To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Creativity

Let’s not lose the power of play

Don’t you just love this guy? I have a friend and mentor, Dr. Keith Jantz, who not only looks a tad like this cool guy, but I honestly think we could find him rocking a hula hoop! He was always jumping into the annual musical chairs “experience” (those of you who were there, know for sure it was an experience), and the one who was up for almost any shenanigans the team could dream up. I want to be like Dr. Jantz.

As my boys have gotten older and are now mostly out of the day to day routine of my life, I feel like I’ve lost this a bit. I just wrapped up an excellent book called ‘Joyful’ by Ingril Fetell Lee, that spurred me to bring this up to the top of the list again. After sharing this idea with a few colleagues, I know that most of us can use the reminder.

Play is powerful. We were designed to play. As children, we were able to dive into play the majority of our waking hours. As time goes on, we actually start to feel a bit self conscious about wanting to play. After all, adulting is serious business. Some of today’s companies have done a good job of drawing out “play” by adding a ping pong table to their offices or something similar. As it turns out, play brings joy into our lives and, in fact, is vital for problem solving, creativity and relationships, according to Scott Eberle, M.D. That’s reason enough to incorporate it into our lives.

In another book, ‘Play,’ by Stuart Brown, M.D., he compares play to oxygen. Brown has spent decades studying the power of play in everyone from prisoners to business people to artists to Nobel Prize winners. For instance, he found that playing together helped couples rekindle their relationship and explore other forms of emotional intimacy. As many of you who have had a team outing know, play can facilitate connections between strangers or those you don’t know well.

In his book, Brown offers a few ideas for us on the idea of play:

  1. Change how you think about play – Give yourself permission to play or be playful every day.
  2. Take a play history – What did you like to do as a child? How can you re-create that today? (For me, swinging, tetherball, kickball, tossing the football… What are some of yours?)
  3. Surround yourself with playful people – And then, of course, schedule some time to play together (Who wants to go Ax-throwing? I so want to do this!)
  4. Play with little ones – Watch and soak in how magical that is!

As you go into your weekend, now is the time to make PLAY an ACTIVE part of our lives! Let’s jump in and create some FUN this weekend.

The final review: The best of 2018 books (including my No. 1, and the entire list)

Let’s start with my No. 1 book. If you read no further, go out now and get the Excellence Dividend by Tom Peters. The book is easy to read, and conceptually will grab you from the opening chapter to the end… The sub categories of EXCELLENCE runs from the “next five minutes,” to “email excellence” and pure gold in between.

As for this rest of this, I truly have no idea how to condense this list to a best of the best. In my May 10 blog, I highlighted 5 books that are definitely must-reads. If you don’t have time to open the blog and read, they included…

  • The Little Big Things, Tom Peters
  • The Daniel Dilemma, Chris Hodges
  • The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath
  • When, Daniel Pink
  • Principles, Ray Dalio

On May 14, I blogged about the Soft Edge by Rich Karlgaard, and its emphasis on the importance of dialing in on trust. And on August 8, I did a deep dive on The Blue Zones, by Dan Buettner, which helps us understand the characteristics of the environments and much more of the longest living people on earth. I think we need to add those two to the list for sure!

Since 13 is my lucky number, I’ll roll out 6 more here that I feel can be life changing for you. My full list of books from are included below, because there are so many amazing lessons to be found.

I’m Still Here, Black Dignity in a world made for Whiteness, Austin Channing Brown —This book is the one we ALL need to read. This book begins to help us understand our biases and, and “is a powerful account of how and why our actions so often fall short of our words.” You’ll be better for reading this one, and then acting on what you learn.

The Motivation Manifesto, Brendon Burchard — This came out in 2014, but somehow I believe I just found out about it… I’m certainly not sure how because the title alone fires me up. This book offers nine declarations to claim your personal power, stretching from reclaiming our agenda to amplifying love and slowing time. It’s pure gold.

The Business Romantic, Tim Leberecht — The words on the inside cover, “How can work be delightful – perhaps even magical?” had me at hello. Simple messages like, “Most great partnerships begin with the simple act of ‘breaking bread together,” and “I encourage you to prioritize joy over optimization” (by identifying and implementing small, enchanting changes…moments of surprise in the business day).

Imagine it Forward, Beth Comstock with Tahl Raz — I have this book marked up so much, I don’t know which direction to take you. The book is more or less a classic business book which pushes us to creativity through courage with a great deal of storytelling. The idea, “What’s needed are the skills of a social architect, someone who is committed to collaborating in a psychologically safe zone that allows for what I call agitated inquiry. Agitated inquiry is the practice of evolving an idea into action steps through heated exchanges and debate.” That captures the book well. If you are a business geek like me, you’ll love this one for sure.

Dare to Lead, Brene Brown — I loved this so much, I turned it into a leadership development program for our team. The subtitle, “Brave Work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts,” is the underlining focus. As a seasoned author, Brene raises the bar on her already stunning work. The book challenges us to think about how we “show up,” to truly dive into “the story I’m telling myself at any moment,” and to embrace that being clear is kind — always. So good. And even though lead is in the title, it is so much more than a leadership book… it’s a life book.

Becoming, Michelle Obama — I ended 2018 with this one on New Year’s Eve! It took me nearly the whole month to read, but it was worth it. I am so glad I took the time to dive deep into this one because I learned that I really had no idea who our former First Lady was, and the power of her story. Her ending focused on the idea of “becoming” and it’s a perfect way to end the year and today’s blog. “For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. It’s all a process, steps along a path. Becoming requires equal parts patience and rigor. Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there’s more growing to be done.”

Full List of 2018 books:

  1. One Day All Children, Kopp
  2. Boost your Brain Power, Harmon
  3. The Rhythm of Life, Kelly
  4. Enough, Bogle
  5. The Weight of Water, Shreve
  6. In Her Own Right, Griffith
  7. Crushing it, Vaynerchuk
  8. Serious Play, Schrage
  9. LOVEMARKS, Roberts
  10. The Experience Economy, Pine II & Gilmore
  11. The Genius of Birds, Ackerman
  12. Nudge, Thaler & Sunstein
  13. Sway, Brofman& Brofman
  14. The Pixar Touch, Price
  15. Powerful, McCord
  16. When, Pink
  17. The Leadership Gap, Daskal
  18. Prescription for the Future, Emanuel
  19. Strength in Stillness, Roth
  20. Power of Moments, Heath & Heath
  21. RePresent Jesus, Daniels
  22. The Excellence Dividend, Peters
  23. A Short Guide to a Happy Life, Quindsten
  24. Ayurveda- Beginner’s Guide, Weis-Bohlen
  25. The Soft Edge, Karlgaard
  26. I’m Still Here, Channing Brown
  27. The Business Romantic, Leberecht
  28. White Houses, Bloom
  29. The Blue Zones, Buettner
  30. The Motivation Manifesto, Burchard
  31. Life’s Golden Ticket, Burchard
  32. Tailor Made, Seeley
  33. Rebel Talent, Gino
  34. Hope in the Dark, Groeshel
  35. Do Something Beautiful, Moore
  36. Wisdom at Work, Conley
  37. Imagine it Forward, Comstock
  38. The Person you Mean to Be, Chugh
  39. Healing the Soul of a Woman, Meyer
  40. Whiskey in a Teacup, Witherspoon
  41. 5 Second Rule, Robbins
  42. It’s not Supposed to be this way, Terkeurst
  43. Dare to Lead, Brown
  44. Becoming, Obama
  45. Principles, Dalio
  46. Awaken devotional, Shirer
  47. Little Big Things, Peters
  48. Daniel Dilemma, Hodges
  49. Back to Balance, Fisher
  50. Mandela’s Way, Stengel-Richard
  51. Giving it All Away, Green & High
  52. Discerning the Voice of God, Shirer
  53. Building an A Team, Johnson
  54. The New Jim Crow, Alexander

Getting to our “one word” for 2019

Every year, I spend energy on finding what “one word” I want to focus on for the next year, and I know many of you join me in that adventure. We will talk about that in more detail Thursday.

In order to get to the “right word”… as in what I feel I’m supposed to focus on, I have found that it is useful to go through a process of figuring out where the current year has taken me… What has it revealed? Where am I today, because of what has occurred over the last ~12 months, and how might that inform what my 2019 focus could/should be? This year, I want to take you on a bit of the 2018 journey with me today- I simply looked back at the photos on my phone and audited what seemed like key parts or messages…

January:  I launched my son Sam off to Australia for his study abroad program. I also read a lot of great books and completed my annual Daniel Fast. I attended a terrific Martin Luther King Jr. event, which started me on a path of greater understanding that continued throughout the year. I focused on minimalism in this month, relying on this thought: “God, help me to see that so few things are really important and to at least take care of these first.”  (For the record… not sure I’m winning yet in this category.) 

February: February was Go Red Month, focused on a cause I am both deeply involved with and passionate about, the American Heart Association. I also reconnected for the second year in a row  with my college girlfriends, which has been a game changer in the best of ways. Perhaps staying invested for the long haul is the takeaway.

March: I launched my 50th year, making lists of my favorites that are still stored in my notes, which reminded me that I need more time to reflect and share. I was fortunate to travel to Australia — another experience that made it clear that we need to get out of our normal environments to truly understand our world.

April: A month of highs and lows. We hosted a “groom’s shower” for my cousin and it was an incredible time focused on this lovely couple. I was reminded of the hope that comes with young love. The month ended with my mom suffering from multiple seizures and a prolonged illness would begin- (she’s almost 100 percent back to normal now, and it isn’t lost on me that we are lucky,  and that life is short). The year seemed to pause here, as anyone who has experienced a drastic change in health of a loved one knows, things seem to stop all around you. This quote seemed to sum up this time for me: “If God has called you to it, he will equip you for it.” — Priscilla Shirer

May: Sam graduated from Michigan State University, which I took as another message from the universe: We have a lot of great people out there getting ready to take their turn at impacting our world. Also, I accepted and started a new job with Humana’s wholly-owned subsidiary, “Partners in Primary Care,” a senior-focused clinic model and it is the absolutely perfect fit for me. Little did I know that these people would become such an important part of my life. The theme for the month possibly being that you absolutely can plan some things in life (graduations) but you can’t predict them all, but God is designing your life in a way that will astound even you.

June: We celebrated my mom’s 75th and were more thankful than ever before. We also celebrated my dad surviving a health scare (when it rains, it pours). I met some friends who have become more than dear to me, and I co-hosted a baby shower. Again, the power of hope in our youth showed up and showed off.  

July: A perfect summer month. Any month with Kenny Chesney and Thomas Rhett concerts has to be amazing. A quote I saved that month, “What is life, but one grand adventure?” LOVE IT.

August: Another summer came to a close more quickly than I felt it should, with a clear message from the universe to “advance.” Now, if I could figure out what that exactly means it would be helpful (insert LOL). The theme seemed to be around the idea that “disadvantages can be double advantages.” Hmmmm….

September: Can you say Chiefs Kingdom? Also, I am loving my new work team right now and and cultivating new relationships seems to be the theme.

October: Chiefs, a brief girl’s trip to Napa, opened two new clinics (which seemed to consume every last bit of energy I had), and another message: “Life will keep bringing you the same test over and over again until you pass it.” Hmm. Which lesson is that again? Patience, perhaps? Simplification of the schedule…?

November: Chiefs, and the loss of my sweet Cinny Girl. This reminds me of the importance of deep loyalty. Of course, thankfulness is the theme for this month always. 

December: It’s all about strategy, time with those you love, finding joy, peace and reflection….

So, what about you? What has life revealed for you this year? Are there any themes that you see?

I am praying that you might find some value in this idea and that you might take the time to truly consider where and how you can best “advance?” 

(Thank you by the way for hanging in there with me through that brief review… Seems like I have a couple of leads on my “one word” for 2019. )

Capturing our best thinking…

Rewind! 

I love coffee shops! That is where I do my best thinking… specifically, Black Dog coffeehouse in Lenexa. A bit off of my normal, beaten path, it’s just the perfect hideaway to get the “juices” flowing.

My second choice would be a good walk through trails or any place with an abundance of nature – the trees and creek types are my favorite.

There has been much written and researched on the concepts of “creative thinking” and just how we humans enter a state of “flow.” A place in our minds where we can really feel the ideas rolling.

Susan K. Perry, PhD and Social psychologist, speaks about the “busy mind: fragmented,  unfocused, distracted, too many things on your mind.” Sound familiar? The opposite of which is “THE” FLOW that I am characterizing. According to Perry, “FLOW: loose, relaxed and focused.” My guess is that many of us need to be able to get into this “FLOW” state more often in order to bring our best work.

Experts say that we can indeed achieve this state by facilitating certain conditions that optimize our thinking, offer a quality of awareness and creative expression. Here are 5 ideas that may help you achieve “FLOW” and produce your best work. (RE: Myrko Thum)

  1. Direct your Focus ACTIVELY – Direct it to what you want to achieve… Take the focus OFF of the not so good. (This includes environmentally setting yourself up to succeed, minimizing interruptions)
  2. Choose your most important task – Concentrate fully on the one thing that is most important at the moment
  3. Focus all of your attention with intensity as your task. (Again, no interruptions, cell phone out of the way, etc.)
  4. Do it for a set amount of time – 30+ minutes. Flow cannot happen in an instant.
  5. Stay with the task until it is finished. This will help you to feel accomplished and desire to get back into the “FLOW” or “ZONE” for the next task at hand.

The bottom line is that training your mind to develop a sharp metal focus is a key skill for success and self improvement and peak performance.

Go all in and OPTIMIZE THIS WEEK!

Conflict drives us to creativity

Boy is this statement true.

Conflict can be downright hard, whether it’s at business, at home or in our other relationships. Authors have made all kinds of money trying to help us mortal beings with “courageous conversations,” or to otherwise understand how to get better at this thing we call “conflict.” I love this insight from Beth Comstock, because it flips conflict on its head.

Of course it is hard, but can it end up being really good? Challenging conversations, problems and frustration can push us outside of our normal thinking. This “heat,” so to speak, seems to fire up our minds, and the energy can bring some of the most creative solutions. In fact, according to Comstock, there is proof to this insight.

Our goal should be to harness tension in order to put it into a space where it can become valuable to us by enhancing the end result. Most people truly do want unity and as a result will become more motivated to think harder and come up with an innovative way to reach a middle ground. This often will produce an even higher level of work together.

We shouldn’t run from conflict. We should instead create environments where the people in our circle of life feel safe to challenge and be challenged. By doing so and framing up healthy conversations, we can realize a much greater end result and who knows, the next great innovation may come out of the process.

Have such a great wrap to your week and enjoy the Fall weekend.

Becoming better EXPLORERS to supercharge our thinking

What can you do that you could not do a year ago? (This one is hard for me… I need to get to work.)

What are some challenges your organization is facing?

Are your ideas and strategies innovative enough, and are they creating the meaningful impact you’d like (in your work, family, community work, etc.)?

What are you passionate about and wanting to spend more time doing?

What does the world need more of?

I was inspired by this idea of being better “EXPLORERS” of our world by Beth Comstock’s new book, ‘Imagine it Forward.’ I will surely blog a lot more about her  ideas, but today, this one simple idea created a flurry of thinking.

If we can keep our focus on constant learning – whether it be from observing a flock of birds and their patterns, diving into a good book, or engaging in conversation with someone who has a different interest or approach to life – I am confident we will be able to use that information to supercharge our thinking and creativity. Solving today’s problems, requires different thinking and approaches. I fully believe everything we need is right in our midst if we go forward with a learner’s mindset.

I hope you will join me in getting our from behind your desk and regular routine to get out there and EXPLORE. The WORLD is literally waiting for us to take hold and use it’s beauty to create the best for the generations to follow.

Elevating your game takes wonder (oh, and maybe a little pain)

Elevating your game, “leveling up” or taking ground… all require grit, guts and all a heavy dose of creativity and for sure wonder. Many times, that requires us to get a bit bruised in the process.

The quote in the photo refers to Harry Houdini, the world-famous magician. He forever upped his game and worked toward creating genius in his work. In this story, he was trying to figure out how a peer walked a tightrope… he unfortunately learned the hard way (i.e. losing his front teeth) that there are better ways to do this.

Of course you get the main part of that story, but what about the reference to “wonder?” Did you catch that? In Gino’s recent book, ‘Rebel Talent,’ she embarks on just why being a rebel is important. One part I love is her chapter educating us to always strive to have people on our teams (including ourselves) that generate wonder. Those people on the team that may seem to be drifting off, coming up with a different way to look at “things” to help us to see a different “angle.” Pointing out the “what ifs” is an important contribution to any impactful team or project. I would say, even at home.

She shares a story of her toddler son wanting to put food coloring in his cereal. His dad immediately saying, “we don’t do that,” and then their collective awakening: “why not?” Why can’t we have colored milk? Who made up the rule that this is not a good thing? What a simple yet perfect example. How often do we say, “We can’t do that,” or “we don’t do that in this family,” or “our rules don’t allow that in the workplace?” etc.

We should carefully question our tendency to shut down creativity and empowerment in many situations. After all, wonder is often what takes us to the next level. Breaking the “rules” and pushing boundaries (within reason of course…) is what brought us the light bulb, the mobile phone, Facebook, Uber, Amazon… you get the point.

Get out the crayons and paper and allow yourself and your family/work place/community group to exercise their creativity and wonder.  It may get messy, but you might just make something beautiful!

The Radical, Strategic Mind

Happy almost weekend! As we wrap up the week, I’m mindful that with school pretty much back in session, those of us in the work place are also gearing up for a strong end of the year play.

To me, this season is sort of like January where we rise to the occasion and develop tactical strategies on how to achieve our professional goals. Come to think of it, we do this for our lives in general as well. It’s the ideal time to assess our wins so far for the year, and those areas where we haven’t hit the stride mark yet. The great news for all of us of course is we have more than a quarter of the year left — that’s plenty of time to regain perspective, strength and eventually hit the ball out of the park so to speak.

So what is a radical, strategic mind to you? For me, it’s getting out of the norm in thinking and allowing ourselves to be truly creative… to paint outside the lines. It is a fundamental difference in how we view whatever challenge is in front of us. Radical minds are those that are the voices of social and political change advocates, and those that often make the greatest impact.

The end of summer is a great time to fire up the mind. In theory, we had time to rest a bit and soak up some sunshine, and our minds and bodies should be prepared for a higher level of energy. My personal game plan is to identify a few key areas — for me, likely career and relationships — to focus on for the year-end wrap up.

Asking the right questions is critical right now:

How can I maximize my time to ensure I achieve my goals?

What areas can I “cut” or reduce so I can make more time for what is important?

What are the “must haves” that I have?

Who are the people I need to connect with?

What projects must get off of the ground? Are there some that I can move to next year? Why do they matter? Who can help me achieve these? 

What is a different approach that may be better?

Those are some of mine. How about you?

Have a wonderful weekend!

What if, today I…

(Rewind! This is a timely and relevant rewind post from 2017 to help get your mind in the right space as we top off the week!)

If you are in the workplace and have anything to do with marketing, you might follow Seth Godin.

He has daily, short blogs that offer up simple ideas on pushing you to the next level in creativity. His recent post caught my attention, and my mind took it another direction. His title, “Three simple and difficult steps” offered this:

  1. Get Smarter. Hurry. (Technology and life is moving fast)
  2. Solve interesting problems.
  3. Care. More.

His thinking was that most people do one of these, but what would happen if you became the type of person and does all three? You might add leverage and value and ultimately choices to your life.

I thought it was good, but here’s where my mind went with it…

What if today we set a goal to accomplish something that really impacted our life/world? What if today was the day that we did not operate our daily routine, but instead choose to take a new route to work, craft a personal mission statement outlining what we’d love to do right now, and set forth a plan to make it so?

One day can be so impactful, yet we often let our days become routine and settle in. I like settling in, but I LOVE feeling energized and like I’m really doing something important. That one is much better! How about you?

What can you do today to UP YOUR LEVERAGE? To get smarter, or change paths or to just be a part of a nicer and better world? My guess is that we can ALL DO SOMETHING.

Celebrate big this month: Congratulations, graduates!

I am a huge sucker for good commencement speeches. My sister was telling me about Will Ferrell’s graduation address to USC and, of course, that has to be an instant classic. We all need more humor and I am confident that most USC grads were beside themselves with excitement at the notion of Mr. Ferrell joining their celebration!

Although I’m sure that was terrific, I prefer the graduation speeches that are a bit more poignant. A bit more hit you right in your spirit, lump in the throat, type advice and inspiration. Something I can sink my teeth into.

I really love this quote from J.K. Rowling. It speaks to us no matter our age or degrees are – or perhaps are not. I sit firmly in the camp that we are all gifted with everything we need to CHANGE THE WORLD. IMAGINING the POWER that this idea has is something to really think about. What if God has already given me everything I need to make the impact I am supposed to make? To CREATE A LASTING LEGACY? To truly change our world for the better in my lifetime?

I hope today you will think of the POWER YOU HAVE. To join the thousands of graduates worldwide and just IMAGINE the possibilities… no matter your age. I am betting that we can add some significance to this day if we all do so.

(Most of today’s blog is a repeat from last year. It is also dedicated to my son Sam (the reason for spartan, of course), who graduates this weekend from Michigan State University. We all stand with you as you celebrate a key moment in your life. It is pure joy to be your mom. Surely, the greatest gift from God has been you and your brothers. We all love you! Celebrate and then go out and imagine, create and impact our world!)