August 8, 2023

Growing up in rural West Virginia, I didn't know anyone who played golf. I mean, I knew about Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, but personally, I didn't know a single person who was a golfer. Coal miners didn't spend a lot of time getting in a quick nine after work. Plus, where would they play? Pond Fork didn't have any golf courses.?

Somehow, I stumbled upon a few golf clubs at a flea market. They were old and rusted, but I didn't know the difference. I got excited about the possibilities. I was going to be a golfer! Maybe a famous one!

I took the old clubs and a few ragged balls that I bought and went out to my neighbor's old garden. He was getting along in years and didn't put out any plants that spring, so it was perfect for a teenager to launch a few high, majestic golf shots. I had my own little Augusta, just a few hundred yards from my house.?

I spent hours out there swinging those old clubs. I was a baseball player, so I figured hitting a golf ball would be easy. But no matter how hard I tried, I could not get the ball in the air. Just squibbers and line drives. Swings and misses.

Spending more time looking for errant shots in the creek and along the mountainside, I lost all my golf balls. I lost most of my excitement. I wouldn't pick up a golf club again for years.?

I tried a time or two in my college years but to similar results. I had no idea what I was doing, and trying harder (and I did try hard) made it worse.?

Then, my future father-in-law started helping me. He was an expert golfer. I was amazed by how easy he made it look. Easy swings resulted in booming drives.

He showed me how to grip the club, how to swing it, and so many of the tips and tricks I think about today. That allowed me to get much better.?

Later, I paid a guy who was a top golf instructor for two days of lessons. I improved rapidly. Over the years, I went from not being able to hit the ball in the air to once being recognized by my golf club as the most improved golfer in the calendar year.?

The difference wasn't me. I am a "try hard" guy. I put my heart and soul into things like this. I get obsessed. I read everything I can get my hands on. I'm a good student. But I was not a good performer.?

Until I got a coach.?

Someone who is an expert to guide my learning, watch me and give good, honest feedback.?

It's very much the same in sales. I see people struggle to get meetings, and once they get them, they do things (or don't do things) that make closing a sale infinitely harder. Like me in the garden with a rusty 9-iron, they just don't know what they don't know.?

For any pursuit, there is a path. You can get there through trial and error, but it takes forever, and it's expensive.

Or you can find an expert to help you.?

Where are you struggling? Can you find someone to help you? It's the fastest path to getting a different result.?

The Huddle?is a weekly newsletter that is designed for leaders. Leaders must be learners. There is never a?moment?when leaders arrive. It's a never-ending growth process. I hope this can be a resource that you can use to stay sharp and share with your team.

?With that, here are some things I ran across this week.?

Mamba Mentality -?As Gen Z moves deeper and deeper into the workforce, it feels to me like there is an interesting shift that is happening. It's the tension between the normal (as a Gen X'er, it seems normal to me) lack of balance between work and personal lives.?

I think folks of my generation (and before) have just assumed that if you want to carve out a good life, you may give more to work than you do to your life outside of work. We see it as paying your dues. We start at the bottom, scratch-and-claw for a couple of decades, and then hope we've gotten to a place where we can enjoy the fruits of our labor.?

I don't think young people today see it that way. It's not a knock on them. They have witnessed family dysfunction, corporate machines spitting out their parents, and how debt and financial pressure can impact happiness. Many have had a front-row seat. And it seems they vow to do it differently.?

I can't argue with their perspective. They may be right. But I do wonder if optimizing for balance early in one's career is the best long-term solution. I'm not suggesting we should ignore our health, families, and friends. But we also can't ignore our careers. That, to me, seems to be the disconnect.?

Here's something that I don't think has changed.

To reach the top of your chosen profession, you have to work really, really hard. You have to have an obsession with learning and growing. It requires sacrifice and getting out of our comfort zones.?

I'm guessing the best answer to the Gen X and Gen Z conundrum lies somewhere in the middle. But I worry that many of our young workers are optimizing for the wrong things, and in the end, they will wish they'd have done it differently.?

Or not.?

This is a great read?about the late Kobe Bryant . Granted, he was the best in the world at what he did, but there are some lessons we can all learn.

Open office environments lead to poorer performance?-?In a study that will soon be published in the? Journal of Managerial Psychology, ?researchers found that open workspaces have a detrimental effect on task performance.?

Once the rage, with pundits citing increased openness and collaboration, open work spaces seem to lead to poorer outcomes. But in my experience, workers in these environments have known that from the beginning.?

Walk through any open environment and count the number of people wearing AirPods.?

They know.?

Business Owner Burnout -?A lot has been written in the past three years about employee burnout. Workforce participation, "quiet quitting", and a focus on the mental health of workers.?

Less has been said about business owners.?

70% of business owners say they feel burned out at least once per month. Just 22% say they are taking enough vacation. More than a third say they don't have the money to take a vacation!

These troubling statistics paint a grim picture of entrepreneurship. Having a business that can't run without you is a big problem. Add that only about 20% of small businesses are actually sold. It's a hamster wheel.

One of the things our clients hear a lot from me is the importance of taking care of the "You Triangle." That's where spirit, body, and mind live. Self-care seems like a wimpy word, but it's what's lacking in the statistics below. Remember our mission and the why for being on the journey, and develop habits around moving, sleeping, and eating well by using tools like journaling, meditation, and quiet reflection.?

It matters.?

Here's a link to a short summary of the article. ?The actual article is behind a paywall. It's under the top section, "The Entrepreneurial Life."?

Resumé or Obituary??- I love reading the newspaper. There has not been a time in my life where that statement isn't true. Even as a kid. I'd read the?Charleston Daily-Mail?just about every day. Back then, it was mostly the sports pages and the comic strips. I can remember not being big enough to hold it up, and I'd lay it out on the floor and read while on my hands and knees. I recognize that's a little strange.?

I especially like reading the paper on Sunday. A big cup of coffee and the paper makes for a good start to the day. I go front page, sports page, editorial page, and then the obituaries. Yep, the obituaries.?

The obituaries are great reading. They are both heartwarming and sad. Some are funny. "Joe was a great fisherman. At least, that's what he told everybody. There's no evidence to support his claim." A family member taking one more dig at 'ol Dad. It makes me laugh every time.?

I heard a speaker once ask, "Do you live a resumé life or an obituary life?" It's a good question. A deep one. How will our lives be summed up in 7 or 8 paragraphs??

Here's a short video that reminded me of the "obituary life."

A quote to leave you with?

Have a great week!