The 5% day

When a choice is made to live in regret, the world never seems fair.   2020 has given us plenty of opportunity for regret.  Raw and emotional decisions on safety, health, and welfare affected every business and are common conne ctions to us all that for what seems certain, no one got it all right (and maybe no one can).  Some business es stayed open, some closed.  Some leaders chose furlough, some fired.  Plastic makers shifted to make retail shields, underwear makers turned upside down made gaiters and m asks. Everyone is making hard decisions. Decisions we later learn were right, some w rong, learning moments of personal and professional growth.    When we choose to accept regret, conversations with others start with “wou ld of, could of, and should of” give us easy reason to bitch and complain, stealing energy that could be planning for our best day, our best leader.     The choice to say “I was wrong, move on”, cost nothing and frees your...

Some may argue, but it was a privilege to walk down Hollywood boulevard one summer night several years ago with my wife and kids, taking in the unusual sights.   I did not count them, but I am told that over 2,600 brass stars make up the Walk of Fame.  Most reflect the name of Hollywood actors, while the rest are occupied by celebrities in Television, Music, and Radio Oddly, missing from the walk of fame is an English band from the British invasion era, the Kinks.  Known for their storytelling abilities and crowd-pleasing live concerts (many I attended), the Kinks wrote the lyrics in Celluloid Heroes, a story about the Hollywood boulevard.  The song speaks to the costs and consequences of the celebrity’s pursuits, with the words, “ For those who are successful , be always on your guard , because s uccess walks hand in hand with failure , a long the Hollywood Boulevard”.  True to the words in the song, the boulevard is a fifteen-block walking sto...

In The Trench or on The Bench? Robert Babb Apr 25 What’s your choice? A filled with a fear eight-year-old kid was playing baseball, his father begging the kid to swing the bat. Other kids would mock him and call him “Statue of Liberty” because the kid was too fearful of swinging at a pitch. One day the kid’s unsympathetic coach came over to at the plate and said, “This may be your lucky day, if you get hit by a pitch, you will get a chance to see what it’s like to be on first base.” While the kid’s teammates jumped at the opportunity to get to the plate and swing for the fences, all this kid wanted to do was sit on the bench. With his deer in the headlight look, fear paralyzed his body at the plate. Lately, we have seen something similar around us at work, home, and through the press. We are in a time or fight or flight, of getting into battle or taking a seat. Fear creates a time for us to stay (or jump) in the trenches, or a moment ...

An addict’s head gets filled with negative dark thoughts, often not knowing how to permit replacement of the dark with some positives.  The bottom falls out, they need help.  Maybe it’s the same for most others. It’s not hard to see the news feeds of today are filled with bad news.  The bottom fell out of the good news industry about the time a Wuhan doctor sounded alerts. Today, the networks 2019 abundance of optimistic stories are replaced by competing channels filled with doomsday documentaries, one of higher shock value than the next. Today, it may make you wonder how any story of hope can ever make its way through the news editors crowded desktop filled with shock of society demise. What are we doing in our attempts to find the good news once again?  Maybe it’s up to you to find the good again; the positive news on your crowded desktop of bad.  Some say small wins. By the average eye, small wins come and go, without recognition or celebrat...

You may have thought it was the perfect year.  Starting in February, on that day, just after 2:02 a.m on 02/02/2020, the month and year a rare palindrome.  The last time this occurred was 909 years ago, on 11/11/1111.  It ’s also likely the only year you are alive where the first two digits match the last two, like 1919, or in 101 years for 2121. Heck, it was an entry into a new decade, something most of us only get to experience 5 to 10 times in our lives, if we are lucky.  Let's not forget it’s a leap year, coming around every 4 years, some say it’s a lucky year because we get an extra day. Leaplings born on this day may disagree. In business, if the month ends at the end of a week, it seems ideal, at least for accountants and bookkeepers, and for leaders keeping score.  If a holiday falls on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or even Monday, it is less disruption.  The Perfect year was looking like this.  ·     ...

I t i s starting all over again. Ground zero.  It’s a new space, new set of rules. The comforting thoughts of repeated business and momentum are replaced with the fear of close contact.  Our referral and business streams are at a halt, momentum has been kicked at the knees.   Rip up the business plans, throw away the growth plan, kill the budgets.  The hardest part is letting go of what you learned to get here, because we are in a new game, a new set of rules, cast upon us in a few short weeks It's time to rethink your day, re-write your business, and re-identify your brand. Every phone call should create  new opportunities. Answer it quick.  Every handshake (when we are allowed) is a chance to provide solutions, listen deep.   Every success is to be celebrated, multiply it by 10.  Starting now, our lives have changed.  When this all comes back, we cannot be the same.  No complaints are ...

When we were 5 years-old someone taught us to say thank you When we were 12 we earned our first five bill, banked it, and spent it wisely on bubble gum and baseball cards. High school scored our first dates, juggling jobs with studies, while college stretched us to manage time and build relationships. Years ago, life's hard lessons taught us the skills they call soft.  Often with today's generation, we expect to learn these skills through a textbook lesson. Berkely University offers a college course on soft skills called "Adulting", helping today's college students manage time, physical resources, and nurture relationships. There is an alternative application.  Like the time you served cold french fries or served the wrong beer, you can learn soft skills differently, and fast. Don't worry, you won't be fully prepared, no one is. The job will be filled with mistakes and life lessons created for you.  After each one... your soft skills improve. J...