The summer of 1976 was full of global events. Bur for me, I had 2 remaining Outcomes to close before heading off to college. First, ironically, I had gotten good enough at Student Congress – an actual NFL event – to qualify for the National Debate Tournament in Colorado Springs. Second, I had been selected as an exchange student for the Lions Club to spend 6 weeks in Sweden. The bad news is that those events overlapped.
High School’s end was rapidly approaching, an Outcome we had all been working towards for 12ish years. Our class was graduating in a momentous year – 1976 – the Bicentennial, so additional press coverage by the newspaper and local TV station was invited. Over 3000 were gathered in the local Junior College auditorium for the event, including my own grandparents from both sides. I was not… I was sitting across the street at a donut shop with a legal pad and a pen….
Wandering through my High School years, I played a bit in politics. It was an interesting use of my ability to speak and think on my feet. I was on the Student Congress as a Sophomore and a Junior. I was not a very active member, but I loved wondering how we could get 30 people to agree to any Outcome. I am never sure who or why, but someone nominated me for a very prestigious event, particularly in Texas: Boys State.
By my Junior year in High School, I had found at least the beginnings of who I was becoming. Now officially on the Debate Team, I spent the summer at a camp for Debaters at TCU. Yes… I am a real nerd who actually spent two weeks preparing, studying, and practicing the debate topic for all of the NFL that season…
Texas is not friendly to mass transportation. A mix of the frontier mentality, setting out to control your destiny, and then floating in oil, everywhere you go is in a car. Particularly as you came of age, you would get your license and head out on the town… which I couldn’t until I was a senior in high school – an Outcome assured when my parents put me ahead a grade way back in Kindergarten.
Coming of age in Tyler – deep East Texas – many things managed my trajectory through this season… and into the better part of my life. My parents didn’t let me “work” so I could focus on my “job” … to get good grades, the doorway to what would be coming. Work hard, study hard, and that will pay off with Outcomes… which, to be honest, were pretty unspecific.
We hear a lot about Outcomes these days, and one of the reasons I wanted to write about Cat is that his career has a lot of ups and downs. As you saw in Decisions last week, he was once again on the upswing. By the end of this week, the Outcomes take a very different tack in his life. The soundtrack of the music and my life rarely sync up so completely, and I remember these albums coming out, and hearing some deep meanings that were obvious… at least to me…
Declaring that you have a faith stance opens you up for a lot of attacks, some deserved, and some that are not, but all are worth considering. Can you actually be ready to make an account for what you believe? And as someone said once, if you were in a court of law, could the actually convict you of your Faith using evidence?
“It is 10 to the hour, and based on our agreement, this meeting is over. Thank you for coming, we will schedule a follow-up soon. And now you may all go to your next engagement”. Stunned is probably the best description of the people in the room, including me…
To this day, I am known for connecting people and seeking out relationships to work through challenges and opportunities. I stalked a person for a year, who is now a good friend, and more importantly, a master Organist… and knew some Bach works that I should feature this week…
As I leaped out of IBM just before they laid off 40,000 people, I was fortunate to land a job at Fannie Mae. Their Vice-Chairman saw a Business Week article (remember that magazine…) about Software Reuse, and directed the CIO to pursue it. It makes sense – write software well once, and Reuse it over and over,
… some leaders who are stunning in their clarity and focus on what matters most – living out their values authentically for their team and themselves. I was honored to partner with one at VeriSign who went through many busy seasons with me, including learning to leverage RAPID for our team’s best…
Interviewing for my last “real” corporate gig, my peer was venting about his team – and how they were not “leading” like he wanted them to. I wasn’t a coach – officially yet – but asked what seemed obvious … “Well, have you told them what you expected?”
It will not surprise you that I was a big fan of the early Woody Allen. His wry ability to engage the world around him by turning everything on its head has guided my life…