When Life Sets Sail Without You

Exactly 7 years ago this week...

I stood in port as my ship, the USS Abraham Lincoln, set sail for a deployment. Her turn to be the vanguard of our protection. My shipmates' turn to stand the watch. Our turn to serve our country.

Except, I wasn't there; I would not make it on that deployment - or any other, as it turns out.

Six days prior I was handed orders to detach from the ship for medical reasons. I put in for temporary shore duty so I could meet the Lincoln underway when I was ready. That request was denied all the way up to the Executive Officer - considering it "elective" treatment. My orthopedic surgeon thought otherwise. So there I was, waiting for surgery and to begin treatment I needed, but seeing my ship, my reactor plant, my shipmates, my friends headed overseas without me.

So what's the point?

The point is that the last 5 years of my Naval career, and the entirety of my future plans based of that, seemed to be washing away. This wasn't the plan!

Adding to the uncertainty I was now facing, I was directly confronted by many of my shipmates thinking I did this on purpose, to get out of deployment. That was the real punch in the gut.

This happens to ALL of us. It's okay. External forces align to ruin our plans. Now we can't do what we promised the world we would. It's still okay. Now some people are going to look at our position in the situation and think poorly of us.

1. Those people don't matter. Connect with those who share some bit of understanding.
2. The landscape has changed, permanently, so modify your plans, or pick a new path.

It sounds easy, because it is, but reliant upon self-confidence. I wish I could tell you I just shifted gears and charged ahead in a new direction. I didn't. I spent months staring at the empty pier and open water. I was angry, disappointed and depressed. Longer than I should have been, but I slowly got re-oriented and began laying out a new plan. I finished my bachelors, picked up a certification, did some cool things with a weapons program, and started my MBA before the Navy finally retired me.

If you're reading this, you can see my LinkedIn profile, and observe that it all worked out. It damn sure didn't feel like that 7 years ago! Hopefully you can take this away from my story:

• The world is always changing, and some days it will look nothing like what you've planned for.
• Don't beat yourself up for not keeping to your word if it's no longer possible.
• Pick a new heading and go for it.

Give the horizon a wink and a wave, turn around, step off the pier, and jump into your new adventure. *Tweet this*

Maybe you're having a life event, maybe your company is "right"-sizing, maybe you've found yourself in way over your head... How do YOU get yourself back on track? Leave a comment and give us all a tip. Thanks!

8 Tips for New Professionals

Transitioning stages in life can be difficult - full of uncertainty, doubt, and tons of mistakes.  

This is all fine - normal, really - but it doesn't have to be the school of hard knocks for everyone.  Here are 10 things to practice as you enter the world of business.

(Millennials & Veterans: I'm talking to YOU, venturing out on new career paths!)

From CEO to salesperson, your success rests heavily upon how you interact with people, how your represent yourself, and the strength in communicating your message - in business, your world is all about people!

Be YOU

1. Never Let 'Em See You Sweat (maybe)

It's a an out-dated cliche, but there's some value to this.  First, literally, try not to sweat - a bit of personal hygiene here, but also think to dress appropriately.  This does not mean to hide stress, excitement, and nerves altogether.  Think about it: if you show no emotion, how can I know to trust you?

2. Always Let Them See You Breathe

Show the people you interact with that you're in control of your world.  Rebecca Knight talks about projecting an aura of calm.  Again, not emotionless, but being able to breathe tells the world you're aware of what's going on, comfortable with your position, and ready to react to what's behind door #2.

Make Your Meetings Count

3. Don't Be Late!!!!

It's definitely not common sense because this remains an endemic issue, at least in Western business.  You're busy, I'm busy -- we all get it, but don't let your business disrespect the time someone else set aside for you.

4. Never Miss a Meeting

Seriously, this happens more than you'll realize if you've just left the Military or are taking your first professional position.  The worst is when you don't even shoot off that last minute email saying you won't make it.  Emergencies happen, but try not to waste your time or theirs.

Help others and and be proactive.  Especially if the meeting has been scheduled for a while, reach out to confirm.  A no-show can place a huge amount of strain on the relationship.  Nothing creates instant awkward like the "I waited around for an hour and didn't see you..." call.

5. Do Your Homework First

Take the time to learn about someone new; Google them, review their LinkedIn profile - they're doing it to you anyway.  If this is a follow-up on an older topic, get yourself back up to speed; review the last email string, check to see if your colleagues made any progress.  Clearly this makes you look good in the group and enables you to be more productive, but you also make a great personal impact on others by noticing their work.

Harness the Power of Writing

6. It's OK to Ask For Something in Writing

You shouldn't be hiding behind an email, but consider the request.  Giving them some time makes it comfortable for people to respond on their own terms.  When the topic isn't time sensitive, drafting a note allows you a second, third, or fourth chance to review your message.  Here's some common messages from Danny Rubin to get you started.

Something written also creates artifacts for everyone to use later on.  With metadata and massive search functions on the rise, it's becoming easier to retrieve information on demand, eliminating all the paperwork we used to create just to track the paperwork we wanted to save.

(Note: If you're writing something for CYA purposes, take a second look at it to make sure it's necessary.  If this becomes too frequent, take a further step back to ask yourself if there's a problem with your environment.)

7. Follow-up On Your Own

It's impressive.  Really.  It doesn't happen often enough outside of sales efforts.  By not waiting until the day before the next meeting, it helps save someone else some time, and shows that you care about the mutual item you're connecting on.  It's really simple, no tricks (except maybe a calendar reminder) - just do it.

8. You'll Need it Later...

Yep, that's right.  If your sights are set higher, being able to effectively communicate in writing will set you apart from other managers and leaders.  Don't let writing be one of those lost arts you gaze upon - practice being able to express yourself in more than 140 characters or a text.  There are uses for those forms (I encourage leveraging every available means of communicating) but being able to tell a story will help you win the support of your team, or secure the funding for that project you're aching to get started on.

What are your top tips for the workplace? Leave a comment below and share them with us.  Thanks for reading!

A Special Holiday Gift

My gift to share this season is a simple wish and a little surprise at the end of this short post.

I realize you're all spread far and wide - the many dozens of countries represented by my followers may spread further than the practice of celebrating Christmas.  I thank you for reading, and am here to tell you it doesn't matter what I believe, or you believe, or anyone else - so long as we work together towards virtuous ambitions with compassion and respect guiding our paths.  This is our social mandate.  It has to be.  Your impact will spread like ripples if this is our focus.

If we work together with virtuous ambition, it doesn't matter if we have different beliefs. Compassion and Respect are universal guides. *tweet this*

The Path to Peace is Paved with Sacrifice

My service in the US Navy defines my life as much as anything else,  The Holiday season is a time I long for that brotherhood, ache for the pain of separated families, and think about those still out there, defending freedom around the globe.  Our American military has a vast presence and an enormous mission.  In many places our Allies serve with us; in some the borders are sharp edges.

Whether or not your life has been connected to the service, you're a veteran yourself, or your nation has troops abroad, we should all agree on one thing:

Our Common Goal is Peace.

To that end, I wish you all the very best this season, and ask that you take a moment to think about my brothers and sisters, your brothers and sisters, standing watch far from home.  Meditate, pray, pause for a silent moment - whatever suits you - but trust me when I say that knowing someone outside of your family remembers you're out there, and appreciates your sacrifices - it matters. a lot.  That's a wonderful gift.

I leave you with your own gift: A soul-stirring, awe-inspiring surprise performance of the United States Air Force Band at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum earlier this month....

Put Up, or Shut Up! (the advice not taken)

50% of CXO's do not think that their direct reports have the skills to assume greater leadership roles in the organization.

Why is it that the majority of America's business leaders lack confidence in the future of their posts?  It's because most of these leaders fail to put into practice all the good ideas circulating in modern management thinking.

Reality Check:
We love to see and talk about: edgy, shiny, new...
We love to actually do: whatever felt comfortable yesterday...
We expect business as usual to magically build a different tomorrow...

So we know there's some better things for us to do, and we're seeing them.  (here's what's in store for 2015) Let's think about some corporate leadership trends that racked up headlines this year:

• Work Less
• Sleep More
• Be Authentic
• Destroy Bull$#!^ HR Rules

How many articles did you read this year with Fortune 500 CEO's bragging about how many hours of sleep they're getting each night, or refusing to schedule late meetings and check email at home?  Or how about challenges to celebrate your individuality (think: Zappos)?  What about all these hot new companies with unlimited time-off, open salaries, and no managers?

You read about all of this because they do exist, all of them, but only amounting to a token level of change.  A fraction of a percentage of companies and leaders live these philosophies - which means that almost every other company out there isn't changing.  We're just clicking through to the next article...

Advice not taken is simply a passing cloud - we spend plenty of time looking at it, admiring it, and then let it float away. *tweet this*

It's going to take billion dollar organizations (and I mean $bn revenue streams, not speculative valuations), with thousands of employees - lots of these firms - to actually make a shift in the examples set by corporate leaders as well as the policies they create and enforce.

Executives: You are NOT thought leaders!

Wait, you think you are?  No, I highly doubt that, at least not yet anyway.  Jeff Kilman will let you down for me, and explain why just talking bold, or maybe doing bold doesn't cut it.  You have to take that next step and practice bold things that no one else is talking about yet.  Then you will be a thought leader, and will be able to transform your organization.

Managers: You can be the next American Idol!

Stay with me a second here...  If you cut through all the commercialized hollywood crap, there's something really unique about this brand: it got people to finally listen to advice [and take a chance at singing].  This is an external voice urging you on, or an internal voice taunting you with something new and crazy.  Aside from the millions of dollars in production and marketing the network dumped into the brad, I would argue that what really drew audiences in was seeing people actually act on advice they're heard - and believe they too could share that experience.

^^ That is inspiring ^^  If you're a program manager that has the chance to design and implement some of these heretical ideas about making work more human and enjoyable - just freakin do it already!

SO - Who's ready to jump in and become the clouds everyone else yearns for?  What do you think is stopping you from actually living some of these cool new thoughts about work?

Follow me on LinkedIn to join the conversation with other professionals and aspiring new leaders.  @TonyRossiMBA if you're fond of the Tweet!

Loyal and Lonely

You're steadfast.  You've stuck by the team.  You're putting in your time...
But wait; weren't you supposed to get something back by now?

Maybe someone actually owed you something, but probably not.  You jumped onboard because of an earnest promise that the ship was on a great path, and that you would get your turn at the helm, or even your own boat!

So here you are, time has passed, you've shown your loyalty time and again -- so why the hell does it feel so lonely?

Good news: the answer is rather simple.  Bad news: you have to make a choice.

The reason you feel lonely is because you've hitched your loyalty to an old path.  As it turns out, $#!^ does happen, and the group or cause you've committed to had to adjust its course.  This happens over and over again - that's life, it seems.  As this happens, the path drifts further away from the vision when you joined.

You know this, of course, because you've been reacting and doing your part to pursue success.  But you forgot to allow your vision to change along the way.  That's why you feel like you're on an island.  Stop and look around - you're still in the same spot with everyone else, just facing the wrong direction.

The bad news?  Well, it's up to you if it's actually bad news or not, but here it is: It's time to make a choice.  You've got a few paths in front of you - none of them being your initial course.

If you're going to stay onboard - great! - but take the time to stop and ask how you fit into the new future, and what you need to do to get there.  If it's time to chart a new course - also great! - but be wise about it.  Don't just jump overboard and start swimming - make sure you know your new heading and how you're going to get there.

There are some other signs you might need a course correction, but the point is to not be afraid of asking yourself to question the course.  Loyalty is still expected, but with the speed and chaos in our world today, the focus is much more near-term.

If your gaze is always on the horizon, you might lose track of exactly where you are. *tweet this*

Have you hit that fork in the road before? Did you see it coming?

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting my new blog!

I've been writing a bit on LinkedIn, and a few other platforms, but it's time to open wide up, and get some real practice in before launching my website.

So here's me in a nutshell - what keeps me busy during the day - and what keeps my mind spinning at night:

(adapted from my professional bio)

A husband, a father, a Veteran, a (retired) Sailor, a TED junkie, a North Carolinian, a beach bum - pick one.
My passions are around innovation, education, mindfulness and sustainability.
Along the way I've picked up a thing or two about critical equipment (nuclear and data center), building operations & military and corporate leadership.

[ HERE'S MY RESUME ]
With more than a decade of operational and management experience in multi-dimensional critical environments, my engineering mindset provides a unique and effective approach to daily business operations as well as enterprise-scale strategic challenges. As a facility manager, my daily goal is to establish and fine-tune business and engineering operations with a direct impact on the long-term success and security of the organization.

[ BUT HERE's WHY I WORK HARDER THAN MOST ]

✦ I enjoy the challenge of working with cross-functional teams and subject matter experts to drive performance improvement and process efficiency. It's nice if we all get along, but that's too easy and probably means we're not being open with each other.
✦ I'm not scared of working in ambiguity towards perpetuity, and will always put my name to my work, regardless of the risk or outcome. Projects tend to bore me because there is an end in sight.
✦ I strive for poise and clarity in communication, whether the audience is executives, industry regulators, or social media followers.

now for the secret:

If you made it this far, you might as well know that, for entirely obvious reasons, I'm obsessively interested in that which will improve the lives and careers of MIllennial and Military leaders. Be it a professional avenue such as my current role in business management, or on a personal level, volunteering my experience and expertise, that's where I want to invest my efforts.

Please enjoy my writing and ask all the questions you want!  

Follow me too!