Singing to the Choir
In the Presbyterian Church I grew up in, the “midnight” Christmas service usually began at 7:00 p.m. So, I didn’t argue when Terri announced that we were going to attend midnight mass at her family’s Ohio church.
At Terri’s Ohio family home, Christmas Eve festivities commence at around 4:00 p.m. when everyone gathers for a cup of cheer followed by dinner. I wondered about the strange looks, when at 6:30 I asked to be excused so I could begin getting ready for mass. About 30 minutes later, showered, shaved and dressed, I was ready to go, only to discover that Midnight Mass really did begin at midnight.
Five hours later when we finally made it to the church, I had suffered through a hangover and had begun to celebrate again. As we entered the pew, I noticed that the great Christmas carol Joy to the World was being sung but not joyous enough for me. So, I quickly grabbed a hymnal, found the carol and joined in. I had barely sung the first line when Terri’s dad grabbed me by the arm and Terri placed her hand over my mouth. I was indignant about such treatment until I realized that only the choir, not the congregation was singing.
Two things you can learn from the previous story: first, in my exuberance, sometimes I overlook details; and second, evidenced by how fast I was grabbed, I don’t have a very good singing voice.
When I was younger, I believed that to succeed you had to be good at every aspect of your job. So, I was defensive about mistakes, slow to take responsibility and reluctant to work with others.
In business circles you hear about teamwork. I remember an instance when a man I worked for asked me to put together a group to achieve a difficult task. He lectured me on the power of teamwork and challenged me to assemble a good team. When I went to him with my recommendations on who should be on the team, he removed several names because their skills were different and he wasn’t sure they would be “team players.” His concept of a team was for every member to be similar. That’s analogous to a football team being composed of just one player position: if all you have are quarterbacks, who is going to block and who is going to tackle?
A few years back, my friend Mark Boggs and I volunteered to lead our church’s stewardship campaign. Mark is an engineer and as such is very detail oriented with every “t” crossed and every “i” dotted. Me, I’m a marketer. I look for the big picture, the idea that will catch people’s attention. Mark’s persistent focus on detail nearly drove me crazy. Conversely, my willingness to overlook details had him climbing the wall. However, Mark and I made a good team and we exceeded the fund-raising goal and our friendship had survived.
I realize, as I grow older, that not everyone is the same; we all have our strengths and weaknesses. I know there are some things I do better than others. And, understanding such compels me to associate with colleagues who have strength where I have weakness. It is true that understanding your weaknesses and strengths leads to a willingness to merge with those with complementary skills. Such a merger results in a combination – a team – with a great opportunity for success.
Teamwork
“Conflict is inevitable in a team ... in fact, to achieve synergistic solutions, a variety of ideas and approaches are needed. These are the ingredients for conflict.” - Susan Gerke, IBM, Leadership Development
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” – Andrew Carnegie
Random Thoughts
It’s not too late to sign up for FBMA’s PAC golf tournament. It’s sure to be a great time amongst friends and colleagues and is only two weeks away. Visit www.fbma.org and register today.
The way I see it, the proponents for health care reform have a short-list for items that need reforming. Included on that list are insurance for people who cannot afford it; eliminating pre-existing condition clauses and reducing health care costs. It seems to me that it shouldn’t take a two thousand-page bill to address those problems. I don’t care what side of the political spectrum you are on, you should be suspicious of any legislation comprised of that many pages.
By the way, shouldn’t tort reform be a component of reducing the cost of health care?
In comparison with other industries, the cost to enter the building supply industry is relatively inexpensive. That’s why it’s difficult if not impossible to “buy market share.” Think about it: a company spends a fortune running its competitors out of business only to have new competitors enter the market when it raises its margins.
Digging Holes
A man is digging a hole at the same time that his friend is covering up the same hole. And thus they spend the day, one digs and the other one covers up. Curious, a passerby who can no longer keep quiet watching the surrealist scene, approaches the two men and asks, "Gentlemen, what exactly does this mean?"
"Well, we're working," one of them answers.
"And are you positive there's nothing wrong with what you're doing?"
"Well, if there is something wrong here, it's Joaquim's fault. He didn't show up today."
"And who's Joaquim?" asks the passerby.
"He is the guy who sows the seed."
