Anything.

Posted by random olio

A few months ago I finished reading: “The Advantage” by Patrick Lencioni. There was one particular quote that resonated with me. It reminds me of previous job situations and how we sometimes really do not know our bosses or employees well. Should we?

“A friend of mine worked for a management consulting firm for about six years. He was paid well, but after putting up with as much neglect and politics as he could stand, he finally decided to leave. When he was called in for his exit interview with a senior manager who had never taken an interest in him before, he was asked, ‘What could we have done to keep you here longer?’ My friend was a little stunned by the hollowness of the question. After a moment, he just smiled and replied, ‘Anything’.” (page 168)

I love this. It actually brings tears to my eyes, and for those of you that might read my blog regularly, tears do not flow that freely for me. It has to affect me either deeply, or in a way I would not normally expect. Usually the unexpected emotion means it hits a part of me that understands and relates. I wonder how many of us could say the same thing as this individual, that they could have done anything to keep us. I could count more than my fingers and my toes the number of people in my life that have felt this way. Is it because at a deep level we all want to feel valued and appreciated? Even in just the smallest of ways?

Yes. Should that be that hard to make happen in any and all organizations? No. Feeling valued and appreciated on a daily basis to me is like drinking water, when you are parched, dehydrated, thirsty, all it takes is a glass of water. It nourishes us and helps to quench our thirst. We are relieved and refreshed. A little appreciation goes a long way, it nourishes and hydrates us for a long time. What are you doing to share your gratitude and appreciation to your co-workers, employees, and even your boss? Do you think about the reciprocal potential of sharing your appreciation to leadership, peers, and direct reports? It is a two-way street.

It amazes me how easy we can reach out to another person in our life. Do something. Do anything.

Bring On: “The Motherhood”

Posted by random olio

I know I have been sharing lots of videos lately, and in the world of blogging that is considered cheating. However, I am someone who cannot resist telling others about a good thing. If it makes me laugh, think differently, or learn something new about myself then it is worth sharing. This video made me laugh. A colleague at work shared it with me and I proceeded to laugh during the entire 3 minutes. It is a perfect little rap for moms. Since Mother’s Day is coming up, I thought I would brighten your Friday, because honoring mom’s should happen more than just on a Sunday in May.

The video was created by Fiat. I love that so many companies have decided to do social commentary on issues that have nothing to do with cars. That comment was partly sarcastic, because sometimes I find it annoying, and yet in the past few years there have been great ads that make us laugh and cry (thank you Jeep and Volkswagon).

Get out your mom jeans, bring your snot stained sack, get in your SUV, and wipe off those sticky hands.

Happy Friday, and enjoy your weekend!

Her story knocked me on my ass

Posted by random olio

There are days when I love when something knocks me on my ass. When I am challenged and I think wow, I need to hone my craft and be better. A story is a way I can be wowed. It can suck me in, make me forget what is on my To-Do list, make me want to stop everything to find out what happens next. The art of the story pushes me to learn more about myself and dig deep. A few weeks ago, I read a novel called “Barefoot Season” by Susan Mallery, about a war veteran who came home after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She struggled to acclimate herself back into civilian life. In the end it was an abused dog that brought her back to normalcy. Having the need to care for an abused animal helped her heal her own wounds, both physical and emotional. Her story sucked me in. I wanted to read on. I wanted to know more. The author did an excellent job at making you forget that you had a bathroom to clean or laundry to do. It was compelling enough that I forget my surroundings and could not wait to find out how it would end. Yes, it was a chick lit book. Yes, it was cheesy, and yet I got sucked into her story, her pain, her success.

There are times when a book will knock you on your ass because it will transform the way that you view the world. You are altered. Changed. Your filter and view of life will no longer be the same. You look at your friends, family, and neighbors with a renewed lens on life. Whether from a book you read, or from the mouth of someone you know, stories take us outside of ourselves, and often put us in another’s shoes. Whether it comes from a novel or the raw realness of life, the art of story means we are never the same.

#storychangeslife

Proof that you are loved.

Posted by random olio

I recently finished reading a book called: “Proof of Heaven” by Eben Alexander. It is an interesting book. I wanted to share one of the quotes from Alexander’s book that most resonated with me:

“You are loved. Those words are what I needed to hear as an orphan, as a child who’d been given away. But it’s also what every one of us in this materialistic age needs to hear as well, because in terms of who we really are, where we come from, and where we’re really going, we all feel (wrongly) like orphans.” Page 170

The author was adopted and at one point in his life had tried to find his birth parents, only to be told they were not interested in meeting him. He felt like an orphan all over again. Yet, in many ways whether we have lost our parents or not, if we do not feel loved, the result feels orphan-like. I had a professor in college that used to tell me: “You are loved, loving, lovable, needed, wanted, and useful. Right now.” She somehow always knew when I needed to hear those words. There were times in my life (college being one of them) when I did not hear the words “I love you” too often. Yet, those were the words I craved the most. We crave them when we need them the most. When you know you are loved, when you feel it, you do not question it. When you do not feel loved, you feel alone, on your own, and sometimes out in the wilderness.

It would be easy to say that you should know who you are, love yourself, and only then can you love others. That might be true, but before we can truly hold the comfort and confidence of who we are, we have to know, understand, and feel what love truly is, and what it feels like. Each individual understands what being loved feels like, some of us might have had the experience span our entire lifetime, and it might have been more intermittent for others, but we could not have continued living without understanding and knowing how being loved feels.

I often wonder if those committing evil acts today truly understood love? If they did, would they take a different road? If anger, misunderstanding, and revenge were replaced with love, the world would be a very different place.

What do you think?

Ship my baby. Huh?

Posted by random olio

Two viral videos that made me laugh. I could not help but be sure to share them with you. The first reminds me of sixth grade. The video itself does not remind me of school, but the word “ship” does. Ship, huh? A strange word to recollect from my past. It was sixth grade Social Studies, we were studying the 1600’s or some time in that range a few hundred years ago. We were each given a topic to do a report on and then we had to present our findings in front of the class the following week. I was given the topic of: ship building. Boring right? Well I did my research and my report and then it was my turn to present to the class. All I remember is that during my entire presentation every time I said ship building it always sounded to me like shit building. I cannot remember what it sounded like to my classmates, but I was mortified, and I thought it was a little funny.

Which is why Kmart’s recent video: “Ship my pants” made me laugh and remember sixth grade Social Studies. For more background on their video, read this Fast Company article.

It plays to our childhood humor, but it is clever. As is Evian’s “Baby & Me” video. It just launched over the weekend, so you might see it on television (that is if you ever watch commercials). Over 400 babies were cast for this video, and in May they release an app “Baby & Me” where facial recognition will show the user’s baby face.