Running, Fuel, and Water Stations (7-24-19)

Last week we kicked off a series about running by looking at gutting out tough runs. This week is about running and water stations. It’s inspired by one of the responses to last week’s blog.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned since I began running is the importance of fueling up as you run. It can make or break your run or race. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had some runs and races where things started out okay, and then everything started falling apart. All of a sudden it was like my body was out of rhythm, and my legs turned into cement. Often that happened to me because I didn’t fuel up during the race. I didn’t drink enough water and/or I didn’t eat and give my body the calories it needed to keep going. Has this ever happened to you, either during a race, a run, a workout, or another activity?

What does this have to do with anything? Last week was about tough runs, and someone responded to me and said, “But I will not quit. I will keep running – despite the bruises, bumps, scrapes, and then some. I do love it – my family, my career, my life. Just some days I need someone at the water station to give me that cheer and cup of water – telling me to keep running!”

I found this insightful and inspiring, and I think it connect to us in two ways. First, it speaks to the importance of taking the time to refuel. We all are in the middle of our own tough run, but how often are we taking the time to refuel? How often are we taking the time to pause for a moment to make sure we get some “water” and “fuel” into our system? I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get so caught up in running around in work and life that I don’t pause to refuel. While I can run for a long time, sooner or later it all catches up and I end up crashing hard and falling apart. We all do.

The other connection is that we can all be the person at the water station giving encouragement and water to other people. As I reflect, I realize that I have no idea what kind of race other people are running. I don’t know if it’s a tough run for them or a smooth one. I don’t know if they are tired or if their legs are still fresh. Regardless, what I do know is that everyone needs fuel, and we all have the ability to give each other a little fuel in the form of a smile, a kind word, encouragement, and any other gifts we have to offer.

Challenge 1: Will you slow down and refuel?

Challenge 2: Will you give fuel to others?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Cars and Fuel Part 4 What if there were fuel fairies? (11-30-16)

This is going to be the final entry in the current series about cars and gas stations. Over the past few weeks we’ve talked about why we need to refuel in order to avoid driving past empty, why leaders need to be able to provide gas, and the fact that gas is not just for sports cars. We’ll end this series by reflecting on a seemingly strange question. What if there was a fleet of fuel fairies who magically refilled your car for you?

The reason why I wish this was true is because getting gas is an ordeal. You have to take time out of your day to pull off the road and up next to the pump, enter your card or pre-pay, and finally you have to stand outside and pump the gas. What if it wasn’t like this? What if the gas station came to you? What if there was some magical fleet of fuel fairies who came by and consistently put fuel in your tank? Imagine being able to jump in your car and always having a tank that was near full. You’d never run out of fuel. You’d always be ready to go the distance. How cool would that be?

What does this have to do with work? I often feel that getting fuel becomes an ordeal. We force people to go to the gas station (recognition event, pm conversation, check-in, etc.) and that’s the primary time when we give them fuel. Those events become gas stations and if people aren’t at those events then they don’t have the opportunity to get fuel. It doesn’t have to be that way though. We can all be fuel fairies. We can all consistently build each other up. We can ALL take moments out of our day to send a quick message or say a kind word about why we appreciate and value everyone we work with from peers to supervisors.

So how do we become fuel fairies? You have to leverage what you have to give people fuel. I can’t give people raises, nominate them for an award, send them to some conference, etc. What I can do is show them how much I appreciate them with my words and my actions. I can always be there with some encouraging words to remind them that they make a difference. I can hug people when they need to be hugged and give them a nudge when they need a little push.

The challenge: These past few days have been rough with negative news that impacts patients and us. I know a lot of us are running a little low right now on fuel. The challenge is whether or not we can be there to help keep fuel in the tank for each other. Today I challenge you to step up and give fuel to 5 different people.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Cars and Fuel Part 3 Driving Past Empty (11-22-16)

Receiving one of these on Tuesday might rip the fabric of reality, but I’ll risk it since I’ll be on vacation tomorrow. Last week was about how we need to give gas to more than just sports cars. This week is about driving past empty. If you are a Seinfeld fan you might remember an episode where Kramer was test driving cars with a car salesman and they pushed it to the edge to see how far they could go when the gas tank said it was empty. If you want to see a clip click HERE. It’s a pretty funny moment, and I’m sure we’ve all been there driving with the gauge past E, hoping we’d make it to the gas station just a few miles away.

Have you ever run out of gas? I had a car once that had a floating gas gauge, and I ran out of gas on a busy road leading to a subdivision. No matter what I did, the car just couldn’t go any further. I couldn’t will it to go further. I couldn’t talk it into going further. It just stopped. I eventually had to ask a person in a nearby house if they had a gas can, so I could at least get a gallon in the tank to make it to a station to fill up.

How does this connect with work? Do you know the difference between the car and people when it comes to running out of fuel? A car has to stop. It quits working before it can do further damage to itself. A person doesn’t have to stop, so they can push themselves until they harm themselves. I’m not saying that pushing your limits is bad. At times running on fumes can be good as you give the final push to accomplish some great feat. However, if you are always running on fumes, always running past empty, you’re damaging yourself. You’re damaging your body, your mind, your relationships, your quality of work, etc. In a world that is quick to applaud the person who seems to always be frazzled and running on empty, I can’t help but ask if that’s really how we should live.

When I’m driving I usually get fuel when I’m somewhere between a half and a quarter of a tank. I fuel up often and before the fuel can ever get too low. How often do you fuel up your car? More importantly, how often do you fuel up yourself? I don’t know what your fuel is. It might be spending time with others, working out, reading a book, spending time with family, connecting with people at work, listening to music, playing video games, tackling projects at home, etc. I had a month a little bit ago where I ran myself too far into the ground and life was pretty crappy. Since then, I’ve pulled myself back together and made sure I set aside time to refuel.

The challenge: Are you refueling often enough? I hope you have a chance to unplug and enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Cars and Fuel Part 2 Gas is not just for Sports Cars (11-16-16)

Last week was about gas stations without gas and how important it for leaders to provide fuel for others. This week we will continue with the gas station analogy and I’ll challenge you to consider who you are giving fuel to aka “Who are you recognizing?”

Imagine you’re on a road trip driving a 4 door sedan and you realize that you need to get some fuel. You pull into a gas station and at the other pump is an awesome looking sports car. You go to put gas in the tank, but it isn’t working. After a few minutes of fiddling around with the machine you talk to the attendant inside. The clerk tells you that the gas station only provides gas for sports cars, so that’s why it’s not working for you. What would you do? How would you feel?

By now you might be wondering what this has to do with work. During the Olympics I wrote a blog about soccer and how important it is that everyone on the team plays their role. In response to this blog, Anshu shared this thought, “We often only talk about the strikers and the goalies and less about the defensive team or the passers…” See attached blog if you have forgotten it. If we use today’s analogy, we often only talk about and recognize the sports cars instead of all of the vehicles (people) who contribute.

This leads to people wishing they were sports cars or trying to be sports cars, which creates problems. Sports cars aren’t bad. It’s just that not everyone is a sports car. Most importantly, it wouldn’t be good if everybody was a sports car. Sports cars are flashy, fun, and fast, but they can’t do everything. We need trucks to carry heavy loads. We need buses who can move loads of people. We need bulldozers who aren’t afraid to get dirty and shove mud and rocks out of the way. We need stable sedans who consistently get us where we need to go. All of these different vehicles, all of these different people are important to help us reach our end goal. All of these people deserve to be valued and recognized for their work.

The challenge: Who are you giving fuel to? Are you just recognizing sports cars?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Cars and Fuel Part 1 A Gas Station without Gas (11-9-16)

With us sprinting as we enter Q4, I’d like to kick off a new series about cars and fuel. Imagine for a moment that you stop at a gas station to fuel up. You pull up to the pump, put the nozzle in your car, and then nothing happens. You look at the pump to make sure you hit all the right buttons, but still nothing happens. Finally, you go into the store and ask the attendant if there’s a problem. The attendant looks at you like you are asking a weird question and says, “Sometimes gas stations have bad gas which hurts the cars. Because of this, we don’t pump any gas. This way we don’t hurt any of the cars.” Ridiculous, right? Would you go to that gas station ever again? Would you ever suggest that gas station to other people? No, because it doesn’t fulfill the basic function of a gas station.

The above example is so crazy that it can’t have any connection to work, right? I remember talking to a friend once about their previous manager and I said, “How was he as a boss?” Her response was, “He was a really great manager.” Whenever someone describes someone as a great boss or leader I want to know more, so I asked her why he was so great. She explained he wasn’t a micromanager. I assumed there had to be more to it than that, so I asked her what else was special about him. She responded with something like, “He just left our team alone, which is a lot better than some of the other managers we had who tried to control everything we did.” I spoke to her a little more, but all I got was that the manager didn’t do harm and since he didn’t do harm that made him good. Have you ever experienced something like this? This is a story I’ve heard a fair amount of times.

Now think about our gas station example. Obviously we don’t want bad gas, but would we be happy with a gas station that didn’t give us any gas? No. That would be unacceptable, because the gas station wouldn’t be fulfilling its primary function. We expect gas stations to provide fuel, so we can go somewhere. Now think of the woman in the story. Basically she said, “My manager was great, because he wasn’t a horrible micromanager.” Last time I checked, greatness is a lot more than just not being horrible. We should expect ourselves and our leaders to provide fuel to help us get somewhere. Everybody has their own style, so the fuel they provide might be different, but in every case it should be enough to make sure we (the cars) run and reach our final destination.

The challenge: As a leader are you doing harm, are you being neutral, or are you giving people the fuel they need to succeed and get to where they need to go? Give someone fuel today!

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry