I don’t know about you, but at the end of the day, Tiger is still the golf genius child-protégé he was to me a few months before all the scandal. Really, how many of us actually care about his ‘issues’ with remaining loyal to his wife. I know, many of you are probably aghast at what I (a woman!) am saying right now. However, the truth is the truth. We’re not mad at his recent apology because we think he hasn’t suffered enough for his wrongdoing, we’re mad because deep in the depths of our psyche we know that once he gets back to focusing on the game, we will all, once again, be enthralled with this genius of a player. End of story, enough said, hope all that personal life stuff of his works out. So why all the hoopla?

It’s a simple distraction, and an entertaining one at that. It’s also the tale of a mistake, maybe a big one, maybe a small one, time will tell (I err on the side of the later). We think that in order to succeed, we need to avoid making mistakes. This could not be farther from the truth. In fact, mistakes are a wonderful thing. They cause pause. They encourage us to reevaluate and rethink. They enable us to review what might be missing and how we can fill in and improve the next time around. Mistakes bring us back to our motivational behavior that encouraged the activity or venture in the first place.

And in some cases, we learn exponentially from the mistakes of others. The Olympics are the most awesome example of exactly that – motivation that spurs from mistakes. If anyone saw Apolo Ohno take home a bronze medal in the men’s 1,000 meter short track over the weekend you know just what I mean. Oh the sight, with Ohno whipping into 3rd position seconds before the finish and the announcer most appropriately stating “you’ve got to wait for the mistake and then make your move.”

Make your moves, learn from your mistakes, and certainly learn from the mistakes of others.

How many times have you been ready to watch real entertainment, get involved in a something grand, create a new product, accomplish a new goal, and wound up with a blank screen? We can certainly use that metaphor in a variety of ways and scenarios. The reality is we’ve all come upon our own blank screen from time to time. The problem, in essence, is not the blank screen at all. Instead, the problem is what you will do with that blank screen. You can sit and wait, or you can try to problem solve. What did I do? In the case of the broadcast, I checked other channels to see if the problem was unique to PBS, then I went online and in searching around was able to find highlight clips from the evening, and then I waited. And I waited. But, while waiting, I assured myself that if the problem were not solved by PBS, I would be able to catch aspects of the show later online. I used alternative media to make my determination, I utilized the time reading related information instead, I productively wrote on my blog, and I remained calm. Now, we’re talking about an entertaining program that did not exactly change the course of much of the immediate, nor distant, future. But, sometimes, in fact, often times, ‘the blank screen’ has a more resounding affect on our lives. These are the times when you want to be certain that you’ve got a strong team together to ‘fix’ things, by problem solving, evaluating alternatives, effectively analyzing the consequences and options, and by having the right resources in place to make things happen – quickly, if need be.

Truly an awful moment in broadcasting history. The program “In Performance at The White House” was interrupted for about 30 minutes, that’s 50% of the broadcast. The sound continued to fade in and out. I had to remind myself that this was 2010! But, I also had to remind myself that anything is possible, and the ‘sometimes’-type events seem to happen more often than sometimes, if we really think about it. The answer is not really about the actual ‘blank screen’ at all, instead, the answers lie in our ability to have the right team together to deal with the ‘blank screen.’

What would you do with a blank screen?
Who would you rely on?
Who’s on your team to help you manage the situation?

Moral:  always be ready to take on a blank screen.

I got the greatest gift for Valentine’s Day – a streamlined website that includes my blog and tweets!

This helps me share the love and information with all of you. And… because I take that job seriously, let me know what you want & what you need! I’m ramping up the writing for 2010 – get on the list and reap the rewards.

Email me and tell me your challenges and current dilemmas – and I’ll tweet & blog about them. My gift to you. And of course, share the love & pass this message on…

Have a great Valentine’s Day and looking forward to fruitful communication.

1. Does the candidate fit our corporate culture
2. Does their personality match those already on the team
3. How will their unique skill set combine with those of the existing team
4. Will they challenge the status quo and creatively improve performance & profit
5. Where will the fall-out occur if this isn’t a good fit
6. What if the team is unwilling to accept the new-hire
7. What kind of on-boarding will be necessary to help the new-hire succeed

These are just a few of the questions to consider, and yet, they barely skim the surface when important decisions need to be made, particularly at crucial times in business development and growth. One of the ways we can make the right decisions is to look at current successes and blunders of leaders & their teams. We’ve had quite a few excellent examples in the very recent news to evaluate:

1) Conan O’Brien lets his staff know that changes are pending, but that he’s got their back and to prove such, he’s worked a severance deal that includes over 200 of his staffers. Certainly a popular guy right about now. Would you want to bring in a ‘Conan’ to your team?

2) Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda apologizes briefly for a mistake that affects millions of cars and undoubtedly millions of dollars for the company founded by Toyoda’s grandfather. Yet, where’s the team? Fresh-on-the-scene US Toyota leaders speak out as well, but the automaker is not sending a message of unity and from the scarce and well overdue appearance of Toyoda, it seems as though it’s uncertain who is actually managing this dire problem. Would you want to bring in an ‘Akio Toyoda’ to your team?

3) John Edwards staff member goes above and beyond the call of duty (an understatement at best). At what point does leadership adversely affect the career of team members. Who really wins here?, and who are the losers? Would you want a ‘John Edwards’ leading the team and putting his staff in unthinkably awkward situations, or for that matter, would you really want an ‘Andrew Young’ on your team?

Examples to learn from… Hiring decisions are not to be taken lightly, nor made hastily.

So what can you do about it? Instead of fretting about what was supposed to happen, what you hoped would happen, consider this: monkey wrenches enable

1) Strategy evaluation
2) reorganizing
3) Creative thinking
4) Expansion of ideas
5) Opportunity for employee growth
6) New analyses of current, past and future
7) Change for some who need just that
8) Opportunity in a way previously not realized or foreseen

“Everything we do has some effect, some impact.” His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Every once in a while we find profound examples of personal and leadership development trajectories. These are great moments essential to the teachings of leadership skills, highlighting personal honesty, integrity, leading by example, motivating teams, seeing the forest through the trees, and the ability to admit when things have gone array. All leaders, and human beings for that matter, need to take a step back and evaluate their path at different points in their lives. For some, the opportunity to re-evaluate is thrust at them from an external source of tension, which appears to be the case for many executives in this current economy. At other times, a personal change occurs from within. Either way, a true transformational leader identifies and acknowledges the opportunity and seeks greater growth and transformation during these times. Case in point – Citigroup’s CEO Vikram Pandit. Here’s a leader who last February took a step back and for reasons either personal, professional, or a combination of both, determined his salary to $1.00 per year until the company was back to acceptable fiscal health. Yes, you read that correctly – one dollar annual salary, no bonus. True, I can psychically hear many of you saying ‘that doesn’t account for compensation beyond salary and bonus.’ Nonetheless, in the short term, what it does signify is a commitment and responsibility for him to Citigroup and its success. In the long term it points to a level of ethics and responsibility that needs to be at the forefront of business management. This could explain why terms like Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Entrepreneurship are getting millions of hits on google these days.

My life shattering to do list ….

• Just think about it.

Oh, and… follow me (and others) on twitter: @linesexcellence

Easier Said Than Done Back to my dilemma – the Conference & Workshop, or my health. I noticed that even without my daily dose of caffeine, I was feeling quite on edge lately and the muscles in my shoulders were beginning to feel like an intensely tied knot (I won’t even mention the back pain).

Then, riding the subway to meet a client, I realized – I am not practicing what I preach! And… I postponed the Workshop and opted out of the annual Conference. I wavered for days on my decision.

The moral of this story – it’s much easier to guide others and see the forest through the trees in others’ lives than it is in our own. So if you’re constantly thinking you’re not doing enough, rethink those thoughts – neuroscience tells us that we can retrain our thoughts to think differently. Give yourself a break, accept that sometimes we cannot ‘do it all’ and that is okay. Pick and choose your tasks wisely and create a natural ebb and flow according to your work needs and those of your family.

Tips to Let You Know When It’s Time to Let Something Go:

• Increased muscle tension
• Increased headaches
• Irritability
• Sleep disturbance
• Change in appetite, caffeine intake, alcohol intake, etc.
• Thinking to yourself “I can do this for a short time”

Here’s where you can identify areas to cut back on & make immediate changes… achieve success through enhancing work/life balance.

Your homework –

If you endorsed any of the above points – it’s time to think about taking one thing off of your plate:

• Begin by making a list of ‘Must Do’s’
• Make a list next to it of ‘Should Do’s’
• Compare the two
• Figure out at least one thing that can be moved from a ‘Must Do’ to a ‘Should Do’
• Take one thing off of the ‘Should Do’ list and make yourself a note in your calendar to review the item for attention at a future date.
• Try to move that one thing forward by days/weeks/ or even a month.
• Begin thinking about tasks that could be delegated from either list.
• Pick one to delegate starting today.