Apologies

It's been a while since I wrote a good post. I have a few half-written posts that I will finish. I hope.

Unvain or vain - Halloween costumes

Y'all, I'm having a Halloween party. Let's talk about it.

Is the holiday vain? Is dressing up vain? Are sexy costumes vain?

Remember that scene from Revenge of the Nerds where Gilbert is dressed up like Darth Vader and conceals his identity from Betty Childs? Was that vain?

Buy something to be cool

Once again, I'm shamefully plugging on my businesses. I'm selling products on Amazon and making a commission. Buy my stuff because you think I'm a good friend.

This is a pretty lame post, right? I'm just trying things out but I'm not doing well so far. Tell me what you think.

Today's Reminder - Anticipate, Seize, Dominate

This is a quick post which I'll expand on later. For now I'll give you the anecdote and next time I'll dive deeper.

I took a training course on management skills. I loved the class yet I'm still a little anxious about it (it's what I do). I know the right things to do and now I will practice doing them at the right time and right place. But I digress.

The class starts as most do. The instructors, Heidi and Barb, give short introductions of themselves and their professional experience as trainers. Then Heidi asks us to give short introductions of ourselves as an ice breaker sorta quick thing.

I saw this coming. Things like that are predictable. I love predicting human behavior and being one step in front of the game.

I pop my hand up as soon as she turned her focus to the class looking for her prey. F' that. I love myself and will take every opportunity to show others too.

Heidi points at me and thanks me for volunteering. I sprung out of my chair before she finishes her thanks -- I sat in the back (assigned seats) and I needed the class's attention. It helped that I was wearing my Surf Seattle t-shirt and wanted everyone to see that, if nothing else.

I do my thing. I'm a morning person so I had a ton of energy and project my voice so I couldn't be ignored. My intro is short and sweet, no flashiness required.

I sit and the person next to me pops up and does the same. The back of the room finished first.

WTF? Right?

The next day Barb comes up to me as I grab some free coffee and gives me feedback. She says (as best I can remember it):

I understand that you're worried about being a manager and communicating to others. Do you remember yesterday when you stood up and introduced yourself? Did you notice that everyone after you followed suit and stood up during their introduction? People in previous classes stayed in their chairs. You're going to be a great leader.

There you go: ultimate flattery. I was true to myself and accidentally led by example. And why? I was ahead of the curve, anticipated an opportunity and jumped at it before anyone else could.

That's K·FREE leadership styleez:

Anticipate, Seize, Dominate

(Remind me to tell you about Mark and my venture up Aasgard Pass at this time last year)