The Tolan Group

I have heard and read about salmon swimming upstream but never actually witnessed this phenomenon until last week in Juneau. Just an amazing sight to see.? ? The salmon eventually all make what is referred to as the salmon run. This is when sockeye salmon and all the other salmon go upstream to the lakes and rivers where they were born. They travel?hundreds of miles, facing challenges and obstacles?along the way with animals, humans, and trees. They never give up on their journey; they keep swimming and swimming. The salmon are incredible creatures because they are born, then they live in the ocean eventually traveling back to live in freshwater to lay their eggs. Then they die within days or weeks of spawning. That is their life cycle.? ? In business, all entrepreneurs also learn how to swim upstream. Not every day is a ticker tape parade day and often swimming upstream, taking chances, and fighting adversity becomes the reality in the life of a business owner/leader. Nothing is guaranteed so we also must take chances, not knowing what the outcome will ultimately be. That is what entrepreneurs do every day.??? ??? Swimming upstream can be painful and difficult -- but to find success you must be willing to take those chances. ? I learned a lot that day watching these incredible fish fight, jumping their way up waterfalls, eventually pushing their way upstream. It was a thing of beauty to behold! #alaskasalmon #swimmingupstream

The Tolan Group is pleased to announce a recent placement for one of our clients. We have been delivering human capital solutions for healthcare services, behavioral health, and health tech PE and Venture-backed portfolio companies since 2005. #ttgexecutivesearch #humancapitalsolutions

After wrapping up my vacation it’s now time to jump back into the game and re-engage with my team and the business. I read with great interest an article written by Bill Murphy of Inc a few years ago about re-engaging when returning from vacation and it all made so much sense. So, I borrowed the 8 topics Bill highlighted and filled in the rest. Here we go! ? 1. Come Back on a Wednesday or Thursday ? I failed miserably on this suggestion returning instead on a Sunday night. Since the airline misplaced one of our bags – I am sort of glad we returned at the end of a weekend.?I do see the advantages of returning mid-week or at the end of the week to allow plenty of re-entry time to prepare for the following week.? ? 2. Start the Day Before ? This is one I struggle with as starting the day before you return is giving up part of your time off and swapping relaxation for stress which I don’t see me doing. I have a bad habit of looking at my messages every other day looking for any big rocks that need my attention. That does not mean I re-engage and start working… Having a great leadership team in place usually helps avoid too much engagement (if any) and I am fortunate to have a solid leadership team at the helm! ? 3. Get Up Early (and Maybe Meditate) ? Agree 100% with this suggestion to get your brain re-wired for work since I had plenty of down time while I was away. That’s one of the many reasons I enjoy cruises as you get the chance to nothing (quite a bit) yet you can elect to take excursions that are of interest.? ? 4. Get Your Diet Right ? Oh yeah! This one should be at the top of the list. If you practice intermittent fasting (that I try to do) you’ll need to revert to your healthy habits before you kick-start your post vacation routine. It’s great when you get to enjoy certain foods or desserts while you are away, after all you are on vacation! Vacay is over now -- time to get back to eating right! ? 5. Take a Few Minutes to Find Out What Happened ? Get caught up on what has happened and focus on the big things that need your attention. This should be easy enough for most of us.? ? 6. Delete Meaningless emails ? Most are meaningless or SPAM related so hit that delete button and smile while you do! Purging worthless emails is a skill I have mastered over the years, so this one is easy for me.? ? 7. If You Must Read Emails, Read Them in Last-to-First Order ? Love Bill’s advice here so you can focus on the NOW as many big issues that happened in the business 7-10 days ago are no longer issues and especially if you have a great team to help steady the ship while you are away.? ? 8. Focus on Big Projects ? Measure what Matters (a page from John Doerr) is great advice here. Assess the big projects or annual initiatives that need your ongoing attention and focus of those. Many people spend way too much time majoring in minors when you can take that same energy and move mountains on the things that move the needle on your career or your company.

As we navigated closer to Juneau and later towards Skagway this week - we experienced floating blue ice everywhere! It was awesome. Blue ice?occurs when?snow?falls on a?glacier, is?compressed, and becomes part of the glacier. During compression, air bubbles are squeezed out, so ice?crystals?enlarge. This enlargement is responsible for the ice's blue color.? ? Stunning! #alaskabeauty

I felt invigorated yesterday as our catamaran chased humpback whales all afternoon just outside of Juneau. It was a wild ride, and I was totally invested in our journey. We were lucky as we saw at least 10 whales in the very cold temperatures as I went from side to side on the top of the boat. It was all worth it and this video I took was my favorite! #alaskaadventures

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do." ~ Steve Jobs

We hiked the Sunrise Rim Trail which is a short connector trail that links Sunrise with the Wonderland Trail, providing expansive views of Mount Rainier. And OMG! Weather was a picture perfect 70 degrees and sunny yesterday and just gorgeous. It's a great standalone hike as we were hoping for a closer view of the mountain. This is was our view from the trail. #mountrainier

The Tolan Group is pleased to announce a recent placement for one of our clients. We have been delivering human capital solutions for healthcare services, behavioral health, and health tech PE and Venture-backed portfolio companies since 2005. #ttgexecutivesearch #humancapitalsolutions

I will be off the grid for a while as my wife and I begin our trek from Florida to Alaska. Meeting up with our daughter and son-in-law in Seattle to visit Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and finally Victoria BC. It will be a LOT cooler and we welcome the change in weather and the beautiful scenery that lies ahead. I’ll push out a few PICS during our journey! #alaskabound

We want to introduce our followers to The Tolan Group team by presenting a Monthly Team Spotlight. This will give you a chance to learn more about our team, their focus at TTG, and a few tidbits of what they do when they are not engaged in providing our clients with finding world-class talent. Here is this month’s Monthly Team Spotlight: