My Leadership Thoughts

This might be controversial, but… You are not your career. I used to make decisions to achieve the career goals I thought I should be achieving. I was chasing a certain definition of success, a definition I had dreamt up in my own head. I was successful, but still deeply unhappy. I could not understand why. Then it struck me. You are not your career. Your career is you. Respond to those emails instead of a lunch break? Yes. 80 hour workweeks? Yes. Skipping time with the kids to close a deal? Yes. Here I was trying to budget my time to advance my career when all I had to do was allow my career to budget my time.  I made the change; I am no longer my career. So stop defining yourself by what you do. Allow your career to define you.  

An employee of mine had an emergency. Their family member was being rushed to the emergency room; it was serious. The employee told me they could no longer fly out to the team retreat, which was scheduled to take place in three days, because of this. So I did what any good leader would do. I did what any of us would do. I responded immediately and told them to get a refund on their flight so they can use the credit for a future work trip. Most of the time airlines have a limited window in which a flight can be refunded for credit. I did not want my employee to worry about the company losing money on their flight. No need for their to be two problems. As a leader, remember to look forward and prioritize the future. The airline credit can be applied towards a future work trip flight. There is no way to get credit for what could be a loss of life. No need for their to be two losses in one quarter. Prioritize what can be used again. Keep flying high and aim for that north star.

5 Interview Power Tips 1. Show up 2. Be Yourself 3. Lead. Think. Do. 4. Repeat 5. Success  

I do everything in 5s. 5 cars. 5 homes. 5 kids. 5 ex-wives.  Why five?  It's the number that most resembles the sign for money, $. Money is what makes the world go round, and I plan to go around it $ times. How many lives will you lead?

I don’t know who needs to hear this... But I’m going to say it anyway. Love yourself and do not let anyone else tell you how to be or how to live your life.  Live the way you want to live. Learn to listen to and love your voice. Since I started believing in myself it has become clear why my wife and children love me. Because they hear the same thing I do: my own voice.  I learned to love my voice and no longer believe the people who put me down: people with other voices. My key to success, and it could be yours too: remember to always listen to the most important person in the room.  Yourself.

A pro tip I learned from years as a leader: Always think forward, never backwards.  I used to leave myself voice mail messages of thoughts and ideas until one day I realized that the voice I would listen to is not me. That was past me. A me that no longer exists. By the time I listened to "my" messages they were old, stale, and frankly, garbage. I was not forward thinking, I was holding onto the past.  So what do I do now? I act. I activate.  I am focused on the future. But the future is unattainable as it is constantly ahead of us. Even as I type this message my present self is becoming my past self. I no longer believe the first 70 words of this post.  My motto, and it should be yours too: Never always trust who you are in the moment unless that moment is the future; acting in the present is too late, and the past is now behind you. Always constantly be moving forward ahead of your present self refusing to move backwards.  See you on the field.