An excuse is worse than a lie, for an excuse is a lie, guarded. ~Alexander Pope

This quote reminded my of a time 24 years ago when I was a learning how to be a US Army Ranger.  In the Rangers  we were taught that there was little tolerance for failure and even less for making excuses for it.  The proper response to any question about why something wasn’t done or wasn’t done to standard was simply.   “No excuse” or “No excuse Sir!”

The sooner we can stop making excuses we can start making a difference.

Kirk Out

“I wish I were as enthusiastic as you.” said the young man.  Or should I say “said the ignorant young man.”  Ignorance is not a bad thing, because with just a little information and a little bit of effort, it can be overcome. 

I have always believed the saying that “Enthusiasm is contagious.”  But it wasn’t until I was in my 30’s that I began to wonder why it was.   We’ve all had the experience of walking away from others with more or less energy than we walked up with.  WHY?  How do they do that?  Can we do it too? 

 Enthusiasm is not an accidental gift of the Gods, it is a choice, it is an obtainable attribute that can be strengthened through exercise and discipline, like any other attribute.  I believe we can all make enthusiasm a deliberate part of our personality…and we can start by knowing what it means.  I started by defining it - at  http://www.dictionary.com/

en·thu·si·asm Pronunciation Key ( n-th z - z m)n. 1.Great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause. 2.A source or cause of great excitement or interest. 3.Archaic. a.Ecstasy arising from supposed possession by a god. b.Religious fanaticism. [Late Latin enth siasmus, from Greek enthousiasmos, from enthousiazein, to be inspired by a god, from entheos, possessed : en-, in; see en-2 + theos, god; see dh s- in Indo-European Roots.] (so I guess we could say “Get Possessed!”)

Word History: Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm, said the very quotable Ralph Waldo Emerson, who also said, Everywhere the history of religion betrays a tendency to enthusiasm. These two uses of the word enthusiasm one positive and one negative both derive from its source in Greek. Enthusiasm first appeared in English in 1603 with the meaning possession by a god. The source of the word is the Greek enthousiasmos, which ultimately comes from the adjective entheos, having the god within, formed from en, in, within, and theos, god. Over time the meaning of enthusiasm became extended to rapturous inspiration like that caused by a god to an overly confident or delusory belief that one is inspired by God, to ill-regulated religious fervor, religious extremism, and eventually to the familiar sense craze, excitement, strong liking for something. Now one can have an enthusiasm for almost anything, from water skiing to fast food, without religion entering into it at all.

enthusiasm(2)
En*thu”si*asm, n. [Gr. ?, fr. ? to be inspired or possessed by the god, fr. ?, ?, inspired: cf. enthousiasme. See Entheal, Theism.] 1. Inspiration as if by a divine or superhuman power; ecstasy; hence, a conceit of divine possession and revelation, or of being directly subject to some divine impulse.

2. A state of impassioned emotion; transport; elevation of fancy; exaltation of soul; as, the poetry of enthusiasm.

Resolutions adopted in enthusiasm are often repented of when excitement has been succeeded by the wearing duties of hard everyday routine. –Froude.

3. Enkindled and kindling fervor of soul; strong excitement of feeling on behalf of a cause or a subject; ardent and imaginative zeal or interest; as, he engaged in his profession with enthusiasm.

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. –Emerson.

4. Lively manifestation of joy or zeal.

Let us be or get possessed by a spirit of enthusiasm…so that when people walk away from any interaction with us…with a little bit more of the good stuff!

Kirk Out

Within minutes of yesterday’s T4D invitation to “help Lisa” the responses started coming in.  Last time I looked there were nearly 30 principle centered responses.  I read each one of them … and WOW!  You guys rock!  Thank you for jumping in and sharing your insights with her, with me, and with eachother.  I am inspired by your words, example and service.   I don’t think a Dear Abby column could hold a candle to what we accomplished yesterday! 

 Thanks friends ~ Kirk

“Every time I’ve done something that doesn’t feel right, it’s ended up not being right.”  ~  Mario Cuomo - Lawyer and Former Governor of New York

I often get e-mails asking me for insights and advice on how to handle or help a particular challenge being faced by an organization or leader.   Realizing that I am not “Dr. Phil” or “Dr. Laura” I know I cannot solve or evenly completely understand the context of anyone’s problem in a soundbyte or in an e-mail. 

As much as I might want to help…I also have limitations of time and huge volumes of e-mail.  So… I’m going to ask for your help!!  There are thousands of you….and your expertise and experience runs deep deep deep.  So what follows is an e-mail from Lisa from the UK asking a question…then comes my reply… then a link to the blog post where you can offer your thoughts and insights as well.  Let’s Help Lisa!

 (She writes) Kirk,   My organisation is in the midst of an enormous period of change, the future  is far from clear and understandably this is making our employees, and  ourselves, extremely anxious and in some cases really grumpy, or even sick with worry. I care deeply about the people who work for me, they are a great bunch of guys who turn up and give their all day in day out.
 
 My frustration lies with the fact that I can’t give them assurances or any information about what is going on, because I don’t know myself. I respect them too much to try and placate them with false hope, so I really need some advice or tips on the sorts of things I could do to raise morale from its  current doldrums.

Any ideas?
 Lisa

Lisa,   I love that you love your people and want to help…here are my thoughts

The best thing you can do to raise their morale is continue to care about them, care for them and trust in their strength and remind them of their strength.  It is not the companies job or the leaders job to make their people happy..  people have a right to pursue happiness… but no right to expect if from any other source than themselves.

Depression and despair are largely, if not totally, self inflicted wounds…brought on by negative thoughts that were allowed to linger far too long.  Forget worrying about giving them false hope… instead believe in thier strength and capability and encourage and nurture self reliance, ownership spirit and remind people of the facts.   Which are …

No one is holding a gun to our their head making them stay, or making them be miserable or sick… and all the blame in the world that we try to affix to others for our sad state of morale won’t change the fact that we have a choice or choices … and playing victim is most often the least rewarding one we make.  Don’t let the fear or uncertainty of tomorrow or the future - rule or ruin today.  

If you have advice or insights for Lisa…. please leave your comments by clicking HERE 

or here  http://kirkweisler.com/t4d/ 

Thank you - Kirk

Most people at least know of the book “The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team” by Patrick Lencioni.  It has served many a leader well on their journey of building theri team and organizational culture.  Patrick’s other books, The 5 Temptations of CEO, Death By Meeting, and his latest book “The 3 Signs of a Miserable Job” (My personal favorite!) have all been tremendously helpful to leaders who are working to lead with more humility, trust and connection rather than manage with more intensity, stress and frustration.

Yesterday at a conference in San Francisco in my roll as Master of Ceremonies (way fun) I was blessed to be able to introduce him to a wonderful group of IT Service Management professionals.  Even more wonderful I was able to sit on the front row for an hour and take notes as he shared his wisdom and insights on building effective teams.

One of most powerful principles he taught was something he called “Vulnerability Based Trust” and because I didn’t think re-typing my notes for you does his work or words justice… I searched and was able to find this article which does.

The whole piece is wonderful… the trust piece is about half way through.  Click here and ENJOY the whole article.

Vulnerability-Based Trust

The first and most important step in building a cohesive and functional team is the establishment of trust. But not just any kind of trust.Teamwork must be built upon a solid foundation of vulnerability-based trust.

This means that members of a cohesive, functional team must learn to comfortably and quickly acknowledge, without provocation, their mistakes,weaknesses, failures, and needs for help. They must also readily recognize the strengths of others, even when those strengths exceed their own.

In theory-or kindergarten-this does not seem terribly difficult. But when a leader is faced with a roomful of accomplished, proud, and talented staff members, getting them to let their guard down and risk loss of positional power is an extremely difficult challenge. And the only way to initiate it is for the leader to go first.

Showing vulnerability is unnatural for many leaders,who were raised to project strength and confidence in the face of difficulty. And while that is certainly a noble behavior in many circumstances, it must be tempered when it comes to demonstrating vulnerability-based trust to hesitant team members who need their leader to strip naked and dive into the cold water first. Of course, this requires that a leader be confident enough, ironically, to admit to frailties and make it easy for others to follow suit. One particular CEO I worked with failed to build trust among his team and watched the company falter as a result. As it turns out, a big contributing factor was his inability to model vulnerability-based trust. As one of the executives who reported to him later explained to me, “No one on the team was ever allowed to be smarter than him in any area because he was the CEO.” As a result, team members would not open up to one another and admit their own weaknesses or mistakes.

What exactly does vulnerability-based trust look like in practice? It is evident among team members who say things to one another like “I screwed up,” “I was wrong,” “I need help,” “I’m sorry,” and “You’re better than I am at this.” Most important, they only make one of these statements when they mean it, and especially when they really don’t want to.

If all this sounds like motherhood and apple pie, understand that there is a very practical reason why vulnerability-based trust is indispensable.Without it, a team will not, and probably should not, engage in unfiltered productive conflict.

Kirk OUt

“As a leader, you’re probably not doing a good job unless your employees can do a good impression of you when you’re not around.”  ~- Patrick Lencioni

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are.

I don’t believe in circumstances.

The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.

– George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish Playwright

 Thank you to Bruce who sent me this on his blackberry this morning…it was more than fun…it was inspiring.  And I can relate to his dance moves too!  (If you dance like me…and don’t have a big savings account…then I would suggest you keep your day job! ) Have a great weekend.  ~ Kirk

A great person called Matt Harding quit his job as a video game designer in 2003 (for Pandemic Studios in Australia) to wander around the world and dance badly as a momento of all the places he had been. His videos have become an inspiration to many.

His family wanted to know where he was all the time so he created the site linked below. YouTube didn’t exist when Matt first started travelling and dancing. Stride Gum (Cadbury) saw his videos and offered to pay for some of his trips promising they wouldn’t interfere with his style or intentions.

http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/videos.shtml

(You need the latest flash player to view the video)

Please play the Dancing 2008 video. You will be inspired.

Bruce

I originally sent out this “Thought 4 the Day” in March of 2001.  As T4D’s go…it’s still one of my favorites.

I believe- that we don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I believe- that no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I believe- that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I believe- that it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I believe- that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe- that you can keep going long after you can’t.

I believe- that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I believe- that either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I believe- that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I believe- that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I believe- that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I believe- that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I believe- that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I believe- that sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

I believe- that just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.

I believe- that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.

I believe- that it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe- that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I believe- that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I believe- that just because two people argue, it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other And just because they don’t argue, it doesn’t mean they do.

I believe- that you shouldn’t be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I believe- that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally . different.

I believe- that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.

I believe- that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you you will find the strength to help.

I believe- that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I believe- that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

This was sent to me by one of you…..and while I can’t say I share all of the affor mentioned beliefs.. I do share some of them.  Do you have a belief that is not listed but you think should be?  If so I invite you to go to www.kirkweisler.com/t4d and post a response to todays Blog.  I thank you for it…in advance. -Kirk

“Let’s be clear: The Net is not about technology, it’s about people – a fact that is obvious to everyone except to we programmers. The most important things we, as humans, need to do — commercially or socially — is to connect with others. An online community is no substitute for real-world interactions. In fact, the most successful online communities are the ones that throw parties, sponsor events, host get- togethers — help members meet one another face-to-face in the real world.”   ~-Craig Newmark, founder, Craigslist

Kirk Out

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