40 and 40…

Practice 40 was magic. The kman crazies listened to a live version of “40″ as sung by U2 and then extrapolated why and how. Most focused simply on the how. Frankee focused on the why.

Bono’s idea, remember, of hell on earth was being surrounded by a bunch of yes men. He believes that he is “only as good as the arguments he gets;” kman shares Bono’s belief. His team is slowly learning to argue with their lead singer, if you will. This is never easy and very rare in the world of work. kman’s crazies are learning how to challenge themselves and each other. They are building momentum to take on their King. Someday…

Today, however, LKZ, Reika, and Cam got some clarity. I reminded Jeremy to drop the disclaimer. He already had. TZ torched his mask and I challenged him to completely nuke the bastard. kman pushed and I pushed him to be more specific, concrete, and actionable. All in all we invested an hour becoming ONE in the most virtuous sense of the word. Today, I gained energy from this team of truth tellers as I headed into a den of lies. Today, one team got better and one other continued to spin some kinda shit. The same, most likely, goes for you and yours. There are no neutral investments when it comes to you and your days; either you are getting better or you are getting worse.

Few, it turns out, sing their song. Few simply put one foot in front of the other. Few sing a new song. Few author their new song while the current song is part of the top 40. Few, make their footsteps firm. Few, set their feet upon the rock. Few.

Thank God for kman and the crazies. I thank God for kman and his crazies. I know that I will sing this song on and on and on. It’s so good to NOT be anxious about “how long.”

40 and 40 is the ONE you want. 40 and 40 is all about purpose and practice. Practice 40 and Psalms 40. Today, this powerful “and” carried me through a tough afternoon. Sorry for this “long piece of vomit” but I feel better already just putting pen to paper, my friend. 40 and 40 brought clarity to kman and his crazies. 40 and 40 brought clarity to me.

40 and 40…

Moving from belief…

Leaders challenge their team because they believe in them. Most managers make demands out of frustration. You will always be some kinda mixture of the two. Challenge from belief more than you demand from frustration. Your team will mostly catch the emotions behind your belief or frustration. Whatever your message, they will mostly miss it. Emotions, remember, are meant “to move” us and that they do. Your words, not so much. Funny, huh.

What emotions are your teammates catching from Y.O.U.?

If you don’t know, just study their movement; the ones moving from belief will have a litte extra giddyup in their step. The ones moving out of frustration caused fear, move just a bit slower; kinda like they’re measuring their movement to avoid another misstep. Emotions are contagious. What’s your team catching from you?

Moving from belief is the one you want spreading…

Hyper-stress...

Reblogged from BUILT TO LEAD:

We began with the feet in the TRX and sawed on our elbows. Sixty seconds later we took thrity and then we rinsed and repeated. This time we sawed from the push up position. Thirty seconds later we were back sawing from our elbows after crawling out from the anchor point to as far as we could stretch the TRX. This felt as if somebody was trying to pull your little intensines out of your belly button.

Read more… 513 more words

Ran into a bunch of this today. A worthy reminder...

Second nature…

Yesterday three different clients asked me the same question. They wanted help with a tough relationship that is driving them nuts. In each case I reminded my client that they were in fact, nuts.

Each was attempting to change another adult in their life. Regardless the relation, this is a recipe for becoming mentally ill. You cannot make another adult change. You can, however, change your relationship with them. Remember, mental health 101 is all about focusing on what you can control; yourself. Naturally we are all self centered and other controlling. Watch any normal babies and you’ll see it loud and clear…

Second nature is the one you want. Build yourself into an adult that is not a baby and not normal. Become CORE centered and self controlling. This will require you to STOP focusing your limited attention on fixing other adults. And, instead make changes within you, which by the way are within your control. Your relationships will get better at the same rate you do…

Build your CORE. Build your self discipline. STOP acting like a baby. Life is hard. Get on with it. I feel better already…

Marry the mundane…

I am confident that I know more then most about what creates and sustains high performance in individuals, teams, and leaders. And, I am obsessed with deepening my understanding in this endeavor. It makes no cents or sense to reread, rewrite, and invest endless hours mastering a craft that next to none will ever notice. It makes no sense to most.
Makes perfect sense to me…

Masters gain mastery by falling in love with the mundance, the nuance, and getting comfortable on the long, barren plateau that gets ever longer the higher one climbs regardless the aim. The masses all enjoy the gig when it’s young and the dizzying heights are being scaled seemingly with an ever graduating stride. Few stick once the newness and excitement wanes.

Masters keep working the problem. Masters practice and practice some more. Their practice looks boring to most. Their practice makes no sense to outsiders and casual observers. Makes perfect sense to the master.

Why so few masters in the world of professional work?

Visibility over vision is at the root. Well intentioned professionals get sidetracked because they chase an external scorecard. We overvalue metrics and measurement. We overvalue measurable progress. Vision over visibility requires an internal matrix that solves the problem, significantly, even when the external scoreboard sees nothing. Look back at the why behind your failed attempts to sustain something you know you want and you’ll see it. You, like so many I see every day, simply lost hope somewhere on the long plateau toward the top. And, the sad truth is you can’t remain there. Overtime you slide, slowly, and skills erode. Energy wanes. Fact.

Masters are rare because masters marry the mundane. Their vision makes the mundane meaningful. Vision over visibility is a great thought from Bono that I’ve extrapolated to our work. This discovery came to me in the mundane hours of studying the why behind the lyrics and the band. Make your opus your vision. Choose to make it your own. And, once you do, don’t forget to expect the mundane.

Marry the mundane, my friend. Marry the mundane…

Faux and FOR…

The kman crazies met at the Gramercy this morning for a 30 minute 3P (push,pull,plank) followed by a 3 mile run. They do this every Tuesday. I refer to them as the “faux p” because they aren’t the real deal. About midway through today’s 3P, after watching them all collapse for something like the umteenth time, I renamed them more appropriately. Their new name? Faux shit. They earned it.

After our workout and some yuks around the couch, we began practice 39. We listened to a little U2, found the melody line, and extrapolated it to our work and life. We asked curious questions and mixed in a few challenges that sounded more like leading questions. We learned to not mix our messages. We learned when we’re unclear; practice being curious. When we think we’ve got it; challenge ourselves and each other with CCD statements. This was a freakin’ magic practice as 7 builders were challenged a bit beyond their comfort zone.

We wrote early and often what we learned and their learning was miles from normal. There’s a reason kman is on the cover of CEO mag. He and his team are not normal; they’re a bit cra cra, as Krit would say. They don’t 3P so well, but they do build the best communities in cbus. Don’t take my word for it. Go to livekaufman.com and see for yourself. Try to see beyond the “faux” pictures of 600 Goodale and catch their vision of what is soon to be. They are the real deal, you’ll see. Moving on…

And, as this team of crazies keep asking curious questions AND challenging themselves and each other, the more they are becoming who they really are. They are becoming the original they already are. Funny how hard it is to remove the mask and just be who you are. Very cool to catch a glimpse of the magic in the making. Very cool.

The kman crazies are FOR real…

Conflict, not false harmony, is your real friend...

Reblogged from BUILT TO LEAD:

Today's politically correct culture produces an abundance of teams with "false harmony." These teams look good on the outside. They never fight in public. They do not know how to fight in private. They avoid real conflict. These teams underperform as a result. I see this throughout my practice and you will too if you pay attention.

Here's why this is the norm...do not miss this.

Read more… 412 more words

Wrote this 6.5 years ago. As true today...