As I prepared some space on her desk yesterday for the memorial that we knew would spring up today, I noticed several quotes taped to her desk, tucked away just behind her keyboard.  When I saw the one below, I immediately thought of sharing it through today’s Tuesday Tidbit.

“Lead people to their own greatness.”  Through these words, she’s leading us still; let’s honor her memory by rising to the challenge.

Rest in peace, Leslie.

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.

Memorial Day is a day to remember all those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice; those who died in military service to our country.

In between all the fun this weekend, take a moment to remember them, too.  Watch this 3 1/2 minute history.com video about Memorial Day.  Then, share it with others.

http://www.history.com/flash/VideoPlayer.swf?vid=3092043701

Every parent of the forty who were recognized last night can have a bursting heart this morning.  Today, I am also thankful for the diverse talents among the entire group of honorees.

There were doctors, lawyers, military professionals, and authors.  We were introduced to local legislators, musicians, and entrepreneurs.  We met a man who owns a racing team and another who writes a food blog. We heard success stories rooted in a wide variety of pursuits.

Every one of these men and women are deeply involved in their community.  As impressive as their personal resumes are, it was great to see the that they also used their passion, skills and commitment to help the underserved.  Many of the Forty under 40 serve on non-profits boards, mentor youth, advise start-ups, or have founded their own community service organization.  They fight hunger, cancer, and child abuse.  They preserve neighborhoods, cultures, and history.

I come away from these types of events hopeful for our future.  We are lucky to have the honorees’ enthusiasm, energy and smarts to lead us there.

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Preparing for the move has included some tough decisions.  Do we really need to keep the faded print that we won’t hang on the wall anymore…just because my parents gave it to us? (No.) Do we need to keep the big clunky, chunky 10 year old TV….just because it still has a clear picture? (No.)  Should we hold on to my grandmother’s porcelein coffee and dessert sets…even though we just display them but don’t use them?  (Yes!)

Taking our teams into the future requires the same examination and, sometimes, very tough questions and answers.

Are you retaining people on your team who were once team leaders but aren’t willing to learn new skills for continued success?  Are you tolerating less than good productivity because a team member is a really nice person and great at organizing pot lucks?  Are you hanging on to processes that don’t work, just because that’s the way we’ve always done it?  Are you investing too much time trying to ‘save’ someone, when they have proven to be unwilling to save themselves?  Are you asking people to follow you, but you aren’t being a good follower yourself?

The right questions today can set the stage for a bright future.  I’m keeping that in mind with every item I’m choosing to take with me to our new home.  We all need to consider that as we take our teams to our new future.

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.

HopeMob?  My curiosity was piqued.

To quote its tagline, HopeMob is “where generous strangers unite.”  The website has a process for registered members to influence which charity drive is the current feature story.  In addition to the feature, there are also three stories locked in as next and twenty more in waiting.  It’s an interesting way to generate awareness and commitment.

The current featured event is an effort to raised enough money to donate five tandem bikes to schools for the blind.  Imagine the joy for a child to be on a bike, feeling the breeze on his or her face, even though blind!  Tandem bikes are not cheap, costing $590 each.  For the next 48 hours, donations will be matched, up to $1000.  So far, about half of the money needed for five bikes has been raised.

Click here to read more about HopeMob, the featured event, and how you can register and donate.

Follow HopeMob on Twitter or like them on Facebook.

Monday evening, a front line customer service representative from one of my teams sent me a lovely email, sharing a story about a friend of his.  The crux of the story was that while training for a local 5k, the runner learned important life lessons; namely, the difference between “not quitting” and “keeping on.”

The last lines of the story have stuck with me since.  I shared them with all of my teams in this week’s Wednesday Wisdom (weekly quote posting on our internal portal.)  A new co-worker was having a really rough day found some meaning in the quote.  And, here I am, on Thank You Thursday, still thinking about it.

I hope you’ll be thankful to read it, too:

Somehow, in the midst of the struggle of the run itself, something deeper in me focused on an un-lowered bar of measurement.  I didn’t win the race on the road…but something was won in my head and in my heart…

And that something is at the root of hope that what my dreamer’s eye sees will one day be fully and finally realized – bar not lowered an inch. And that is what keeps me keeping on.

Keep on.

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The number 19 way to show your value reads:

19) Learn the difference between e-communication and real communication. Communicating with people is an opportunity not only to transfer information, but also to build relationships with them at the same time. With all the forms of electronic communication available today, our conversations are becoming more and more impersonal.

“Not only are texts and e-mails inefficient and sometimes carried to ridiculous extremes, they are also costing us our personal relationships,” says Loomer. “I want employees who will interact with people and solve problems. If you can’t interact with people directly, you have no value.”

I know as well as anyone that it is much easier and quicker to tap out an email and move on. If you find yourself doing that same thing, stop and think for a moment – is the email going to move the relationship forward, backwards, or stall it? Then, decide if you should hit “send” or walk to someone’s desk or pick up the phone and have a real conversation.

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.

I’ve always loved the photo on the left.  It was taken on my baptism day in 1958.  Mom looked so happy.

Fast forward 52 years.  The photo on the right was taken on Mom’s 75th birthday.

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What do I think about on Mother’s Day? I think about Alzheimer’s Disease.

 Last year, I wrote THIS post about my Mom.  She has Alzheimer’s Disease and no longer knows who I am, or recalls anything about her life.  She doesn’t communicate at all.  She just sits in her wheelchair and the world around her goes by.  I can’t even say she stares off into space; she just has en emptiness in her eyes.  I can’t really say anything better than I did last year, so I hope you’ll just take a moment to read that post.

I do have updates to the post, though.  The lost experiences keep adding up.  Since I wrote that post last year, “Wish I Could Say Happy Mother’s Day,” my son and Mom’s only grandson found real happiness and married a wonderful person.  They are now expecting what will be Mom’s first great-grandchild.  My son will also get his Master’s Degree this fall; another milestone she’ll miss.

My daughter, and Mom’s first grandchild, started her own business a year and a half ago, and is awesomely successful.  Mom would be proud not only of Geben Communication’s success, but also my daughter’s focus on Heart of Haiti, helping earthquake victims get back on their feet and supporting themselves through their crafts.  My daughter and son-in-law recently bought their first house, another event that Mom would have been just tickled about.

My niece, my brother’s daughter, graduated from high school last year.  Mom used to take care of her when she was a pre-schooler.  Mom would have been gushing pride to see her successfully graduate and now nearly finished with her first year of college.

The cruelty of Alzheimer’s is that Mom is alive and strong, but is completely unaware of what is happening around her.  Mom can’t help us celebrate these milestones.  As we do, though, we include Mom in our thoughts, thinking of what might have been.

If you can help fight Alzheimer’s by supporting research into this cruel disease, please click HERE. 

(Originally posted Mother’s Day 2011.)

Personally and professionally, I have grown more through my conversations with Susan than I possibly could have imagined.

Today was no different.  After exchanging hugs and catching up on our children, we started talking about work, life, challenges, and opportunities.  Susan has a knack – no, a skill – for bringing people to a place of clarity.  She always listens carefully, asks the right questions and helps me see the answers that were always there.

One of my many favorite Susan teachings is: You can’t ‘fix’ the past.  It’s over.  It’s done. You can, however, create a new future.  Then, she helps you discover what might be possible for you in that future.

Today, I am thankful for people like Susan, who generously help others find their authentic best selves.

Do you have a “Susan” in your life?  How has that person helped you grow? 

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Integrity has no need of rules. - Albert Camus

The glue that holds all relationships together — including the relationship between the leader and the led — is trust, and trust is based on integrity. – Brian Tracy

Your reputation and integrity are everything. Follow through on what you say you’re going to do. Your credibility can only be built over time, and it is built from the history of your words and actions. - Maria Razumich-Zec

Tuesday Tidbits are weekly messages I send to my leadership team. They are generally short & sweet, often focused on leadership or teamwork, always positive and, hopefully, motivational. I hope you also find some meaning in them.