Monthly Archives: September 2009

Fear is over-rated. Just make it happen!

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It has been a long time since my last post… 15 days to be exact.  [ I have to hand it to all of you who can find something to say every day… Not just something but something good.  Kudos to you!]

I’ve had a bit of trouble finding inspiration… I could give a whole host of excuses – life has been too busy (like all of you aren’t busy too)… work has really ramped up. Over the course of the past 2+ weeks, I have started several posts…

One was my personal 9/11 story… it was surreal to be living in America (in Boston) as a Canadian on that day and during that time.

Another, though, began (and finally got finished in this one) as a tribute to Terry Fox who faced the adversity of cancer in his teenage years and lost the battle after an unfathomable display of courage and commitment for a 20-year old boy.  If you don’t know the story, take a look at the video (thanks to ESPN via It’s a Running Thing).

What did Terry achieve by embracing the unknown?  By taking on ambiguity?  For starters, he raised a lot of money for cancer research ($340 million and counting) and brought visibility to the disease and how it affects its victims.  More globally, his actions kicked off  a movement that took off far beyond, I am sure, anything Terry could have imagined.  The annual Terry Fox Run is the world’s largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research.  Terry Fox believed he could change the world.  And he has.  Terry Fox believed he could make a positive impact.  And he has.

He was an entrepreneur of sorts – he identified an opportunity, took initiative to seize it, assumed responsibility, and made it happen.  Is there a better example of an entrepreneur?  He was also a hero and is one of Canada’s greatest icons.  Every Canadian knows who Terry Fox is.  And many of us can remember exactly where we were when he was forced to end his historic run across our great country.  I know it sounds so cliche but I was actually playing road hockey [Damn, that sounds lame and predictable].

What can we learn from this in the context of our own lives and pursuits?

  • Fear is over-rated.  Be confident in tackling the unknown.  Take risks.
  • You’re more capable than you think.  You ARE smart enough.
  • Find purpose above yourself.  Believe in a vision and a cause.  Put others first.
  • Make it happen.  Act.

If we all followed the example set for us by an unknown kid from British Columbia, who happened to have a prosthetic leg and probably still had cancer, when he decided to embrace the unknown by running a marathon every day (for 143 days and 5,373km) so that he could make a difference for others… wouldn’t the world be a better place?

Once you accept that ambiguity is your friend… must be your friend… there’s little that will stop you.  Thank you, Terry Fox.

Insomnia is wonderful…

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It’s 5am on the Atlantic coast of Canada and I’ve basically been up all night.  Maybe it was the two espressos after dinner.  Or maybe I just have too many things on my mind for sleep to take hold.  Consuming my thoughts tonight and this morning has been social media and how I can leverage it in my world.

[Back story…]

In early 2007, I finally joined the Facebook band-wagon.  At the time, I did it as a lark to see how quickly I could amass 100 friends.  It didn’t take that long and it was kind of fun.  Today, I’m just shy of 400 friends (yes, they’re all people I know) and while I can’t say I use FB a lot, I do find it interesting to connect with people I’ve known but whom are now scattered around the globe.  And I’m not the only one… isn’t it the most popular social media venue on the planet?

Fast forward to mid-2008… one of my best friends joins a local firm called Radian6 (I know you’ve heard of them)… They’ve developed a tool that crawls through the web, mining data from social media sites for its clients (apologies for my lay explanation of your business, folks).  I think Radian6 has a lot of potential and I hope they do well.  Anyway, my friend (not a social media type at the time) says I need to get on Twitter.  My first question?  What the hell is Twitter.  He tries to explain but it’s no use.  I really don’t get it.  Who cares what I’m doing?

I continue to be intrigued by this Twitter thing…

Then, this summer (2009), I see a webcast featuring Guy Kawasaki, founder of Alltop.  He’s explaining how he uses Twitter as a means of sharing what he believes to be valuable or interesting information.  The lightbulb went on… I read a ton… I can use this…  I can become a purveyor of information too.  So, I started tweeting… Then, I decide to start this  blog.  Admittedly, I still haven’t found a comfort zone.  Neither have yet become part of my being… YET.  But I’m learning and I’m enjoying the learning so that’s good.

[End of back story]

So how can I use social media to help my clients?  Let’s start with what I do.  I can most simply be described as a management consultant.  Specifically, I’m an expert in leading change.  Change?  That’s a pretty generic term – what the hell does that mean?  Great question.  Here goes (proceed with caution – a consultant is about to describe what he does)…

Every day, organizations initiate change… it could be the introduction of a new product, the pursuit of a new market, the restructuring of roles and responsibilities, a merger or acquisition, the implementation of a new business process, or the deployment of a new system.  Just a few examples.

You may not know this (although intuitively you probably do)… Most organizations are horrible at implementing change because it is hard.  It’s hard on the people who have to change.  And the typical result is a lot of wasted time, money, and energy because the benefits do not come, the competitive advantage does not materialize, and the customer satisfaction does not improve.  These are why you set out on a path to change in the first place… So if you aren’t getting the payoff, why did you do it?

What I do is help clients get it right…  I see it as a piece of their investment management or risk management. I work with them to design strategies and tactics to properly deploy change and, most importantly, make it stick!

So back to my original question – how can I leverage social media in my world… to facilitate the “stickiness” of change?  While social networks are quickly transforming the way friends interact, they are and will continue to evolve the way colleagues interact as well.  While some people (even in “older” industries) are embracing social media, I think many (my gut says most actually) organizations and their leaders are lagging way behind their employees.  Traditional (or more aptly dated) forms of communication and engagement – emails, web sites, newsletters, face-to-face meetings for example – are becoming less effective with each passing day.

To try and get ahead of the curve… I’m trying to become more savvy about social media so I can help clients adapt their engagement practices in a way that captures their employees’ interest, imagination and enthusiasm.  Engagement is perhaps the most critical success factor not only for leading change but also for fostering and sustaining high performance.  And as we adapt our ways of interacting, we also need to adapt the way we engage each other.

Hmmm… it’s late (or rather early)… I hope I haven’t rambled too much.

If you have any advice, I’d welcome some thoughts on this… And thanks “Gus”, from Radian6, for pointing me toward Twitter… Although I’m still a novice, it has started me on the path to understanding social media, how it’s changing our world, and how I can leverage it to create value for my clients.

Look forward… embrace the unknown…

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I’m a looking forward kinda guy.  I don’t get caught up with things that have already happened or those that are out of my control.  I get excited thinking about the possibilities and try to embrace the unknown…

An every day example… how about birthdays?  You celebrate the milestone and embrace the unknown future.

Yesterday (last night at 11:17pm Atlantic time to be precise), I turned 40 (or as my grandfather would have said, I “entered my 41st year”).  For many, this milestone represents a major turning point – it can often trigger the beginning of’ mid-life, soon to be followed by ‘crisis.’  Although I must say that most of my contemporaries handle 40 with a good sense of realism, some are truly traumatized by it.  To be clear, I am not.

Does it feel a little weird?  Indeed.  But not because of the age itself… I’m really not (nor have I ever been) worried, scared or concerned about getting older.  No, it’s because of my memory of when my father turned 40.  I remember it well because I was almost 17.  [interesting background… when my aunt turned 40 – the year before my dad (her brother-in-law), she gave my dad a t-shirt that said “I’ll be old in ’86.  40.”  It was a great gift and is what, for me and my brothers, became the lasting image of our dad at 40… actually 39. ]

Dad at 40

It’s hard to believe that’s me now… actually a year ago.  When I think of when he turned 40, it’s not that he seemed old… it’s just that he seemed, I don’t know, older than I seem today.  I mean, come on, he was a father of three kids.  So am I.  But I still feel, in some ways, like I’m a young man.  Dad seemed way more responsible and mature than I am now.  He had to have been – he had 17-, 15-, and 13-year old boys.  My kids are 10, 8, and 5.

Knowing dad, he’d tell me he wasn’t any more mature or responsible (or father-like) than I am today.  Perspective is everything, right?  He’s my dad… he’ll always be the one with sage advice, wisdom and a great sense of humour.  That’s just the way it is.

I have my own children now who (just maybe) look at me the same way.  And you know what?  They don’t think I’m old.  Yesterday, I was told in no uncertain terms, by my 8-year old son, that I won’t be old for another 30 years.  Apparently, the age of 70 marks the point at which someone becomes a “geezer,” according to them anyway.  That’s good enough for me.

As I move ever closer to the top of the proverbial hill, it’s refreshing to know that I’m still 30 years from reaching the summit.  I guess to a child, their dad never seems too old (except maybe when they’re in their teens and battling about YOUR rules and THEIR independence)…

Whether it’s me remembering my parents at 40 or my kids looking at my wife and I today… 40 just isn’t old (I am resisting the many cliches I could use here… you’re welcome!).  And I’m looking forward to the next chapter.  i don’t know what it will bring but I do know it won’t be defined by my age… it’ll be defined by what I choose to do, why I choose to do it, whom I do it with and how I do it.  The last 40 have been great — the next 40 will be even better.