Growth, Development, and Photosynthesis (9-28-16)

Last week we looked at butterflies, so this week let’s look at flowers, growth, and photosynthesis.  Someone call Justin Timberlake, because I’m bringing sexy back.  Wait.  Did I say sexy?  I meant nerdy.  Definitely meant nerdy.  Get ready for some bodacious botany and funky flowers.

A flower doesn’t blossom by luck.  In order for a flower to blossom and grow it must undergo photosynthesis.  For photosynthesis to happen flowers need things like soil, water, carbon dioxide, and of course sunlight, which is the catalyst for the reaction.  During photosynthesis, the flower takes in sunlight, which starts a reaction that results in the flower producing sugar that becomes energy to feed its transformation.  Essentially, the flower absorbs the things from its surroundings in order to go through an INTERNAL process to change.  The flower can only develop and grow if it goes through this INTERNAL process.

What does photosynthesis have to do with our development?  Think about how we develop ourselves.  We can learn things from our day to day work and we can also do external things like read books, view TED talks, take courses, attend leadership conferences, etc.  If you think of the flower metaphor these developmental opportunities are like water, soil, and carbon dioxide.  They give us the potential to develop, but they do NOT guarantee growth.  In order to grow we need sunlight to go through our own photosynthesis.  I’d argue that our sunlight is time and our photosynthesis is reflection.  We need to be deliberate to set aside dedicated time to really reflect on what we have experienced, so we can go through our own INTERNAL process and transform everything we have soaked up into energy to power our growth.

Every day we are exposed to the key components that could lead to tremendous growth.  In a world that is extremely busy, it’s too easy to miss these chances.  It’s too easy to rely on something external to make us grow.  The fact is that growth comes inside from all of us. 

The challenge: Are you taking the time to go through your own version of photosynthesis so you can grow?   

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

We are NOT Butterflies (9-21-16)

Last week we looked at how being safe prevents us from growing.  This week I want us to look at growth and how we are NOT exactly like butterflies. 

When you think about growth, development, and transformation you might think about caterpillars becoming butterflies.  This is a metaphor that has been used over and over again in books, articles, and speeches about development and self-improvement.  The symbolism is straight forward.  A caterpillar enters its cocoon and then emerges, transformed into a beautiful butterfly.

It’s an interesting analogy, because it is a beautiful symbol of rebirth.  At the same time, there are a three of things that make us very different from butterflies.  First, caterpillars have to turn into butterflies as they grow.  It’s in their DNA.  Second, caterpillars have cocoons that separate and protect them from the outside world during their transformations.  Finally, caterpillars only transform once, and we never stop transforming.

What does this have to do with us?  Caterpillars don’t have a choice in what they become, but WE do.  We have the ability to choose who we become and how we grow as people.  We can choose which of our skills we want to work on sharpening and what we need to do to be the best versions of ourselves.  As we think about the future, it is up to us to figure out what skills we will need and find ways to gather and enhance those skills.  The other difference is that we don’t have cocoons.  We don’t have something to sequester us from the world as we stumble and grow.  We grow in the midst of a swirling and dynamic environment, and as we grow we expose a part of our weakness for others to see.  It takes strength to be vulnerable like this.  This is part of being human.  The final difference is that unlike caterpillars we should never stop transforming.  We are always learning new things and adapting.  If you’re not adapting, you’re not growing.

The challenges: Do you know where and how you want to grow?  Do you give others encouragement and show them understanding as they grow in the midst of a crazy world?  Are you doing the right things to make sure you are always growing?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Growing vs. Being Safe (9-14-16)

Last week we talked about lifting weights, failure, and how that leads to growth.  This week I want us to think about how being safe prevents us from growing.    As many of you know, I have two daughters Alice (4) and Violet (2).   As their dad I have an urge to keep them safe.  I have a strong desire to protect them from all harm.  However, this is NOT my job.  My job is NOT to keep them safe.  My job is to keep them from seriously injuring themselves. The picture is of the inside diving board my girls made. Not exactly safe, but it won’t kill them either 😉

You might think that keeping them safe and keeping them from seriously injuring themselves is the same thing, but it’s NOT.  Keeping them safe implies protecting them from ALL discomfort, while ensuring they don’t seriously injure themselves implies that I understand they are going to do things that result in bruises, cuts, pain, and discomfort.  Keeping them safe requires I build a bubble around them.  Sure the bubble will protect them, but it will also suffocate them.  The bubble will keep them from growing.  Keeping them from seriously injuring themselves implies that they will have room to run, and I’ll build a fence to keep them from going off the cliff.  Sure, they’ll end up getting bumps and bruises, maybe even a broken bone, but they’ll grow a lot in the process. 

What does this have to do with work?  As individuals are we trying to stay safe or are we trying to avoid severe harm?  If we play it safe we can’t ever grow, because we will always be trapped and limited by the bubbles we live in.  As leaders, are we keeping people safe or are we encouraging them to go make leaps, get messy, and get some bruises in the process?

Embry experience.  In a previous role I was trying to get people aligned on a project.  I had a meeting with the key stakeholders and I knew it was going to be rough.  My boss said she was going to attend the meeting.   The morning of the meeting my boss asked me how I felt, and I said, “I got this.”  The meeting was controlled chaos with disagreements and herding cats.  I left bumped, bruised, and cut a little bit.  Here’s the thing.  My boss never came to the meeting.  When she saw me later that day she asked how it went.  I told her that it was a little rough, but I held my own and knew it would be like that going in.  Then she winked and said, “You know, I didn’t come to that on purpose, right?  I knew you’d figure out how to handle it.”  I just chuckled and said, “Yeah, I know.”  Fast forward a few weeks.  It’s another big meeting with key stakeholders.  This time my boss is there.  Once again there is some tension and I’m getting tossed around a bit and beat up.  My boss could have jumped in to save the day, but she didn’t.  I manage to finesse everything and get us aligned on a decision.  After the meeting I’m obviously a little beat up, but I’m filled with pride at what I’d accomplished.  This was my favorite moment with that boss.  Why?  It’s because that moment forced me to prove that I could handle those tricky situations.  My boss could have jumped in and kept me safe, but instead she let me get beat up a bit.  Because of this, I grew a lot that day.

The challenge: Are you playing it safe or are you getting bumped and bruised, so you can grow?  Are you keeping others safe or you allowing them to get bumped and bruised so they can grow?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Lifting Weights, Failure, and Growth (9-7-16)

Last week we talked about how doubt can be a dowsing rod that leads us to growth.  This week I want us to think about lifting weights, failure, and development. 

If you read any fitness magazine it will tell you that if you want to gain strength you need to lift weights.  More specifically, it will tell you to lift weight heavy enough to the point where you are only able to do 8-10 reps per set.  The idea is that by the 10th rep you’ve lifted so much weight that your muscles are unable to lift more.  Your muscles essentially FAIL at lifting the weight. 

If you do this often enough your muscles basically say, “I’m tired of failing.  I need to get stronger,” and your body goes through the process of enhancing your muscles and your strength.  Over time you’ll gain strength and you will be able to lift more weight than you did before, and then the cycle begins again. (Obviously anatomy wasn’t my strong suit based on that technical explanation of developing muscles).  The bottom line is that you have to push yourself to the point of failure in order to make your muscles grow and gain strength.

What does lifting weights have to do with development and failure?  I feel that when we think of failure we think of these humongous disasters that lead to us getting down on ourselves.  We don’t have to look at failure that way.  Failure isn’t something that has to get us down.  Failure is just a sign that we are pushing ourselves.  If you aren’t failing you aren’t pushing.  If you aren’t pushing then you can’t grow.  When I work out I don’t say, “I could only do 8 reps at that weight, so I’m the worst person ever!”  Instead I’m filled with pride at the fact that I pushed myself hard and I’m filled with a desire to keep doing better.  Instead of feeling down I say, “I pushed myself as far as I could on this day.  I’m not as strong as I want to be, but I know I can be stronger next time.”  Then as I continue to work out I push myself until before I know it, I’m stronger and faster than I have been.

My current role.  I’ve now been in my role for about a month.  I’m not as clever or as smart as I’d like to be.  I can’t move as quickly as I did when I’ve been competent in other roles.  I’m not quite able to lift the weight I want to lift…YET.  Every day is another small failure.  Every day is another day to push to fall just short of the high bar I set for myself.  I don’t feel discouraged though.  I feel proud and excited, because every day I can see where I’m getting better and stronger.  I can’t wait until I feel like I’m full on beast mode. 

The challenge: Are you pushing yourself hard enough to fail?  Are your failures helping you become stronger?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Growth, Development, and Doubt as a Dowsing rod (8-31-16)

By now fall is just around the corner and school has already started, so it’s a perfect time to kick off a series about a series about learning, growth, and development.  This week we’ll look at how to use doubt as a dowsing rod to show us where we can grow.

In case you’re unfamiliar with what a dowsing rod (or divining rod) is it’s a tool that people have used (and some currently use) to find things, usually water.  Imagine the old days in the wild west.  A person would take their Y shaped branch and walk around the land while the dowsing rod would “point to” where the underground well is.  As the person would walk the branch would bend and change directions, guiding the person to the destination.  The dowsing rod would show them where to dig, and once they dug deep enough they would find a well.  Isn’t that a neat concept?  Imagine having a dowsing rod that you could use in life to help guide you to things.

Me, Doubt, and Day 1 of my new role.  True story.  For those of you who have read this blog for a while, you know that Doubt tends to visit me from time to time, especially when I’m trying something different.   It was the first day of my new role and I was having lunch with my new boss.  She begins describing my project to me.  I was thinking, “This sounds really cool!”  Then I started thinking, “This sounds really big.  I don’t know how to do the stuff she just described.  Can I even do the stuff she needs me to do?”  That’s right.  I hadn’t even made it through lunch on day one before Doubt started to set in and I started to imagine myself as a failure.  Awesome! (rolls eyes at himself)

So you’re probably wondering what Doubt has to do with a dowsing rod.  There I was with doubt creeping in when I had a mindset change.  What if doubt didn’t have to be paralyzing?  What if doubt could guide me somewhere like a dowsing rod?  What if doubt was the thing that drove me to a place to find truth?  What if doubt was just a way of showing me where I needed to dig deeper to find a well to nourish me and help me grow?  Doubt doesn’t have to be scary.  Doubt can be a tool that we can use to find something worth finding.

The challenge: Are you allowing doubt to paralyze you or are you using doubt as a dowsing rod to guide you to learning?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Olympic Lessons Part 4 Are we doing the right things to achieve success? (8-24-16)

This will be the final entry in the series on the Olympics.  We’ve looked at leadership and alignment (rowing), gymnastics and finding your purpose, and trust and teamwork (soccer).  I’d like us to finish this series by asking ourselves one question.  “Am I doing the right things to achieve success?” 

Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time.  In order to become one of the best swimmers of all time, he spent hours on the uneven bars and doing floor routines.  Wait.  That’s not right.  That’s gymnastics.  He spent hours working on his foot speed and agility.  That’s not right.  That’s the soccer players.  Michael Phelps understood that he was competing in swimming events, so he spent time doing drills and building muscles that would enable him to become a great swimmer.  In order to achieve success, he had to focus on doing the right things.  If he would have focused on doing gymnastics workouts he probably wouldn’t be a great swimmer and I’m guessing he wouldn’t have been great at gymnastics either 😉 

How does this connect to work?  We are focused on winning a gold medal with HCPs, payers, and patients.  As our world changes, do we know what event we are actually competing in?  Are we swimming?  Are we playing soccer?  Are we performing gymnastics routines?  Depending on the customer we are supporting individuals might be competing in different events, so we might need different skillsets.  That’s okay, because we are all on the same team.  After we know what event we are competing in, are we focused on doing the right things that will build our skills to help us win?  How often do we waste time on things that won’t make us better and won’t help us win in life?  As leaders, what are we doing to make sure we stay focused on doing the right things?

Besides our day to day work, the she same thought process can be applied to developing in our career and building our culture.  When it comes to our career, do we know what game we are playing?  Do we know what game we want to play in the future?  Are we working on developing the skills we need, so we can be successful in our current and future areas?  As leaders, are we giving people the feedback they need so they know where and how to grow?  When it comes to building a culture, do we know what kind of culture we are trying to build?  Are we building the culture that will help us win where we want to win?  As a leader, are we making sure we focus on rewarding and recognizing the right behaviors to build this culture?

The challenge: Are you doing the right thing to achieve success?  Are you ensuring others do the right things to achieve success?

Have a jolly good day and congrats team USA,

Andrew Embry

Olympic Lessons Part 3 Soccer, Teamwork, Trust, and Empowerment (8-17-16)

Last week was about gymnastics and knowing your center.  This week’s entry is inspired by a conversation I had with a friend and looks at teamwork, trust, and empowerment by looking at Olympic soccer vs. little kid soccer.  Have you ever watched little kids play soccer?  When they aren’t picking blades of grass for no reason they are all running after the ball.  The entire team runs in a huddle in the direction of the ball with all of them trying their best to kick it in the direction of the goal.  There’s no passing.  No teamwork.  Just a mass of kids chasing a ball around, because everyone thinks they have to kick the ball.

Contrast that image with Olympic soccer.  In higher levels of soccer you don’t see a herd of people running after the ball.  Over time the individuals have proven that they excel at soccer, so instead of a mass of people chasing a ball, the individuals play their positions.  They have trust in their teammates to play their roles.  The individuals on the team are empowered to do what they need to do in order to help the team win.  Individuals perform their role, playing defense and offense, shifting and moving, passing and scoring.  This all comes together to execute the team’s game plan, which eventually leads to a win.

What does soccer have to do with work?  How often do you work on something only to have it checked on by a million people at every step?  People come out of the woodwork to look at your stuff and offer feedback, even if you don’t ask for the feedback.  If you think about it, this is kind of like kids playing soccer, where everyone is moving in a herd chasing a ball, so everyone can kick it.  How effective and efficient is it?  Contrast this with the times where you’ve been on teams where you were truly empowered and trusted to do your job.  Think of the times you have had freedom to roam, play your position, and then bring things back to the team when it made sense to do so.  How much better is your engagement in these situations?  How much better is your work?

In a consensus based culture it’s easy to fall into the habit of giving everyone the chance to touch everything, but is that really the best thing for us?  Is it really the best thing for patients?  The challenge: Are you truly trusting and empowering those around you or are you forcing everyone to run and kick the ball?

Have a jolly good day and go team USA,

Andrew Embry

Olympic Lessons Part 2 Gymnasts and Finding your Center (8-10-16)

Last week we started a series on the Olympics with a look at rowing and alignment.  This week we’ll look at gymnastics and knowing your center.

The things gymnasts are able to do are absolutely mind blowing.  They can do flips and twists during their floor routines.  They turn and spin while on a balance beam that is 4 inches wide and 4 feet off the ground.  They fly through the air, turning on the parallel bars.  They vault through the air becoming looping tornados.  Just thinking of all of this makes me dizzy. 

The spinning is impressive.  Even more impressive is that they stick the landings.  How do they do this?  They do this because they have spent years training their body to be in balance.  They have spent years finding their center of gravity and learning how to maintain their balance through an assortment of twirling and whirling circumstances.

How does this connect to life?  Life is all about spinning you around.  It throws you on balance beams and asks you to walk a fine line as winds blow.  Life asks you to vault through the air taking risks, twisting as you fly.  Life swings you around in circles like the parallel bars.  In order to stick the landing, you need to know your center, your purpose.  This is the thing that keeps you in line as you spin.

How does this connect to work?  It’s the same concept.  This time it is the changing environment and landscape that is making you spin.  It’s the ruling you didn’t see coming.  It’s the growing power of the payer.  It’s the trend of integration.  This is where your purpose of helping that specific patient comes in.  This is where your purpose on your team comes into play.  The more clarity you have on who you are, where you fit, and what you’re trying to accomplish, the better your center of gravity, and the higher the chance of you sticking that landing!

The challenge: Have you found your center?  Will you stick the landing?

Have a jolly good day and go Team USA,

Andrew Embry

Olympic Lessons Part 1 Rowing, Alignment, and Leadership (8-3-16)

The summer Olympics run from August 5 through August 21, so this week we will start a series inspired by different Olympic events.  Let’s start with rowing and lessons in alignment.  We often throw around the cliché that we want to all make sure we are rowing in the same direction.  This is our way of saying that we all want to be aligned.  I’d like to dive deeper into this common saying.

In case you aren’t an expert at rowing, the set-up is like the picture on the right.  You have 8 people rowing and then you have the cox.  The cox sits at the stern of the boat steering and coordinates the rhythm and power of the rowing.  In the 2004 Olympics the US Men’s rowing team won their first gold medal in 40 years.  Take a second and watch part of the race.  Click HERE. 

If you watch the video you’ll notice a few things.  You’ll notice that the rowers have their back to the goal.  They can’t see where they are going.  You’ll also see how the rowers are all in, doing their individual job to propel the boat forward.  You’ll see how synchronized everything is.  The team members all put their oars in the water at the same time, row at the same time, remove the oars from the water at the same time, hold the oars the same height over the water, and repeat this process.  If you look at the cox you’ll notice that he is always making adjustments to steer the boat and is consistently calling out direction and giving guidance. 

How does this connect with work?  You could throw me and 7 other rowers in a boat and we could probably figure out how to row in the same direction (it would be ugly though).  We could generally be aligned, but this wouldn’t get us anywhere.  In order to get somewhere we would have to add power to our alignment.  We’d have to find a way for the entire team to be functioning at their best.  One slow rower could mess up the entire thing.  Are we pushing ourselves, making ourselves stronger, so we can always be playing our role to the best of our ability to drive the larger ship?

Now, let’s connect with the cox.  As I mentioned he is continually making minor adjustments and consistently calling out direction, because the rowers have their back to the goal.  The rowers can’t see what he sees.  How often does a leader share a vision at some meeting and then never revisits it?  The leader shares a vision one time with people who can’t see what they see and then expects it to happen.  Think about that.  The cox would never do something like that in rowing.  Leaders need to articulate that vision, over and over and over again.  Leaders need to communicate that vision with everything they say and everything they do.   

The challenge: As a rower, are you all in, moving with efficiency and strength?  As a leader, what is your vision and message?  Are you consistently communicating the vision of where we are going?

Have a jolly good day and go team USA!

Andrew Embry

The Cost of Being Different Part 4 The Cost of Being Different and Showing You Care (7-27-16)

This is the last in the series about the cost of being different.  We’ve explored how creating great diverse teams requires additional time, energy, and effort (pizza).  We’ve looked at why we need to bring down the cost of being different (sandwiches).  Last week we thought about whether we are willing to pay the price of being different (stock market).  We’ll end this series with a lesson about ensuring people know they are valued by looking at a recent exchange I had with my 4 year old, Alice.

Every night when I put the girls to bed I go through the same routine.  It goes like this:  Me: “How much do I love you?”  Them: “So much.”  Me: “How long will I love you?”  Them: “Forever and ever.”  Me: “Don’t you ever forget that.  You promise?”  Them: “Promise.”  (#Velveetacheesemeltingmyheartsince2012)

The other day after this exchange Alice said, “Daddy, I already know that you love me so much.  You tell me that every day.  Why do you keep telling me?”  I chuckled and said, “I just want to make sure you know.”  She rolled her eyes and replied, “I know that already daddy.  You don’t have to tell me anymore.”  Too cute, right?  Here’s the thing.  I don’t tell her she’s perfect.  I make sure she knows that I love her.  I make sure she knows I love her because of who she is and because of everything she is. 

How does this connect with work?  Apparently, I’ve told Alice I love her so much that she’s like, “I don’t even need to hear that anymore.”  Could you imagine something similar ever happening at work?  Have you ever heard of someone saying, “My engagement could be better if my teammates cared a little less about me.  It would be great if my manager would stop telling me that he values me.  I wish that my director would stop telling me that she appreciates my contributions”?  This never happens, but what if it did?

Over the past few weeks we’ve talked about the price of being different.  What do you think would happen to that cost if you felt that the people around you really cared for you?  How would this love and care celebrate all the benefits of you being you?  How would that lower the cost of being different?  How would it give you the courage to pay the cost of being different in spite of everything stacked against you?  Engagement has several components, but it doesn’t always have to be complicated.  Instead of getting lost in the millions of nuances, we can make sure we cover the fundamentals first.  I’d argue that no matter who you are you want to know you are valued and that people care about you.  Once this has been satisfied, you are more willing to be you.  You are more willing to be different.

The challenge:  We’ve been on this series a month, so what have you done over the past few weeks to make things better?  What are you doing to tell and show the people around you how much you value and care about them?How will you make a difference TODAY?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry