The supervisor is frustrated – in his mind, he has done everything right to manage his team to a successful outcome.  He carefully explained the task at hand and its deadline for completion, how it was supposed to get done (and by whom), and outlined the expected results.

He has monitored the resulting team activity and provided useful feedback.

And yet, the outcome was less than what he expected.   What went wrong?

It’s one of those situations that can drive leaders crazy. I know, because it’s happened to me.

There’s a missing element here, and it’s about a question that needs to be answered – even before anybody asks.

Look again at my example above. The supervisor had answered four questions for his team – “What?”, “When?“, “How?”, and “Who?”

What was missing was the answer to “Why?”

Put another way, it’s placing the desired result in the proper context for each team member, as well as explaining the importance of each person’s role in achieving that result.

In my experience I have found that it is well worth your time to sit down with your team and get those “Why” answers on the table, and make sure they are understood.   You cannot assume that they know these answers – even if they don’t ask the questions.

Granted, this can be a time consuming exercise, especially when there are tight deadlines.   There’s typically a strong temptation to just step on the accelerator and get the bus moving.  But successful leaders must resist that temptation.

It’s really a matter of giving meaning to the work that each person does, which leads to happier, more motivated, and more productive teammates.

Here’s a specific example.   A few years ago my company started tracking a customer service metric, based on specific customer feedback.  When we first started we more or less just “put it out there”, explaining the mechanics of the metric, the way it was compiled and scored,  and setting a company goal.

The metric performed reasonably well, but hit a plateau short of the goal.  We eventually determined that the way to push it past this barrier was to spend a lot more time with our customer facing staff explaining the “whys”; why this measurement was important to the success of the company, and why their specific actions could make a difference in moving the number higher.   We had these sessions multiple times over the course of a year.

Since that time, and with these “why” answers more clearly understood, our scores eventually exceeded our goal, and they continue to rise to greater heights to this day.  And our employee satisfaction scores have also gone up.

So remember, don’t forget the “why” – and keep your sanity.

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Remember this famous quote?

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it” – George Santayana

I’ve heard this one time and time again in my years in the business world.   And it’s a very powerful message about learning from the past.  However, I would offer that this quote should be amended to truly reflect using history to a leader’s advantage:

“Those who learn best from wisely selected history are destined to greatness”

Note the phrase “wisely selected“.   When it comes to history, great leaders essentially have selective memory.   Because not all of what has taken place in the past should be remembered.  In fact, there is a clear danger in many instances from being too acutely aware of history.

There are three levels of selective memory at work here:

General Outcomes

Bad outcomes can easily create paralysis, due to the fear they can conjure up when all the grisly details are remembered.  But great leaders can absorb the lessons and “forget”  most of those details, so when the time comes and those lessons must be applied,  anxiety won’t get in the way.

On the other hand, especially good outcomes can create complacency (the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality).   Great leaders can “remember” past success by looking beyond the objective results and putting a fresh eye on the people, process and policy that achieved them.    Otherwise, it’s hard to raise the bar when history is supposedly telling you you’ve already nailed it.

Day-to-day Management

Effective leadership selective memory also works well on a smaller scale- for example, in assessing the overall potential and performance of teammates, or effectively dealing with negative feedback.

In the case of performance, it’s the ability to sort out non-representative or inconsequential actions in making a correct assessment.  As for feedback, it’s the knack of “erasing” the tone or delivery that might of upset you, and looking instead at the substance of the critique.  Of course, there could also be times where the critique itself should be forgotten.

Immediate Forgetfulness

Lastly, there are those times where you should forget what may have  happened 10 seconds ago -  those heated exchanges that can sometimes put you in a funk for hours or days.   I’m sure you know what I’m talking about here – just think how many times you’ve even unconsciously applied it be telling someone  “forget about it” after you’ve calmed down.

All in all, it’s that innate ability, on all three of these levels,  to sort through your history and simply take with you what you need to succeed – a critical separator between “just good” and “really great” leadership.

So “select” well, and be great!

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Suppose you could take a weekend retreat away from the noise of the Internet …

• to focus entirely on your business
• to work with the support of a mastermind team
• to get quality time to interact with the top people in social media
• to get the best information AND time to discuss how you’ll apply it
• to work with sponsors who are doing the same thing
• in a room limited to 150 people — all focused in the same direction
• without worry because the food and the wireless are outstanding.

Imagine a weekend work retreat with these people totally invested.

Would you write a blog post to get a chance to win a FREE SOBCon Weekend?

An All-Expense Paid Ticket!! AND the Return of The “Blog It, Earn It”  Discount

As a co-founder of SOBCon (now in our fourth year), I’m delighted to announce with my partner Liz Strauss this great offer …

We had such fun last year with the SOBCon “Blog It, Earn It” discount. We’re bringing it back again. Again this year, we’d like to hear from you — this time about what “The Virtual Meets the Concrete” means to you. We want to celebrate how our relationships online help our lives and businesses online and off.

Tell us why online and offline relationships and strategies matter.

Here’s how to qualify for the discount and enter to win:

1. Write a blog post about a person (or people) online who has (or have) made a difference in your life. Celebrate how they have made your life easier, better, smarter, more productive, more meaningful.

2. Then let us know by tagging your post #SOBCon2010 and leaving a comment on this post. Include a working e-mail with your comment and as a thank you for sharing your story, we’ll send you a special code to take $250 off the $895 FULL conference rate - that’s over a 25% savings! (We won’t use your email to spam you.)

We’ll also tweet your blog post so that we can celebrate the folks we all think make us stronger.

Get your posts up before Noon EST on February 14th, 2010, and noon EST pm the next day (February 15th), to kick off a special SOBCobn2010 Webinar with Chris Garrett,  Chris Brogan, Amber Naslund and Liz Strauss (details coming soon), we’ll put all of the entries in a random drawing and choose one lucky winner who will receive:

1. a free ticket to SOBCon2010 – $895.00 value
2. airfare and three nights at Hotel 71 – up to $1105 in hotel and airfare

A total package value worth as much as $2000 – nontransferable, nonrefundable.

Blog your thoughts, share it, link it back to this post, and broadcast it on Twitter (hash #blogitearnit). We’ll also encourage you to link to the SOBCon blog for others to see and learn. And remember as a thank you for sharing your story, we’ll send you a special code to take $250 off the $895 FULL conference rate - that’s over a 25% savings!

Or, if you can’t make to SOBCon2010, you could “pay it forward” and pass the discount on to one of your friends — or offer it back to us as a gift for us to pass on for you.

We’re doing everything we can to bring you all the value, the experts and expertise, and the time to work and network that you need to make your business outstanding and extremely profitable in 2010.

What could you do with a weekend of the time, expertise, and support you need to focus your business?

We’re all coming for the same reasons.

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As the big stack on my desk attests, I love to read books that expand my knowledge and offer new insights on topics that interest me.   My reading list over the past several years can be found on my Amazon page (and if you do buy a book that way, all my commissions go to the National Park Foundation), and yes, they are skewed heavily toward business books.

This interest stems from the simple premise that you just never know when a book, or a page, or just a paragraph, might alter your way of thinking forever, and push you to a personal breakthrough.

So it’s with great pleasure that I share with you 3 recent books that are quite capable of doing just that.

“7 Lessons For Leading In Crisis“ – Bill George

I recently had the good fortune of seeing Bill George speak at the World Economic Forum in NYC; he’s an ex-big company CEO who spoke about leading in crisis, and turning crisis into opportunities. I likened his message to “sitting tall in the saddle“, and was impressed by his practical lessons.  These lessons are summarized in this book – it’s a quick, no-nonsense read that I bet will leave you as impressed as I was.

“B-A-M!  Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World” – Barry Moltz and Mary Jane Grinstead

Barry & Mary Jane bravely and directly take on 20 myths of good customer service, and counter them with some excellent ideas of their own.   What I really like about this book is Barry’s absolute and total commitment to the idea of good customer service- it’s evident by the great personal stories that he shares throughout the lessons, and the fact that he wears a button that says “just give me good customer service and nobody gets hurt“.  You go, my man!

“SWAT – Seize The Accomplishment” – Timothy L. Johnson

Timothy is a self described “process guy”, who absolutely loves to analyze how best a company (0r a person) can get from Point A to Point B.  In most circles they call this “systems thinking“, but I call it simply “doing“.  The fact is, there aren’t a lot of people willing to really dig into this and teach us something, much less tell it in such an interesting and entertaining way (in the form of a “fable”), so we are blessed that Timothy has taken this on.  Practicalities abound, and he even makes flow charting less frightening.  Dominate, dude!

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It’s the new elephant in the room.   Boardrooms and conference rooms, that is.

Businesses have been wrestling with this thing called Social Media for several years now, and while some have entered the fray,  it’s still an enigma to many.

Is it friend or foe?  A great benefit , or a horrible nuisance?  Do we dive straight in, stick our toe in the water, or just put our head in the sand and hope it goes away?

Because this elephant can take on so many faces, there is a good chance that all of those points of view exist within the management ranks of many companies – even the ones that already have some kind of SM presence.

So what to do? If you are a leader in one of these companies, or just someone who’s looking for answers, let’s go over what I consider the business basics – those “truths” that help you cast out the elephant and provide your team with some clarity.

Social Media has certainly hit a state of pervasiveness, so you better do something.   A majority of your customers and employees are frequently communicating on this platform, so there’s a lot of information flowing that way that you should be tapping into.   Ignore it at your peril.

Social Media isn’t a panacea. It will not cure all of your ills, just because you’ve set up shop among the cool kids on the block.  It’s another form of communicating, but it shouldn’t be the primary way- direct human interaction (via face-to-face or by telephone) still rules.  In fact, if you’re really, really good at that face-to-face stuff, you may be better off just being a toe dipper.

Social Media will require you to address its usage among your employees . Another feature of this medium is its addictiveness. If your employees have access to the internet during working hours, chances are they are on some SM platform during that time.  You need to set some ground rules and establish a usage policy, or perhaps end up scratching your head about the productivity declines.

Social Media has its own language protocol, and “company-speak” isn’t one of them . The users of SM have their “BS meters” usually cranked up to 10. If you are adept at plain English with a heavy accent of friendliness, then you’ll be fine if you decide to engage there.  Don’t expect to thrive with what’s usually on corporate memos and press releases.

Social Media demands truth, and usually gets it. Be careful with this one.  I’m not saying that all the information on SM is truthful – far from it.  What you need to understand, however, is that lies can be exposed very easily there, and once you are exposed, the verdicts can be very, very harsh.  A classic business example would be to exclaim on SM that you are “focused on exceptional customer service”, but yet your customers are posting hundreds of examples of when you were not.

And here’s a bonus – Social Media isn’t going away, so you need to learn to be pretty good at it. Regardless of which direction your company chooses to go, you should personally learn this medium.  Pick an interest totally separate from your company to practice with.  For example, say you love Chocolate.  Blog about it.  Learn some SEO, Twitter and Facebook tricks to attract other Chocolate lovers.  Meet some of the other Chocolate bloggers and Tweeters who have become popular.  Ask them questions.   Learn more.   Practice more.  Believe me, your knowledge and savvy will pay off, especially when it comes time to apply them in the business arena.

And you’ll eat a lot of mighty fine chocolate…. 

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Sometimes a leader needs to think like a plumber.

Yep, a plumber.

How so?   Think about pressure for a minute.  A plumber deals with pressure all the time – in their case, water pressure.

How it is controlled and directed is critical to the overall performance of a water circulation system, especially when heated water is involved.

Consequently, plumbers know all about safety valves and their benefits when the pressure gets too high.

And that’s where a leader can learn a lot from a plumber.

Leaders deal with pressure all the time – both externally and internally.  This pressure can generate much “overheated” energy, and get to the boiling point of anger.

That’s where a safety valve is needed- something that can easily and effectively “release” the pressure without causing any harm.

When it comes to your teammates, that safety valve is you.   You must provide an safe outlet to release that pressure.   Teammates must feel comfortable walking into your office, or calling you on the phone, to express their anger or frustration.

And you must be able to patiently listen to this pressure release, and not funnel it to any other dangerous place, or worse yet,  go the opposite direction and build the pressure up to the point of an explosion. It must dissipate harmlessly, so any underlying issues can be dealt with calmly and rationally.

It’s a leader facing reality – and understanding the personalities of everyone on the team.   Everybody gets unhappy with something at one point or another.  The key to successfully handling this unhappiness is to make sure it gets directed at you, rather than spread like a virus around you.

Put it this way – wouldn’t you rather take the time to listen to someone vent to you, rather than have that person continue to build unreleased anger and resentment, which undoubtedly could “leak” out to other teammates and create mass disharmony and a decrease in team effectiveness?

I know it takes a lot of patience to be a safety valve – but in the end, it pays off.  Encourage your teammates to speak to you FIRST any time the pressure is too great, and their anger has built up.   When they do call to vent, listen attentively (hopefully you’ve gone through my “Virtual Q-Tip” exercise).   9 times out of 10, the release will be all they need – and the valve will have done its job.

Occasionally,  the anger and pressure is so great that you can’t reduce it enough – and that’s when you have to move beyond merely acting as a valve by transitioning to a teacher and counselor.

I’ve learned this the hard way over my many years in the business world, especially when I didn’t have a safety valve manager of my own.

Unchecked and unreleased anger can be a killer to any organization, but think like a plumber, and you’ll be just fine.

And you don’t even need a wrench.

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Sometimes the smallest, most seemingly insignificant things can end up being the most important.

And more often than not, those “things” are basic common courtesies.

Returning a phone call.  Sending a thank you note (extra credit for a hand written one).  Remembering a name, or better still, their wife or husband’s name (or their dog’s).   Saying “please” and “excuse me“.  Not criticizing someone in public. Offering praise when praise is due.  Treating everyone with respect, no matter who they are or what they do.  Smiling a lot, and always putting people at ease.  Or just being there when you are needed.

All of these actions can create a lasting positive impression – call it karma, or just plain old good vibes (as a fledgling yogi, I’m partial to karma, so we’ll call it that).

And oh yes, these impressions come back to you – most times when you least expect them.  That’s why John Lennon was right when he said karma could “knock you off your feet“.

You just never know when someone you extended a courtesy to remembers that 6 years later, looks you up, and offers you an opportunity.

Fantasy? Nope. It happened to me.

I’ve seen people that I know (and respect greatly) get back riches beyond their wildest dreams primarily because they were overflowing with good karma.

Even on a smaller scale,  karma can still surprise you, like in those simple day to day interactions you have as a leader.   I visit my company’s field operations quite often, and I like to talk  personally with as many folks as I can.    The karma comes back to me when I get e-mails or letters about how just showing up, and taking the time to chat, made a difference in how they felt about their jobs.

It’s funny – most “karma creators” I know often chalk up their resulting successes to luck – but these folks are out there creating their own luck, by their kind, generous, noble, courteous, respectful, and thoughtful actions.

The more of those actions you take, the greater your chances for those  “knock you off your feet“  moments that can change your life, lead to greater success, or just make you feel good all over.

And as a leader (and as a person for that matter), who wouldn’t want to “make” that kind of  luck?

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As a leader, I’ve learned that getting off to a great start in a new year is very important.   Over the course of my career I’ve assembled a very handy annual New Year’s “Checklist”  that helps get me focused and ready for the challenges to come in the days and months ahead, and well positioned for success.

1. Don’t Dive In Head First – Before you jump into the New Year, full speed ahead, don’t forget to pause and reflect on the year you just experienced – savor the victories, and learn from the setbacks. Talk about this with your team, as early in the year as possible.  THEN, dive in.

2. Study Up – Make sure you take the time to study the details of your business or project plan for the year ahead.  You don’t have to memorize every word and number, but it’s a big plus to absorb and conceptualize the full scope of what you’re trying to accomplish. You’ll feel ahead of the game right away – and that’s a good place to be.

3. Read Your Fine Print – Every leader’s strengths, if overplayed, can turn out to be a negative – I call that the leader’s “fine print“; things that we need to be careful about.  A good example of this is how a “good” tendency to a “hard charger” can turn “bad”  if you end up going overboard, getting too impatient,  and steamrolling over people.  Sort it all out early and become more aware of your “fine print“.

4. Put The Right Team On The Field - Take stock of your team and their strengths and weaknesses, and ask a few hard questions:  Is everyone committed to the new year and the new plan?  Did you have some unresolved issues from last year that are still hanging out there?  Do you need to reshuffle a few things now before things get too busy? Answer these questions NOW,  take whatever corrective action is necessary, and give your team a better chance for success.

5. Keep Raising The Bar – While it may not be realistically feasible to keep setting higher targets on every measurable metric you have,  at least try to raise one or two to higher levels than the year before.    In my experience there is nothing better, and more motivating, than for a team to hit a “best ever” one year,  raise the target the next year, and then hit it again.

6. Synthesize Goals – Now that you’ve studied the business/project plan (see above), you need to reduce it to “bite sized” pieces so it can be effectively communicated throughout the organization.   I’d try to keep the pieces to no more than 4 or 5, but once you come up with them, be relentless in your communication – post them everywhere, and your progress against them. Harness the  power of the collective consciousness!

7. Calibrate Your Accountability Meter – It’s always a good idea to make sure your “accountability meter” is set properly; what I mean by that is making sure your teammates know what their expectations are for the year, and once that is done, being prepared to lead using the “full spectrum” of accountability against those expectations.

8. Clean Out Your Ears – This one’s real simple – prepare your ears to listen, with this virtual “Q-Tip”.   Sit down at your desk, close the door, and turn off your handheld and computer.   Feel and “hear”  what it’s like to not multitask, and just take in what’s happening around you.   Make a mental note to recreate this “listening environment” every time you are in the presence of your teammates.

9. Give Feedback Early & Often – While it’s tempting to immerse yourself in all the “nuts and bolts” as you’ve set sail against your plan, don’t forget to give your teammates as much feedback as possible, especially early on in the year. It’s much harder to give course corrections later if the ship has drifted way off course.

10. Practice Patience, Tolerance  & Engagement- This may be the most important item of them all, and the hardest to do.  It’s so easy to get impatient, intolerant of critique, or adverse to conflict.   Stay self aware!    You don’t have to be a zen master, but it’s important to stay centered, calm, open minded, receptive, and understanding.  Especially when things aren’t going your way.

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My wife and I have been in Paris on a two week vacation, spending the holidays in one of my favorite cities in the world.  While the sights, lights, art, food, chocolate (oh yes), and all else this place has to offer have been fantastic, there was one particular thing I really wanted to share with you.

In our shopping for vegetables we encountered a produce shop and a owner/proprietor I will not soon forget.   It’s called “Le Potager Mermoz” on 36 Rue Jean Mermoz in the 8th Arrondissment.

The owner, quite simply, delivered one of the best customer service experiences I have ever received, if not the best.

Here are all the attributes he displayed on our visits there:

Proper Greeting – without fail, a hearty “bonjour monsieur“.

Meticulously Arranged & Attractive Goods – so meticulous, that you were not allowed to touch them. And the fruits & vegetables looked SO fresh.

Proper Attire – He wore a clean,  bright white coat that screamed “you can bet that I love these vegetables as much as you will love them on your table“.

One-On-One Service – You pointed out what you wanted, and he actually picked it up.

Great Packaging – He individually wrapped every vegetable like it was a delicate bunch of flowers, and packed them lovingly in our reinforced paper bag with string handles.

Patience – While we knew very little of each other’s language, and there were several people waiting in line,  he still exhibited great patience while we deliberated (and stammered through) our selections.

Handling Queues- He was very good about greeting customers as they arrived, even though he was still attending to us, and telling them he’d assist them as soon as he could.

Respect - When an older man entered the store (I would guess in his late 70’s), he immediately pulled up a chair for him, so he could be comfortable while he waited.

Positive Attitude – Smiling, gregarious, pleasant – all through the transaction.

Salesmanship – On our second time there, he showed off his recent acquisition of black truffles by inviting us to smell them (gosh, they smelled good!).

Remembering Past Buying Behavior – On that 2nd visit, he remembered the vegetables we bought the time before, and led us to them.

Valued Return Customer Treatment – He also, haltingly but sweetly, made a bit of conversation with us the second go-round,  exchanging pleasantries about our general well-being.

Thank Yous and Farewells – A heartfelt “merci“, “au revior“, and “joyeux noel“, all again with the French “sir” equivalent attached.

Proper Manners – When we left, he opened the outside door for us.

Proper Manners, II – As we were leaving, he noticed that my wife was carrying the bag of vegetables.  That was not going to stand – he took the bag and handed it to me, and said something in French roughly equivalent to “hey dude, be a gentleman and carry that bag!”.

It was a totally unique experience, and one that left an indelible impression on me.   Why couldn’t customer service always be this way?  And here’s the kicker – because we were being treated so royally and so graciously, and the produce was so clearly superior,  we GLADLY paid well beyond the supermarket rate.

Customer service, done well, is a personal experience – it’s two people, interacting, and benefiting from it. The buyer gets great value, and the seller gets the personal satisfaction of delivering the value. And, if all those elements noted above are part of the process, those benefits and go beyond value, and into the realm of lasting positive impressions, and long-time unfailing loyalty.

I only wish I could put that store, and that wonderful person, on the plane back to the states with us.  What will be coming back with us is my memory of that place, and the great lessons I received  from the Paris Produce Man.

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TerryStarbucker.com turns 4 on 12/25; Today, in marking this anniversary, I tell the story of how my philosophy of "Half-Fullism" was born.

“I’m afraid we’re going to have to let you go”.

Boom.   Just like that, the train derailed.  All that promise, all that possibility, was now gone.

After  12 years of a relatively charmed professional  life, reality set in with a vengeance.

How I dealt with this reality formed the basis of an entirely new approach to my career, and to my life.

I now call it Half-Fullism, or “looking at reality in a favorable way”, but back then, it was more like survival.

My life’s journey to that fateful moment had been a relatively effortless one, at least professionally.   My education afforded me a seamless transition into a public accounting job, a position that played to one of my strengths as a number cruncher.  It was a compromise decision at the time, because my desire to be a wage earner exceeded my dreams of any higher education and a more prestigious profession.

I quickly rose through the ranks in my accounting role, and in 5 years I was in a prime position to make it to partner and “lock in” the rest of my career.  But fate intervened in a very strange way.  Out of the blue, I got a call from an executive recruiter who was looking for a particular kind of accountant to “run” a service company with over 425,000 customers.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing – didn’t he know I was only 27 years old? Apparently he didn’t care and the next thing you know I was indeed running the operations of that company.   The owner had a thing about hiring young financial minds and throwing them headfirst into the pool, and I was his next project.

Problem was, while the experience was invaluable and the learning priceless, from the standpoint of my psyche it was too much, too soon.   When the company was sold 3 years later I was openly wondering what I would do for an encore.  Would anyone else take the same chance on me, or would I fall out of this dream-come-true, back at a cubicle cranking out spreadsheets?

Nothing had gone wrong so far – and I was very afraid that something now would.  But once again, I was pulled away from it by another left-field offer, by the same owner, but for a different business.  Way different – a professional sports team.   Because like most other red-blooded men I am quite fond of sports, the thought of being associated with it at that level was intoxicating.

I took that offer.  Again I was off the angst hook – and another charmed step was taken.  This step turned out to be a huge mistake.  The first three months were livin’ the dream, sitting in owner’s boxes and meeting celebrities, but things quickly turned sour, and for the next 3 years, I was miserable.   The project I was working on was going nowhere, and the boss was a holy terror. Worse still, I had to literally change my personality at the workplace to “protect” myself, becoming a subdued, passive version of a “yes man”.

But I didn’t quit. I wasn’t fully absorbing the realities of my situation.  I was too focused on the paycheck – for my age it was pretty substantial.  The fear came back of the dream going bust.

And then, finally and mercifully, I heard those words.

I was fired.

My worst fears were now realized.  My glass, it seemed, was now empty.

Boy was I wrong.

Somewhere, in that initial bout of despair, came a revelation – yes, this really stinks, BUT………

I’m going to make the most of it. I’m going to become “Terry, Inc.” and learn to sell myself.

And I remembered something – something I wrote when I was in the absolute depths of my loathing, about 6 months before I was let go.  It was a personal manifesto, laying down the type of career I really wanted to have.  I wanted to be a leader, one that shows his true personality.

Armed with these intentions, I forged ahead into the unknown with a renewed sense of optimism, but not the unbridled sort.   It was tempered by several realities – the foremost of which was the notion that I was most likely going to have to step down the ladder a few notches before I could climb back up.

I also didn’t expect that every letter would result in an interview or an offer, or probably even every 10^th letter, but knew that the more I sent the better my chances.

I was acting as a “realistic optimist” – those instincts had always been there, but they had never had a real chance of being acted upon fully until that time.

Three months into my search (and about 500 letters and phone calls) I was fortunate enough to find a new position – several notches down, as I had predicted, but with the potential to rise back up.    I started this new phase of my career with my eyes now wide open, knowing that the charmed phase was over, and there was hard work ahead.

It was work, however, that came with a vow. I was always going to be true to myself, and my vision of what I wanted to become – otherwise it wouldn’t be worth doing.

As I restarted my career this new approach paid great dividends – for it also carried along with it my new attitude.  I was now much better able to think about favorable outcomes to the situations I was facing – and reject them if need be.  Several years later, this turnaround was confirmed by one of my teammates via an exclamation after a particularly intense budgeting session – “you’re glass is always half full!”

At that moment, my new attitude got a new name.  And when it was time to start this blog, there was no question as to what it should be named, and what the overall tone of it should be.   Because I felt it was well worth sharing my experiences from that point of view.

Half-Fullism ended up working for me in ways I never thought possible.  And today, I face today and the tomorrows to come realizing that while every day isn’t going to be sunshine, there isn’t a magic wand that can solve everything, and not-so-good, unexplainable things can indeed happen to good people, there is still a lot of joy and fulfillment out there to be found and experienced.

And I’m going to do my best to find it.  Join me, will you?

(Postscript: I also wish to extend my grateful thanks to all of you that have supported me and this blog for these past 4 years. I couldn’t have lasted this long, or loved it this much, without you!)

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