I love it, and I am all in.

As I look at my life, it is not even about creating myself, as much as it is about re-creating myself. And right now, even I need a reminder that all my success and failure is the result of my actions. You can lose every ounce of advantage you gain, no matter how hard you worked to accomplish it.  Complete accountability can be daunting. Or it can be motivational, which is how I choose to employ it.

From the relative high point of surviving a stroke (yep, that was a high point), losing a ton of weight . . . looking gooooood and feeling good, I used the last year to sit back and just enjoy life a little more. Unfortunately, that led to significant weight gain (can you say, “whoa Nelly. Too much of a good thing”), a need to pay more attention to my vitals (blood pressure, sugar levels, cholesterol,etc.), and a general plateau of my cardiovascular fitness . . .  and that’s putting it nicely.

As I have been reminded, it my job, and my job alone, to create the self I want to peer back in the mirror. Today, I am re-committing myself to paying attention to my own well-being, and not leaving it to chance.

I am also going to re-prioritize my life so exercise is more important, and regular monitoring continues. From tracking my diet by computer, to simply pushing away from larger helpings, and asking my wife to keep me accountable, it is time for me to work on creating the me I want to see. Off I go.

If you need motivation, or a push to re-focus on yourself, take this as your accountability checkpoint. I am all in, because no one should care more about me than me. And no one should (or will) care more about you, than you.

Today, I will speak with a group of students from E.C. Glass High Schools. Here is the link to the Prezi presentation I use as my outline.

If you only have a minute to read this, I will give you the executive summary version: get over it because its all mental.  I control my mind, therefore I control how I handle, and respond to, every situation.  But the bottom line is that no matter how great you are, you are going to have tough days.  The secret to moving past these moments is simple.  Apply some mental energy.  As gospel recording artist, Donnie McClurkin sings, you can fall down.  You just have to get back up.  And as much as I am writing this knowing others will read it, I am really saying it to myself, because I need to get back up.  See, what you are witnessing, is me.  Giving myself The Talk.  Getting myself in gear to do more, do better, and not fall into a counterproductive pit of excuses and pity.

1. Do Something!  Often, we are so overwhelmed by the growing mountain of tasks we have to wrestle, we lose our focus and motivation before we even have a chance to be awesome.  As a friend and I were discussing this morning, you need to know whether you will respond better to doing the most odious task first, or the simplest.  Either way, when you look back on it, you will feel some satisfaction at having done it.  And more importantly, you will have done Something that moves you closer to completion on a project, pushed an idea forward into implementation phase, or simply set the agenda – and tone – for the rest of your day, the rest of your team or staff, the rest of your family.
2. Congratulate yourself on accomplishing Something.   Pat yourself on the back.  Come on, you can do it. if you need more encouragement than this, you should sincerely take a vacation, re-center yourself, and enjoy yourself a little more.  I am not qualified to address that issue, but please see someone about it soon.
3. Build a list of several Somethings you need, or want, to get done.  There, you tricked yourself intro building a road-map that will help you navigate through the forest of useless, time-wasting busy work you could be doing instead.  You are already being productive.  Don’t take your hands off the handlebars now, but “look Ma, I’m doing it by myself!”
4. Take a break.  You have earned it.  If it lasts more than 10 or 15 minutes, you’re not taking a break, you are chilling.  That is counter-productive.  Stop it.
5. Do Something Else.  Remember that list you built, way back in the halcyon days of Task 3?  Now you get to use it!
6. Repeat!  Finish with self-congratulatory, but quiet golf clap, and go do something fun!

A tragedy was on its way to becoming a blessing.  I was less than 40 years old, active physically, and  engaged civically and professionally.  I thought I had the world by the tail.  And I quickly found myself having to re-evaluate what was really important. It has taken me a year to get the courage to even think about what happened to me.

The real lesson is about the power of good people doing good.  It is about the heroes who saved my life, This story is about my experience, and learning that living life successfully is about the impact you have on other people’s lives.

The first — and most important — hero in my life is my wife, Teri.  In hundreds of ways since I fell ill, she has stepped up as a family leader, world-class organizer and communicator, and amazing partner.  Before I got sick, and as much as I hate to admit it, I did not show this hero enough appreciation.  Since my stroke, she has been my constant companion.  One of the greatest gifts the stroke gave me was a better appreciation for her.  I don’t think I can thank her enough.

My family, collectively, gets hero status.  From my own personal security guard — as one of my favorite nurses called my brother, Kevin — to my Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brothers from William and Mary, who came and waited quietly alongside my wife in those early, trying hours; to my in-laws, whose love and support defy categorization; to my sister and brother from Richmond, who visited me at every opportunity, to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law, who both made so much possible for me; to my colleagues, who went above and beyond for me daily; and including my many uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and aunts who prayed constantly and visited as often as they could.  I saw my health improve as each LIVED more meaningful sermons about  faith than any pastor ever could speak.  I have seen God’s hand at work in my life.

I would also bestow hero status on the enormous network of friends and extended family. Each of them prayed, visited, gifted and carded me back to health.  They showed me love in ways that were inspirational, instructional, and completely humbling. Every one of them did what they could, some even more than that.  Heroes, every one of them.

And finally — but certainly importantly — I thank the entire Centra Health medical team who saved, then rebuilt my life.  Each first responder, doctor, nurse, and therapist is a hero of mine.  I am alive because of their skill and care, and I  owe them the appreciation due heroes.

So, yes, less than a year after I almost died, and nearly left a wife and two young kids – nearly mirroring my own mother’s death before I was a teenager  — I stood before a group of fellow stroke survivors in Danville, VA.  And as I said to my fellow stroke thrivers, I am a miracle, and a child of God.

Thank God for my heroes.  I owe each of them my life, and I will continue trying to live it as worthy of having been saved.  And I pray with the faithfulness of my aunts and friends. Thank God for heroes.  Amen.

This post  is for leaders — from students to mid-level managers like me — dealing with workaday problems.  It is about the importance of seeking mentoring to inspire you to in times of frustration.  It is for people who have been frustrated for so long, they may have forgotten how to reset the Attitude button and release themselves from suffocating frustration at work.

My favorite gems from AL, with my own perspective woven in, included:

1. A manager, even a great leader, has only a small role in an employee’s career success.  Ultimately, the employee is responsible for using the opportunities given her or him.  And it is that individual’s responsibility for having the “fire” in her or his belly.
2. You can never motivate a person whose goals are only related to salary.  Invest in people who want to excel and produce amazing results, set the bar high, give them all the training and coaching they can stand, and give them space to shine.  If helping them grow professionally is not an incentive and encouragement for them to help achieve your business’s goals, help them find a better-fitted job.
3. Take risks that grow people. Business goals are necessary.  Accountability is critical.   But focus as much as possible on growing people’s skill sets, ambitions, responsibilities and investment in goal achievement.  Invest most in helping prepare your people to lead your organization.  Who can make key decisions when you are away?  Have you provided enough continuing education opportunities?  Have you spent enough time inviting them to chew on the big issues your unit faces?  Have you sought their advice and created a sense of inner-circle for those who work the hardest?
4. To get honest feedback about how effectively you lead or what your staff need from you, don’t ask for 360 evaluations.  Ask them what processes are most valuable and which need improvement.  Fix the problems.  Good job, leader!
5. Your greatest chance of making sure your team will be effective is hiring extremely carefully, and making the expectations clear at that point.
6. The single most important skill a person brings to an organization is communication skills.  Great ideas and great inspiration mean nothing if you cannot expertly bring other people to share your views.
7. And I will close with my longtime favorite, one which AL and I shared a good old clubby, “yes, I know your pain”  laugh over: require your staff to prepare solutions to their challenges — not just the problems — when they seek your counsel.  That is the difference between training them to excel and lead, versus babysitting and feeling overly-important because your team “needs” you so much.  The goal is for them to function exceptionally well even when you’re absent.  If they can’t put their top three priorities in order without your help, you are failing them and your self.

And here’s my closing salvo, and this one is all mine!  If you think you are a leader, you are.  Because being a leader is not about your title, but your attitude, problem-solving skills and communication abilities.  You will perform at a high level, get more opportunity, and grow faster no matter your place in the organizational chart.  If you do not think you are a leader, everyone around you will recognize it and treat you accordingly.

This post  is for leaders — from students to mid-level managers like me — dealing with workaday problems.  It is about the importance of seeking mentoring to inspire you.  It is for people who have been frustrated for so long, they may have forgotten how to reset the Attitude button and release themselves from suffocating intellectually.

For weeks, I wrestled with some turbulent leadership learning opportunities.  It seemed at every turn, the reality of our progress was subdued by a few key colleagues’ ability to make it seem like failure.  As a result, I was, by definition, “stuck.”  Folks in my Accountability Group worried openly about me, and my usual laid-back demeanor was wound tight.

I faced more than a reasonable number of issues in which I felt compromised, undermined, or simply overruled, even though I was responsible for setting and leading a team in accomplishing objectives.

I started last week with the belief that none of the grinding, intense work I — and numerous other staff — were putting in was netting us enough productivity or, to be frank, appreciation.  In the last year or two, our business unit has undergone extraordinary change, from who sits in each proverbial seat on the bus, to how we manage our business processes and track productivity, to how we assess what success looks like.  We went from a larger staff to a smaller one as we launched major new initiatives.  We went from young guns anxious to correct the boss to young guns being bosses.  My self-congratulatory takeaway is that progress and change, and both measuring and sharing productivity,  are fearsome threats to the ineffective and unfocused among us.

At any rate, a couple days ago, my outlook changed.  Why?  I had  lunch with a person I admire and respect deeply, and who is one of the most intelligent leaders I know.  I shall query him and question him, and call him AL.  This meeting was like getting an iPad for Father’s Day when all you rightly and happily expected was a card; it was a huge treat.

It took me from  exasperation to excitement.  I left with clarity about where next to apply strategic pressure within my work unit.  My focus is resolutely on escaping the hamster wheel of daily “Task-List Target Practice” and returning to the strategic thinking needed to shape my staff into a more-effective, productive, responsible team.  AL helped me get unstuck by reminding of the importance of remaining focused on the ultimate goals rather than becoming trapped in the lint filter of small-minded pursuits that so easily occupy the unfocused mind.

Here are the major observations that readied me to charge ahead:

1. Do your homework and know your craft so you can ask staff and leaders the important questions that will grow your business and increase collaboration and trust.  This will help you escape the orbit of mediocrity or status quo thinking.  It also means you may ask more probing questions than you answer.  In my case, I need to care more about what resources my staff need to grow professionally into great thinkers.  I should be asking “if you were in charge, how would you handle this challenge?” and “where do you see growth opportunity for our business and how can we capitalize?” more than I ask, “how are your numbers compared to goal?”
2. Inspiration and motivation can come in short exchanges and can turn your attitude 180 degrees in an instant.  Never, never, never quit on the organization.  As long as you collect the paycheck, it is your responsibility to motivate yourself to produce results.  When you find yourself burning toward the end of your productivity candle, step back from the details, seek out a trusted and inspiring voice, and just let them talk to you.  Listen carefully, soak it up, and refocus.  For each winter of cold anxiety, there is a spring of renewal and rebirth.  And refocusing can happen almost daily, if that’s what you need.
3. Do not confuse being a great employee or leader with being a perfect one.  There is no such thing as “perfect” except in the dictionary, after “perestroika” and before “perfecta.”
4. Find a good mentor outside your organization.  The rest of this will sound familiar!  A good mentor will help you escape the orbit of mediocrity or status quo thinking.  This also means you should ask and answer more probing questions than case study-types.  In my case, I need to care more about “how do I inspire staff to outperform past results without promising more money” and “how do I bridge the gap between old-school rigidity and new-school stridency to unify staff” instead of using their valuable time on “what else can we do to raise more money?”

I hope you will tune in again tomorrow to read part 2, focused on the value of mentoring.

So in one respect, the application of knowledge is worthwhile.  On the other hand, it will not make me look like such a thought leader tomorrow when I present on how readily a person can manage social media for personal, professional and business growth.

Within an hour of waking up tomorrow, I will attempt to string together enough cogent statements to convince several social media fence-sitters that they can own this domain — pun intended — without having to sequester themselves in a Nerd Bunker for hours at a time.  I will further try to impress upon them that the relationship side of their respective businesses can be well-served by using tools such as blogs, social networks and other technological options.  Whether existing employees, potential workers, clients or potential buyers of their services, the Return on their Investment would have to be relatively high, since most of the acquisition costs are approaching zero ($0).

So here are a few points I plan to make:

1.  If you can’t commit the time to building deep, intimate relationships (Facebook), you surely can build some basic ones (Twitter) and invest where it might be most profitable (LinkedIn).

2.  You don’t have to be Ashton Kutcher to build a successful social network.  Use it to engage and reward your most loyal customers.  When all else fails, FOCUS your content on the most important customers/potentials.

3.  Leverage staff strengths and let leaders emerge.

4.  Efficient management can make you appear more consumed than you are with creating content.

5. Being a content distributor can be a better entry strategy than being a content creator (Copy and Share Everything).

Using these strategies should allow you to establish a social media presence, and learn how your organization and staffing can best manage this powerful tool.

Some people might want to break their App love into the same, or similar, categories Apple uses to organize them, but for me, I am going to keep it simple: 10 apps that made my iPhone the second most important tool on my trip.  It was second only to my iPhone charger.  Period.

10. Phone.  Yes I list the phone utility of iPhone as an App.  It was the least used of the tools on my Swiss Army Phone, and it helped me connect dots and people as needed.  But to be honest, even Messages got more use than the traditional mobile phone tool.

9. JetSet Lite.  This is a fantastic tool to help you track expenses on the fly.  I have now used it for three consecutive trips and it has proven to be amazingly useful.  It provides a simple, clean, complete menu that is totally visual.  Let me be honest: it is eye candy for business travelers.  I hate hate hate dealing with travel receipts and expense reports, and this App made it fun even for me.  In 16 years of business travel, I have never put the words, “expense reports” and “fun” in the same zip code.  Until now.

8. Open Table.  Three different evenings we found ourselves looking for a different place to eat.  On the first of these occasions, my two colleagues and I were dragging ourselves back to Providence from an evening event in Newport, and wanted comfortable digs and comfortable food.  Thanks to the faster 3G network seemingly available everywhere except where I live (more on this later), I downloaded the Open Table App, searched for a restaurant, read reviews, made a reservation, and mapped us to the restaurant.  In less than five minutes, no exaggerating.  I felt powerful, and Gracie’s Restaurant proved to be a highlight of our trip.

7. Pandora.  About midway through our trip, I needed to lift my mood dramatically.  While trying to reduce my 360 email inbox to a digestible number of messages, I queued up my “Earth, Wind & Fire” channel and the steady stream of ‘70s and early ‘80s R&B simply took me to another place.  I ripped off about 100 emails in an hour, and most of them even got reasonable responses.  It changed the rest of my day.  The backstory is that I had sampled six other channels, but couldn’t find one that matched my mood and need for pure feel-good energy.  This included creating two new stations in the process.  Pandora allowed me to keep searching, far beyond my iPod App’s pre-owned capabilities. That made all the difference.  My musical DNA is scientifically documented!

6. Facebook.  What can I say . . . why use “reasonable facsimiles” when the original is superb?  This is how I keep up with my peeps.  I drive HootSuite (free from my laptop), TweetDeck (free from my iPhone), and Facebook-direct content to my closest friends, family, and colleagues using this great app.  It was the linchpin and absolutely helped me stay connected, importantly, during an extra day and a half of weather-delayed travel.

5. Siri.  I read about this on @Mashable, and took a quick look because, well, I was in a session that was actually encouraging us to explore social networking tools.  Having read some hype, I thought I was in a no-lose environment that would allow me to explore this App and see what the fuss was all about.  It has a sexy interface and was billed as a personal valet or concierge.  Okay, you had me at “What can I help you with?”  I love nothing so much as being served.  If you are familiar with AroundMe App, you’ll be in familiar territory, but Siri has a smoother interface and more granular control of what you seek.  I particularly love that it provides your options for everything from food to local events within four taps of your screen.  And did I mention that it offers voice prompts too.

4. Foursquare.  Wow.  @cherylsmith999 first told me about this.  It took me a couple days around the house to even decide whether I liked it, but on the road, it absolutely rocked.  And it showed me some opportunities for integration into my business.  This was probably my “MVP” as I began to take great delight in tagging every venue, eatery, and airport I visited during the trip.  Its ability to integrate User Generated Content (UGC) and provide tips about places you’re visiting can save you money, share insider/local knowledge to make your visit optimal, and more, made it the most fun App.  So why wasn’t it first in my ranking?

For all the power and on-demand content available, I couldn’t easily figure out how to connect with my other friends, find an archive of my own visits, or easily ensure all my “Pings,” “Shout Outs,” and “Check Ins” were actually being documented.  But this App – once I either figure it out or it gets some bugs fixed – has real power potential.

3. Word Warp. I like to spell and I have lots of five minute gaps in which nothing productive can be accomplished.  I like to compete, and if you can play with the sound on, it has phenomenal gonging sounds in the last five seconds.  The game is simple, and so is the need to own it.

2. TweetDeck. I took my Twitterdiction to a new level at this conference because so many of the phenomenal speakers use it, and because I was at the front of the audience in terms of knowledge and use of Twitter.  This is how I came to know and follow those amazing social media power users, and the way I keep my Facebook community updated.  I like the dark screen version rather than the light version, and I track Following, Mentions, Direct Messages, and my favorite Twitter list, Good-For-A-Laugh, there.

1. Sirius/XM Radio for iPhone SKYDOCK.  I am simply astounded how much this improves the XM experience in my car.  And since the airport was two hours from home for this trip, XM made the difference between a mind-numbing trip and a frisky dance down the highway to Raleigh-Durham International Airport.  Yes, you need the cigarette-lighter-powered dock to use the App, but as a subscriber since about 2002, I am already committed.  This App and dock BLOW AWAY the sound compared to my former units, Tao MyFi, Pioneer Inno, and Delphi SkyFi3.  It clears up several cords from the armrest/cupholder area of my car and returns my cupholders to their original purpose.

And now, two bonus apps I discovered late on my trip and since I have returned:

12. Dragon Dictation.  A colleague uses the traditional Dragon software and recorder, and has found it invaluable for recording minutes and notes from meetings while traveling.  I never felt its price tag merited the investment personally, but when I found a FREE App for my iPhone it became a quick friend for me.  I might actually document all the stuff I think about while traveling now.  You need to speak clearly, and moderate your pace.  When I did, it was a homerun, with zero errors in a 20-30 word message.  Once recorded, it turns your voice into typed text, which you can then email or MMS to yourself or others.  I haven’t fully explored it, but I know it will serve me well.  This App, leveraging the iPhone’s built-in voice recording technology, represents a $200 savings over the stand-alone software/recorder package.

11. NBC Olympic Cheer. Having used Siri to find a great sports bar, Foursquare to document where I was and look for tips on enjoying the venue better, and Facebook and Tweetdeck to stay connected to my peeps online, I enjoyed the Super Bowl as much as a solo act can.  But with football season over, only the upcoming Olympics brightens my sports radar screen.  So enjoy the sheer fun of using your iPhone to provide annoying ongoing commentary and sound effects for your enjoyment.

Rousing closer: AT&T you don’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Apple.   But since you are their exclusive partner in the United States, let me simply say this: get off your lazy duffs and get the stinking 3G network up and running in MY market: Lynchburg, Virginia.  Thanks.

On January 30, 1983, Geraldine Barnes Brandon departed this life, leaving a legacy that out-shined her mortal light, which was extinguished at the age of 49.  Her four children, Kathy Archer, of Midlothian; Alvin Brandon, Jr., of Chesterfield; Kevin Brandon, of Ballwin, MO; and Matthew Brandon, of Lynchburg; son-in-law, daughters-in-law; four siblings; and a host of grandchildren honor her life and love as we strive to give more to this world than we take from it.  And thus she lives on in each of us: a light unto our path in our journey with our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Rest in peace, Nana.

This tribute will appear in the Sunday, January 31 Richmond Times-Dispatch.

2009 IN REVIEW: “ONE SMALL THING” WORKS

In 2009, I held up my end of the resolution bargain by applying my own approach to improving my fitness, and focusing on work and family.  I wanted to lose weight, and using the “One Small Thing” approach, lost net 15 pounds.  That pales in comparison to the 30 total pounds I lost by mid-May, but it far exceeds any past year’s performance compared to goal.

I wanted to do better at a new set of duties at work, and believe the results have shown I succeeded.  I also like to think I made some choices that made my family happier — vacations when I otherwise might have shrugged it off to save money;  being flexible when I might have preferred to dictate; supporting a flourishing entrepreneur/wife who dearly wanted to add business ownership to the daunting lead roles she already plays as the family Chief Operating Officer.

So, how do I follow that up?  I recommit to One Small Thing.  And second, I give less to get more.

THE NEXT CHAPTER: 2010

I hope to offer greater accountability and leadership to existing community efforts, my job, and my family without killing myself or being a total martyr in the process.  This will likely be a lifelong commitment I need to renew annually — or more frequently.  But I am going to get my butt in gear on serving those goals.

So about that second goal.

I will . . . after taking several deep cleansing breaths . . .  decline most, if not all, exciting new challenges.  This sounds counter-intuitive — and it is for me — but let me present it differently so it is clear that this is not the same as totally closing doors of opportunity.

I am going to work on serving existing obligations better.  I am not making new commitments unless I give up an existing one.  But hopefully, I will reduce my commitment level so I can spend more time working on me.  The people in my life, and the projects I have taken on — work, community service, professional organizations, and my business, brandonINK — have demanded more time and effort as they have grown.  Now they need tending.  I can’t cultivate the garden if I am always planting new seeds.

The vision I have for quality service for brandonINK, for example, means I cannot effectively manage more than the three clients I currently serve.  So I won’t!  I serve on four non-profit/community boards.  I plan to give up at least one of those, and take on deeper commitment to the remainder.  If I succeed, I will reduce my frustration level by about 4.5 million percent, and pour more effective contributions into the other two.  Impact is what matters most to me, and overcommitment was gnawing at my ability to have much impact.

I am excited about what I will be able to offer a leadership council for the local Chamber of Commerce, a high school trustee board, and a higher education trade association dedicated to benchmarking and sharing best practices throughout the advancement and alumni relations business.

Right now, I feel like a rock skipping across a pond of competing priorities, touching each lightly but ultimately leaving no trace that I had been there.  I am excited to reduce my number of commitments — giving less — while getting more out of the time I commit.  In terms of impact, I want to feel like my contributions are boulders being dropped into pools of need, setting off tremendous waves of change that are measurable and noteworthy.

So I resolve to, in Biblical terms, be faithful over a few things.

I will not seek new adventures.  The fun they promise quickly turns into an obligation vying for time I have already over-committed.  This past year, I took on a worthwhile project — academic advising — as a meaningful and fulfilling way to serve students, one of our core audiences.  It required days of training and allowed me to expand my skill set and knowledge base.  Being part of a student’s academic success is exhilarating and induces a Jordan-esque focus on performance.  And while I thrived, and believe I served my students well, it sometimes created conflicts between my “Above and Beyond” duties, and those of my core job.

The experiment probably looks like success to an outsider.  But not to me.  The internal cost to balance those two worlds effectively was much higher than the value that accrued to me or the students.  And there are others who are better suited to doing that work.

Ultimately, students, my colleagues, and our core audiences will be better served if I adopt a less-adventurous spirit.  I think I found the Tipping Point between cross-training and futility.

So I resolve to be risk-averse.

This new approach will improve my energy, focus, creativity, and effectiveness for the remaining causes.  I will make every effort to be enthusiastically available for my family and the things that are important to them.  I will make every effort to enjoy the journey more.  If I can faithfully, masterfully serve a few things, the blessings I seek may accrue in greater proportion than I could have imagined.

I resolve to use the power of LESS to gain MORE.