Connect Serve Give
  • Blog
  • About
  • photo gallery

Mentoring Begins In The Overflow...

4/19/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Waterfalls are undeniably beautiful. The way that water cascades over the landscape in a seemingly random manner, forever altering its shape and appearance. But waterfalls are simple. They are nothing more than overflow. 


Mentoring is like a waterfall; it's all about the overflow. True mentorship is the extra stuff that happens in life on the periphery of the standard and alters the norm forever.

When I prepare to teach, the lesson is not the study notes from my prep time. The true lesson comes from the experiences I've gained from applying the insight I gained from my study. The overflow represents the personal impact it had on my life and my readiness to share that with others.

For me, the ability to go to that place of vulnerability of sharing when I teach did not just happen. It was through the life of another, who through sharing the overflow of their life with me encouraged me to go to a place of true impact and transformation.


As an example, I present young Todd Jones. He suffered from a stutter so bad that he was held back in school, afraid to speak out in fear of revealing his weakness to his classmates and teachers. One teacher, however, stepped out of the lesson plans and into the overflow.

Knowing young Todd loved to write, high school teacher Mr. Crouch, didn't understand why he was so withdrawn. He soon discovered the stutter and decided to dig a little deeper. He asked the boy why, if he loved words so much, couldn't he speak them? They began to work together a bit, and Todd showed the teacher a poem he'd written. Mr. Crouch challenged him to recite the poem by heart in front of the entire class. There's no way to know just how Mr. Crouch knew it would work. But it did. Todd Jones got through the poem without stuttering a single time. His confidence grew from his own creativity, and it overflowed into all of his life.

A few years later Todd Jones began a career that would call upon his voice quite often. In fact he adopted a working name of James Earl Jones, and became the voice of Darth Vader and Mufasa. If you're like me, when you think of him, you think of that regal voice. You would know it anywhere, because words spoken by him take on a life of their own. They are luxurious. Powerful. 


The power in that voice would never have been found in the standard. The norm. It was hiding in the overflow, and setting this magnificent story telling voice free took a mentor who was willing to go there.

Onward!



waterfall picture by Witthaya Phonsawat, courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
0 Comments

Well-Ordered Priorities: Career Suicide?

4/14/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
It is said we can look at a person's schedule or checkbook to determine actual priorities. How would yours look? If you took your day and made a pie chart, assigning each hour to a focus, where would family, work, faith, and health fit in? 

"But, Tony!" I hear the protests now. "Don't talk to me about priorities! This is corporate America, and I'm in the thick of it. You and I both know that the words family-first are basically the same thing as career suicide." 



Well, I believe that a well-balanced set of priorities is far better for your career and your ultimate success than one that puts work above all else. 

The quoted sections in blue are excerpts from my book, The Difference Maker. Let's see what Taylor Bellows is up to:


So there I was, raking in more dough than I could ever spend. Working my tail off day after day, week after week, month after month, then having nothing—well, I had plenty to show for it, but no time to enjoy it. Life was swallowing me up. I felt like I existed only for the purpose of providing salaries for the hundreds of people who worked for me. Or for bringing home a paycheck for Allison. I didn't resent it; I just worried I was missing something.

By then I had learned a lot about true success, true mentorship, and true leadership, and I had identified the next area of focus for my personal growth. Courage. All of those other things, when they lined up just right, were great. But where I faltered in them is where I had to walk in faith with courage and boldness. When I had the backing of business manuals and executives who agreed with my decisions and people who told me I was right, I could be bold. But when courage called me to go against the tidal wave of public opinion, or to face a giant, that's where I struggled.

So I looked at the biggest source of angst in my life, my schedule, and I decided to make a courageous move...

Sound familiar? How does your life resemble Taylor's? I bet you're wondering what his bold move was. And you probably assume I'll make you buy the book to find out. Nah! I mean, sure, I hope you buy the book, but I'll tell you what Taylor did, because I LOVE it.
I worked on my plan over the weekend, then Monday morning each employee of Bellows International opened their e-mail to a one-page missive from me, Taylor Bellows.


Dear valued Bellows employee,

The following is a directive from me and is expected to be followed without exception starting this day.

Every employee will be permitted to work a flex schedule in order to live out personal priorities. For those dependent on tracking hours, you may submit a time sheet for hours you put in at home. Does this mean you can move your entire position to your home office? That is for you to decide based on a balance between your family and personal needs and the job you have to do.

No employee of Bellows International will be permitted to work any hours on Sundays. This includes the creating and/or sending of emails.

It is my desire that you will work a proper business day, that you will put in your greatest effort during those hours and then return home, leaving work behind. In the morning, please have breakfast with your family, stop for coffee with some friends, or get in some exercise. In other words, do not start work until you’ve cared for yourself and your loved ones.

Please take a one-hour paid lunch break during each workday. In the evening, every employee should hurry home as close to five o'clock as possible to enjoy your family or pleasurable activities. Please plan your day to ensure communication with our international business partners in a timely manner that does not entail late or extreme hours for yourself.

Life is too short to run yourself into exhaustion. Bellows International will crank on as it has been, or it won't. Either way it's up to God. It's not your job to give your life for this company.

For those of you who've been working as an hourly employee and are counting on those overtime hours, rest easy. The hours you’ve been paid over the last year will be averaged, and that will become your new salary for your forty-hour workweek.

While your feedback is always appreciate, this decision has been made. My secretary will not be putting through negative calls or e-mails on this issue. Thank you for your support and your continued dedication to Bellows International, and to me.

Taylor Bellows


Picture
At first, Taylor met resistance. His employees were worried about hitting their sales targets, and his executives were worried about hitting their overall objectives. And, at first, numbers went down as people put in less work time and lost some productivity. But over time, their health and wellbeing turned them into much more highly functioning business men and women who were in it for the long haul. Burnout became a thing of the past, and families jumped on board in full support. So, rather than feeling pulled in a zillion directions, those employees now felt empowered as work, family, and even faith became synergized. 

Okay, I get it. The book is a fable after all and your company's CEO hasn't sent out a letter like that. And he/she probably won't (unless he reads my book.) The point isn't to get every organization to look like Bellows International. The point is to make you think about what you can do. You can still apply the principles to your own life. 
  • If you really believe in the value of health and happiness to your overall success, you can begin protecting your physical needs. Exercise. Eat well. Get sleep. It really is that simple.
  • If you truly believe that family and faith must come first, then stop working on Sundays, take time to rest, spend time with your family, attend worship if you desire, fellowship over a meal. Give them YOU!
  • If you truly believe in your own value, then stop competing with others on the hamster wheel that's going nowhere, and work to your best ability within the parameters of reason and well-orders priorities. 

Being a Difference Maker in the lives of others begins with being one in your own life. Ultimately, you need to present the best you possible to the people who are important to you. By doing that, you'll avoid burnout, which is the surest form of career suicide there is. 


Onward!

family picture by Ambro, courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

To get a copy of my book go to Amazon.com

1 Comment

Everything You Do Matters!

4/6/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
Every move you make, every action you take is like a drop of water in a rainstorm. It creates a ripple that goes on and on and on. Other drops of water create similar ripples and intersect with yours. Until the surface of the water is covered with more and more ripples. 

Many look at that effect in their lives and say, "Why bother? My effort will go unnoticed in the sea of people clamoring for favor, success, or happiness." So they stop worrying about the little choices and efforts they make on a daily basis and focus only on the monstrous achievements they hope to gain. They succumb to the lie that THEY are insignificant until something they do or become rises them above everything around them.


The truth is, every ripple matters. Everything you do, every word you speak, every choice you make impacts others. The impact of those things affects change. Change lasts forever. 

What if you don't see the effects? What if you move through life and do your good work but never see the positive impact you had? Well, I'd guess you aren't looking hard enough. But even if you were, there's no way you can possibly see all of your positive effects this side of eternity. It's not humanly possible.

What now?

Embrace every opportunity as Purpose. Know that you have meaning each and every moment. Your big-picture purpose may be to save lives or arrest bad guys. But you also have a purpose that weaves in and among every moment of your interaction with others. Make that purpose count before you worry about the big one.

Trust the ripple. Worry less about what you SEE and more about what you DO. Trust that even the small things you do will have a lasting impact on the people around you...and the people around them...and the people around them...and ... 

Pay it forward. In the next thirty minutes, find a way to do a seemingly insignificant good deed for someone else, and then sit back and see what happens. I hope it sets off a spark within you that will ignite a fire.

Find the ripple. If you know what to look for it is amazing what you will see. Now that you know about the ripple effect look for it in others. One of the most powerful encouragements you can give in life is when you notice and communicate to someone that they have created a positive ripple effect.


You do matter.
You were made for a purpose.

It is time to make ripples...

Onward!

Image of rippling water courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net by 
1 Comment
    Picture

    Author

    Tony Bridwell is a Partner and Practice Leader for Partners In Leadership with nearly three decades of executive leadership experience. Most recently serving as the Chief People Officer of Brinker International, Tony is a highly recognized thought leader, speaker, and coach in corporate culture, L&D, and human resources, being named 2015 HR Executive of the Year and also receiving the 2015 Strategic Leadership Award .

    A native Oklahoman, Tony, who has three grown children, now resides in Dallas, Texas with his wife, Dee. In addition to being a husband and father, Tony is an active member of his church, where he serves as a Deacon and leadership mentor.

    Tony is the author of two books:
    The Difference Maker: A Simple Fable About Making A Difference In The Life Of Others (August 2013)
    The Kingmaker: A Leadership Story of Integrity and Purpose (June 2016)

    Archives

    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

    Tweets by @BridwellTony
  • Blog
  • About
  • photo gallery