Sol De Chile - Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 (Estate Bottled)

Well, we tried two bottles of this wine to be sure, but despite the following tasting notes from the wine maker:

Our Cabernet Sauvignon has a rich and concentrated ruby-violet color. It has aromas typical of its variety and added hints of chocolate and coffee. Its tannins are mature and firm.

My experience was much different. The wine seemed very immature. I was overwhelmed by the tannins and never found either the coffee or the chocolate. The nose was very hard but it did linger.

Not being a fan of this wine I cannot recommend it for anything even though it seems to be a reasonably priced wine.

Recommendation: Must miss. Not suitable for use as even a gift to someone you do not like.

Moon Sand Evening

Until last night--I did not have a clue what Moon Sand was. I guess i was just uninitiated--but Ethan was there to help educate Pop-pop about the virtues of Moon Sand.

So there I was, celebrating the first warm evening of 2008, in my shorts, my best Aloha shirt and sandals sitting in the middle of the driveway getting educated about Moon Sand by a very talkative and excited three-year old. And having a great time doing it. The conversation was interesting as we rolled the big wheeled trucks through the sand and made castings of the trucks and one person. We were joined by the neighbors who further educated me on the uses and versatility of Moon Sand. Of course, a lot of it was left in the driveway--but we had fun.

Respect for People Helps Improve Balance

A very difficult subject is respect.

Leaders want to be respected and their people want to be respected as well.

It is very easy to become so focused upon the mission that people become tools to achieve a goal and are therefore devalued as the most important part of the team. I use a simple memory device to describe the difference between a leader and a manager. Leaders lead people and managers manage things. When leaders lose focus of this little idea, they are in trouble of losing the team.

People are not tools. People are not objects. People are people. They each come equipped with wonderful talents and capabilities. Leaders must resist the tendency to devalue people and talk about them in terms of resources or billets or positions. There are faces and families attached to those impersonal concepts.

Leaders need to deal with people differently. Leaders must recognize that when the team is working late, there are family events being changed or missed. When business trips happen, there are many other people who are being affected. This stresses the people and may impact optimal performance. It may contribute to burn out.

It isn't all about the job--hopefully, we a working to live and not living to work. In my own adult life, I have made the decision to accept a salary cut to take a new job because the net quality of life improvement outweighed the value of the additional income. People are making these kinds of decisions everyday. Sometimes they are too afraid of the unknown to make a change, but then their stress over feeling not in control of their lives will negatively impact the team and others around them.

What are some examples that in certain circumstances could be construed as lack of respect for the people part of the team equation?

- Calling a mandatory meeting for 4:30 PM which will definitely go until after 6PM (and most people are off by 5PM).

- Emailing a team member a task overnight and expecting it in place for an 11 AM function--hoping they check their personal email before they come to work.

- In volunteer organizations, not understanding that some people are working 45-50 hours or more per week at their main job and then devoting then next best part of themselves to the volunteer organization.

- Constant short notice meetings without published agendas so the team members can prepare in advance and make the meeting productive

- Line of sight tasking.

- Believing that the reward for good work is less punishment.

- Sending someone on a trip when you know there are important personal events planned.

A wise person once told me--when you leave the organization you are in, who is really going to remember you after five years. You have your family with you your whole life and five years after you leave that company, if you are mindful of them, you will still have your family.

Good leaders understand that their workers or volunteers are trying to achieve balance in their lives. I remember The Karate Kid movies in which the wise sage taught Daniel-san about balance and lives being in or out of balance. Leaders need to help those around them achieve balance. Look for the warning signs that the lives of your people are out of balance: divorces, stress, illnesses, short fuses in discussions.

Respect those around you. Sure, there are going to be those times when everyone needs to pull together to achieve a goal, but it should not be an "every minute of every day and then some" environment. Be sensitive to the families and friends behind your people and to the drivers in their lives. Then, when the team really needs it--they'll be there and be happy about pulling together to achieve something really important.

Recognition--the Force Multiplier

Leaders are responsible for ensuring the members of their teams feel as if the contributions they make are important. To do this leaders need to both acknowledge contributions and recognize the value of the contributions.

Not every contribution needs to be recognized, but it is too easy to fall into the trap of recognizing no contributions at all--or even worse--calling out only the not so good contributions. This is demoralizing. After a while the team begins to wonder if anyone cares about what they are doing.



It is easy to fall into the trap of forgetting that people appreciate knowing that what they are doing is moving the mission forward--in whatever endeavor is being attempted: work, sports, music--leaders have an obligation to encourage. One of the best ways to encourage and reinforce good behaviors is to recognize--when it happens, good stuff. Don't wait until weeks later. Do it on the spot if you can. Catch people in the act of doing good!



We all generally have a real good grasp on reality and know when bad stuff happens. What we don't really understand sometimes is what is the good stuff? What do we need to emulate? That's the job of the leader--to recognize the good stuff and let everyone else now what it looks like so they can recognize it too.



How to recognize? A public comment that that was good is a great way to start. It can be done on the spot and in front of peers. Certificates are good. Awards are nice--especially money or time off.



Develop a culture that recognizes and encourages. Amazing things will happen as people push themselves a little bit more--without even realizing it, because they know their efforts are appreciated. And then the team, work unit, or whatever will be capable of doing more than it believed it could.

Dissonance--When Words and Actions Don't Agree

Have you ever run across someone whose words and actions don't agree? And they don't even realize it? Let me give you an example:

The weekly staff meeting is scheduled to start at 1 PM on Wednesdays. But every week the leader isn't ready to start until 1:10 PM. After a few weeks people stop arriving at 1 PM and start arriving at 1:10 PM. But what does the leader do? Gets upset that people are arriving late? But are they really late? So what time does the 1 PM staff meeting begin?

A similar situation is when the leader indicates that subordinates should be open and honest and say and relate what's on their minds. But what inevitably happens when something bad is brought up or a different (notice I didn't write opposing) point of view is presented? The slam dunk as I call it. Or even worse, the cold shoulder where it is made clear that input from that person is unwelcome.

This stuff is easy to do. I've done it to others and had it done to me. It is dissonance because I am no longer consistent. What I think I want is not what I am showing my team that I want. I get unhappy with the team because they're not doing what I think I want and the team gets frustrated with me because I say one thing, but do something else and hold them accountable for an inconsistent expectation. It causes a lot of problems when this happens and the good leader needs to be constantly aware of these situations.

Seven steps to reduce dissonance

1. Make the decision to change.

2. Realize that your own actions have caused the situation. Do not blame it on circumstances. Accept responsibility for the dissonance and work aggressively to overcome it.

3. Look for scheduling situations which contribute to the problem--like closely planned successive meetings or events. Ask yourself--Why do meetings have to begin on the hour or half hour? If there is a scheduling problem which does not allow getting from one meeting or event to another until quarter past, change the scheduled time to quarter past! And then stick to it

4. Do what you say and say what you mean.

5. Start on time, regardless of who is present. After a very short time, people will adjust to the punctuality just as they did the lateness.

6. When bad news or dissenting views are being presented--don't say anything negative. Say thank you--and mean it. Realize that you need to hear good and bad news and you will never hear the bad if you continue to shoot the messenger. Take the information away for processing later. Ensure you understand the context.

7. Ask a trusted team member if there are things you are doing which cause frustration on the team related to dissonance.

Dissonance is dysfunctional to teams and prevents teams and organizations from achieving their full potential. Be aware of how your words and actions contribute to dissonance and notice how people respond to it. If they can, people will often vote with their feet--and leave the dissonant leader for one more consistent.

Keep Going O's

Another day another come from behind to tie followed by a late inning win! I am believing in these O's. The Baltimore Sun said today that this was the best start in 10 years! I say--enjoy it and keep cheering. I would love to see Oriole Park at Camden Yards rocking again with over 40,000 fans attending a game other than the Yankees or Red Sox.

I am getting to the point where i don't wnat to miss any of the action because--these guys are exciting! Who knows, maybe the O's will be looking to get talent for a pennant run in July rather than renting talent out (like they did Trachsel, last year). This is the American League East and anything can happen.

See you at the yard!

Trust and Teams

Are there trust issues on your team?

How do you know? When there seem to be more and more secrets--things that everyone can't know--there are trust issues. When the words: "Don't tell ___ about ____" are being used, then there are definite trust issues. At this point the team is in trouble.

To develop the closeness which helps teams overcome rough times, secrets need to be minimized. If there is something out there which affects the team--then everyone on the team needs to be aware of it. Look at it another way--if there is an issue and members it is being kept from some members of the team, then the team is not able to fully use all of its resources to overcome the issue. It is like playing a baseball game with only seven players instead of nine. The team is handicapped even before the first pitch.

So the question the leader has to ask is: "Why do I not trust my team with this information?" or "Why do I only trust certain members of the team?" The savvy leader recognizes that there are no real secrets on close teams anyway. The whole idea of secrets and trust may be related to concern about control of the team. But in the end, the trust issues not handled properly will fracture a team and render it ineffective.

How does a leader handle proprietary secrets that senior leadership indicates may not be shared? Don't let the team know you have a secret. Someone else has determined that your team is not trustworthy. The leader's job is to convince that leadership that the team is indeed trustworthy and failing that, do not indicate to the team that there are trust issues with higher leadership. It is really demoralizing for someone to say: "I know what's up and I can't tell you." Coming from the background I do, I fully believe the best approach is to deny knowledge at all of the larger situation for the benefit of the team. Good leaders will protect their team.

But what if someone violates the leader's trust? Look, it's going to happen anyway sometime. The benefits of what I like to call "transparency" far outweigh the potential losses caused by occasional trust violations. We are dealing with people--and people make mistakes and interpret situations very differently. Why give people a reason to believe you are not being honest with them? Both in the good and the bad information. Expect people to be adults and even when getting bad news, set the expectation that bad news will be dealt with in a mature and encouraging manner.

Leaders need to look at themselves. How do they handle honest communication. Killing the messenger of bad news, although I do like the scene from the movie 300, doesn't change the news and generally does not encourage the openness and transparency necessary for effective teams. Leaders need to be able to hear the bad news, too. And to keep openness alive on a team they need to be able to hear bad news from their team.

Trust the members of your team--with the good and the bad. Allow and enable them to participate in decisions and situations which affect members of the team. Do not play the "I've gotta secret" game. Grow the team into one that pulls together when times are tough and plays together when they can and you will have created a team that will rise to levels even the leaders did not imagine possible.

Oriole's Baseball - April 2008

Wow--I'm excited! What a great baseball weekend. This time last year the O's were 1-4--today they are 4-1 and alone atop the AL East!! I have to get excited about it because we need everything that we can to cheer about after ten consecutive losing seasons. And even a glimmer of hope is worth excitement.

The team has demonstrated they can come back. They have been behind in every game they played this year and won 4. Coming from behind to over come 2 or more run deficits on at least four occasions!

I went to the Saturday night game where they came from behind twice to win. It was cold--but the play of the gritty O's kept us at the game believing that something good was going to happen! AND IT DID! 6-4 and the O's win. I watched yesterday's game and saw the O's stick with it until the end--last out. AND WIN!

I do like the continually changing scoreboard and I feel that after this homestand they may actually get the bugs worked out. The team at least returned the pitch-type and speed to the smaller stadium scoreboards. And they even figured out how to still show the pitcher pitch count.

One more small product improvement though--the message of who is warming up in the bullpen should not be placed inside the player's stats on the lower board. Take down the defensive alignment on the upper board to show that message.

Let's go O's

A Day with E

Saturday was a great day. I thought it was going to be a total washout, but then our almost three-year old grandson walked into the day and totally changed my point of view.

About 11AM--he arrived and the women departed with Jackson for places unknown. So it's me and E. Off to the dump to get rid of some of those not going to be used this pool season items. This was E's first ever trip to the dump and he was a bit underwhelmed. He expected to see the BIG dump trucks and only saw the myriad of pick-ups and minivans which go to the residential side during the Saturday time period. But he was happy to watch everything going on.

When we got back I helped him discover flowers and smells. We walked around the gardens smelling hyacinths, and daffodils, rosemary, thyme, oregano and many other things. He really enjoyed the hyacinths and the rosemary. We learned how some flowers smell sweet and some don't. We learned about the smell of grass and forsythia, too. And on the walk we also saw a group of Hostas peaking their heads above the ground for the growing season. I promised to show Ethan what they grow into in a few weeks.

After lunch and nap we went to Home Depot to buy flowers so we could plant them. That was an experience. After being sensitized to the flowers he was all about picking out flowers to plant. So our garden this year was designed by a three-year old. He was very good about planing the flowers, though he was a bit literal when I told him to drop the plant into the hole.

Mowing the lawn was another experience. He rode with me on the tractor as we dodged trees and mowed the lawn. He was a great assistance as we emptied the bags and he began to understand that the clippings in the bags were created by the mower.

The crowning achievement of the day was Wormy. A pet worm and friends. He was all about the worm. And finding more. Digging in the unplanted vegetable garden. A couple of the neighbor children arrived and were also into searching for friends for Wormy. I don't think much about worms on a day to day basis--but I am sure I will always be on the lookout for Wormy and friends to thank them for helping Ethan get in touch with the world.

Teams

I played football in high school. I am always amazed at how much I learned about life and being a member of a team from playing football. I was not a star on the team. More like, as my coach said--I was hamburger for the good players to use and abuse in practice to get ready for the games. I knew my place, I knew my mission and I did it as well as I could so that the team was successful. And for the two years I played varsity, the team went 17-0-1. I did my part, everyone else on the team did their parts and we were successful. We were well coached.

Leaders need to know the members of their teams. We have to learn to make the team successful by maximizing individual strengths and using others to fill in the weaknesses. Everyone can contribute--but they need to know their place and how they are going to contribute. Some will be the stars and be in front doing the high pressure presentations. Others will be in the background--the hamburger, getting what the presenters need to "win one" for the team.

On a sports team, players have different positions; similarly on work teams people fill different positions. The job of the leader (coach) is to put the right players in the positions where they can have the greatest impact for the entire team. Not everyone may be playing in their best position if there is a lack of talent in a particular area. But it is still up to the leader to maximize everyone's talent for the good of the team.

How do you maximize talent? Tear down and remind everyone how many shortcomings they have? Or build up and encourage them by reminding them that everyone makes mistakes, but no single person causes failure. If it is a team sport--everyone plays a part. But everyone working to their potential is a surer means to success than minimizing the abilities of the less talented. There is a place for everyone. And once the team is comfortable working together, begin to encourage everyone to increase their skills and, therefore, value to the team.

Let me give an example. How well would someone continue to be motivated for a team if the leader came to someone who is definitely giving 100 percent for the team and is one of the stalwarts on the team and encouraged them by saying: "You're really not that talented, if you want an assessment why don't you send a tape of your play to some scouts and see what they say?" Sounds like the leader has a bigger issues to deal with and is intent on driving someone they consider a threat away. And who loses? Everyone! The team member, the other members of the team, and even the leader. The team member knew, "I never had any aspirations of playing at the next level, I was happy to do what I could do right here with this team and these people." sometimes it is more about who you are with than clawing to the next level--whatever that is. And the obvious personal assessment of an exchange like this? I'm not valued--maybe it's time to move on.

Leaders have to get over their own frustrations (and pride) of being where they are versus where they want to be. The team you have is the team you have. Work with it or go somewhere else. Encouragement is critical. How many Cinderella teams with definitely less talent have shown superior talented teams that a close-nit, well-coached team can overcome the odds and win? I think the last Super Bowl is a good example. It is the same in all of the teams we are members of. A close, motivated, well-led team will almost always succeed.

Great leaders encourage their teams to success and facilitate developing close relationships between the members. Key word--encourage!