Obstacles and Celebrating Progress/Small Wins (10-15-25)

Last week was about embracing the grimy path to success. This week is about failed rope climbs, conquered warped walls, and celebrating progress and small wins.

I failed the warped wall 3 times at Frontline OCR back in May, which resulted in some nasty friction burns on my leg. With that in mind, I came into the recent Midwest OCR looking for redemption. The first obstacle I ran into was the rope climb. I did not complete this obstacle. HOWEVER, I’m so excited, because for the first time in my life, I actually hooked my feet correctly. I got further than I’ve ever made it. Then, when I got to the warped wall, I finally beat that thing! I latched onto the rope and knew I wasn’t letting go until I had finished climbing the wall. I had so much adrenaline running through my body after completing the wall that I thought I might pass out.

What does this have to do with anything? It would have been easy for me to call my race a failure. I failed obstacles. I was slower than I wanted to be. I didn’t win. However, I view it a success because of the progress and small wins I had. Now think about work for a minute. How often do you pause to celebrate progress and small wins? Be honest. If you’re anything like me, it’s so easy to get focused on the end goal with a win/lose mentality that I don’t pause at work. Then, I find myself feeling stuck or like a failure, all because I haven’t opened my eyes to the progress that has been made. Does this sound familiar to anyone else? It doesn’t have to be this way. We can all be celebrating small wins on a more regular basis.

The challenge: How will you ensure you are celebrating progress and small wins along the way?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Embracing the Grimy Path to Success (10-8-25)

This week we are going to kick off some reflections from my recent obstacle course race at Midwest OCR. Our first topic is embracing the grimy path to success.

Here is the picture of me after my most recent obstacle course race. I’m smiling, striking a pose, looking strong, and proudly wearing my medal. This picture makes it look like I smoothly and effortlessly navigated the race in a perfect fashion. None of that is true. My race was ugly. You don’t see how I failed quite a few obstacles. You don’t see me red faced and feeling like I was dying on some of those hills. You don’t see the time I tripped and slid down a hill into a knee-deep mud bog that swallowed my legs and almost took my shoes. You don’t see the bruises I picked up along the way. Now that you know those things, does this make me any less successful? For me, just because it might have been a little ugly doesn’t take away from the fact that I was ultimately successful.

Let’s make some connections. Have you ever looked at a successful person and said, “Whoa! They have it all figured out. They just make success look so smooth and effortless. They must be perfect”? I know I have. Then the next thing I did was start comparing myself to them, which led to self-doubt. I would feel like a failure if everything I did wasn’t effortless and smooth. As I’ve got older, I’ve realized that success doesn’t come from things being flawless. Success is the result of continuing to persevere, especially when things are grimy and ugly.

The challenge: Will you embrace that success doesn’t have to be pristine? Will you embrace that the path to success is often grimy and ugly?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

King Knight and Knowing Your Limits (4-12-23)

Last week was about Super Mario 3D World and working together. This week is about King Knight and knowing your limits.

The other day my son, Cam, came up to me and said, “How early do you need to start work tomorrow?” I asked him why he wanted to know. He told me that he was stuck on a particular level of King Knight, a Shovel Knight spin-off, and needed my help. I smiled and told him I’d give him a hand. The next morning, I helped him get past a particularly tricky part and got him to a checkpoint. From there he kept playing on his own. Eventually, he reached the boss of the stage. The first time he faced the boss, he lost pretty quickly. The 2^nd and 3^rd times, he lasted a bit longer. He kept dying, and I thought he’d ask for help, but he didn’t. He kept trying again and again, slowly making progress, until ultimately, he defeated the boss. He was so proud of himself. (Just look at his “I just dominated” pose 😉)

What does this have to do with life? This is a story about Cam understanding his limits and responding accordingly. He knew there was a part of the level that was way beyond his current skills, and that he would not be able to get past it on its own. He was brave enough to ask for help to get past that part. Later, he came to a challenge that was just a little bit past his current skillset. He could have asked for help then, but he knew it would rob him of his chance to accomplish something within his grasp. Instead of asking for help, he trusted himself and kept trying until he eventually succeeded.

I hope we can all be a bit more like Cam. I hope we can assess situations and realize that sometimes they are more than we can handle. In those moments, I hope we are brave enough to ask for help. Other times, I hope we have enough grit to know that we might fail a few times, but we will find a way to do this on our own.

The challenge: How well do you know your limits? Will you ask for help at the right time?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Vacation and Preparing for Dragons (10-5-22)

Pretty sure this is the embodiment of going through busy airports

See the source image Happy Wednesday,

This week we will kick off a series based on reflections I had during my most recent vacation. My family went on a cruise that visited Belgium, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England. This week is about vacations and preparing for dragons.

Before we went on vacation, my wife and I sat down with the kids. My wife explained, “This is not a vacation. This is going to be an adventure. We will have main goals, side missions, and treasure! AND there will be dragons that we will need to slay or avoid. Luckily, I know we are tough enough to defeat those beasts.” The kids chuckled at the time, but there could not have been a more fitting description. While we had an amazing time, we also ran into quite a few dragons like navigating new and anxiety inducing environments, tight layovers and needing to sprint through airports, lost luggage, our itinerary being completely changed due to the passing of Queen Elizabeth (no joke), navigating the streets and tubes of London with suitcases, and more. Whenever one of these challenges would arise, we would all say, “This is just another dragon to slay,” and after we got through it, we would celebrate surviving the beast. As silly as it may sound, the simple fact that we went into vacation knowing there would be dragons gave us the strength and confidence to better deal with them.

What does this have to do with anything? At work, how often do we start a workstream by acknowledging that we EXPECT to fight dragons? I’d argue, not often enough. Usually, we plan and assume that everything will go according to plan. We build timelines with minimal buffer as if there will be no bumps. Now this might sound good in theory, but then once we run into a dragon, we aren’t ready mentally do deal with it. Does this sound familiar? I know this happens to me all the time. Think of how different it would be if we started projects by talking about potential dragons we expect to encounter and mentally preparing for unexpected dragons. How would that change our preparation? How would that change our ability to mentally pivot to deal with the dragons?

The challenge: How can we do a better job of preparing for the dragons we will inevitably face?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

15 Years- NOT Jumping in to Save the Day (6-29-22)

Last week was about letters of intent and the power of small gestures. This week is about a moment when a leader was strong enough to NOT jump in to save the day.

Let’s go back a few years. I was in our marketing academy working on the the market research team for a launch brand. I had a meeting with the marketing team about the targeting project I was leading. Have you ever had a presentation/led a meeting where things went great and you left feeling like a rockstar? This was NOT one of those meetings. By the end, I was limping over the finish line with bruised legs and a black eye. It was ugly. There were questions I wasn’t prepared for, tangents that got us lost in rabbit holes, and I just wasn’t all that effective. Has that ever happened to you?

Anyway, I talked to my boss after the meeting and we were debriefing how it went. She kind of chuckled and said something like, “Yeah, I saw it getting a little rocky for you, and you were getting beat up a bit. I knew it wasn’t anything you couldn’t handle, so I didn’t jump in to save you. It’s good to learn from those things sometimes.” I busted out laughing and was like, “Thanks boss!” and then we finished discussing how to improve. She was right. I learned a lot from that not so successful interaction with folks, and I was able to apply those learnings in the future in multiple situations.

You might already see where this is going. Whether it’s being a parent and seeing your kids in a smidge of trouble or being a supervisor and seeing your employee struggle a bit, all too often we dive in WAY TOO EARLY to save the day. Have you done this as a parent or leader? When we do this, we “save the day”, but we also rob the person of tremendous growth. My boss not jumping in was the best help I could ask for. The stakes were low, the situation uncomfortable, AND it was a great environment to learn in. Since she didn’t jump in, I had to learn to save myself. During the course of that botched meeting, I learned I could take a punch to the face and not die, take punches and still have the energy to throw some counter jabs, and how to dodge punches in the future 😉 These lessons helped me in that role and in future roles. That was one moment where I discovered I had more strength, skills, and tenacity than I previously had known, but I would have never learned that if she had saved me.

The challenge: Are you a strong enough leader to let your people take their lumps and learn from them?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Heat and Hard Running (7-17-19)

This week I’d like to start a series inspired by running by looking at lessons learned from tough runs. Normally, I get enjoyment from running, but with the heat that hasn’t lately been the case. I remember a recent run. It was hot. I’m out of shape and sweating like crazy, thirsty as heck and out of water. My entire body was sore and cramping. The sun was frying my skin like an egg, and my eyes were itching from pollen and allergies. Bugs kept flying in my mouth. Not fun.

As I’m hobbling along like an elephant with bad knee caps, I start talking to myself. “Why am I doing this? What is this going to do for me? Did I make the right choice to be doing this? Am I going to make it? Does this mean I’m a horrible runner? How much longer is this going to last? This sucks!” I finally finished the run. I’d like to say at that moment I hit some amazing runner’s high, but I didn’t. I was exhausted and banged up. Nothing about that run was enjoyable. I still run though. I don’t run because it’s always fun. I run because sometimes it sucks. I run because whether it’s fun or whether it’s difficult, it makes me stronger and more prepared for my next race.

You might be wondering where this is going. Think about life/work for a moment. Have you ever been in a situation where you weren’t having fun, but you knew you were growing? It’s hard being in these places, but it is these moments that make us stronger. With all that said, that’s where I am right now in work. Recently, a friend asked me if I was having fun in my role. My gut instinct was to say, “Yeah, everything’s great,” like we always do. However, I hesitated for a moment and then decided to be honest. I told her that I wasn’t having fun, and I kind of felt guilty about admitting that things weren’t care free and perfect. *(#probablybeingtoohonest)

Why wasn’t I having fun? We all have our runs in the hot sun. Lately mine has consisted of working on a complicated launch brand on an alliance while trying (and sometimes failing) to skillfully and smoothly navigate customer planning, company processes, cultures, surprises, and people across the two companies. It’s a struggle. It’s exhausting. It’s not always care free fun and easy. In the midst of gutting out this tough run, I find myself asking all of the same questions I asked when I ran in the sun, “Why am I dong this? What is this doing for me? Did I make the right choice? Am I going to make it? If it’s this hard, does it mean I’m horrible or I lack the skills to do this?”

It’s okay to be honest. It’s okay to admit that things are tough from time to time. I can’t tell you that I’m having care free fun right now, but I know with certainty that I’m growing. These last 7 months have consisted of a lot of bruises and scrapes, but I’m stronger for it. I feel my leadership skills, understanding of marketing, thinking, and tolerance for ambiguity have improved more in the past few months than they have in the past few years, because they had to. So while it’s not all smiles and rainbows, I keep showing up. I show up, not because it’s fun, but because sometimes it sucks. I show up and keep running, because it makes me stronger and more prepared for everything moving forward. I keep showing up, because I have an awesome team and people who need me. You do too. I see you gutting out your own hot run, whatever it is. You got this! You’re strong. Keep running!

The challenge: Can you embrace the tough times for what they are and what they give you?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Lessons from Being a Dad Part 1 Violet, Persistence, and the Quest for Tasty Treats (6-6-18)

This week we will kick of a new series on lessons I’ve learned from being a dad. This week we will focus on persistence by looking at Violet’s quest for tasty treats.

Violet (4) is my tenacious negotiator. She doesn’t understand what the phrase “give up” means. I’ll share this story as an example. It was 7am on a Saturday and Violet asked if she could have a cookie. I told her no. That wouldn’t stop her. She climbs onto me, snuggles up as close as she can and says, “Daddy, I love you. Can I have a cookie please?” Now, grandparents would fall for this, especially my dad, because my girls have him wrapped around their fingers. However, I’ve learned to harden my heart. I tell her that we aren’t having cookies this early in the morning and she hasn’t even had breakfast. Violet then starts the negotiations, “I understand I need to eat breakfast to get strong muscles. After breakfast can I have a cookie?” I tell her no. This goes back and forth for a few minutes and then she decides to try a new tactic. She then asks, “How about some chocolate chips?” The answer is still no.

I think she’s finally given up, because she starts playing with Alice (6). They are throwing a surprise birthday party for BB-8 (Star Wars droid). All of a sudden, Violet runs up to me and says, “Daddy, there’s a problem. We’re planning a surprise birthday party for BB-8. He’s at the door now. We need a distraction, or he will come in and ruin the surprise.”

I respond with, “Really?” She shoots back, “I have a plan. Give me a cookie to give to him, so he doesn’t ruin the party.” I give her a an imaginary cookie. Without missing a beat Violet says, “Everyone knows that’s a fake cookie. That won’t work. I need a real one for the plan.” I look at her and say, “Violet, I know this game. If I give you the cookie you’re just going to eat it.” Violet says, “Yeah…” I then look at her and say, “You’re lucky I reward creativity and honesty,” and I give her part of a cookie. Violet struts away victorious. I’ll admit, she wore me down and I figure if someone is willing to work that hard to get a cookie they deserve something.

How does this connect to work? I don’t know about you, but I feel like there are barriers everywhere. There is always a road block, a kink in a process, a person saying, “No.” We hear some version of “No” so often that it becomes easy to become beaten down by this. It becomes easy to stop pressing forward. In Violet’s case, she has set her mind on getting a cookie. Once Violet sets her mind on something, she is relentless. She doesn’t accept no. Instead, she negotiates. When the initial negotiation fails, so she reassesses her tactics and tries again. She does this over and over and over again until she finally reaches her goals. I think we could learn a lot from her persistence, especially since our work is so much more noble than eating cookies.

The challenge: What do you do when you run into a barrier? Do you stop with the initial, “No,” or do you negotiate, renegotiate, search for different perspectives, look into different trade-offs, and find a way to reach your goal? (If you ever get too desperate you could throw a surprise birthday party for your imaginary friend as a diversion tactic. I hear that’s effective…)

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry