I've had an interesting last few weeks; let me share them with you.
About four weeks ago, I had to acknowledge to my wife that I hadn't been feeling all that well.
I knew what it was related to. I'm diabetic, and though I'd like to forget about it, every once
in awhile it reminds me that it's still there. My readings were very high, which isn't good, and
I was feeling it.
I knew what I had to do, so I buckled down and did the right thing. Within only a few days, the
numbers were where they were supposed to be; that's really all it took. Well, I had to make sure
because I had called the doctor's office, and they'd told me to increase the amount of medication
I was on. Turns out that just changing my eating habits a little bit, I was able to turn things
around pretty quickly. And I've been able to maintain it to this day, even though I give myself
Saturdays to go crazy.
I've also had some business successes and some business setbacks. That comes with working for
yourself. When you're having successes you feel like you're on top of the world and nothing can
stop you. When you're having setbacks, all you want to do is crawl back in bed, pull the covers
over your head, and try to forget it all.
Except you can't do that. Well, you can't do it for long I should say. Eventually you have to
break out of it, change your mindset, and get it done. Or at least give it your best shot. Those
who know me know that I really do believe in what's known as the
laws
of attraction, and basically
it says you have to change your mindset to believe in what it is you want, and then you have to do
the actions necessary to help you get to where you want to be. I can't say there's been a lot of
change, but there's been some positive action, and that's not so bad.
I also got a bad haircut. It's my fault,
of course. I went to my normal barbershop, and the guy who usually cuts my hair wasn't there.
So this young guy asked if he could help, and I figured why not. I sat in the chair and he asked
me how I wanted it, and I said one word: "short." Well, it's short all right; almost nonexistent.
For the first time in my life my head is cold, even in the house with the heat on. There's not much
I can do about it except wait for it to grow back. Lucky for me, my hair has always grown fast,
so I'm not overly worried about it, but it's another change.
Many people would have gotten upset if the barber or stylist had messed up their hair. There
would be a lot of negative words and actions going back and forth. For me, I wasn't really even
in shock, until the cool air hit my head. Even with that, I decided to make my mindset positive;
I don't have to worry about brushing or combing my hair for at least a couple of weeks.
At this point in my life, even when things are bad, I have learned the skills to help me not stay
in that bad place for long. That's a miserable way to live, and the truth is that it's a tough
place for many people to get out of. I have tried to work with people who have gotten themselves
locked in a bad place here and there. Sometimes you can get them out of that place and onto doing
something positive. Other times, you're going to lose that battle, because, for them, it's a much
more comfortable place to be. It's scary to try because you don't know if you'll succeed or not.
It's hard to convince people that the theory saying "you'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't
take" is true (by the way, that's been attributed to both Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky; take
your pick).
As a leader and manager, sometimes you can't afford to wait for someone to decide for themselves
that it's time to break out of a funk. It brings you down, and it drags the department down with
them. Your actions can't be faked rah-rah actions because no one responds to that. Instead, you
lead first by example, then by action, and finally by words.
What do you do? First, no matter how bad things get for you, always remain as consistent as you
can be in your own behavior at work. Second, allow the other person to have some space to see if
they can work it out for themselves; at least a day. Third, talk to that person to see if there's
anything you can do to help them out.
Some of us have learned how to work our way through our problems. Others need a little help,
and if you're a true leader, you'll know when and how to do something. If you can motivate many,
you should be able to help motivate one.
Now if I can only find a good way to keep my head warm.