Connor and I exploring out loud trying to tease the subtleties & nuances that differentiate experts and masters. Not the sheer skill aspect, more of the 'soft' skills/ traits as it helps us inform our discussion on Leadership.

We what happens when we reward; whether it's through praise, recognition, opportunity, award, etc.  always results and absent effort? Same thing holds true in reverse. What are the unintended consequences on our audience that is excluded in the reward.

It's not as simple as acknowledging everyone for their unique contributions. And, everyone is wired to respond differently to different types of rewards. 

When you really start to think about the ins and outs with all the different perspectives you can see how we end up in a mediocrity system too often.

Talking about how to listen. Truly listen with the intent to engage and understand vs respond.

It's a fundamental step to earning trust & respect.

"Seek first to understand and not respond." ~Stephen Covey

Spending 90 min grinding aways at some more basics: 

Don't Lie, Cheat, or Steal; it's all Stealing, Grey Areas, Who am I circles, and a few more things and tying them into Being a Good Human Being as a core competency to Leadership.

Digging in on "Being A Good Human Being".

Specifically, common courtesy, decency, & respect and how it ties into "caring" as a key component of Leadership.

Connor & I picked back up on our writing project. We are going to record our writing development sessions together; essentially the content we are discussing shaping for a leadership book. We figured we would also publish these as a podcast for a few reasons.

1. Help us stay honest and on task ,
2. Shape our organization & collect our content,
3. Open it up for people to respond, critique, inject, and give general feedback,
4. Ultimately stay authentic to our purpose & intent behind the project in the first place: share thoughts with other in hopes to add value and/ or perspective.

This first recorded session is generally about the why and the what behind the theme of the book. 

In the end, not all the material will get published via podcast and it will all go through a pretty rigorous editing process.

Sharing a few short thoughts about what mentorship is and isn't. Not sure I'm really digging deep enough into it, but wanted to hear out loud the looping that was going on in my head while splitting some wood.

Some thoughts and reflections on this year's annual Event & Fundraiser. Looking to have a few guests to help polish out the perspectives and ideas to fully memorialize the event.

Recognizing all the good that's going on, however small or seemingly insignificant, is pretty much my first step when trying to settle the pressure in my head.

Ultimately, this is just a sharing to get to the point that you just keep holding until a shiny beacon of light arrives. And if you live a few moments that don't require having to hold on, look to shine a little light onto someone's dark corner.

Largely some ramble as I sort through talking about what Optimal Conditions Only is and how it is going to lead into much of the Hard Way Project methodology.

I've talked before about a Smarter Hard. Not the obstinate or ignorant 'Tommy Tuff Nutz' sort of hard. On the other end of the spectrum are those that become psychologically stressed (and even put into duress) when conditions are sub-optimal. They perform only under Optimal Conditions Only (OCO).