September 10th Coaching Tip: Slow to Anger.
Children in America are threatened weekly with some type of gun violence at school. Today, as I was walking into the break room at work, I noticed that the news was on the TV; the breaking headline was that a prominent and young public figure with millions of followers had been assassinated with a single gunshot. It stopped me in my tracks; I was thinking, “not again…more gun violence during the daytime”. By the time I got home after work and then relaxed in the evening, I was noticing the amount of anger due to this specific assassination was at a very high and intense rate on social media and TV media. The anger was like an inferno. As I laid it down that evening, I prayed for peace, kindness, and understanding. I prayed for our nation to heal and see just how costly gun violence is in our communities and to our overall well-being. I then prayed for wisdom, asking for help to be slow to anger.
September 11th Coaching Tip: Never Forget. Never.
Yesterday, I was stopped in my tracks as I went to the break room with the horrific news of an assassination of a young leader. And 24 years ago, on 9/11/2001, I was on a short walk from one conference room to the next at a facility in Mossville, IL (That was during my Caterpillar Inc. career). I turned my head to see what the breaking news was on the TV’s in our cafeteria; then I noticed that a small group was gathered around the TV’s and someone mentioned that a plane flew into the World Trace Center Towers in NYC. It didn’t feel right at all; nothing about it felt right. Learning just a bit more from the news, I then pivoted out of the cafeteria and headed back to my office. What would I do in a tense moment like this, as a new and young leader, leading a huge $20mil project with about 100 teammates. Timeliness, communication and understanding were going to be critical. A couple of us jumped up on a table in the middle of our large group, gave everyone a quick update on what was happening in NYC, and then we offered the rest of the day off to everyone on our team. (We already knew that this airplane going into the Towers in NYC was terrorism; it was NOT a mistake.)
As I drove home, I stopped at the grocery store quickly and bought two things: peanut butter and water. I knew that IF we all had to buckle down and stay home for a while, I could live on water and PB. I will never ever forget where I was and how I felt that day on 9/11/2001. Fast forward 24 years later, now I work for Merrill Lynch and ML lost employees that horrible day in NYC. Never Forget. Never.
September 12th Coaching Tip: Travel With Your Friends.
My bestie (Kim) and I jumped in the car together and headed north to be with our Indiana University women’s basketball teammates from our Big Ten Championship season in 1983. Some of our teammates got together in early April in Tampa for the women’s Final Four; now this weekend is in southwest Michigan, steps away from Lake Michigan. Kim and I were in the car together for nearly three hours of drive time. Then we all had lunch and walked to grab some ice cream. With our tummies full and then on a complete ice cream/sugar high, I went for a walk to see the neighborhood and check out the access to the Lake Michigan beaches that were nearby. The next day had us getting up slowly, with a light rain, to enjoy a full breakfast together at the large dining room table. Once the rain cleared, six of us piled into one vehicle and we shopped at two farm stands and one Swedish bakery. My goodness did we ever have a blast buying fresh and incredible food. And on and on the fun times continued. Came back to chili being made and served with a “chili toppings bar”. College football games were on, and then it was another sit-down dinner made by my bestie; she roasted over 10 veggies, of all colors. It was a beautiful display of food and friendship at that dinner table that evening. Travel with your friends! Make those memories. Even cooking and eating together are times well spent.