feel loved is if you put the walls down and open yourself to trust. This could be really hard. You may have been beaten down before. You may have had the worst things done to you. But remember those things were done most likely by someone else. Why should not trust someone new because of someone else? Forgive yourself, forgive anyone you don’t trust and bring the walls down. You’ll be surprised at what might want in.

Step 3: Open up

Finally, once you love yourself and once the walls are down. Open up. Be you. Be the person you want to be. Shout it out. Be proud to be you. Only by being your genuine self will others truly love you for who you are. Be real. Be open. And watch out, because who knows who’ll pop in to your life!

Getting things Done

I have read and followed many of the Getting Things Done (GTD) habits inspired by David Allen. While I don’t agree with everything he says, or with everything anyone says for that matter, my first foray into emptying my Inbox was inspired by his books and his newsletters.

Full Inbox

I’ve seen an Inbox with hundreds and sometimes thousands of messages in them. More often that not there is a similar smattering of bolded emails, i.e. unread, and unbolded emails, i.e. read. Everyone has their “system” that they use and I’m fine with that, but from experience as a sender of emails to someone with an Inbox like this, the response rate is typically quite low. Why is that the case?

Lack of response

I think the lack of response to email is due to a combination of the following factors:
1. “Smart phones” are used in a search for “emergency” messages. They are used to quickly scan most emails that come in. However the bulk of emails require more thought to actually respond. Unfortunately, by looking at an email on a “smart phone” the message becomes marked as “read” and thus it is no longer bolded in the Inbox.
2. People don’t have the time (or rather make the time) to respond properly to emails.
3. Email is not used properly. Too often emails are sent without any substance, objective or question. And people don’t know what to do with this so instead of taking action, they leave it in the Inbox.
4. People don’t know how to use the search capabilities of their email program.
4a. People don’t know how to use folders or labels. This makes searching way easier.

Empty your inbox

If you want to have a more productive day, week or month there are some very simple steps that can be taken to empty your inbox and get a hold on your work life.

1. Set up folders. Don’t know how? Then learn, i.e. Google it. I’m sure there are thousands of YouTube videos that will teach you how to use folders or labels with your email program.
2. Move emails in to folders that no longer require any action from you. If you’re saving them for a reference, then save them away somewhere. This is like filing paper in a filing cabinet. File it in a folder so that you don’t need to worry about it but you’ll know where it is when you “need” it.
3. Create a folder for “Action Items”. Put anything that requires a response or requires action on your part into this folder. Every time you check your email you should be able to do one of three things, take action and respond, put the email in an appropriate folder, put the email in your action folder for later.
4. Read your emails on a schedule and close your email program when you want to get work done. Set times to read, respond, store emails. Take a dedicated time slot like from 12-12:30 and do this. Then close your email program.
5. Empty your Inbox whenever possible. It’s liberating!

More advanced tips
1. Learn to set up filters so that some emails automatically go in to folders.
2. Develop habits to check these other folders on a regular basis, but not as a part of your every day routine.

Manage your email, manage your life

If you are managing your email and not letting your email manage you then you are in control. Being in control allows you to do things with your life that you want to do. Having a full Inbox sometimes puts so much pressure on people that they instead do nothing and the pile of email just gets bigger and bigger. The time is now to take action. It’s up to you.

Hands down the hardest thing this summer will be not enjoying beer. I really love the taste of beer and love to taste many different flavours of beer.

Drinking was due to peer pressure

In University days it was an engineering thing to drink beer. I fell into the trap probably due to low self-confidence (on the inside) and a desire to be a part of something. I drank a lot in University and was most likely an alcoholic. I’m sure most of us were. All too often Friday’s started between noon and 3pm at the Power Plant (a local pub) and would end around 3am in the same place. My home for one year had 5 engineers in it, and I can’t even fathom to count the amount of times we all had a full case of beer (soon to be empty) on our desks while gaming until the wee hours of the morning.

It’s just not the same

Thankfully those days are gone. The binge drinking is largely over although from time to time I have still had too much to drink. However, these days it seems like there is no really good reason to drink alcohol whatsoever. For whatever reason, even after one drink my sleep seems to suffer. Similarly, my energy dips and my motivation for being outside drops as well. Maybe I’m getting “old”, or maybe I’m just done with booze. Maybe it’s a little of both but I don’t care. Sleep, fitness, health are way more important to me than beer that’s for sure, so as of a few days ago you won’t see a bottle of beer or a glass of wine in my hands. I’m happier without it!

I am not one of these guys nor do I know who they are, but I thought it was a cool picture showing off some mountain bike racers. I got it from here

Racing for fun

My wife has said to me on several occasions the past few months how proud she is of me in my races. Not because of the results, but because of the smiles. She says I’ve been smiling from ear to ear this year after every race. I’d have to agree with her. Without a dedicated focus on training and preparation for these races, the pressure is totally off. With the pressure being off, the stress is less. With less stress, that opens up some space for fun, and fun has taken over my body the past few months.

Racing is fun

One thing I’ve noticed is that I really enjoy racing. Actually I love it. I love how it pushes me beyond my limits. I love how it takes me to the edge of my abilities. I love the adrenalin. I love the competition. I love the feeling after a race. I love smiling during and after a race. I love the people who race. From the pros to the weekend warriors, most of them are out there because they love it too. I love the day of the race. I love the nervous butterflies before a race is about to begin. I love how they seem to disappear immediately when the gun goes off. Racing really is fun. It took me taking a step back to realize this.

Not every day is a race day

The above title used to be my wife’s favourite saying when we’re out on the trails. I’d be hammering up a hill trying to maximize the training opportunity instead of enjoying the scenery or the company. These days, we’re going a little slower than I’m used to, in part because she’s getting in to the best shape of her life and can go faster, and in part because I’m just out enjoying being out. Not every day is a race day. Sometimes it’s about the grins after a sweet downhill mountain biking section. Sometimes it’s about the view at the top of a mountain. Sometimes it’s about the conversation along the way. These are things that I’ve come to enjoy again as well. On the non race days (which are most days) it just feels good to be alive and out in the mountains with good people. It feels good just to breathe in that mountain air!

Happier than ever

So for all of the above reasons, I’m happier than ever. We are so lucky to live on the North Shore where we live and to be able to have a back yard filled with stuff that makes our lives happy. The fact that I can enjoy that with great people makes it even better. The fact that I can race for fun on the same trails makes it even better.