Message of the Day - Stretched Too Thin?

Good Morning,

 

Like most mornings I get up and start a little reading to get my mind active for the day. As I laid there reading, two of our five cats come up to me wanting attention, one on the floor meowing up at me and the other on the bed behind me. So I reach down and start petting the one cat, Ghost, and with my other hand, start petting Spock (yes, the cat’s name is Spock) who is behind me as I try to continue reading, feeling like a pretzel. As I finished the page I was on (with both of my hands occupied) I start thinking of ways to flip the page: maybe with my nose or blowing slightly on the book. I did not want to stop the purring engines by me.

 

It’s at times like these that I realize that I am spread too thin; in this case literally, sprawled out on the bed doing three things at once. And notice one of the three activities suffers (maybe more if you asked the cats). Multi-tasking is a skill and some folks have it spades and others can’t walk and chew bubblegum at the same time. (I can, because I have tried it years ago).

 

The more you do at once, the less quality goes into each job. If you are in a conversation in a busy restaurant and are talking and looking around at the same time, your conversation suffers. I know because of the angry looks I get from Karen when my speech slows and sometimes I lose my train of thought as my eyes scan the room while talking to her.

 

I try not to multi-task, so what I have learned to do is to do one thing at a time, and change tasks, mid task, to move several of them along, but only one at a time. If that does not help you, then to get a job done right, focus on that task, and then move to the next. In any event, if you feel stressed by doing too much at once, then realize that is a big hint to slow down, regroup and focus.

 

Its okay to do one task at a time if can put more quality into it. Of course you may have deadlines to meet and other real world distractions, but you have a better chance of success when you focus.

 

This will help if you feel stretched too thin.  Sorry got to go another cat wants attention.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

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Message of the Day - What have we learned...

Good Morning,

 

Welcome new recipients!

 

Last week my friend Dr. Hope Stith and I enjoyed lunch to celebrate the completion of my MBA. During the conversation, Hope asked me if there were any trends in the books I had read over the years. You would figure after reading some 240 self help, business, leadership, spiritual, religious, management, economics, etc., books that there would be some patterns in the message they give. And after reflecting on this for a few days here is what I have learned (in no particular order):

 

1.       Don’t fear failure. Failure is learning opportunities for future growth. All great people have failed in the past. It is those folks who have not known failure in their lives who are in more danger than those who have failed often, yet learned and grew from those opportunities.

 

2.       Honesty is still the best policy. If you cannot walk your talk, then fewer and fewer people will be willing to listen and follow you, no matter what you do. Another term for this is Do What You Will Say You Will Do. And if you cannot follow through, let someone know as soon as possible and why.

 

3.       Emotions are good. Understand how you feel in all situations. Your emotions are more accurate than a lot of scientific equipment (ye old gut check). Don’t let your emotions run rampant, but don’t hide them or ignore them either.

 

4.       Help others. There is no better way to improve yourself than by helping others. Teach others and you will learn more. Serve others and you will feel the greatest high and boost in morale and self esteem. Giving is better than receiving. The self centered folks who want others to serve them are usually bitter inside or grow to be that way over time.

 

5.       Have fun. Laugh a lot. Gut wrenching laughs and ear to ear smiles help you live longer. People who laugh and can laugh at themselves are better able to enjoy life and take on the challenges that it throws at them. Have a sense of humor. Not everyone is out to get you (unless they are, but smile about it when it happens, and then deal with it).

 

6.       Continual learning. Read a book, or many. Go to class, read articles, listen to people, go to museums. Do something to keep your mind active and growing. The more that you learn, the better you become in life. Most skills and knowledge are transferable across your life. What you learn will help you in many areas of your life. The moment you stop learning and growing is the moment you start shrinking and dying.

 

7.       Be yourself. There are no molds to fill. You can follow heroes and try to be like great figures in history and religion, but ultimately, you can only be yourself. Focusing too much on being someone else will only fail in the end, as you can only be you. In religion, it is said to be Christ-like, not to be Christ. So be yourself.

 

It is amazing, but as I go through these books, these lessons seem to come through again and again, even in economics books and religious books. So many authors saying ultimately the same message in many different ways. It is kind of profound.

 

I look forward to the different twists on these messages as they add to my knowledge and skill and help me grow. This is what I have learned.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

 

 

Message of the Day - Just Who Will You Be?

Good Morning,

My current read is Maria Shriver’s new book ‘Just Who Will You Be? : Big Question. Little Book. Answer Within.’ (http://www.amazon.com/Just-Who-Will-You-Question/dp/1401323189). Maria Shriver, well know TV Journalist, went through a crisis of identity and worked it out for herself. How she did it is captured in this gem of a book. I picked up the book on Friday after I found out about Dr. Randy Pausch. I was a little down and wanted to find something positive, and well, a book seemed to fit the bill, and I hit home with this one.

In ‘Just Who Will You Be?’ Maria talks about the pressures of being famous, of being a Kennedy, of being married to Arnold Schwarzenegger, of being the First Lady of the State of California, of being a driven TV Journalist. When her husband became Governor, she was asked to resign from her NBC job to avoid potential conflict of interest. She became a housewife. When asked by her nephew to give his high school commencement address, she struggled with what she could say to these students that they would want to hear from her.

Through the process of creating the speech, and poem within the speech, she learned a lot about herself. All of this is shared within the book.

She learned that it is not so much what she is, but who she is. Not what she does, but how she feels.

We are a composite of our feelings. When we do something that we like, we feel better about ourselves. When we do something we do not like, we feel less about ourselves. Our feelings define us for the moment, as with all things, our feelings change and so does life.

I really enjoyed the little book, as it made me think about myself and what makes me feel good about myself. Writing this email makes me feel good. Doing my mentoring sessions makes me feel good. Helping others makes me feel good, spending time with my family makes me feel good and so does completing tasks, like reading a book, or functions at work or chores at home.

Spend time to get to know your own feelings a bit better, and if you get a chance, find out just who will be you.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

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Message of the Day - The Teacher has passed but the lessons remain

Good Morning,

 

As many of you may have heard, this last Friday, July 25^th, Dr. Randy Pausch lost his battle with Pancreatic Cancer and passed away. This event may have gone by unnoticed as it sadly does with the thousands of others who lose their battles with cancer. Then there was ‘The Last Lecture’. Delivered last year where Dr. Pausch shared information on achieving you childhood dreams. This lecture turned into a book and also turned into a phenomenon.

 

My favorite line by Dr. Pausch, the greatest takeaway from the last lecture is this:

 

“Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things”.

 

I have run into many brick walls in my life, and I expect I will continue to do so. Now when I hit that brick wall, I ask myself, ‘how badly do I want this?’ And if I want it bad enough, I dust myself off and find a way to go around that brick wall, climb over it, dig under it or if need be, break through it.

 

Any of you who have not seen the Last Lecture, please indulge yourselves, it is well worth it the time (about 1 hour). You will see a lot of you in the lecture, and you will see some of what you want to be.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

 

The Teacher may have passed on to give lectures in Heaven, but his lessons are still here for you and me to learn and grow from.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

Message of the Day - From Many There is Still The One

Good Morning,

 

America has been called the Melting Pot, where many people from many cultures and backgrounds, bringing many different values and experiences have come together to form our one nation. We have become powerful because of our diversity. In recent years we are seeing increasing change, both in speed of change and scope of change. These changes, since they happen in different places and in different groups or organizations breeds even further diversity.

 

We are also seeing a renewed push for normalcy (whatever Normal is these days, and don’t worry, Normal will be different tomorrow). Pop culture and the media have promoted what is desirable to wear, to eat, to play, to drive, to live, to wear, and sadly to believe. With the increase in avenues of media, there is increased pressure to become more like the images and icons promoted. Character assassinations happen daily, and our values, beliefs and even icons and heroes are often torn to shreds before our eyes. There is a strong push to be what others want us to be.

 

In the mad rush of life which is today, try not to lose yourself. You may be part of a group, an organization, a family, but you are also you. You have YOUR values. You have YOUR beliefs.

 

Never forget that.

 

It is okay to disagree with popular opinion. It is okay to be the dissenting voice. So long as you provide your views in a civil and ethical manner, you should never give them up with one exception. If you see that your opinion or view or belief is flawed and a new belief or view or belief would now better serve you, then change to it. There is nothing wrong with changing your opinion.

 

We all are learning and growing, and that means that we will learn things that may challenge our views, beliefs and values. It is bound to happen at some point that we will change what we believe. And so long as we do this for ourselves, that is fine.

 

Learn and grow, and never lose who you are in the process. In the many, there is still the one. YOU.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

Message of the Day - The Roaring Lion within YOU

Good Morning,

 

Welcome new recipients!

 

I am back to reading “Credibility” by James Kouzes and Barry Posner, and have come across a section on self-confidence. The authors detail how competence, the ability and knowledge on how to do something is different from self-confidence, which is the belief in self that one can do something that they actually know how to do.

 

Confidence, like everything else has its place in our lives. Too much as well as too little is dangerous. The balance to strive for is matching your knowledge and skills to your belief in yourself that you can use your knowledge and skill. People who are too confident believe they can do more or know more than they actually do in a particular situation. People with too little confidence are the opposite and do not feel they have as much knowledge and skill as they truly do.

 

In “Credibility” the authors list four steps for building self confidence: Mastery, Observation of others, Encouragement and Stress.

 

Mastery is reinforcing what you already know. It is the way we get to Carnegie Hall: Practice, Practice Practice. As you get nail down your knowledge and skill, your confidence will improve as you can do the task in your sleep.

 

Observation of Others is seeing others doing the same task or activity and seeing the outcome. When you see others succeed, you help yourself see that you too can do the task, assuming you have the right knowledge and skill. By seeing others, you reduce your own level of stress and improve your own confidence. If they can do it, so can I.

 

Encouragement is powerful. When others believe in you or need you, your super powers come into play. Encouragement could be a cheering section yelling out “You can Do it!!” or it could be your clarity and focus giving you your drive and energy. When you feel encouraged by others, whether by their support or your desire to do for them (e.g., I must do this for my kids), you improve your confidence.

 

Stress is a wildcard. We have stress, and we have more of it every day as the world becomes faster and smaller. Personal problems, finances, and other factors come to beef up our stress. The more stressed we are, the less we are ourselves. I remember being so stressed out one time that I was acting nearly robotic just to get through the day, because most of my attention was on the stressful situations. By finding ways to reduce stress, you in fact improve your self confidence.

 

Let the roaring lion within you out by building your confidence. See if any of these steps helps you.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

Message of the Day - Focus & Clarity

Good Morning,

 

In talking with one of my associates yesterday, I was impressed with their newfound clarity and focus on their life purpose and goals. They had been through a rough spell and came out of it renewed and determined. This determination to improve their live and the lives of their loved ones was powerful to experience. You could see it in their eyes.

 

This person had not fundamentally changed from last week. What changed was being able to see clearly what was truly important to them, and to be able to take that clear view and focus on it intently. At that point in time, the problems and frustrations of the world melted away. These distractions ceased to have power over my associate and life instantly became more gratifying.

 

Better yet, with a physical image, a picture of a loved one, as the focus, all my associate has to do is look at that picture, and the clarity and focus return.

 

What a powerful tool to help us. If we all could find something that could serve as our rally cry or our ultimate goal, we could look at it when we were confused or frustrated and the clarity and focus would return. The confusion and frustration would fall behind us and we would know what we had to do, as clear as day.

 

If you do not have something which empowers your drive and gives you focus and clarity, take some time to think about what is truly important to you. Ask yourself some questions:

 

Why do you work so hard?

Who are you doing this for?

What is your ultimate goal?

Who is your inspiration?

 

When you find what is truly important to you, get a picture of it and put it in your office or cube or somewhere you can look at it again and again when you need to re-ignite that clarity and focus. My focus is my family and helping them each member of my family achieve their own goals.

 

What brings clarity and focus in your life? Do you have a picture of it to help remind you daily?

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

 

 

Message of the Day - YTCO

Good Morning,

 

As I continue reading ‘Breakfast with Fred” I came across a section on accountability. Fred referenced the Confederate General, J.E.B. Stuart, who signed all of his letters to General Robert E. Lee with: Yours To Count On (YTCO).

 

Think about that:  Yours To Count On.

 

That is quite powerful. I would feel a lot more comfort in that signature than Sincerely Yours or others. And these where not just words, J.E.B. Stuart worked hard to live up to those words. He strived to be accountable in everything he did. Being human, we are not perfect, but with practice, focus and dedication we can come close in areas where we excel.

 

I strive to be a man of my word, but I am not perfect and have failed to do what I promised more than I would have liked. This does not make me a failure, it gives me a drive and focus to try harder to deliver what I promise and learn better to not promise what I cannot deliver. As I grow older and hopefully wiser I am moving away from over promising and under delivering to under promising and over delivering. It is not that I am making fewer promises, but I am learning to stop making promises that I cannot always deliver.

 

Going forward, I would love to be able to sign my letters and posts with Yours To Count On. I work every day to become a better person, and to over deliver on my promises. I will get there.

 

I continue to meet new people and see my existing friends also becoming more accountable in life. This growing accountability will help everyone. Imagine your life with people around you who all could sign their letters or emails to with Yours To Count On and you know they mean it.

 

It all starts with improving our own accountability, and learning to over deliver on our promises, and make sure we only make promises we can deliver on.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

 

Message of the Day - Routines of Yesteryear

Good Morning,

 

My current read is ‘Breakfast with Fred’ by Fred Smith, Sr. (http://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Fred-Smith/dp/0830744762) a book based on a website www.breakfastwithfred.com where people asked Fred questions, and he provided thought-provoking answers. Fred Smith was a mentor to an entire generation of leaders including Zig Ziglar, John Maxwell, Ken Blanchard and others. The book is laid out with Fred talking about 52 different topics, followed by a leader who used Fred’s mentoring guidance in that area.

 

In the eighth section Fred talks about routines and rituals. You know; the codified step-by-step processes we undertake because it is tradition, or that’s how it’s always been, or just plain accepted. Like the way you plan for a meeting or event, the way you prepare a specific report, or repair a specific system or machine, or how you deal with others.

 

Fred asked how often we have routines we follow that were set up some time ago to achieve some purpose or goal which is no longer valid or necessary. I remember working for a company which had a form which needed approval by several key people. In getting the form filled out I had to track down people who no longer worked in same department, or had anything to do with the process at all, but their signoff was still ‘required’. I ended up wasting nearly and hour or so of my time alone each time the form needed to be filled out. I questioned why some names were necessary and told that is the way it always has been. How wasteful!

 

A bigger question is do any of us have any routines or rituals we still use or follow in our personal lives which we really don’t need to or should not any more?  Are there routines we have in our lives which served us well years ago, but today serve no purpose?

 

How much time and frustration would we ease up in our lives if we changed or even stopped those routines?  How much ‘Margin’ would we get back in our lives?

 

Give your daily activities a good once over and see if you have any outdated or unnecessary routines and rituals of yesteryear.

 

Enjoy

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

Message of the Day - Time is Running Out

Good Morning,

 

In my current read “Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded lives” by Richard A. Swenson, MD (http://www.amazon.com/Margin-Restoring-Emotional-Financial-Overloaded/dp/1576836827) I am finding out what has happened to all of the time we used to have and how little we have of it today. Dr. Swenson calls Margin that time we have to decompress and relax from our everyday lives. When we run out of that time, we live in what he calls a ‘marginless’ state.

 

Marginless is holding a screaming baby when the phone rings and you have to cook dinner all at the same time.

Margin is having someone to take care of the baby, an answering machine to take the calls and someone offering to bring home dinner.

 

The main cause of us having less and less time these days is actually progress. Those time saving devices and technologies and services that are becoming more and more readily available have secretly snatched up our time. We work more hours, and do more work during those hours. Could you imagine 20 years ago eating lunch at your desk while you respond to multiple emails while posting a message to your blog and taking a few phone calls on your office line and one or more cell phones meanwhile chatting with a few coworkers who walk by?

 

The speed of communication has sped up for sure, we can communicate the world over in seconds, but instead of giving us more time to communicate by shortening the amount of time to type and send an email, we are hit with more communications then ever before. Imagine if for every email you received, deleted or filtered, you got a letter in the mail. Sure the postal service would love the added postage, but we would need a pick up truck to hold the amount of mail. I know I get between 200-400 messages a day. Poor mail man.

 

Bigger, faster, easier has made our lives busier and busier. The plan seems to have backfired… All of these conveniences from lighting to text messages have each taken away bits of our time. Think about it, if there were no lights, then we would go to sleep when it got dark, not 2 AM. Interesting…

 

We need to learn to bring balance back into our lives. We need to get more margin in our lives. We need to give ourselves some more quiet time. Turn off the TV more often, read a book, go for a walk. Turn off the cell phone and walk away from it. With your kids, have a Pioneer Night and use no electricity, you will sleep better and longer.

 

Proactively give yourself some time to de-stress and calm down.

 

Enjoy

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Message of the Day - That's What It Means to Me

Good Morning,

 

In conversations with kids you often hear some of the funniest and the most profound statements. In talking with some girls at a school function about some words and their meanings, one girl came up with the weirdest definition for a simple word. The other girls tried to correct her, but she said ‘To me, this is what it means’. I was both surprised at the blatant lack of reality and proud at her ability to stand up against convention all at once. I hope she learns when to use this skill to help her in the future, and when not to, because driving 75 MPH in a 30 MPH zone because ‘to her’ that is okay would not fly with the judge.

 

While this above situation is a bit extreme, it happens to all of us in our daily lives to some degree or another. Two people look at the same picture or witness the same event, and they remember different images or happenings. When trying to communicate with each other, this can cause some confusion between people.

 

Here is where communication is key. People need to confirm with each other what they seeing or thinking. Without the confirmation, you will run into little hiccups like Karen and I had one night, it is quite comical now. I brought the laundry downstairs, and she told me to put the basket on the washer, so I picked up the basket and put it on the washer. She told me no, put the basket on the washer, so I picked up the basket again and put it back down. Now red faced, Karen said no, and took the basked and emptied it on the washer. I did not understand what she wanted and we both were getting increasingly irritated. Turns out she was saying put the clothes on the washer and I was hearing put the basket on the washer, or that’s what she just told me when I wrote this message.

 

Anyway, that’s what it meant to me!

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

 

 

Message of the Day - Truth Vs. Lies

Good Morning,

 

We are taught that honesty is the best policy when we are kids. Through the course of our childhoods we are also shown the merits of little white lies. Before long we see people sharing blatant lies as a matter of course through out their days. In the business world, we hear information and reports and know that some of this information is not true. People are taught at work to tell their managers what they want to hear, not the truth. So, when bosses request updates on projects, and get purposefully wrong information (often from messengers who were once shot for telling the truth). Yet, isn’t honesty the best policy?

 

Okay, not everyone has lived this life, or acts this way in their day to day work-lives, but it is happening, sadly. Why do people not give the truth when asked at work or at home?

 

Is it because they have something to hide? Is it because bad information is not received well, and people presenting the ugly facts often get taken to task for sharing them? Is it because bosses want to look good and have their departments and teams look good, so they flub a few numbers and hide a few facts? Is it to protect a workforce who will be downsized if they show they are producing too well? Is it because people want to be the subject of praise for great work and hate having to explain dismal results?

 

These are just some of the possible reasons.

 

Honesty, while painful at times is still the best policy. As Jim Collins states in “Good to Great” that we must confront the brutal facts if we are to be successful. Embracing truth is the path to success, although many will not want to hear about it, realize that those who try to blur the truth and hide the facts will eventually fail.

 

Be strong, be honest, and uphold the truth.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

Message of the Day - Do we really understand the goals we want to achieve?

Good Morning,

 

My current read is Captain Michael Abrashoff’s newest book “It’s Our Ship” (http://www.amazon.com/Its-Our-Ship-No-Nonsense-Leadership/dp/0446199664). I really like his books. He has a great way of relaying key information on all different parts of leadership and teamwork.

 

One part I covered talked about achieving goals with your team or department and a common pitfall. Captain Abrashoff points out that while the goal is given to the team, it is not broken down to a level understood by them. For example, if the goal is to increase company sales by 20% over the next year, that may seem simple to the leadership. Sales were at XYZ, and next year, we want them to be 20% higher than XYZ. For the team member, that still may be confusing. How so?

 

What does the team member have to do to increase sales by 20%? Until it is broken down to them about increasing the number of cold calls, or adding an additional sales appointment each day, or learning to sell different products or services, targeting higher margin clients, etc., they will not truly understand the overall goal.

 

That is, until they can see how they can get it done, they will not be able to truly support it.

 

This happens in everyday life. We give out goals and targets to our teams and coworkers, and they seem crystal clear to us. The team members cheer the new goal, and then leave wondering what the goal truly means, what changes will it incur to their lives, etc. They can try working harder, which is great, but until they understand what the goal means to them, they will not be full supporters of the goals or targets.

 

Be sure to explain what the goals mean to everyone on the team, in their own terms, and you will get better supporters of the goal, and increase the chances of achieving it!

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

Message of the Day - The Big Trip Accomplished with Lessons Learned

Good Morning,

 

I am back in Louisville after an action packed 4^th of July weekend! As many of you know I was preparing, with my sister, to bring my Mom back from Mexico to Louisville, KY. I am happy it is over (we arrived safely last night), and a new phase of our lives has started. This trip has consumed my mind and spare moments of thought for the last month. (I thank everyone who heard me endlessly rant about the trip for bearing with me). Below are some bits of wisdom or lessons learned that are fresh on my mind from the trip.

 

• When I checked the weather report, it showed 50% or more chance of Thunderstorms over the entire trip (From San Antonio, TX, to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, to Houston, TX, to Texarkana, TX to Nashville, TN to Louisville). I admit, I whined about that. It turned out that there were one or two thunder bumpers, but for the most part, it was mostly a rainless drive. Prepare for the worst and be happy when it does not happen.

 

• I was not sure where I was going to meet my Mom, Sister and her boyfriend in Mexico. I looked at maps, and called the local visitors bureau, but kept fretting. They found an easy to find hotel on a main road, and sure enough, it was easy to find. Sometimes you do not have to know everything, and can rely on others to lead the way.

 

• Driving a rental minivan full of 4 people, a dog and cat in kennels and back filled from floor to roof with stuff up to the border crossing with my Mom not having been in US for over 8 years, I expected us to be moved to secondary and have the vehicle disassembled. When we came to the guard, I told him the story of why we were there, showed him all of our paperwork, including the note from the car rental company saying it was okay for me drive that van into Mexico. I told him about my Mom’s health, and when he came around to look at my Mom, she (looking like someone who has dropped a lot of weight in a short period of time) said something goofy which accentuated my point. My honesty and somewhat clear explanation of this weird situation at the border helped us go through without a hitch. Honesty is the best policy.

 

• During our drive out of Laredo TX along US 59 we hoped to reach George West (about 2 hours away from Laredo, and 4 hours from Houston). We stopped in Freer, TX for something to eat, and promptly found ourselves on Texas route 44 (we don’t know how we lost US 59, it just changed….). Having followed Karen’s advice, I had a Trip Tik from AAA along with several maps and guidebooks. Using the maps, we found an alternative way to our destination, and stayed in George West that evening. It pays to research and prepare for what you have to do, because when trouble rears its head, it is those who are prepared who will have the least trouble dealing with the situation.

 

• I like playing the bubble burst game on my pocket pc. It has some strategy and luck elements and helps clear my mind. On the week leading up to the trip, I had one game where I kept starting to play, but did not commit to a single move because I did not see anything of them bringing me the high scores. After about 10 attempts over the course of several days (I play two to three times a day or so) I realized that in my attempt to get a high score, I had no score, having taken no actions. You have to take that first step and then make the most of it or else you just sit there at the starting line.

 

• During one of the stretches of road, I called a friend who happened live out there (many hours from my home). It was a short hello, how are you. He gave me a heads up on some construction further down the road and thanked me for the call. When you are out in the middle of nowhere, you may often find that if you look around, you really are not alone.

 

Enjoy and thank you all for your prayers and thoughts.

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

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Message of the Day - the Power of Culture

Good Morning,

 

Continuing in my reading of “The Carrot Principle”, I came across a section on culture. We hear a lot about the importance of culture and there are some wonderful people, like our friend Kirk Weisler (www.kirkweisler.com) who share many ways to build, repair and maintain a great company culture, but sometimes folks may not understand why a strong culture is important to the success of a company.

 

In my MBA program I learned that most mergers between companies fail. The number has been reported as 2/3rds or more fail. A lot of the reasons behind why they fail have been listed as different infrastructures, technology, the cultural diversity of where these companies are from (e.g., a company in Japan merging with a company in Mexico). Most of these sound like reasonable reasons, but reading this section in the Carrot Principle really struck a chord with me.

 

The authors stated that most mergers and acquisitions fail due to the inability of different internal company cultures to mesh or work well together, they often clash. The forcing together of two cultures means that both cultures, even if highly successful cultures, will force them to make changes and changes to cultures can be devastating.

 

Early in my Dot.Com career, e-STEEL had an amazing culture. We were creative, energetic and driven to make the company a success. The leadership pushed the technology and the achievement. When reality set in that the investment capital would not last forever, and would disappear faster the longer we did not bring in a profit, the leadership changed its tune. Productivity and reducing costs became the nature of the game. The culture was devastated. I remember at the first all hands meeting discussing the change, someone asked ‘how are we going to go back to the culture we had before’. The answer was simply ‘we weren’t’. And then the place became an entirely different animal to work in. Many people left, others were downsized, and that driven creative culture now worked in a frantic pace to stay away from the chopping block.

 

All companies need to be profitable, but they also need a strong culture which supports this productivity.

 

What are you doing to help make sure your culture is strong and vibrant?

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!