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Week 36: Leadership Conference Week & Creating Magic Moments

Greetings all and thanks for tuning in again!

I’m moving the publish date to Wednesdays as that now meshes with my schedule better. Apologies if you are a Tuesday kind of person.

Leadership

It’s leadership conference week at work.

And perhaps contrary to popular opinion, I actually like this kind of stuff. Aside from the chance to interact with peers and exchange ideas, it’s a chance for serendipity.

A couple years ago was my first one of these virtual leadership offsites, and I was excited for it.

I was showered and dressed in company gear for the 7:30am kickoff.

Upon signing in, I noticed that nobody had their cameras on. Alarm bells started going off in my head. This was a chance for…for something.

The keynote speaker that year was Seth Godin, which had me geeking out a bit. I even got to ask a question, on camera, in front of 500 leaders in my company. The only other person who did so was a senior vice president.

Interestingly enough, I was a in breakout room with that same senior VP the next day and happened to have a pointed discussion where we agreed on some key points in people leadership. I followed up after the conference and a mentor relationship was formed, far above my weight class.

In the couple years since I’ve learned a great deal from that senior leader.

All because I turned my stupid camera on.

Philosophical Dad Stuff

It’s been a few weeks now and he’s still saying it.

My youngest child is still saying his favorite moment of the day is eating cookies in the sunshine.

The only thing is, we did this 3 weeks ago now.

I guess some things stick out more than others. When I ask my kids what their favorite part of each day is, I’m almost always gratified and fulfilled by their responses.

But not always. That same sweetheart kid also told me his favorite part of the day on Sunday was punching his brother on the trampoline.

One good takeaway is we definitely need to eat more cookies in the sunshine.

And to create more memorable times to talk about for weeks after the fact.

Challenge accepted.

Couch to Ultramarathon…and Beyond

We’re in the middle of week 3 for 100k training and it’s getting real fast. But I’m also really getting faster, so I guess there’s that.

Each morning comes and I head out for another run. Progress can feel slow, even if the data suggests otherwise.

I have to remind myself that it’s been fewer than 20 days.

We often far overestimate what we can do in a day, but we underestimate what we could accomplish in a hundred days of focus.

It’s also another reminder that this transformation is really just getting started.

I wildly oscillate between growing confidence and total despair of the task ahead. In the end the fear is good, it’s spurring me to reconsider skipping any of the prescribed workouts my coach has given me.

Pay now, play later.

“Unless you’re ready to look foolish, you’ll never have the possibility of being great.” -M.C. Escher

Live triumphantly. See you next week.