Jeff McManus's Blog, page 18

The Hall of Fame

When our family visited Baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. one summer, and while I am not the biggest baseball fan, it was a special treat. I highly recommend the stop. The place was filled with history, showing timelines, changes in the game and, of course, all the legends. It is every baseball fan's “Field of Dreams,” designed to make sure the stories, legends and magic are passed on from generation to generation.

Induction into the Hall of Fame is rare – a tremendous honor. Accor...

Vi·-sion | \ ˈVi-zhən

a: the act or power of imagination

b: (1): mode of seeing or conceiving

            (2): unusual discernment or foresight

There were three of us interviewing a candidate for the next Facilities Director. Along the way I asked the candidate about his vision and direction for the facilities department. Where did he desire to take his group of 300 facilities people if he got the job? He never missed a beat as he said, “Just to take a small bit out of the apple each day.” I asked him what h...

The Work Smarter Not Harder Museum

To say my wife, Suzanne, is a potato fan is a bit of an understatement. She tells me that when she was in grade school and into Junior High, she would come home after school and make her favorite snack, a bowl of instant potatoes. So, one summer when our family was driving near Blackfoot, Idaho and we passed a sign that read, Idaho Potato Museum Next Exit, we had to take this unscheduled stop to take a look.

As we toured the facility and read the displays, it was fascinating to see how techno...

Does the Golden Rule Still Apply?

The Golden Rule was spoken by Jesus long ago, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In recent years the Platinum Rule has been added: “Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.” A nice twist, but a twist that can make us pause. And it may even run the risk of losing the intended message. For communicating in teams, I like the simplicity of the Golden Rule because it has been around a long time, it is straight forward, and most people have heard of it. This simple princip...

First Impressions

Recently I was invited to be a keynote speaker at an event hosted in the War World II Museum – US Freedom Pavilion – Boeing Center in New Orleans. This venue is impressive. It has WWII planes hanging from the ceiling, a pageantry of flags on the stage and important historic memorabilia on display. I hope you will visit soon. The small, landscaped area outside was clean and sidewalks were well maintained. Inside, the floors were beautifully waxed, the windows spotless, my host was delightful and ...

Where There is Smoke…

Something happened to our electric skillet this past week. It did not stop working, but it did start smoking at the heat control knob. Years before, I had noticed unusual hot spots and uneven cooking surfaces on it. Then I kept seeing food sticking to the surface and causing additional clean-up work. The quality of the cooking surface seemed very tarnished, effecting the quality of the food. After each use I would spend additional time soaking the skillet in soapy warm water to allow the cooked-...

No Regrets

Every time I see “No Regrets” written I think of the guy who got “No Regerts” tattooed on his body. Of course, it is implied that when he learns of the misspelled tattoo, he will indeed regret it. In high school, my coaches would tell us players, don’t leave anything on the field, give it your all, have no regrets at the end of the game when you come back into the locker room. This usually did inspire me to give it my best and put my heart into it. I carried this mantra of have no regrets with m...

Leadership Pains

In 1995 my wife, Suzanne and I experienced something for the first time: our first child birth. First in a long list of “firsts” in our first year of marriage. We were admitted into the hospital early that evening where the doctors said, “You’ve started, but you’re not ready.” The long night that followed consisted of periods of calm interrupted by incredible pain for my wife.

Why Consistency Matters

When I was sixteen years old my parents and I drove, in their 1979 Toyota Corolla Station Wagon, from our home in Georgia to Yellowstone National Park. My older sister was working around the Old Faithful Inn area. She booked us a week-long stay there. As a teenager it was my first experience witnessing the Old Faithful Geyser. It was right outside our lodge. It was an experience I never forgot.

An Old Faithful eruption can last from one and a half to five minutes. Each discharge expels somewh...

Mindset Matters

Steven Spielberg dropped out of high school in his sophomore year. He was persuaded to come back and placed in a class for the learning disabled. He lasted a month and dropped out of school forever.When Thomas Edison was a boy his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything.Albert Einstein was four years old before he could speak.A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he had “no good ideas.”Winston Churchill failed the 6th grade.

Each of these leaders had setbac...