It's been a while since my last post. As always a lot is going on and I just haven't taken the time to put my thoughts down. I would like to share with you my current reading and what I'm learning.

One good thing about reading books is that sometimes the book you're reading can suggest another book that you might enjoy. This is the case for my current reading "The Power of Now" by Eckart Tolle.

HIs book is about how to not allow the thoughts in your mind dictate who you are. I've only gotten through one chapter of it but it is an amazing read. He is describing my thought pattern (in detail) which really has made me pay attention.

The purpose is me sharing this is because I suffer from having continuous negative thinking in based upon past actual experiences or predicting future situations. It is unhealthy. Again in just reading one chapter has helped me to stop allowing my thoughts to run wild. I've always believed that you can't control what comes into your mind but you can control how long it stays there. I really appreciate this reading and what is is helping me to do.

It's been quite some time since my last post. The last two weeks in India was quite interesting and in fact I was able to leave 2 days earlier since my project was wrapped up a little earlier. I have been quite fortunate for the opportunity to experience the country and it will certainly shape me and my path going forward. Personally and professionally.

Since I've been back I've been as busy as ever. With a new baby I've had to adjust to, still traveling for recruiting trips for work, and more training I have had an interesting summer. Some of the things I've learned all summer:

1. Keep life in perspective. Seeing people living in wooden shacks really helps shape how fortunate I've been.
2. There's a lot of young people who want to do great things in life. Never let the stories discourage you about our  youth.
3. Being focused is the key. Multi-tasking should be minimized at all costs.
4. Build confidence, keep trying.
5. Open up. If you've grown up like me where you're forced to be an introvert it's hard to break that mode, but you have to persist.

These may seem like no brainers, but the reinforcement I've received over the past couple of months has been invaluable.

Closing out my 2nd week (2 more to go!!) and I really do have a lot to be thankful for. Being somewhere different really does help me examine my life and appreciate all that I have. Yesterday I visited the Taj Mahal which I recall is considered one of the wonders of the world. The most interesting part was the fact that there is a mosque located right on the premises. It appears that Arabs & India were quite integrated over many years. I knew that the Taj Mahal was built by a king in honor of his wife, it wasn't until I got here that I learned that she was from Pakistan.

I'm slightly mixing topics but that's ok cause this is my blog. Today I got a day to rest all by myself without having to go anywhere, that is so refreshing. Hopefully I'll do the same next weekend and will cruise into my flight home.

At the end of my first week here in Gurgaon (pronounced good-gow) India and it has been quite an experience. I'm sure there are books on how to conquer every challenged I've faced in seven days. Of course the bible helps you to face all challenges but I'm referring to books that address each topic specifically.

One of the things I knew would be hard to do is to know every single thing you're eating is safe and won't make you sick. Just my luck after a day a a half I got sick and was basically out of commission for almost 2 days. While some people get sicker longer, still was not a very good experience. My colleague and I have been trying to pin point what it could have been but all we can do is guess. Food can react in bodies so differently that although most of what we at was the same doesn't mean it can't make me sick and not her. I'm please to announce that I'm feeling better and my stomach is back to normal. You won't believe how careful I've been since.

If you know me you know I'm not a "exploring" type of person. For some reason I've been paired with someone who likes to explore beyond belief. Wants to try all types of different places to eat, visit places, all types of things and is a female. The significance of that is being in such a strange place, I can't just let her go on her own so I have been forced to be more adventurous. In short, I still don't like it! But my recent visit to Jaipur was quite interesting and now that I'm back home safe I'm glad I went. We had to go 4 hours south from where we're staying (we didn't drive as that would have been suicide) and back.

Lastly, my colleague and I are from different areas of the company. She really has specific career plans as I do but my plans involve a lot of what I'm doing now. Hers are much different. While working this project I'm a little more motivated to do a great job than she because it. She certainly wants to do a great job but is not as incentivized to do so. So I have to find a way to shine and still be a team player. I'll spend the evening tonight thinking of strategies to do this, if you have some let me know.

1 week down. 3 to go.

I have 5 US GAAP accounting policies to read for work. I've had them printed for over 3 months and still haven't gotten to them. Since I'm sharing, the policies are on Inventory, Plant & Equipment Purchasing, Transfer Pricing, Payables/Receivable. So if you're not sleep now then maybe you understand my challenge. Being motivated to take action, make a call, prepare for a meeting can sometimes be easier than being motivated to sit down and just read.

It's equally important to be able to stay up to date on policies and procedures that affect how you are able to perform your job. It is in fact fundamental. I know that having a full understanding of these things helps when you are in meetings or giving guidance to operating leaders. But it's still difficult. I should look to see if there are any Harvard Business Review articles on the topic.

Probably not, since its so fundamental.

Tomorrow morning I have to take a flight for work. I'll be traveling for the next 3 days and will be on a total of 6 flights. I recall when I never traveled for work how I thought about how cool it would be to have business travel as part of your role. Ask me how cool it is.

It's interesting how your life in one instance can appear to be boring and the comforts of the home you have don't appear to help and then in turn those same comforts are exactly what you need when things get more busy. Had I been able to look around the corner and see the changes that have come some personal decisions would have been much different.

Of course they can't change but it's just interesting how the phrase "if I knew then what I know now" has such significant meaning.

I'm sitting here watching a panel discussion on MSNBC called "A Stronger America-The Black Agenda" and from the start I hear basically the same argument I've heard for some time now. I don't argue that while the argument has a lot of validity but it continues to circle around what government needs to do and not so much of what Black America needs to do for itself. I'll at least credit that the "we have to change from within" did at least get mentioned.

I wish there was someone who could help get these discussions where more African Americans can see them. Needless to say for those who don't have cable or never watch MSNBC will miss how much attention this one community continues to get with no solutions found..

I've been watching the tail end of US Budget discussion and began to be quite disappointed at the process in which this has come together.  While I do appreciate the fact that this was not easy as no budget planning should be easy, especially when it comes to taxpayer money. What I don't appreciate is the manner at which this budget was developed. It got to a point where the discussion was more about striking a "deal" as opposed to whether or not the right budget is developed. The fact that it was turned into a deal should have the public still uneasy.

The challenge I see that even though a budget is passed, we have no insight into how productive our government departments are or how they work to save money. What appeared to be a key roadblock in finalizing the budget is the money allocated to Planned Parenthood. What about the money allocated to other social service programs? How are they spending their dollars and how much more productive have they been since the prior year? Are any of the departments awarded based upon how much they save? How they utilize technology to advance the services they provide?

Maybe I'll spend some time going through some of the US departments web sites and see if I see any details for how they're getting better at providing services to citizens. If we are really going to become more involved in our government, we have to hold them to the same standards as we work by.

A friend of mine asked me to help her with a paper on leadership. She sent me a list of questions, below are those questions and my answers. Love to hear your feedback!!

1•    Do you think leadership develops with experience?

Answer:  Yes. Leadership has to develop as one experiences various circumstances of what works well and what doesn’t work well. A leaders’ style also enhances as they encounter various other styles through conflict, cross functional disciplines, and overall business circumstances.  A key factor of developing as a leader is continuous learning and if a leader does that successfully then their leadership develops.

2•    Are there one or two experiences you look back on as having been especially valuable in helping develop your own leadership? Please briefly describe them.

Answer: One experience is really having been fortunate to work under managers who had great emotional balance. I’ve learned through various circumstances that not over reacting to a challenge really helps in getting through it. When I’m faced with challenges that require my leadership, I’m able to maintain a balanced approach to the problem and work toward solutions. The term Emotional Intelligence best describes this.

Another experience relates to the respect for people.  I’ve never seen an effective leader who has been publicly disrespectful to his subordinates or team members. There’s really no place for public embarrassment. I make it a point to be sure that through any and all circumstances my team (vertically & horizontally) understand that I respect them and their contribution.

3•    What made these experiences so valuable?

Answer: They were effective. They’ve helped build confidence. They can be proven no matter the circumstance.

4•    Have your own views of leadership changed over time?

Answer: Yes. Leadership is not about what my needs are from my team but more about what my team needs from me. Servant Leadership is just that, being able to help your team be their best and give them what they need (assignments, support) to do that.

5•    Do you think leadership in your arena is much different from, or involves different pressures, than leadership in other arenas?

Answer: Not much different. Certainly looking at situations of war requires more authoritative and less collaboration. Outside of those extreme circumstances there is very little variation in my opinion.

6•    Do you ever reflect after the fact about how effective your behavior was in a particular situation?  Is this ever a source of new or different insights?

Answer:  I reflect quite often. Much of the insight for me is usually around how I answered particular questions. Was I prepared enough or was I thorough enough in my position. The extended part of this is always getting feedback from others if you have the relationships.

7•    Is there any advice you would give people early in their careers about leadership?

Answer:  Be honest. Be Open.  Work toward winning each moment at a time. Part of your leadership ability is based upon who you are, trying to be someone different won’t help. Look for mentors for guidance and read.

Over the last couple of months, I've had to adjust to getting acquainted with a new General Manager for my division. Any time there's a new operating leader there is always new questions, new perspective, and new possibilities to uncover.

Because I have a pretty strong team that supports me, I often haven't needed to get too involved into the details so with new questions and requests I often have found myself without answer or at least complete answers. While some may call that understandable, I  personally have felt un-prepared and often embarrased that I haven't been into that type of detail. I'm not sure how you would feel but part of me is not accustom to not having all the answers.

All I've been thinking about is how to get stronger in my knowledge base. How to research and pull data that gives me the details I need to give quality support to the operations team. Being present in all meetings and giving input is one way but without getting more detailed it will only serve for some time.

What do you recommend to do to get better at your role? What tactics have you employed?

I recently purchased a new car a few days ago and if you've ever purchased one you know the feeling. As soon as I hit the front door a sales guy greeted me and was ready to talk. Extremely attentive, lots of questions, eager to help I have to say I respected his ambition. I tried to set the tone by clearly iterating that I had no intentions on buying today and I plan to go to a few places before I decide. Reality is I don't have the kind of patience to shop around feverishly.

Since it was extremely cold outside I was literally one of two customers there that evening, I realized how dire it must be for car salespeople to find customers. So I began to wonder how would I do my job differently if I were paid of commission. What if I had to hit a desired outcome every month in order to keep my job. I mean I do today but it's not as defined as a car salesman.

Here's what I plan to do, the next time I have to create a report or presentation I'm going to envision it as if I'm selling a new car. What would you be like if you did the same?

A little over a month ago, I was forced to realize the impact of a mistake I made. While certainly I've made many mistakes in the past this was one of the few where I it came out of nowhere. I was in disbelief. A rush of emotions really came over me as much as I was hoping it wasn't the truth, it was. It literally took me a month to accept it and I to decide how to deal with it. I felt like I'd yet again fallen down.

So I decided to get up. Instead of doing as I may have done in the past ( or in the business world find some rational reason to avoid it) I just decided to get up, face it and deal with any and all circumstances surrounding it. Getting up isn't as hard as we think it is, it just takes the determination to do it. It takes effort, especially if you can get to the mindset to never make the mistake again.

It's January 2011 and I'm getting up. The biggest mistake I think I've ever made because I was headed in a direction that I truly thought was the right way to go, and got derailed. But I'm still getting up!

I've always found the year end performance appraisal process interesting. There is the ever changing "process" that always supposed to be better than the prior. You have to compare the goals you set in the beginning of the year (that you probably won't remember) with what you've actually accomplished.

When you go through the defined process, there is no place to represent your passion. Maybe you can try to fit it in but it won't quite fit. You can't detail how much you didn't complain, how focused you were to make sure a presentation was perfect, the pushing for excellence you did in meetings where your boss didn't attend.

In my company we had a dialogue in understanding  the Purpose our organization existed. Personally I feel it was great dialogue and a refreshing way to get a depleted workforce grounded in what we really show up everyday to do. Of course after the discussions, there's no way to demonstrate in a year review how you've contributed to the organizations purpose or even your own.,

This enty is not intended to complain about what's wrong with the performance appraisals but to encourage everyone to think about how can we incorporate the intagibles to the discussion.

Every January 1st I start the year committing to reading a certain number of books. I'm typically anchored in books that relate to leadership, management, or general business development. I try pretty often to read other types of books to balance my selection (can never do fiction).

What I realized this month is that I have reached my quota of books to read this year and they are all based in business. What I have also realized is that I have really improved in a lot of areas as it relates to my personal performance. I can't say that at the end of each book I instantly became better at any particular subject but as I have encountered some challenges in my day to day work responsibilities I began to handle them a lot better.

Also, not that reading alone creates a better professional as other factors can play a part such as training classes and peer discussions, but there are situations and examples that have come out in reading that I have encountered and really have a perspective that has allowed me to endure.

I share this information today because I'm very enthused about what I have read this year and want to encourage everyone to dedicate time to read something that is of interest to you.

If you have some recommended readings, please share.

When you think about Freedom of Speech, does it mean to you that you can say whatever you want whenever you want? After all, it is literally free? Does Freedom of Speech mean that you have to consider who it is or the situation before you speak? Do you have to differentiate between your personal speech versus professional speech?

In the case of Juan Williams, what did he not consider? Or did he consider everything correctly? I personally have always appreciated Mr. Williams' political reporting as a panelist on Fox news. I never heard him on NPR  so I admittedly do not know if his commentary was different from that on Fox.

What I do know is his appearance on Bill O'Reilly's show was not based upon his employment of NPR but more on being a well respected journalist and author for years. I heard someone who as a person is able to balance his personal and professional state of mind and offer thoughts and feelings based upon both. Nevermind the fact that there was a lot more to the comments than what has been isolated but he offered a well balanced expression.

It appears Mr. Williams detriment is that he's too well respected and too well balanced. Had he just offered a strictly political response, there would have been no firing but viewers would have been short changed. We would not have been able to truly hear what's in the mind and soul of Mr. Williams and be relieved to know that he like the rest of us have fears about a significant change in our lives for the past nine years.

Maybe we need a new constitutional added that's called "Freedom of Feelings"!

Is Measuring Effectiv based upon Fact or Opinion?

 The ability to measure how effective a person or organization is seems to have gotten lost. Because it's not as defined as ratios (P/E, Working Capital) so trying to use a number or average won't necessarily give you a true indication. It's not simple enough to say that an organization or person has achieved a certain goal or milestone, you have to also as if this was achieved in the time it should have taken or if it has taken longer than it should have.

Years ago I was sitting in a speech given by a Corporate Executive about how to succeed in the workplace and he gave the advice "Don't ever confuse effort with results". That has stuck with me ever since then and it goes to the point that being busy, looking busy, and trying does not mean you are effective. Often times we get impressed with people or organizations that have a lot to say, are busy doing and whole lot yet we have no evidence of their actual "net worth".

I think it is worthwhile to stop and pulse yourself and ask the question "Am I being effective, are we being effective". I guarantee you it will help you identify the gaps, if any.

Effectiveness like machines has a useful life and at some point it gets fully depreciated.

I am very much a proponent of Non Profit (technically called Not-For-Profit)  organizations. There is no way that our society can operate without the support of a non profit sector. Now we know that goverment by definition is non profit, we know churches are as well but there are many others that are just as significant as these two.

Organizations range from childrens services, community rebuilding, adult career services, and business. Of course there are the very highly recognizable institutions such as the Red Cross, United Way, and there are much smaller versions that exist to help society. In addition there are the ethnic based organizations that exist to support a particular group of individuals.

Many of these organizations have existed so long that we know what they stand for, but do we know if these organizations are as effective as what they're original intent?

Look at the NAACP. We herald it as the oldest Civil Rights organizations for African Americans. We know the impact for many years but have we looked at the effectiveness of the organization now?

Effective by definition:
       adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result

Looking throughout the organizations website, there is nothing that outlines what the intent is to be "effective". Lots of information on issues that we are currently facing, who they've talked to or tried to influence, but nothing about what will be accomplished. This leads me to the belief that the goal is not so much to be effective or relevant but merely to be available to tackle issues as they arise.

It is encouraging that we have so many organizations that are here to help us, if we can only be effective there may be real help to give.

Good morning,
    I went to the Cincinnati Fireworks last night. Had no idea it would last all of 15 minutes. Not being a big fan of fireworks I can't say that I'm all that disappointed, but it was clear to me that there were tons of people who really enjoyed it. So besides the fireworks themselves I can see the joy of walking around outside, sitting outside. Just enjoying the weather.

Somewhere I lost that desire to feel like being outside. I remember as a kid when I sat around the house in the summer it wouldn't be long before my father would tell me to go outside and play. Picnics, barbeques, outdoor sports have come few and far in between over the past 10 years or so for me and has become more of an exception than the norm.

After the fireworks (if you can really call them that) we decided to sit in fountain square at this restaurant called Rock Bottom and just enjoy the space, the openness, the atmosphere. It was a great way to spend the evening. Despite 90 degree weather. I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the outdoors this weekend.

After 4 Reds games, a few trips around the trail at the park and last nights events. I'm looking forward to spending more time outside!

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine and I decided to experience the Indianapolis 500. We purchased tickets 3 days before and since Indy is only 1.5 hours away from Cincinnati, we'd figured we go in the day of and come right back.

As you know, God has a way of showing you he's God. Once we got about 10-20 miles from the race track, traffic was extremely backed up. It took a little over an hour to park from like 2 miles out. Of course never having been to the Indy 500 or any car race event before, I had no idea that the track was as large as it was and it could hold well over 100,000 people. The amazing help that was sent to us came in the form of the car in front of us getting out and coming to my car asking if I want to buy an extra parking pass for $10. Of course when that  happens you have to evaluate whether there is the potential for you to get scammed, but for the cost I took the chance.

The gentleman that sold it to me then instructed "just follow us in" but with traffic still going slow, we etched along for another 30 minutes. From there he got back out of the car and walked back to mine and gave me specific instructions on where we were going just in case we got disconnected. So after we got through all the traffic and followed their "convoy" because it was actually 3 cars that were with his, we parked got out and exchanged names and handshakes and as far as I'm concerned we were on our way to our seats.

Once we got to the main walkway to the track, Mike (never got a last name) asks us where we were sitting. We showed him our tickets and he said "these are bold, come sit with us". So we gave him our tickets, he sold ours and we sat with him and his family for the entire race. Being rookies we packed like 2 bottles of water and 2 cokes which is not nearly enough for a 4 hour sporting event. Note: Just so you know, you can take as much food and drink to the race as you can carry, there are no official vendors. They offered us food, drinks, sun tan lotion (it was 96 degrees that day) and all the hospitality you can imagine.

If you know me, I rarely like to smooch off of people so I took a cookie to not be anti, but I did feel like such an intruder but they really made us feel welcomed for our first time. So the race is over (Ashley Judd's husband won) and as we walked back to our car (with Mike and the gang) as they tried to start their car, the battery was dead. Mike's daughter in law left the car on by mistake the whole time. So they asked us if we had any cables (which I did) and I gave them a boost.

For all the giving that Mike and his family gave to us, in turns out they needed us in return. The key is that they did not know that as they were extending themselves, but God has a way of showing us why it's important to treat everyone with respect, be loving & kind, and look to give and not get.

I will never forget this as I know God was with us that day.

How well do you make decisions? What is your criteria that you use that judges whether you're making a good decision or not? Is it based upon whether the results are favorable to you or favorable to other people? What happens if you have to make a decision that is unfavorable to other people but you still have to do it, do you consider that a good decision or just call it a necessary one?

I often wonder how many decisions does one make in a day? I wish that I had the capability to make some decisions over and sometimes the courage to have made some sooner. I often tell people younger than me that there is no such thing as smart or dumb people, but the decisions they make is what makes them smart or dumb. This forces me now to think about how smart or dumb I am.

Here's to hoping all your decisions are smart, good, and favorable.

Productivity!! The measure of how good something is, or how good it works or how worthwhile it is. We use the word so much that it starts to mean things that it shouldn't. So in typical myoration fashion, here's what Productivity means:

pro⋅duc⋅tive

  /prəˈdʌktɪv/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [pruh-duhk-tiv] Show IPA –adjective

1.	having the power of producing; generative; creative: a productive effort.

2.	producing readily or abundantly; fertile: a productive vineyard.

3.	causing; bringing about (usually fol. by of): conditions productive of crime and sin.

4.	Economics. producing or tending to produce goods and services having exchange value.

5.	Grammar. (of derivational affixes or patterns) readily used in forming new words, as the suffix -ness.

6.	(in language learning) of or pertaining to the language skills of speaking and writing (opposed to receptive ).

I've spent this first week of 2010 working to put all my cd's in ITunes ( I have a new IPOD that can hold 40K songs),  increasing my 401K contribution, increasing what goes into my emergency fund, and working out. I will say this week has been productive.

 THIS WEEK

51 more to go...

It's funny that when I always talk about challenge I'm always referring to something external. My job, other people, outside circumstances. When it just hit me that the biggest challenges I face are truly within myself. I'm not sure if this means that if I conquered the internal challenges that the external ones would not exist but maybe they may be much less than they have been.

Yesterday I did my first ever fitness assessment at this place called Sensible Fitness. The fitness assessment is when you are stats are taken on various items (BMI, Body Fat %, Waist to Hip ratio, cardiorespiratory, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility). Needless to say I ranked low on all of them. I really felt worthless for a moment. It really dawned on me that of all accomplishments that I can talk to, taking care of my body is not one of them.

The biggest challenge of my life is now staring me in the face. And it's all internal, I can't put it on anybody or anything else. How do you deal with that???

Good morning!

Three months ago I completed what was considered a very large financial system transition for my company. The biggest challenge involved with that is the aspect of managing change. As a part of that change the system will send daily notices to various people who need to take action in the system on a particular item if their name is attached to it. As part of that change, some people were getting these notices and they shouldn't have and some people were getting them and just didn't know what to do.

The significance of the daily emails is to inform people that they have a responsibility and that they will continue to get them until they do. While it is annoying, it forces users to do the right thing. I'm sure you're thinking? What's the point?

Well a few months ago I purchased a book called "Daily Proverbs for Men" from a Christian book store and it has 365 pages for each day a daily comment about having a relationship with God. Each page ends with a verse from the book of Proverbs. As I sat at my computer this morning I just realized how helpful that has been (when I remember to read it) in helping me keep my life in perspective. Daily. I wish I could have gotten them electronically but it serves as a wonderful way to start my day. It is my daily reminder to do the right thing and make sure I don't try to do more than I can handle and let "him" handle the rest.

Do you have anything that gives you daily reminders? Anything that helps you remember how to do the right thing everyday? I would encourage you to do so sign up for an email reminder, anything that can help you take 2 minutes and think about it. A couple that I recommend:

SimonBailey.com
Srenee.com

Let me know what you think.

In watching NFL football's pre-game shows, with only one game into the season analysts are already questioning a couple of quarterbacks playing ability. One game and they are already being questioned. I would like to talk to or interview one of these quarterbacks because they know today they have to rise to the challenge.

Of course sports is deemed to be that way, but if you are lucky you have the same type of situation where you are faced to rise to a challenge. Do you do anything differently to prepare? Most would say you do nothing different, but I'm curious how different people responds to challenge and if there are common actions.

Today is the last day of August in 2009.  It somewhat means the end of summer, but if you are like me the month of the year is not as important as every day is a blessing.

I'm sitting here thinking about my work day and what I know it is going to be like. "Challenge". But as I sit here drinking tea (my daily routine) I'm very peaceful and happy right now. My days always start out great. Right now at this point there is nothing wrong, no anger, no frustration. Just peace. I do understand how it is commonly said to enjoy the early mornings and spend a few minutes alone, I really get that.

In less than two hours my day will be a lot busier, but I'm going to try to keep the peace that I have right now. Let's see how it goes.......