Still Fighting for Freedom

I found out today that our company lost an employee yesterday. Our CEO at Mission Essential Personnel has made it a point to remind us that we are dedicated to human freedom. I think it is easy for people to forget that there is a war going on. Maybe not a traditional war but a war of ideology and a war on freedom.

Seven months ago I made the decision to become part of the company and have not looked back. Being able to be a part of such an important mission has made every day rewarding and gives a clear sense of purpose for what I do. It is so important to be happy with what you do for a living. Having passion about your job can only come from a job that has significance or meaning for you. I once heard someone say, "I hope we don't HAVE to go to work; we all GET to go to work."

Back to the reason for writing this blog. Junaid Hijran, was serving with the Marines in southern Afghanistan. He completed his tour on Thanksgiving and departed

to Kabul for time off. At a checkpoint along the way, he was pulled from his vehicle and brutally murdered by the Taliban on the side of the road. Junaid was 26 years old, maybe 5’1”, and all of 95 pounds. His nickname was, “Tough Guy”, given to him by one of our managers in Kandahar.

Junaid wanted a better Afghanistan that was free from oppression and violence. In the midst of all the potential dangers, Junaid still volunteered to serve. All too often we take our freedom in America for granted.

He is a hero.

Don't Miss Out!

THIS INFO IS ONLY GOOD THROUGH AUGUST 10th!

I think Seth Godin is one of the most forward thinking leaders out there today and he challenges people to look at where they are, where they are going, and why. I really appreciate how he challenges business leaders. He has the most popular blog on the Internet and it is one of my life goals to personally meet the man.

Through a friend of Seth's I got the inside scoop on his next big launch!

The TRIBE is like the Fight Club -- for ideas!

The Tribe will be an exclusive membership but it is open to friends for a short time. If you are willing to pre-order the book then you can get in on the ground floor of the Tribe.

The details are on Seth's blog.

Extreme Makeover - CIA Style

For all my friends in the technology and or intel community...there is a really good article from CIO Magazine on how the CIO of the CIA is doing business today as compared to the 'good old days'.

I found his choice of reading material interesting: The Big Switch, The New CIO Leader, and Enterprise Architecture As Strategy. The whole article gives as good a glimpse as one could hope for at an unclassified level as to the 'extreme makeover' that has been going on.

This is Part 1 of a 4 part series they are featuring. A friend of mine in the community, Lewis Shepherd the CTO for Microsoft's Government Division, has done a nice job of providing a quick overview and his thoughts on the whole series.

Project Management

Took a course this past week in the fundamentals of project management. Now I have managed projects and programs for a long time but lately there has been a trend towards certifying / accrediting those who can effectively do this work. 'PMP' - Project Management Professionals is much like the title of 'CPA' only now applied to those who meet the standards of the PMI. The class was excellent and Didex provided a great instructor (Stuart Tozier).

It was no surprise that so many projects have missed the target, been canceled, or gone over budget. It seems like every city has their own 'Big Dig' nightmare. Every company and organization has a story on some level about over run costs and how to take a $2.8 Billion project and turn it into a $14.6 Billion project.

I was reminded that we should lead people and manage things.

HOT!

Things are heating up in DC!

By Tuesday, June 10th at 11am...I am officially overheating. Not the car...me! WOW, I have lived in the California Desert and Southern Arizona but when you add that Northern Virginia Humidity, there is nothing like it. Way to hot and praying for cooler weather.

This week I want to celebrate Willis Haviland Carrier...the Father of 'AC'. Did you know that he invented the air conditioner in 1902 and that AC for non-industrial use (aka your home) did not come around until 1928? They called it the residential "Weathermaker". If his name looks and sounds familiar, it is because his family is still making Air Conditioner's today.

While digging into history I actually found an discrepancy. David Crosthwait lived at the same time and may have actually been the first two 'invent' AC...but Willis filed the patent earlier and so the Carrier family gets the credit.

Either way, they are heros in my book!

I also like Carrier's quote, "I fish only for edible fish, and hunt only for edible game even in the laboratory." I had to think about it but I frequently see people just doing a job, or building technology for technology's sake, or just plain old being busy (esspecially in DC). I think Carrier was trying to remind us that we are here for a purpose and we need to engage in productive activities while we are here. It is not enough to be busy...so to are the ants. We need to find things of passion that stir us and pour our energy into those things.

~David

~David

New Link

Adding a new link to Chris Brady's Blog...

I have known Chris Brady since 2002 and he is a gifted orator, leader, and author. His book "LLR" was #1 on Wall Street Journal's Best Seller's List and was in the top 10 of all the major business reviews.

Enjoy...

Mudslides!

Mudslides...no not the alcoholic kind - and not the natural disaster kind either. I am talking about one of my children and where the playground 'slide' and 'mud' met my daughter.

Now Colin and Sybella were having fun and the sun was shining but it was only a matter of a few minutes before that when the rain came pouring down. As they prepared to launch themselves down the slide, everyone was laughing and having fun.

Colin was being a big brother and having a blast. Round and round they went swirling to the bottom of the slide. As they got to the bottom, Colin hopped off and left his sister sitting on the end of the slide. The next thing I knew...slip...slide...MUD SLIDE...

OOPS! Now here is the interesting thing, she got up, smiled, and went on playing. THAT'S MY GIRL!

Each of us jumps into life experiences, choices at work, relationships. On the surface things often times start out great and are a lot of fun. There are even times when we are fortunate enough to form friendships from theses experiences or have a mentor come along side us. At some point (sometimes unexpectedly) we find ourselves in a place where we didn't expect to be and face down in the mud. It is not always fun and you can sometimes get really dirty. The question is...how do you handle the situation?

Sybella got up and laughed, some people roll over and cry, others get angry, and yet other people panic. There is a Proverb (15:18) that says, a hot-temper stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel. I also believe that patience lends clarity to difficult situations.

SO...when you find yourself in a muddy situation, just remember this smiling 16 month old full of joy while covered in mud and say to yourself...MUDSLIDE!

Hard Times

No we aren't having 'hard times' at the Simon's...just eating there:

I went to the Hard Times Cafe for a lunch meeting with a friend. This place has awesome chilli and is one of the top 3 places to hang out in Alexandria, VA. It is one of my favorite meeting places (of course any meeting of food is a favorite place fore me). It really hit the spot with the wind blowing and making it a little colder than usual. Over lunch we talked about a number of things to include FOCUS.

Looking back on many personal adventures as well as the business ventures of friends around me, we talked about how your focus determines your direction and ultimately your destiny. Whether you are an owner, employee, or leader, it is critical to remind yourself of why you are doing what your doing. I watch way too many people here in DC thinking about being at home while they are at work and thinking about work while they are at home. And then they wonder why they are not achieving the success that others around them are having. Their focus is off.

Here's a hint...don't take the laptop home one night and turn off the blackberry and see what happens around the house. I am just as guilty as the next guy but sometimes that stuff has to be put aside and the focus needs to be on family. Now I would comment on the opposite of this but far more people struggle to make home and family the priority than the other way around.

The other thing I will mention is that my life goals and dreams are written down and saved on my desktop so that I can look at them daily. I don't dwell on them or stare at them for minutes on end but glancing at them keeps me in focus as to why I am doing what I am doing.

~David

New Opportunities

This isn't designed to be the ultimate guide to which opportunities are right for you or me but rather to provide some points to ponder from my most recent read...

When opportunity and passion line up with our prayers it is difficult to have restraint.

The problem is that our emotions can cloud the situation and opportunities must be weighed against something far more objective than just the circumstances. I always think I know how things are going to play out but I have made decisions (100% convinced I knew the outcome) and it turned out I was 100% wrong. An open door is not always a door that requires us to step through it. Don’t believe me? Read 1 Samuel 24. Three factors should be considered.

Think about it:
1. The Law – There are laws we are not and should not break and no matter how great the opportunity, if it violates the law...it's not something we should be doing. In David’s case, you can not kill a king or rebel against the thrown without breaking the law.
2. Principle – Follow the golden rule. Think about how you would want treated in a similar situations because life has this amazing way where we find ourselves in the shoes of those we have authority over.
3. Wisdom – Seek to be the example and listen to the counsel and mentorship around you. David was in a position to take the thrown by killing the king. If he killed the king what kind of an example would he be?

At the end of the day there have been awesome opportunities that Sharon and I thought were a 'God Thing' that once reviewed and weighed began to take us in a different direction. As a leader I have to remember that forward motion and progress will often tempt us to bend the rules and eventually lose our integrity.

~David

Starfish & Spiders

It sounds like the opening line to a bad joke: What do the Apache Indians, Craigslist, Skype, and Al Qaeda have in common? The answer goes to the heart of my most recent read: They're all decentralized organizations that have survived and even stood in the face of, 'spiders', a rigid hierarchy and top-down leadership of big business organizations who set out to crush these 'starfish'.

A quick teaser for those of you looking for a good read...here were the big ideas I am walking away with from this most incredible research and book:

1. How the Internet has leveled the playing field, what is driving communities, and how to capitalize as an entrepreneur in the same environment.

2. How and why my company and many other companies will have to change in the next 5 to 10 years in order to grow and thrive.

3. A better understanding of the decentralized nature of an terrorist network and how these organizations are best countered against.

~David

Being a Servant Leader

I met James Hunter back in 2006 and was impressed by his sincerity, candor, and vision. In his book, "The Servant", we read about the life of a business executive John Daily. Hunter does a wonderful job of weaving the timeless principles of servant leadership into the story of John Daily, whose outwardly successful life is spiraling out of control (I been there & felt that)!

If you don't like to read 'teaching' books and looking for a relaxing read, this is great story that incorporates passive learning.

He is failing miserably in each of his leadership roles as boss, husband, father, and coach. To get his life back on track, he reluctantly attends a weeklong leadership retreat at a remote Benedictine monastery. To John's surprise, the monk leading the seminar is a former business executive and Wall Street legend. Taking John under his wing, the monk guides him to a realization that is simple yet profound:

The true foundation of leadership is not power, but authority, which is built upon relationships, love, service, and sacrifice.

The book enumerates the following as the qualities of a servant leader...
1. Patient - showing self-control
2. Kind - giving attention, appreciation, and encouragement
3. Humble - being authentic without pretense or arrogance
4. Respectful - treating others as important people
5. Selfless - meeting the needs of others
6. Forgiving - giving up resentment when wronged
7. Honest - being free from deception
8. Committed - sticking to your choices

All these behaviors will entail you to serve and sacrifice for others. This would mean setting aside your own wants and needs to focus on the legitimate needs of others.

~David

Night at the Museum

Colin and I went to the Baltimore Aquarium on Friday night to ‘Sleep with the Sharks’. Yes that’s right we spent the night in the museum. Now this wasn’t “Night in the Museum” with Ben Stiller, no dinosaurs or exhibits came to life…in fact it was quite the opposite…we saw many a sleeping shark and stingray. Ever seen a stingray sleep? It’s like watching any other lifeless animal lie on the floor only these are underwater.

Now I am not picking on the experience, on the contrary, this was a wonderful event that I recommend for kids’ ages 8 to14. We received a private behind the scenes tour of the entire aquarium and learned all kinds of cool things about the underwater world, rain forest, Australia, and frogs!

As we learned about all the different types of frogs, we of course stopped and hung out at the ‘poisonous frog collection’. Did you know that the most poisonous animal on Earth is the Golden Poison Frog of Columbia? What we found out about most of the poisonous frogs is that the poison toxin is generated based on what they eat and as a result the frogs in the aquarium are not really poisonous because they consume a non-toxic diet. WOW! Talk about “you are what you eat”.

Of course this is a good lesson for all of us. To often our actions, our relationships, and our ability to communicate is based on what we are putting into our minds. I guess it served as yet another subtle reminder to guard what is being pumped into my brain. TV, movies, music, books…they are all forms of media and one has to stop and ask what kind of media are we ingesting and what kind of result is it producing? Over the last 5 years I have substantially increased my reading and decreased my TV time…you know what…my quality of life and income has also increased. I am not the only one who has experienced this phenomenon. Many of my friends have also shared the same experience that by decreasing the TV intake and ingesting more books and CDs focused on personal and professional growth that their incomes have increased.

Colin and I had a blast, this was quality father son time and I was able to hang out with his friends and focus on him for and entire day without the distractions of the job.

I guess we all truly ‘ARE WHAT WE EAT’.

WHAT ARE YOU INGESTING???