CRISIS

What you Focus on Expands

Do you remember when you were a kid and you wanted your first bike? You probably saw it everywhere you went, and it seemed like every kid had it except you? And it was all you could think about. We may have matured a bit since then but it’s the same with anything we place in priority in our minds today, the focus and attention to the thought causes it to expand.

This expansion effect can be in our favor or serve to our disadvantage.

One area this it proven true over and over again is in one’s values.

Do you have values? Personal values for your own life? Maybe you have value with your company?

Values are the things that you believe are important in the way you live and work. They should determine your priorities and core responses to any decision during good or bad times.

Many companies have values and sometimes, unfortunately, they are just words on a website or a wall in the corporate office. They are not in focus and therefore do not expand. This becomes most clear in times of crisis as true character is often revealed.

On the contrary, when a company and their people really know their values and live them every day, decisions are made easy at every level of the company. This includes decisions made in good times and bad times, including and most importantly, during a crisis.

My first career role was with Federal Express, later renamed FedEx. I learned early that “every package is the golden package” and their slogan that many still associate with them today is “when it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight” was very popular. Everyone knew these and it served in everyone’s daily performance. Later in my time with FedEx, the adopted the Purple Promise “I will make every FedEx experience outstanding”. Seven simple words that define their value, what is most important to them. It creates a since of ownership at every level that if they do their part, every customer experience with any service FedEx offers will be outstanding. This places the customer clearly first. In times of crisis, everyone knows these seven words and making decisions comes easy as the answer to any question is viewed through the purple promise. It makes the decision process easy especially during a crisis.

I spent time recently with Amazon as a global leader of process engineering and continuous improvement. Like FedEx, Amazon knows its values. They call them leadership principles. There are 14 and everyone lives and breathes these every day. They have become a part of the core fabric in every leader and associate. They start with them, work with them and end the day with them. I connected deeply with many and one I like best is Customer Obsession. It states “Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.” This puts the customer at the forefront of everything they do and in the answer to every question or potential change in operation.

With these strong values present in everyone at both FedEx and Amazon, decisions are made easy, especially during a crisis. Both companies have played critical roles in this current crisis and they have been able to react quickly, pivoting to address global needs and direct the team successfully towards putting the customer first.

Business will always follow values if they are kept front of mind and in focus.

What words define your values?

Integrity?

Honesty?

Excellence?

Commitment?

Reliability?

Dependability?

Teamwork?

Sustainability?

Growth?

Others?

What will you do to ensure your values are on point with your vision, mission and in the front of you mind and the minds of you team?

In a crisis, unexpected events occur. We may have created incredible business continuity plans covering everything from political disruptions to natural disaster recoveries and yet surprises always surface with no planned playbook response. COVID-19 has certainly proven that.

I close with the famous serenity prayer.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” - Reinhold Niebuhr

With strong values that are front of mind, you can focus on what you can control, expanding favor!

Never Give Up and Never Settle for Mediocrity!

YODA

“Do or do not, there is no try!”

I had no intentions of leaving Cameron International in late 2015 after the announcement of the future purchase by Schlumberger. In fact, the idea of optimizing global logistics for Cameron and Schlumberger combined was quite thrilling. Our LEXIM (Logistics Export and Import Management) team had incredible momentum and it seemed the timing was perfect to add the giant oil and gas leader Schlumberger to the mix. Unfortunately, at the same time, the price of oil was dropping dramatically, and this strategic purchase for Schlumberger became an opportunity to right size to the current demand and we understood the potential ramifications.

Oil Price $$$

Out of our control

As one door seemingly closes, another always opens and in early 2016, I had found another tremendous opportunity. Upon my departure from Cameron, my direct manager, the Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, Dan Chapman, my peer, the Director of Global Compliance and Project Logistics, Chad Johnson, and my wonderful team gifted me a beautiful clock plaque with one of my favorite sayings engraved on the front; “Do or do not, there is no try.” These words came from Yoda, the great Jedi Warrior character from the movies Star Wars. I had fully embraced the saying into my own leadership style always challenging others to achieve results and not merely try, being careful not to confuse activity for accomplishment.

Do!

There is no Try!

In honor of this May 4th, (May the 4th be with you, now best known as Star Wars Day), I wanted to share a few other fantastic leadership lessons from the great Jedi Warrior, some of which are very timely given today’s global environment.

“Fear is the path to the dark side.”

“Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering”

“Named must your fear be before banish it you can”

A leader must demonstrate mental strength and understand fear always leads to trouble. A leader must be careful to teach the importance of not letting one’s mind accept fear.

“Always in motion is the future”

Be mindful of the present. If you thought you had an idea of the future in 2020 when creating your annual plans just a few months ago, you now fully understand the meaning behind this lesson. While strategic planning is essential, it is equally important to be present, pivoting as needed to maintain progress on the vision.

“Mind what you have learned, save you it can”

Be a great servant leader always sharing and teaching others to become better than they thought possible. Join your team in the battle for the mission, serving side-by-side. Great leaders understand improvement must always continue, even in your legacy.

“May the Force be with You” Always!

Never Give Up and Never Settle for Mediocrity!

The Edge!

Eye of the Tiger!

In the midst of every crisis there is ALWAYS opportunity. We are in unprecedented times, quite challenging for many people, and yet there is tremendous opportunity. The simple difference is how you perceive it by what you allow to take root in your mind!

In the classic film collection Rocky, the main character Rocky is a boxer. At the end of the second film, Rocky is coming off an incredible victory following a rematch over the prior raining heavyweight champion of the world, Apollo Creed. Rocky was as the top of his game. His opponent, Apollo Creed, stated Rocky had the “eye of the tiger, the edge” that ultimately gained him the victory. 

In the beginning of third film, Rocky had become complacent and comfortable. And at the same time, a fiery upcoming challenger, Clubber Lang, also known as Mr. T, was going after Rocky and the title. Mr. T was awarded the opportunity and the fight was scheduled.

Minutes prior to the start of the fight, Mr. T confronted Rocky outside the locker rooms on the way to the ring. Tempers flared and bodies flew as the two fighters made their way to each other. In the mix of the scuffle, Mickey, Rocky’s trainer, was pushed aside and began to suffer a heart attack. Rocky noticed and stated he would call off the fight, but Mickey demanded Rocky go on.

Rocky was already not mentally ready for this fight and now with Mickey’s poor health in his mind, he was emotionally distracted and further unprepared to give his best.

The bell rang after Rocky got pummeled throughout round one and he went to his corner. Now in a frantic mindset, he stated, “Where is Mick? I need Mick. I need Mick. He’s too strong. I can’t keep him off. I can’t keep him off. I am losing it”. Rocky’s thoughts were negative, insecure, fearful, and desperate.

Shortly after the start of round two, Rocky was knocked out by Mr. T for the first and only time in his career.

Rocky returned to the locker room just in time to hear Mickey’s final words before he died in Rocky’s arms.

This was one of Rocky’s lowest points in his life. He was hurt, beaten, lost his first fight by knockout, and lost his beloved trainer and motivator. He was mentally conquered and done with boxing.

When the Rocky films came out, I was front and center for everyone. I played football from 5th grade into college and the Rocky character was incredibly inspirational and motivational for me. The soundtracks of the films were intense and perfect for training and pregame hype.

The second and third Rocky films came out when I was playing little league football. I played four years of little league between 5th and 8th grade. Coming off my 2nd year where my 6th grade team went undefeated, winning the championship game, we had everyone returning to repeat on our 7th grade team. As expected, our team dominated. We went undefeated in the regular season. In fact, no opponent even scored on us except for the last game and even then, it was only 7 points. We scored 41. We were by far the most dominate team in the 7th grade league looking to defend our title. We went into our first playoff game just like Rocky when he fought Mr. T for the first time, complacent, comfortable, and taking victory for granted. We got beat handedly that day by an opponent that failed to yield to our history of success. Relatively speaking, it was the most painful experience of my very young life. Football was everything to me. I lived and breathed the game.

The loss in the payoffs was devastating. I was hurt, beaten, just lost a season ending game we were “guaranteed” to win, and not returning to the championship game.

How did my 8th grade team respond? We had a great team. Highly motivated by our painful playoff loss the season prior, we were driven to succeed. We returned to our beginnings, trained harder, grew faster, practiced longer, studied further, and become smarter. We had regained our eye of the tiger, our edge. As fate would have it, we were matched up against the same team in the playoffs that defeated us the prior year, but we were not the same team. We were motivated, well prepared physically and mentally, and ready to play at our best. It was a great game, coming down to the final minutes. We won the game 14-8 on a pass play for a touchdown at the end of the game and we returned to the championship game where we won bluntly and regained our title as champions!

After Rocky’s trainer Mickey died, Rocky’s prior opponent, Apollo Creed, came back into Rocky’s life at his lowest point and challenged Rocky. Rocky told Apollo “I don’t need this no more, I, I don’t want this no more.” Apollo told Rocky “don’t back off now, make it right for yourself or you will be sorry you didn’t.” Rocky trained with Apollo, going back to his roots and regaining his eye of the tiger and ultimately defeating Mr. T in the rematch.

What I learned and experienced back in middle school from the films and in my football experiences has been incredibly powerful in my life as a leader. There will always be challenges that will present opportunities if we choose to see them. Contrasting, if you let them, the challenges will overtake your mind and your life.

So here we are in 2020. Do you remember what life was like just a few months ago? Maybe you were flying high and in your zone, perhaps feeling comfortable and on cruise control. Maybe you had big plans for 2020. Then, COVID-19 happened and the world changed. Now you might be hurt, beaten, and afraid. Perhaps your thoughts have become negative, insecure, fearful, and possibly even desperate.

Do you need to go back to the beginning?

What are you feeding your mind and allowing to take root?

It is your choice. Positivity and negativity cannot exist in your mind at the same time. Believe that you can overcome the past and these current challenges. Believe that you can be a champion!

Regain your eye of the tiger, your edge, and come out of this event more successful than ever before!

What you focus on will expand. Focus on the right things!

Never Give Up and Never Settle for Mediocrity!