What's Going On Here?

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. Much of what I've been reading is pretty depressing- Collapse, The Nice and Accurate Phrophecies of Agnes Nutter Witch, Jefferson Project, Atlas Shrugged, Fountainhead. All of these books talk about human and societal frailty. When the earthquake shook our building yesterday and with a hurricane heading our way, I thought again about what is beyond our control and what we can do with the things we can control. History has shown, that when man acts or, for that matter fails to act, in his own self interest that society will suffer. I believe we are at a tipping point now- that unless we begin to take responsibility and do the right thing- promoting learning and innovation, rewarding achievement and work ethic, disincenting unproductivity and incompetence and showing fiscal prudence, our society as we know it will continue to decline.

A Great Bonding Experience

As I age, I still learn more about myself and others everyday. Last weekend I was blessed to join my son, his 10 good friends and 2 brothers (my other 2 sons) at his bachelor party weekend. I felt lucky to be invited but a little uneasy about fitting in. In summary, the weekend was great fun, the guys were terrific and I think I fit in just fine- both as a parent and friend. The weekend will be a positive memory that all of us will hold for a lifetime. My son and his friends and brothers are lucky to have such a strong bond so early in their lives. They have already shared so much together and, I believe, observing them, that they will continue to share a bond as they move forward in their careers, marriages and parenthood. Their disparate paths may lessen the time they spend with each other, but their obvious love for each other (although they have a strange way of showing it some times) will provide them with an authentic and meaningful base of support for the rest of their lives.

It's a New Year

While I don't believe in New Year resolutions per se, I am a goal setter and the New Year does mark a time of the year to plan for what I want to accomplish over the next year personally and professionally. While I always get excited by the year ahead, I'm always humbled by the fact that another year of my life has passed. Our lives are so short with so much to accomplish in such a short time span. So I better get started on 2011- Have a Happy, Healthy and Successful New Year.

Thanksgiving

This is a great time to thank everyone in my life for your support, love and friendship. I've been blessed with good health and a great wife and family. And, I've surrounded myself with a very talented and dedicated team of people at Saval.
I truly appreciate how blessed I've been in life and I hope I show that appreciation to all that have helped me become a better person. Just about everyday I say a little prayer, "Please God keep my family happy, healthy, safe and secure." I wish those things for everyone during the upcoming holiday season.

The lessons of golf. As a relatively new player, I am trying to master the game. Unfortunately, the only thing I am really mastering are my emotions. We teach emotional mastery at our work place and I really get to practice it on the golf course- over 100 times per round! And, that's the second lesson, just like anything, you're not going to get better at anything unless you practice. Golf, school, life skills, work skills all take an inordinate amount of practice to achieve success.
Both mastering your emotions and practice require a balance between patience and peristence. One of the keys to my life is learning that balance. To push forward, yet pull back when appropriate, provides a life long challenge in both leadership and the game of golf.

The Weather May Have Improved But Has the Political Climate?

While the weather has me feeling great and business is picking up, the swirling anti-business climate has me deeply concerned. Should the small business owner stand still and keep taking punches. From increased unemployment taxes to the new health care mandates to back office administration moves in appointing anti-business advocates, I am appalled that we are letting this happen to us. We are taking every step we can to take responsibility for what we can control, be it wellness programs, employee loan programs, extended credit for customers, value-added customer services, we are fighting upstream, but the current keeps pushing back stronger. I pledge, on behalf of my people, to start fighting back. Our country needs strong, independent, family-owned companies to thrive. It's time our political leaders stop giving us lip service and poorly designed programs that sound good but have no real impact (ex. Maryland's tax credit for the unemployed) and start actively helping businesses grow, prosper and employ more people for the betterment of our nation.

If you read my end of year post, you read that one of my goals for 2010 is to "not worry about the things I have no control of". I sit here at home on a Wednesday afternoon looking out my back window and seeing nothing but a huge mound of white snow and above the mound a sliver of light blurred by swirling falling snow. By the time this snow ends, we will have over 3 feet of snow on the ground. When I wrote the last blog I couldn't have imaginged my goal would be put to the test so soon and so tangibly.
I could spend my idle time calculting our losses from 3 lost sales days. I'm trying not to do that. Rather I'm trying to plan out the next couple days so that our employees stay safe, we minimize customer disruption and begin normal operations as quickly as mother nature will allow us. In actuality its not much different from my normal mind set- employees are our first priority, customer service is second and operational efficiency to minimize costs would rank third. And, thank god, we're talking about a few snow storms, not a devistating earthquake, a personal loss or any of a myriad of horrible challenges many in this world face each and every day.
So as I "enjoy" the day off in our winter wonderland, I will try hard not to worry about the things I have no control of.