Word-Of-the-Week #764: Risk
March 28, 2019 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #764: Risk
Risk – the intentional interaction with uncertainty.
How do you feel about taking a risk? Does uncertainty cause stress? Or does it feel exhilarating?
This week features excerpts from the LA Times business section “How I Made It,” by Charles Fleming. “Jason Chinnock, the 47-year-old chief executive of Ducati North America, took a wildly circuitous route to one of the motorcycle industry’s most coveted corner offices, including stints as a touring rock musician, Desert Storm tank pilot and marketing director for Lamborghini.
- Young rebel – One of two children raised in a conservative Christian home in Las Vegas, Chinnock was an energetic kid obsessed with skateboarding and BMX bicycling. He wasn’t a great student, and he wasn’t very good at following the rules. “If you told me not to do something, that made me want to do it,” Chinnock said. Among the rules: No motorcycles. He rode his friends’ bikes, and he remembers his first crash: “After I hit a cinder-block wall, hard, I got up, dusted myself off, and said, ‘I want to do that again!’ The sense of adventure and risk were exhilarating.”
- Fateful music – The family church featured regular musical performances. When his family hosted the drummer of a band visiting from Chicago, he saw his first career path open before him. “I thought musicians were so cool,” he said. He learned to play guitar and joined several rock bands, hoping to make music his main occupation. His bandmates had other ideas. “My last year of high school I suddenly realized that all the friends I was in bands with had applied to college,” he recalled. “I thought we were going to live the dream! But they said they were going to get a life.”
- Shifting gears – Chinnock’s mechanical engineer father and counselor mother couldn’t afford to send him to college, and he was afraid to take out student loans. So he did what looked like the next logical thing: Join the military, serve two years and then go to college on the GI Bill. Because combat-related specialties earned more credits toward college, he expressed an interest in armored units. “I tested high, so they gave me a choice. I chose Europe and tanks.”
- Growing up – During Desert Storm “A couple of guys said, ‘I didn’t sign up for this.’ Well, I didn’t either. But when I swore in, that’s the commitment I made. I had to follow through. That’s a moment where I think I grew up a little bit. And I realized I was not long for the military. I didn’t have the heart for it.”
- On the road again – After the Army, he enrolled at Colorado State University. He studied music and journalism, started a record label and formed a band, pursuing the old dream of making his living as a musician. He and his band mates toured the U.S. It wasn’t glamorous, and it wasn’t profitable. “We’d have to come home and work to make money to go back on the road,” Chinnock said. Stubborn, he persevered for seven years. “I didn’t think I was going to be Paul McCartney, but I expected I could do what I loved to do and still pay the bills,” he said. “Then I realized that wasn’t going to happen.”
- A new dream – Chinnock changed priorities. “I decided to make the thing I was passionate about, which was music, and make it a hobby, and take my hobby, which was motorcycling, and make it into a job,” he said. “So I went into my local motorcycle shop, where I bought all my parts, and said to the owner, ‘I want to get into this industry.’”He got a $6-an-hour position as parts manager spending nights at home studying parts. In three years, he’d risen to general manager. When the motorcycle dealership was sold, he reached out to the head of Ducati’s American operations, who brought him aboard in 2004.
- Ride to the top – He served as the American regional sales representative before rising to national sales and marketing director and in 2016, became the American CEO.
- Lessons in mistakes – Chinnock encourages his people to make mistakes and learn lessons, as he did himself. “When I talk to my team, I tell them not to be afraid to make the mistake. Make it, learn from it and don’t make it again. That’s a big part of the ability to make decisions and move ahead quickly.”
The alternative, he believes, is a life of too much calculation and caution — safe but not perhaps as instructive. “I’d rather regret something I have done than regret something I haven’t done,” he said. “Every mistake I made helped me later.”
His idea of a good day off is a full day on a bike and he tries to ride the way he tries to live, “like you don’t know what’s around the next corner.” That means staying alert, excited and prepared to give it 100%.
“Anything that’s worth doing is worth doing right, so you have to do your best or not do it at all,” Chinnock said. “Otherwise, what do you want on your tombstone? ‘Here’s someone who did pretty good’? I don’t want that. My tombstone should read, ‘If you don’t risk anything, you risk everything.’”
This week’s focus is on taking a risk. Are you giving your best efforts and doing what’s right?
When was the last time you did something and weren’t certain of the outcome? How does it make you feel when you make a mistake?
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Word-Of-the-Week #763: Talent
March 21, 2019 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #763: Talent
Talent – possessing an innate ability, aptitude, or faculty for accomplishment.
How adept are you at finding a better or easier way to accomplish tasks at work? Are you receptive to new ideas from someone much younger than you?
This week’s WOW comes from long time friend Joe who had this to say about working with younger generations.
“What I have enjoyed most about younger workers I have dealt with over the years is that they are very adept at finding better and easier ways to accomplish tasks in the workplace.
Their grasp of the potential of technology in the workplace has helped save time, energy and money. 
As much as they want to progress in their careers, they have a realization that it is just a job and it does not define them. Also, they realize that this is not going to be the only job they work in their lives, so if things don’t work out they will go someplace else.
Now, that does not please a lot of old school employers who expect conformity in every aspect of the job. Younger workers like flexibility so that they can give their best in the time they are in the office.
The young people I have worked with, in a number of cases 18 to 20 years younger than I, still had a respect for the knowledge and experience I brought to the table and they were not afraid to ask questions.
Employers have to realize that they can’t be demanding in the workplace or they will continue to lose good, young talent.
And it is the good, young talent that invigorates workplaces and keeps them competitive for the future.”
This week’s focus is on talent. Do you fully grasp the potential of technology in your workplace? Have you lost good workers because management was too demanding? How flexible is the company you work for?
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Word-Of-the-Week #762: Blame Game
March 15, 2019 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #762: Blame Game
Blame Game – accusations exchanged among people who refuse to accept sole responsibility for some undesirable event.
Do you know anyone who plays the “Blame Game?” Are you in denial when it comes to accepting responsibility if something goes wrong?
This week long time friend Bill Marvin, The Restaurant Doctor, shares his thoughts.
“For the past few days I’ve wanted to write about the danger of playing The Blame Game. I envisioned a more polished article, but retired life isn’t the perpetual vacation many imagine and time got away from me.
So to get it off my chest, I’ll give you the rough draft version and let you take what you will from it. If you work for someone whose behavior fits the picture I paint, my heart goes out to you. (If that person is you, I’ll try to be gentle … but pay attention.)
You could be that person…
- … if it’s never your fault when things don’t work out the way you imagined them.
- … if you always place the blame somewhere else.
- … if you always imagine yourself as the smartest person in the room.
- … if you never admit an error or cancel a plan when it’s obviously not working.
- … if you blame disappointing sales on the economy … or the weather … or road construction … or the competition.
- .. if you feel the sub-par performance of your staff is because this new generation has no work ethic, or because they don’t take the job seriously, or because their parents did a lousy job of instilling values in them.
- … if you always take credit for the good news but deny any responsibility for the bad news.
The list could go on, but you get the idea.
You probably think of yourself as infallible, but to the outside world you come across as a pathetic egotist. As a result, you live your life as a perpetual victim, hopelessly tossed about on the angry seas of happenstance. It’s no way to lead … and a lousy way to live.
STOP IT!
There’s a big difference between going with the flow and having your body washed up on the beach. Things rarely work out exactly the way we thought they would, but if you take ownership of your results, whatever they are, you’ll be more likely to adjust on the fly and will usually get most of what you wanted.
I can promise you will never have the life — or the business — you want until you accept personal responsibility for whatever obstacles life presents. Only then will you will finally be in a position to overcome them.
When it comes to the Blame Game, the only winning move is not to play.”
This week’s focus is on not playing the Blame Game. Do you take ownership of your results? Do you accept personal responsibility for whatever obstacles life presents? Are you willing to admit an error or cancel a plan when it’s not working?
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Word-Of-the-Week #761: Respectful
March 7, 2019 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #761: Respectful
Respectful – showing appreciation and admiration for another person.
How often do you show appreciation or admiration for another person? Do you treat people with the same dignity and respect that you’d like for yourself?
This week is the second half of “Tips for being happy (even when you’re not) at work and elsewhere,” by Phil Blair. To recap he wrote: I’d much rather be around positive, upbeat people, those who see the glass of life at least half-filled instead of running on empty. No matter what’s going on in their personal or professional lives, their outward demeanor is friendly, warm, welcoming.
The people I prefer to be around are dependably friendly and enthusiastic. They avoid saying negative things about others. They’re capable and confident, but they’re able to laugh at themselves. They don’t take themselves too seriously. They’re able to mask a bad day, or that morning’s silly squabble with a spouse, or that lousy job they can’t wait to leave.
How is that possible, you ask? Take a few sips from this half-filled glass:
- Be gracious. Simply show appreciation for those around you and treat them with the respect and dignity you’d like for yourself – even if you’re not treated that way.
- Don’t be messy. You know the well-worn adage, “A messy desk is a sign of a genius at work.” Don’t believe it. Unless you’re a certified genius, I’d advise you to keep your desk free from clutter. An organized desk is an organized mind.
- Avoid negative people. If possible, seek out friends and co-workers whom you like to be around. Make a concerted effort to fend off office gossips and those who dispense toxic talk. How can you tell those negative types? Hint: They sigh and moan, a lot.
- Be generous. With compliments, for starters. Be the first to praise a job well-done, whether it’s for a co-worker or your boss. Because you know that if you were the boss, you’d love hearing a kind word or two.
- Seek a deeper meaning. This can be a challenge. We all have our own religious or spiritual beliefs and ways of finding deeper meaning in our lives – or not. If that deeper meaning isn’t within your life’s work, then find some enriching connection to a force greater than yourself. Think family, friends, faith.
- Smile more. I mean it. Go ahead and smile, right now. Bet you feel better already. We all look and feel better when we’re smiling.
Your thoughts, happy or not, are always welcome.”
When I read Be Gracious what came up for me was respectful and the phrase “Behind every great/successful man stands a woman.” I want to say my husband Chris has fully supported and allowed me to become a great/successful woman. He is so respectful and always my champion. He is one of the very few men that I have ever met who truly treats women as an equal!
This week’s focus is on being respectful. How generous are you when it comes to giving compliments? How often do you tell your family, friends, co-workers and customers that you appreciate them? How would it feel to make a commitment of following the Golden Rule every day?
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