I am Jamaica's husband, Personality's founder, Foursquare's comm director, CFCC's evangelist, and more.
I'm also blogging at:
Personality™
Church Marketing Sucks
June 29, 2008
Pursuit of Less Continues
Filed under: Abare News
I really don't like cars.
When I moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in March of 2000, I arrived in a 1987 Honda Civic. It had been given to me a few months earlier after my previous vehicle was stolen (long story). The Civic had a manual transmission without air conditioning and came nicely loaded with 225,000 miles. Had it existed then, I would have been looking real good in the Junky Car Club!
The Civic was definitely meant to be a temporary car since it needed tons of work, not to mention being able to pass California smog inspections. With Jamaica meeting up with me in California after a year in England, she was going to need a car too (we were not yet married). I bought a used Chrysler Sebring with a convertible top--a request of the lady friend (soon to be fiance). Between the Civic and the Sebring, we'd be able to get along just fine in SoCal for many years to come.
Until the Civic died out on us 18 months after we got married. Frustrated with unreliable cars all our lives, we bought a new Toyota Matrix. Good gas mileage, decently priced and the perfect car to last a couple hundred thousand miles. Between the Matrix and the Sebring, we'd be able to get along just fine in SoCal for plenty of years.
Until one of my younger brothers--who was living with us at the time--borrowed the Sebring and completely totaled it in a car accident. Fortunately no one was injured! My dream car up until this time had been a BMW, so I thought this might be the perfect excuse to start test driving. After several months of shopping, I settled for an Acura. Not quite a BMW but it was a nice car for a great price. Between the Acura and the Matrix, we'd be able to get along just fine in SoCal for a lifetime.
Until we moved to downtown Los Angeles. Not only did we not need two nice cars, we didn't need two cars period. Although Jamaica has to commute 25+ miles for her job, I live just three miles from the office. That's walking/biking distance people. So began our quest to sell the Acura--the more expensive of the two cars. As of this past week, I am happy to say we are now a one car family! Between the Matrix and my two feet, we'll be able to get along just fine in SoCal.
It feels good to continue living on less. Having one less car will mean mucho money savings, better stewardship of the environment, increased exercise and more exposure to people.
Here we go!
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June 22, 2008
Precisely The Point
Filed under: Wisdom
I've been thinking a lot about simple succinct communication that gets the point across clearly and quickly. I don't know about you, but I am overwhelmed at the amount of stuff (books, magazines, blogs, brands, emails, phone calls, ads, etc.) that seeks my attention. It's no wonder that when communication is short and sweet, my capacity for comprehension and commitment is increased.
My team often pokes fun at my 2-3 word email replies. "Go. BA" is a regular response to many incoming emails. "Looks good. BA" and "Please handle. BA" are also repeated replies.
Keeping Twitter current has been a great lesson for me in capturing the big idea in as few words as possible (140 characters or less to be exact).
At the Webby Awards this year, all acceptance speeches were limited to five words or less. Brilliant.
Kevin Hendricks wrote a great post about Apple's genius ability to say things succinctly with the latest iPhone announcement.
What's your point already?
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June 16, 2008
Lunch With Michael Reagan
Filed under: Inspiration
Last week I had the opportunity to have lunch with Michael Reagan, son of former President Ronald Reagan. By the way, if you never heard the eulogy Mike did for his dad, it's quite moving. I originally bumped into Mike on a plane flight when a mutual friend onboard introduced us.
Mike is extremely passionate about making sure every child in the U.S. is living in a loving family. He quotes statistic after statistic about the affects of messed up kids and how they in turn mess up society. Mike is the perfect advocate for such issues like foster care and adoption because he himself was adopted after a despicable childhood experience of sexual abuse and fear, among others.
In addition to hosting a daily radio program, Mike is an author, including the book Twice Adopted.
It's difficult not to get fired up about this stuff after you spend any amount of time with Mike. When I asked how he is engaging churches on these issues he said not as much as they should be. However, Mike is a part of rolling out a test campaign in September, in partnership with Arrow. I look forward to seeing how that goes.
Jamaica and I have been considering adoption for several years. Conversations like this certainly add fuel to the fire.
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June 12, 2008
My Wife Is Smart, Duh
Filed under: Abare News
My brilliant and beautiful wife Jamaica has been investing hundreds and hundreds of hours over the last six months in preparation for her big exam on Monday, June 16. She'll be taking the LSAT with the anticipation of starting law school in the fall of 2009. This law degree will be in addition to her undergrad in Philosophy and her master's in Philosophy and Religion. I think it's safe to say I married a smartie.
I'm really proud of Jamaica for having the discipline to prepare for this grueling exam. In addition to taking an 8-week prep class, she has been pacing herself with some intense self-study. We're talking 4-hour practice exams a couple times a week. This is on top of her being an adjunct professor teaching five undergrad classes, serving as the chairperson for a Hollywood nonprofit, and being my best friend. Whew.
I'm rooting for you babe. I can't wait to see where this journey takes you... and me.
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May 28, 2008
Finding Your Soul
Filed under: Reading Room
On the Personality blog I wrote a review of the book by Hamid Bouchikhi and John R. Kimberly called The Soul of the Corporation: How To Manage The Identity of Your Company. It's a brilliant study on why organizations need to be aware of their soul and how their identity flows from that. The case studies were very enlightening and provided great context for the authors' arguments.
I'm planning to use some of this stuff for a few upcoming talks I have later this year. It's also a great setup for so much of the consulting work I do.
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May 24, 2008
Foursquare Convention 2008
Filed under: Brad Works
Jamaica and I arrived in Houston yesterday for the annual Foursquare Convention. We're here for eight days, mostly because of all the pre-convention logistics to work through. So while Jamaica gets some focused study time for her upcoming LSAT, I'm swirling in event minutiae. There are just over 3,000 people registered and we'll have close to 3,500 in total attendance.
A few things I am anticipating...
- The Monday night opening is going to be quite dramatic. We've partnered with the local arts district here in Houston and several singers/actors are helping out.
- Houston Mayor Bill White is bringing greetings Monday night.
- Israel & New Breed are live Tuesday night--almost 20 people in their crew!
- Mr. Smiley (a.k.a. Joel Osteen) shot a video greeting that we're rolling on Monday night.
- Kirbyjon Caldwell--of recent Bush wedding fame--is speaking Thursday night.
- We've got a special guest from NASA sharing on Wednesday night.
- The Foursquare national leader from Myanmar (Burma) in town. He'll share updates on Monday.
- We're debuting a new video on Thursday night about Foursquare that people are going to love.
I'm grateful for the hundreds of volunteers that have gathered together from Foursquare churches in the Houston area to help pull this thing off. And special props, as always, to the core convention crew: Steve Cauble, Mitchie Sarmiento, Mike Fullerton and the rest of my team for making the journey enjoyable.
Here we go!
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May 18, 2008
The Shack
Filed under: Reading Room
Two weeks ago somebody in the office asked me if I had read a booked called The Shack by William P. Young. I had never heard of it. Last week, I saw that Mark Batterson was reading it after having it recommended to him by our mutual friend Brad Lomenick. I went ahead and ordered it (thanks Amazon Prime). This book is gaining major momentum--500,000 sold in the first 11 months--and it's self-published.
William Young is a great storyteller. I started the 253-page book yesterday morning and finished it this afternoon. It's the first work of fiction I have read in a long time. I'm not a fan of fiction, especially "Christian" fiction. This book is a rare exception.
The story is about a father of a kidnapped daughter who everyone presumes is dead. Mack is tormented by the loss of his daughter and is trapped in a world of grief and guilt. One day Mack receives a letter--presumably from God--that invites him to the scene of the crime. What Mack finds there is what changes him forever.
The Shack is a mix between Pilgrim's Progress and The Chronicles of Narnia, although not as theological or fantastic in its content. It's written perfectly for the big screen, which I later learned is already in the works.
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May 15, 2008
Asking the Right Questions
Filed under: Brad Works
It seems that I've been spending a lot of time lately building teams, especially as my spheres of responsibility continue to expand. I was in a meeting today with the dean of admissions at USC--I'm considering their EMBA program--and he asked me how I build great teams. Finding the right people and building good teams has always been an instinctual and intuitive process for me. I've blogged a little about hiring before, but there is a lot I still need to learn.
One thing I am learning is what questions to ask. Some of those include:
- What books have you read that you would consider to be a key part of shaping who you are (personally and professionally)?
- What websites, blogs and magazines do you read regularly to keep you at the top of your game?
- What else do you do to keep you at the top of your game?
- If you could write a book, what would you write about and why?
- What do you look for in a good team? How would you go about building that "good" team?
- What do you look for in a good manager/supervisor?
- What should a supervisor/manager know about you to keep you performing at your best?
- How do you react when your good ideas don't seem to be going anywhere?
- Describe a write-home-to-momma moment--something that you have been responsible for that you are really proud of.
- Describe a moment you don't want anybody to know about--something that you have been responsible for that you're not so proud of.
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May 14, 2008
Problem Spotters Should Be Problem Solvers
Filed under: Rant
Remember in grade school when someone--never you, of course--had a bad case of flatulence and someone would blurt out a cheesy excuse like "He who smelt it, dealt it" or "He who sensed it, commenced it"? (Apparently there are tons of these corny phrases.)
I think a parallel exists for people that spot problems. The person that points out the problem is probably best suited to solve the problem.
"We need a more more unified team."
"There's got to be a better way to build this."
"That design is awful, surely we can do better than that."
"Why can't we say it this way?"
"Are you sure we can't automate that?"
"Does it have to cost this much?"
The next time you point out problems, blurt out critiques, or offer your humble opinion, maybe you should also consider a follow up response and come up with a few solutions.
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May 9, 2008
Harold Taber's Baker's Dozen
Filed under: Inspiration
I was invited by a Personality client to UCLA last night for a small gathering of business professionals from the SoCal area. The topic was "doing business as mission" and the room was loaded with people right in the middle of it. Although I was asked to come and lead one of the round tables, the real highlight was getting to know some of the people there.
One of those guys was 69-year-old Harold Taber. After being the group president for Coca-Cola Bottling of Los Angeles and selling it back to Coke in 1987, he bought Hansen's and took it public in 1992. Harold's life story is pretty amazing, including beating cancer twice. In addition to being on the board for Hansen's, Harold is also the director of mentoring for the MBA program at Biola.
Harold shared with me his "Baker's Dozen."
1. Employees are an organization's greatest asset.
2. Develop people through work rather than getting work through people.
3. Organizational values drive behavior.
4. People leave managers, not organizations.
5. Servant leadership is focusing on those to be served.. customers, clients, etc.
6. Leader insurance... Mentoring.
7. Focus on strengths, not weaknesses.
8. Attitude is not something you can teach or train.
9. Ethics trump law.
10. Focus on character, not image.
11. Accountability > Responsibility > Authority
12. Efficiency, doing things right vs. Effectiveness, doing the right things (Drucker)
13. Investors bet on management, not the product.
After last night, I was definitely re-energized about my desire to get an MBA and the impact that could have on so many people.
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