Have a FULL Day

Not surprisingly, Bill reached out to me in the mist of the NCAA basketball tournament. While we were working colleagues for a long time, basketball was a shared passion.  We are both focused on achievements outside the traditional workplace at this time, but Bill sent me a great reminder. 

"To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special^."  (JimmyValvano’s 1993 ESPY Speech)

 If Jim Valvano can give a speech with this strong positive message in the middle of a failing cancer fight, think what you can accomplish.  Reach out to someone you have not touched in a while.  Give someone a second chance.  Help someone.  Lead by example.

Have you laughed, thought and cried today?  How do you keep your days special and assist those around you to do the same?

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Work with MEANING !!!

Shelby decided it was time!  She was only 22 weeks into gestation.  Unfortunately, she was nowhere near a hospital and there were no emergency crews immediately available for transportation.  Many miles away, a Sikorsky program manager was in the process of working with a customer for final acceptance of a special medivac helicopter.  The request for assistance arrived.  Everyone involved worked together to allow the aircraft to be used for this emergency situation and Shelby is a happy ten year old today.

Working in aerospace for over 32 years, you can begin to think “making metal fly” is an exciting, technically challenging and important undertaking.  Then you are reminded what amazing things the products do.  These stories and accomplishments are what make the job rewarding in the end.  We’ve all heard the story of the mason laying bricks versus the one building the cathedral.  One is doing a job and the other is contributing to mankind.  It is the leader’s responsibility to keep the true mission of the organization visible to the team. When I saw the items in the photo on Mike’s shelf, it was a wonderful reminder of this important leadership communication role.

How do you keep your team engaged in the bigger mission?  What challenging jobs have you had to figure out the mission of?

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