In case of emergency, break glass and read...

When you find yourself standing alone; fighting the good fight on three fronts, doing what you believe to be right, when only you see it, and exhausted to the point of redefining sleep deprivation?  For you...

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." *

and this...

"I know you are taking it in the teeth, but the first guy through the wall... he always gets bloody... always. This is threatening not just a way of doing business... but in their minds, it's threatening the game. Really what it's threatening is their livelihood, their jobs. It's threatening the way they do things... and every time that happens, whether it's the government, a way of doing business, whatever, the people who are holding the reins - they have their hands on the switch - they go batshit crazy." **

and finally this...

"For a seed to achieve it's greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction. ***

gpe

* Excerpt from the speech "Citizenship In A Republic"delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910 by Teddy Roosevelt

** John Henry speaking to Billie Beane in the movie MoneyBall

*** Cynthia Occelli

One of the coolest things I have ever seen...

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

Reflecting on our careers and the hundreds to thousands of situations we have found ourselves involved with, there are always one or two that stand out. Why they stand out will be as unique as our individuality  - This is one of mine. As you can appreciate I will change all the names and be a little vague with the business situation but for the event itself, I will try to help you see what I saw as it really one of the coolest things ever. So sit back, grab a glass of wine and enjoy the "spinning" of my tale.

The company I worked for had a very strong and historical relationship with a business partner who distributed their product through us...for very complicated reasons we were asked to take on a sub-distributor as part of their distribution supply chain. Let's just say it was one big hot mess from our perspective and a road trip was needed to discuss the situation, and if we got our way, have this god awful situation dissolved. We were to meet with Malcolm the President and Susan his VP of Sales and Marketing. On our side it was the GM, the sales leader and myself representing marketing; we all knew why we were there as they had heard our "shit show" story before.

You know when you are on your game - When everything moves the way you want it to, you are two answers ahead of the discussion and it unfolds as if you had written it yourself?  This was one of those moments. Discussion point after discussion point Malcolm was engaging and leaning more and more to dissolving this sub-distributor contract - You could literally feel it, it was on the tip of his tongue, he was about to say those magic words, "we have to dissolve this arrangement as it's bad for our business" (or some words to that effect). A glorious day!

Then it happened.

 Susan who had been sitting next to Malcolm all this time, saying very little actually, put a single finger on his forearm and said, "Malcolm, we should talk about this before you make a final decision". There was a short cryptic conversation between them regarding broader business ramifications and those magic words never came. The meeting was over. Our good old college try was appreciated but ultimately we walked away with umbrellas open back into the storm. It happened so quickly.

So why do I still look back on this business moment with a certain fascination?

The momentum change for one thing, it was like a pin touching a bubble but it was in Susan's simple act to be sure, the way she symbolically pushed the button with her finger and tossed the wrench in. I had worked with Susan a number of times, respected her skills as well as her leadership and would have worked for her in a second... there was no doubt she was a trusted business confidant and important part of Malcolm's leadership team. And maybe that is truly why to this day I remember it all so clearly; it was the team Malcolm had... what I saw was a glimpse into his team, how they operated and his leadership - the people who surrounded him

Tim Ferris is quoted in saying, “But you are the average of the five people you associate with most, so do not underestimate the effects of your pessimistic, unambitious, or disorganized friends. If someone isn't making you stronger, they're making you weaker.” I wonder if he has met Malcolm as he did a really good job with who surrounded him.

The symbolism of that simple touch on the forearm will forever resonate with me as it really was my first peak into something I know now as a simple truism... good people are everything.

So there you have it.

gpe

I think I'm a Change Agent... just damn.

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

Two independent but related events happened over the past week that got me to thinking and they both involve the term "Change Agent". I was writing a blog post on Amanda Palmer and out of nowhere found myself typing the words "Change Agent", which made me feel funny somehow. Then a couple of days later I was helping a friend solve a problem with a PowerPoint presentation and her new Mac where in the conversation she called me a Change Agent. To that I paused, again felt funny and corrected her by saying, " No I am not... I am just adaptable."

This did however give me an idea to write about Change Agents, have some fun with it and create a fictitious spy agency featuring a bunch of "Archers"* leading the charge for change while reporting to a father figure named "Chief"** - Sounds like some good fun and I do love change! So it turns out that it was a painful chore, as I found there was always this block as I typed away... that funny feeling again. With my desire to get this published I figuratively looked in the mirror and whispering, "Ya I know, I'm a Change Agent... just damn"*** with a conflicted acknowledgement of the calling. Why the reticence you ask? 

See being a Change Agent, is all about "living in the contradiction" where on one hand intellectually we know survival is all about changing, evolving and adapting, something visionary leaders love... but on the other hand, deep down most of us, many of us, almost all of us don't like change, ambivalence and the perceived loss of control -  We want the predictable, as it offers a sense of security, control and safety... hence the contradiction. People love the concept of us but really don't want us at the "party"... although ultimately we do make the party list and stand in the corner eating cocktail wiener doodles. 

Bet if you Google "Change Agent" you will get a definition something like this - Someone who can envision the need for change and has the ability to execute on it. Usually enabled with competencies such as resource management, operational understanding and execution, strong networking abilities, influencing skills as well as intuitive leadership. (many times without a title of influence). Let me also add, and it goes without saying, that they have a very high tolerance for change, emotionally embrace it, can operate in ambivalence and probably a contrarian. And by necessity, to be a good change agent, "ya' gotta be different".

So lucky fucking me, as I deep down I do want to make it onto the A party list. So really, unlike the secret organization outlined, being a Change Agent is more of a calling, which takes you places that others tend not to go, or at least resist (sometimes with great drama).

And why? It's the word change... I mean, if there was the word  "execution" in front of agent for sure you would make the A list, get all the top shelf liquor and most definitely have a cool organization.

Again, we all know why we dislike change so it is not my purpose to offer any lofty position on the subject other than to say it is simply not something that bothers me really... yes sometimes it's "inconvenient" but as "god is my witness" it's not something I fear or am even uncomfortable with. And here is the simple reason - Change brings opportunity.

So here is my advice... stop looking at change as a bad thing, as you are simply self fulfilling your prophecy and opening the door to your worst fears or whatever "negative" you associate with change. I have attached the "Who moved my Cheese" video, so check it out as is is worth the 17 minutes - I love this story and share it when the "Topic of Change" comes up. (it' a great little book to hand out to people when change is "afoot")

So please, if I can ask two things of you, remember change truly equates to opportunity and try to get us on the A party list as I understand the cocktail wiener doodles are the best.

gpe

* Archer is an American adult animated television series created by Adam Reed that follows the exploits of a secret agent

** The  Chief was the head of CONTROL played by Edward Platt in the TV series GET SMART. (a classic)

*** Originally I said "I think I'm a Change Agent...just fuck" but calmed it down a bit for this post.