DNA Archives - Epic Living

An Early Morning in June

28 December 2012December 28, 2012Eric

Celebrating the best of the Epic Living Blog, 2012. Enjoy!

I was 14 in June, 1980. Life was a series of things to get over and get past in those days for me. My grandmother had passed the summer before, my parents had been threatening each other with divorce and my brother was on a path that would surely lead to deep destruction.

It was an early morning in June. Like any morning would be for those who slept the night before.

Things can change.

I awoke on that June morning (don't remember the date) to find our house full of people. I didn't know at the time that those people were police detectives and forensic scientists. It was surreal as I walked down the hall to find my mom and dad. I found my mom sitting in a chair in the living room with eyes that had certainly been crying. I asked in a slow, muted tone, about all the people and what was going on. She proceeded to tell me that my brother was suspected of murdering his girlfriend.

What?

Everything was different now and the months and years ahead would be shaped by something irreversible and tragic. After the police, and even TV news crews, had departed, I saw my dad standing at our front door, just staring motionless.

I felt alone.

In the time sense much has changed and much is still the same. For me, as I look back now, I have discovered why I feel things so deeply, why I have such an urgency about living and why I am an entrepreneur (risk-taker). It has nothing to do with a resume or a career. It has everything to do with getting on with what you've been shaped and called to do. I realized early that the table do turn and even if prepration fails you, you must find a way to recover. I guess on that early morning in June, I realized that safety as advertised was an illusion.

There is no doubt that these traits have gotten me into troube, but I have always seen how God took the good and the bad and shaped them into something I can only describe as art-beautiful art. And even though I've matured and learned about appropriate risk, I also know that strength comes from good things and bad. I wouldn't have it any other way.

An early moring in June is still a part of my destiny. It broke me, grew me and sets a course that my DNA is written all over. My hope is it plays to a backdrop of change.

What Management Doesn’t Know Will Hurt Them

30 November 2012November 30, 2012Eric

Does your manager operate on assumptions? It's kind of a turn on my saying, what management does know will hurt them. The following are some examples:

We hit our numbers (cutting costs, revenue goals, quarterly profit), therefore we've earned the right to proceed with the next phase of growth.
The last employee survey was better than the last, so we don't need to dig any deeper into past complaints of favoritism.
We all have sacrificed, so morale isn't as bad as it may appear. Besides, we're a team.

Obviously, you and I could think of many other examples. My point is to illustrate the two different worlds management and employees live in. The most dangerous part is the inevitable collision to come. In America those collisions are happening on a regular basis. For example, our fiscal cliff is causing many publically traded companies to pay out one-time dividends at a lightening pace to beat what they see as the inevitble in 2013. The hike in tax consequences on dividend income. This is happening while many employees, and potential employees, are wondering when will the hiring will start again. The money is there for a dividend, why not for hiring someone.

Human beings are complex creatures. The DNA is fixed and we are who we are. Survival instincts, the need for affirmation and a desire for clarity are just a few to consider. How can this be missed. Lower quality leaders just don't know any better. Call it a leadership deficit that's difficult to remedy.

We're doing battle with culture here. A culture that staked everything, or so it seems, on some false-growth model. There needs to be some cleaning out to the rot. I'm not advocating we toss the entire system out, but I am advocating that we add some serious leadership development that is NOT based on giving the appearance of change. Way too many programs conform to keeping the status quo alive and well. We need to find courage now because we are far into the second-half. Expecting an epic comeback is a very dangerous outlook.

Management is toying with grave consequences when it forgets this.

The DNA Seminar

6 April 2011April 6, 2011Eric

The following is an updated post I wrote a few years ago. Subject matter is still relevant and the problem is still pervasive. Leaders/managers hear the bell.

A friend of my wife's lost his job this past Monday. It was done in the name of saving costs. Yes, at one time or the other you're a cost. No promises, right? It's a tough situation that is only made worse by organizations who make lots of promises.

Funny thing is the group he worked in was just started a year ago. How can you know in twelve months whether something will fly?

So what to do when Mommy and Daddy fly? Sorry for the flippant reaction, but this guy just moved here from the west. Why not use some candor and tell the employees that the organization isn't sure about the prospects and it may not go the way of success? Two faces are the issue here. And before you think I'm conjuring this stuff up, please know I've delivered the "two-faced" speech in my former corporate management life. It went something like this; one face was in the room with management stating we'll let them go if the unit oesn't meet targets (usually unrealistic). Another face was in front of the employees stating how the future was bright.

I write this post today to communicate something simple, yet complex. Every leader who has human beings following them should be required to attend an all-day seminar on the marvels of human DNA. If I were conducting the seminar I would say the following at its conclusion:

"After today think long and hard about who follows you. And when you make your plans think about the implications-they're real and worth your consideration."

You can read here about some of the dynamics of our DNA.