Best If Used By!

 

I was hungry, so I asked Deb if she’d bought microwave popcorn the last time that she went grocery shopping. She replied that she hadn’t because there was still a rather large supply in the cupboard. As I moved toward the cupboard, she warned me to “check the date.”  She was referring to the “best if used by” date. The date on the particular bag I picked up was July 2023. This being April 2023, that gave the popcorn a little more than 90 days for it to be “best by.”

            

That got me thinking…do we humans have a “best if used by” date invisibly stamped to us on some part of our bodies? What if I only have 90 days to be my best? What would I have to do to achieve that?

            

My good friend, and mentor, Dr Dave Levy, makes me feel great every time I’m with him because, after sharing all of my goals with him, which I do every time we’re together, he always brightens up and proclaims that I don’t just say things, I make them happen! Well, I’m not as industrious as he makes me sound, but I do try to do all I can with the limited time that I have.

            

I happened to be cleaning out an external hard drive for my computer this weekend when I came across something that I hadn’t seen in a while. It was my obituary. Okay, that’s freaky, so let me tell you the entire story.

            

I was sitting at my desk at the office one evening when another friend and mentor, Lieutenant Colonel (now retired) A J Scott appeared at my door. As I stood up to greet him, he gave me the once-over, looking at me from head to toe. It seemed odd for him to do that, so I asked him what was up. “Chief,” he said. “I just got a call from a friend who told me he’d read in the local paper that Bob Vásquez had died. I immediately came down the hall to make sure you’re not dead.”

            

Evidently, someone with my name had died, not me (although I’ve been in front of some audiences when I was obviously dying). Anyway, I went across to the library to find the newspaper to see what my obituary looked like. Interestingly, the Bob Vásquez who had died was my age, had two daughters, and other similarities. I scanned that obit and I still have it.

            

You probably know that the purpose of that “best if used by” date is, according to the USDA (I Googled it!) is “to ensure that quality products are being served.” I, for one, am glad the USDA is looking out for me. Really.

            

That leads me back to my original question. Do humans have a date by which the quality of our service will expire? You know, we’re all on the same road. Every day we get closer to that “best if used by” date. Doesn’t it make sense that we do our best every day? Just in case!

 

I don’t procrastinate, I just plan everything for the last minute. But what if my “best if used by” date comes due sooner than I think, or want? As hard as it may seem some days, I’m making a commitment, right now, to give all I have every day, to be my best on a daily basis. Remember that saying, “You can’t take it with you?” We usually refer to money when we say that. Maybe we should refer to our best instead? 

            

I’m going to make myself a T-shirt that says, “Best if used by today!”

            

 

Until next time, be GREAT! You ARE! HEIRPOWER!

            

Chief bob vásquez!

 

Don’t try to change the world!

 

Changing the world is near impossible, but changing worlds is in your hands. 

 

I don’t want to scare you, but I do want to alert you to the fact that as a leader, others’ lives are in your hands. You have the power to affect how others live by the decisions you make daily. 

 

Now, back to my opening statement. The world is huge. And you’re not big enough to change it. Oh, you may change a tiny sliver of it, but that’s being optimistic. What you CAN change, or at least affect, is your followers’ worlds.

 

We all live in our very own world. Really. Think deeply for a moment. Each of us has our very own perspective of what the world looks like. And that world is different for each of us. We live within that perspective 24/7. Good or not so good. Maybe the reason that we love watching television and movies, maybe even reading, is because we can envision ourselves in another world for a moment. But at the end of the book, at the end of the movie, we have to return to reality. OUR world. Now, that can be good if we make good decisions. And it can be great if we make great decisions.

 

Your decisions as a leader will affect the lives, the worlds, of your followers. You may have a follower who lives in a negative world. A victim-centered world. Through inspiring, helping them empower themselves, you have the power to help that follower change his world, his life. That can be scary. Keep in mind that you can’t change them or their world. The best you can do is affect that follower’s environment so that he or she can change it themselves.

 

Let me correct myself. Maybe you CAN change the world by helping others change theirs. Maybe, by helping others realize their own potential, you WILL change the world. Maybe it IS possible. One of my favorite thoughts is “Think big. Start small.” If you aspire to change the world, begin by changing worlds. One at a time.

 

Until next time, be GREAT! You ARE! HEIRPOWER!

 

Chief bob vásquez!

They don't care!

 

It’s 30 March 1985. I’m on the golf course with a few friends. I’m actually playing fairly well. I’d only found three lakes this morning. I suddenly feel my chest hurting and my heart palpitating. It’s almost funny how something like that scares us into thinking even worse than what’s happening. Now, I’m the Acting First Sergeant for my unit. I gotta be tough! You know, the First Sergeant is the toughest guy or gal on the team. Let that seem as it may, I’m hurting. Almost panicking. But I hold my emotions close to my chest. (Yeah, pun intended.) We finish the round and we each head home. I don’t remember what score I got, but I do remember how I felt about what I was going through. You may be able to relate.

 

I have to get through the weekend before I can get to Sick Call. I ain’t going to the ER! No WAY! So, come Monday morning, I go to Sick Call and get seen by a doctor who runs some tests. Actually, a bunch of tests. I’d never been probed like that before. But I’d never had these symptoms either, which are pretty serious, evidently. Eventually, one of the last doctors I see tells me that it’s stress, or stress-related. I’m not sure how he came up with that diagnosis, but it’s what he says. What stress? I kick butt and take names daily! I’m not stressed! By what? By whom? I end up going to all sorts of therapy, usually falling asleep during those sessions. Didn’t help much….

 

What DID help was a five-minute conversation with my supervisor/friend/golfing partner, Dave Griffith. He was a Chief. Rightfully so. The conversation started with, “Sit down and listen….” He was such a quiet guy that starting the conversation like that threw me for a loop. But I complied. He shared his thoughts regarding the diagnosis, which I’d shared with him, and ended with what I found profound and I share with you if you’re in this same situation. What he said was, “They don’t care!” He suggested that maybe I didn’t THINK I was stressed out, but WAS. “What do you think about most of the time, Bob?” he asked me. “The troops!” was my obvious answer. He, again, reiterated, “They don’t care!” That may seem harsh to say, but he went on to explain that while I was investing my time and life thinking about them and how to help them, the thought of how I was doing didn’t even enter their minds. They had their own lives to live and got through them the best they could. They might even take advantage of my caring so much. Now, they may not realize that they were doing that, but they were. 

 

After listening to the Chief and getting my head and heart (yeah, another pun) around what he said, I realized that he was right. I didn’t stop caring less, but I trained myself to not care 24/7 and to do what I could without feeling guilty about what I could not do for my people. 

 

I say this often…if you expect to be an Effective Leader, learn to lead just a few folks at a time. I always suggest four. It’s a sacred number in my culture. If you can lead four who lead four who lead four, your effectiveness will grow exponentially. 

 

It’s not that they don’t care. They will when you have a heart attack. Don’t let yourself go there. Learn to control yourself. You can’t do everything for everyone. Do what you can. And take care of yourself, FIRST!

 

Until next time, be GREAT! You ARE! 

 

HEIRPOWER!

 

Chief bob vásquez!

 

Where’s the melody?

 

I’m a musician by training. I led many bands during my time as such. It really doesn’t take a musician to understand the importance of the melody of a song though. It’s what makes the song a song. It’s what you whistle while you work.

 

Whenever I rehearsed the bands that I led I tried to emphasize the importance of the melody vice the supporting elements like harmony, rhythm, and other parts of a piece of music. Notice that I used the term “supporting” for the other elements of a song. If the “supporting” parts of a song overpower the melody, you may not even recognize the song. 

 

Similarly, in order to have a cohesive, successful team, team members have to understand their place on the team at the time. Most of the members are supporting members and there’s one singing the melody, the leader. That may be you! Or someone else. You’ve heard it, even if you didn’t notice it, when all the members of a singing group are singing at the top of their lungs. They’re all trying to be the star. That never works. 

 

As the leader, especially as an Effective Leader, it’s imperative that you train your people to be supporting members. We usually call them followers. If you noticed, I mentioned that people have to understand their place “at the time.” At. The. Time. An effective team will be made up of people who know when to follow and when to lead, and to play that role as needed. 

 

I love hearing a singing group where the melody is right up front, and the harmony is barely there. The harmony and other supporting parts are important, but what’s critical is the melody. Where’s the melody?

 

Until next time, be GREAT! You ARE!

 

HEIRPOWER!

 

Chief bob vásquez!

 

Beginner's Luck

My friend, Wendy LugoSantiago, recently posted a very powerful thought on Linkedin: “Don’t be afraid to be a beginner.” There are two concepts that I think are important here. The first is “powerful.” We usually regard effective leaders as powerful. We assume that they have, even own, power. Sure…. Power is the capacity to be effective. We believe that leaders have power. Well, maybe. Maybe not! Who really has power? Who has the capacity to be effective? Everyone! Especially followers! The only real power leaders have is the ability to inspire their followers to follow. That’s powerful!

 

The other concept is “beginner.” We often think that great leaders know everything. NOT! The truly great leaders know that they don’t know. They know that they don’t know what they don’t know. They know how to lead with a beginner’s mind. They’re willing to learn and to inspire those under their charge who DO know, to lead. As THEY lead, the leader becomes the follower, which is even more powerful. Yeah. It’s a paradox. But life is a paradox.

 

Here’s the bottom line. Actually, it’s the TOP line. (Another paradox.) If you aspire to be an Effective Leader, be a beginner. Develop and practice continuous learning. There’s no way in the world that you can know everything. Someone knows something that you don’t. We usually call them our followers. And if it’s something that will make you and your team more effective, learn from them, and step back and let them lead.  

 

I titled this lesson based on another concept, “beginner’s luck.” If you’re already a leader, or you eventually become one, realize that there’s no such thing as luck when it comes to leading, especially others. It takes work. Sometimes, a LOT of work. But that’s what makes it fun. Especially when things work out. Thomas Jefferson said, "I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” 

 

You want to be a PowerPact Leader? Inspire your followers to empower themselves. Don’t fear being a beginner. And work on creating the luck you’ll need to succeed.

 

Until next time, be GREAT! You ARE!

                        

                        ¡HEIRPOWER!

                                                                                      

Chief bob vásquez!