17 Feb 2012

Ow - my thumb hurts! From the pic below it may look like it's fine all cuddled up in the cheese wedge thing they gave me to protect it on the way home. And the smile below? Yeah, don't let that fool you - that's me still under the affect of some major pain-relievers and deciding to keep my hat on because it seemed like fun. I suppose that when a person drinks too much or is under heavy sedation their real self comes out. Apparently I like to laugh a lot! That doesn't work for everyone....

Can't wait to get the bandages off already!

3 Feb 2012

Ok. Now I get it: Text, taken out of context, leads to pretext. No, I am NOT about to start my own company! A colleague of mine suggested the idea to me as a way to help my own company in some of its work. No...the "maybe I'll start my own company" comment was truly a bit of my own laughing at that idea - it's simply not something I would consider doing. I suppose the issue is that everyone is not inside my brain and doesn't get it that the ellipsis at the end of the comment was my thinking "Yeah right! Like that's going to happen!" Anyway, I'm happy to have that pointed out and happy to explain!

And the conversation with a coworker was all about the importance of letting those around you know what you're thinking so that you can have a two-way conversation about it - otherwise it's hard for each of you to know what the other is thinking! Communication is always key and the more the better.

So, it's all good stuff and part of what grandma used to call the "new shoes breaking-in phase." And what Jon needs to learn is a little patience...!

 Jon

25 Jan 2012

I’m intimidated – really. I used to think I worked with the smartest people in the world (don’t get me wrong, there were some really smart people at my old job), but here the talent around me is amazing. The average consulting experience of this group is 16 years. That’s the average. It’s cool to be able to call up people that are veritable experts in so many different areas. Anyway, just something I’ve noticed.

Today was a good day. Back at the airport, in the lounge for a while getting some mundane things done, and then having this inner sense of “it’s time to get up and go to my gate” and to arrive a full pace and continue boarding with the first group of passengers (I suppose I get to sit up front for a little while longer!). That’s one of those weird talents I have – knowing when it’s time to start heading toward the gate so that I don’t waste time waiting around for my row to be called. Boom! I am there and board at just the right time.

My new good joke: I was talking to a guy about his background. He has a Mexican last name, but he really looks very Italian. Another colleague said “Dude, you just don’t look Mexican. Are you sure your grandmother didn’t travel?” Too funny. I’ll have to reuse that in some other situation!

Jon

18 Jan 2012

Wow! I've been asked to write up how I've gotten so many people to respond to my simple Facebook posts. It's really pretty simple: I know a lot of people, and, even better, a lot of people know me and my style. Who else has ever suggested and then answered random questions from the fishbowl on the spot? Who else has ever said "Rule #1 is delivery and very close behind that is Rule #2: Have fun!" Who else has ever offered to new-joiners opportunities to lead big events? Who else has ever taken a bullet to the detriment of their own success [while creating internal enemies] to take care of their people?

It's been pretty simple. I am a servant leader. I will wash the feet of the people with whom I work and will give them opportunities to do what they want to do. (As a business leader will I fire people? Yes. It pains me when it happens, but oftentimes it's for the best for the person involved!) The main point is: leaders need to lead! They need to be in front of all the things they can be in front of in order to help their people navigate around internal/external situations - or tell them when they can't (like when I had to painfully tell people in 2009 that no one was getting a raise, including me [even though I had high performance ratings!] - yup, that sucked).

Anyway, the more I am away from my old job the more I see things I liked about it and miss....as well as things that I don't miss at all because it was a company "of numbers". I refuse to work in that environment again! Learn what you can and then get out!

Shortly I will be welcoming some new people to Charlotte, NC as new employees with my new company. I'm very excited because I get to finish, to some extent, what I started a few years ago - to elevate people to their highest potential, to show them real examples of servant leadership, and to fulfill what I believe God has put in my heart. Fully believing in the latter I know I can't go wrong!

Jon

13 Jan 2012

Wow. Friday the 13th not withstanding, this was a great day and a great week. We just finished serving the typical 7-course Italian dinner to new friends and basically ate, drank and talked all night. Both accompanied by their wives, my friends tonight were an American that is traveling frequently to Buenos Aires for work and a Peruvian with whom I've struck a good relationship from our sons' YMCA basketball league. Fittingly I did not serve Mexican, but Italian instead - it's all about broadening everyone's outlook. Usually in the course of a 7-course meal (soup, pasta, meat, salad, dessert, coffee, liquore - in that order) something goes wrong - maybe a little too much salt here, not enough olive oil there...something. But tonight's was pretty much exactly what I wanted on all accounts (was it the fact that we made sure everyone's glass was constantly full of a great Italian vino bianco through the meal?!?). Even my home-made tiramisú was a hit, even though it has been 5-6 years since I made the last one!

Anyway, the big joy of the day was presenting some resumes that sparked a lot of interest within my new company. My, my, my - there are so many opportunities for people with technical backgrounds here! I was on a call to help a proposal team that was responding to a request from clients for SLA (service level agreements) around attrition, time-to-staff, and customer satisfaction expectations. That was a fun and easy thing to do since I've done a lot of work in those areas in the past. As part of that conversation with the client team I mentioned I might even be able to get them some CVs/resumes for people that have the skills they are looking for. In fact, I could see where some people could come to the US to do this work and stay, and others could come here for 4-6 months and then optionally return to their native land. This is all Business Intelligence (BI) work and things are really starting to grow in this area.

Alright, I had no idea this first blog would happen at midnight, but that's the way it is. All the best to all and have a wonderful weekend!

Jon