A day to Remember...

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

The poem In Flanders Fields was written by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae in World War I, and along with the poppy, have become the symbols to remember those man and woman who fought and died to protect our freedoms.

Today, November 11th, is Remembrance Day in Canada, and at 11:00 am I will offer a moment of silence in remembrance.

And I shall never forget.

iamgpe

#!@$... a spelling mistake! Thank you for letting me know.

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

I have been blogging in earnest for about two years now and my reasons are simple; articulate my expertise as someone who can solve Sales & Marketing problems and become a better writer. 

I will be the first to say I will never be a great writer, but I do believe I can be a good writer and maybe even a very good story teller; I've been encouraged to this end because when I look back at my body of work I can see improvement, and I've also been told by people I respect that I am getting better. 

With all of this said, the bane of my writing experience so far is proof reading, and by extension, spelling mistakes!

This point was illustrated in glorious fashion with a recent "re-post" on beBee entitled Never lose your sense of wonder, or in other words...  where a misspelled word slipped through... and worse still, the error was in the "title".  It seems that the word "lose", which means "to no longer have", changes to something completely different when you add an extra "o" and the word becomes "loose".

This is exactly what happened when I published the original post, and in effect asked people to Never "fasten tightly" your sense of wonder; I suppose the title would work if the subject matter was about never committing to a sense of wonder, but it wasn't... and worse still, I was oblivious to all of it. 

That was until two people let me know about my error. It was then I simply said to myself, "Ugh... I better fix this".

I have come a long way from internalizing this sort of thing, and using it to identify ability and self worth; I now just see it as a problem that needs to be rectified. I will admit it was really irritating and a glaring reminder to improve my proof reading ability, but three minutes later, with the rogue "o" removed and the proper meaning restored, I was happily back to my oblivious self.

With the mistake behind me, I could not help but turn to the fact that someone, more than one someone in fact, took the time to let me know that I had made a mistake. They did it with respect, and even a little concern that I may be upset that they had pointed it out; I was not, more to the contrary, I really appreciated it.

Is there a point here regarding getting better at proofing when you write or the value in learning from your mistakes... there sure is. However, what this experience has offered me was the opportunity to pause and appreciate those people who not only read what I write but take the time to engage, and help me become better at what I am doing. Maybe it is an aspect of beBee (the social media site I am on), or that people generally want to help, or possibly the "luck of the universe" was on my side that day... whatever the reason, I want to simply say, "Thank you".

And one last thing, until the end of my days, I will never confuse "Lose" and "Loose" again.

iamgpe

PS: Please let there be no spelling mistakes.

Business Transition by "Revolution" (aka, Part Three).

The following is the original and rewrite can be found by clicking here.

Transition (the noun) is defined as the process or a period of changing from one state (or condition) to another*, and with respect to business, I will say this is a constant state... the exception I suppose is when a business is stagnate (showing neither growth nor decline). Even this stagnation though will tip either towards growth or decline in time, and return the business to its natural state of change. BY DEFINITION, A BUSINESS IS ALWAYS IN TRANSITION... sometimes fast and sometimes slow, but always transitioning, one way or another.

I wrote a recent blog on the topic of Businesses in Transition contemplating the processes and stewardship that good leadership uses to navigate the natural changes of business for long term success, growth, and viability... a glimpse at the natural evolution of a well run company.

But what about business transition by "revolution"? 

You know, a sudden, complete or marked change in the business due to poor performance, a change in leadership, a merger and/or acquisition, or the loss of your biggest client... the list could go on, but these tend to be some of the bigger reasons.

Revolution conjures up the stories of accidentally walking in on someone being terminated, a senior leader hearing about her termination by voicemail, people escorted out of the building with a career's worth of belongings in a box, or a 300 person business reduced to three; the figurative and bloodless sound of the guillotine echoing through the hallways. If you are in the private sector, particularly in a public company, I can say with great certainty you will go through a merger and/or acquisition sometime in your professional career... and probably more than once. I've gone through no less than seven and some were very much a business transition by revolution". 

Sometimes the natural evolution of a business will lead to a revolution as part of the plan; it is the natural order of things as a business grows. Revolution is simply an aspect of the magnitude of change that occurs as a result... and as I've said, "BY DEFINITION, A BUSINESS IS ALWAYS IN TRANSITION". It is fair to say that business transition by revolution refers to "big change".

So what have I gleaned from the experiences?

If you are "Leading the Revolution"

Don't underestimate how difficult leading a revolution can be - It can get very complicated to move an idea forward, incorporate new strategy, integrate new systems and processes... all the while managing the people and emotion that comes with big change.

Communication is imperative to counterbalance rumour, speculation and misinformation - If you don't communicate what is happening and how things are going, people will simply make things up... and as they say, "Fantasy is far more interesting than reality."

It may be an obvious, straight forward, intellectual "business exercise" to you, but people will make it emotional very quickly - What you are doing may be the right thing on paper, make sense as business goes, but it will create the discomfort that comes with change, most likely shift people's roles, and in some cases make a person's position redundant... all very emotionally charged topics.

If you are "Participating in the Revolution"

You will be asked to do difficult things - You may be asked to lead the change people don't want, give the answers people don't like to hear, and tell people the organization does not want them anymore... if you are participating in a revolution your hands will get dirty; figuratively speaking.

Ensure what you say is aligned with the company's message and don't feed the rumour mill - You will be on the frontline hearing it all (real and imagined); it is important to stay on message regarding what is happening and any conversations you have, lead them back to your Leadership's message of what's happening, why, and the reasons... as they say, "With the fog of war, the first thing to die is the truth"; do your best to keep the truth alive.

Offer candid feedback to those leading the revolution because they need a clear understanding of the situation - You are the lynch pin between those leading the revolution and those caught up in the revolution. It is important to let those leading know how it is going, what people are saying, and any issues... articulate the clearest picture possible to support better course corrections.

If you are "Caught up in the Revolution"

Stay focused on "business as usual" because that's the only thing you can influence - It is easy to get caught up with all of the things going on around you but in the end, you can only impact your role and its responsibilities... show everyone you are really, really good at what you do.

Ask questions, and where possible, understand how you can support the revolution - Knowledge is power as they say and this is how you identify opportunities in the future... let people know you are engaged.

Understand what is happening intellectually and not emotionally - Business is an intellectual pursuit... try really, really hard not to make it emotional; this can be very, very difficult sometimes. 

Throwing someone else under the bus is no guarantee it will save you - In other words, don't try to prop yourself up by putting someone else down... it rarely works, makes you look bad, and is a big waste of energy.

A business transition by revolution, unlike a more traditional one with people shooting at each other, cannot be suppressed or crushed. Once started, the business transition by revolution can only move forward, maybe a little sideways, but never back. Change will happen and you cannot stop it... it's best to accept it, understand it, and look for the opportunity.

Because in a business transition by revolution, you can always be guaranteed there will be opportunity.

iamgpe

* Thank you Internet for the definition.