CameronMathews.com: June 2015

Monday, June 29, 2015

Truly Great Experience

My Friday Morning Meeting Location

This past Friday, I had the opportunity to play golf at the Las Colinas Country Club. So I will caveat this story with a few things. First, I am not good at golf. I have, at times, gotten much better at it, but it has been a few years since I have played with enough consistency to generate any consistency in my game. Second, I do not get to play high end courses like this frequently. This particular round I won in a charity auction last year and finally got around to using. Still, I got out with a couple of my good friends and had a great time playing a truly amazing golf course. I will post a little bit later on customer service and the difference in these high end experiences and the standard municipal course that I end up on. But today, I thought I would talk about the value of experience.

Friday, June 26, 2015

Book Time: Launch

So, if you have read this blog a little while, you know I have decided to periodically share some of the books I have been reading with you. The last one I shared was Start, and now I've got another one-word title with a giant subtitle for you: Launch: An Internet Millionaire's Secret Formula To Sell Almost Anything Online, Build A Business You Love, And Live The Life Of Your Dreams. Note: the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links and I get paid if you buy something from them. I'm required to tell you this, but it's also just being honest.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Satisfaction

I listened to an interesting conference call tonight. It was a coaching call on how to be a better coach. But the first part (before we got to the real meat) was about graciousness and thankfulness, and that made me think about what it means to be satisfied.

Satisfaction gets a bad rap - it comes across as lazy or unwilling to push the limits. Those that are merely satisfied are presenting one more argument to the arbitrary math magic.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

The Barbell Career Strategy

I read across an interesting article over at Inc. recently, which I recommend you read. But, in case you only read my posts, which I appreciate, I'll sum it up. It cites European professor Horatio Falcao's conclusions that the traditional work-life divide leads to unhappiness and suggests diversifying your time strategy.

When it comes to career, you need to invest some time in something outside your stable daily grind. Falcao suggests something risky, and outside your normal safety zone. He defines the strategy like a barbell, focused on high risk and reward items as well as totally safe endeavors with no room for anything that falls in the middle of the spectrum.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Seize the Moment

Did you watch any of the U.S. Open on Sunday? It usually winds up on Father's Day, and it has the potential to always be some great finish. This one was no different. Jordan Speith, who also won The Masters this year, finished at five under par, and then had to wait and watch as the next group finished to see whether he had won or not.

The day did not end well for Dustin Johnson, who could have won or forced a playoff with two missed putts and ended up tying for second. Compound that with the constant reminders from the announcers that Johnson disqualified himself a couple of years ago when he was chasing another U.S. Open victory, and it just doesn't seem like this is his tournament.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Be Nicer, Jerk.

At times, every one of us lets our world become the universe. We think about everything through our filter and assume everyone is exactly like us and reacts exactly the same way as we would. But the truth is that everyone is different. And when we are focused solely on our little world or universe, we miss the opportunity to help out those that help us. In fact, we risk letting our complaints about our world spill over to make us jerks in theirs. That's not a great thing.

Here's a general rule for you: be nicer to people than you currently are. Especially those that support you in the company. Most will treat the boss with respect, as it's considered just "doing the job." But when it comes to your employees or those in less of a leadership role than you are, then it is also extremely important to keep the respect level high when working with them. Those individuals help make you succeed and being a jerk to them earns you no loyalty.

Friday, June 19, 2015

It's Friday

Have a little fun today.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

How Strong Is Your Network?

Congratulations! You now have 500 or maybe 1000 connections on LinkedIn. You have 600 Facebook Friends. Maybe you have 1000 Twitter followers. That is a great social network. Or so you would like to believe.

My friend Pete once offered me a challenge: Go through your 500 LinkedIn connections and ask yourself one question, "How many of these people could create a job for me on the day I needed it?" In his theory, if the answer is one, you are better than most. If the answer is two or more, you are invincible. I'll give you a hint: it is difficult to say you have even one.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Removing Weeds

Weeds hurt your lawn. If you are looking to cultivate a lush, green lawn, then you have to work hard, whether pre- or post-emergent, to remove and reduce weeds. They suck up water and nutrients that your lawn needs to grow. Weeds grow tall and throw off the look of your lawn, while shading the shorter grass and preventing it from getting sunlight. Weeds do not help your grass to grow thickly.

My guess is you have some digital weeds, too. Emails that clog your inbox (hopefully not these posts) and prevent you from getting anything valuable. Apps that sit on your phone and you never use.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Laugh

When was the last time you laughed? No, I don't meanthe last time you typed "LOL" to someone on IM. And I don't mean that small chuckle that you actually laughed out loud at the oh-so-clever joke that your cousin shared on Facebook. I mean when is the last time that you seriously laughed?

Monday, June 15, 2015

What To Do When There's No Boss

Zappos.com, the giant online shoe store recently jumped headlong into an experiment called Holacracy, wherein all management and titles were abolished. Can you imagine that? A world with no hierarchies.

The actual results that Zappos is receiving, though, is mixed. Rather than some overnight miracle turning Zappos into an innovative Silicon-Valley-startup type of culture, it is taking time. All radical things do.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

One Way To Get Free Money!

Impact of Employer Match on Retirement Profile

How would you like to claim your share of $24 billion? That's the estimate of how much money was unclaimed in a report by Financial Engines, an independent investment adviser firm after researching the behavior of 4.4 million retirement plan participants. What kind of money? Employer matching to 401(k) plans.

By now I'm sure you've read my post on saving as soon as you can for retirement (if you haven't, you can take a few minutes to read that one and then come back). So, you are familiar with the plight of Bob. He's the guy that made the national median household income of $51,939 and earned a good 9.3% on his investments (once he started investing at age 35). Rather than continue to bash Bob for waiting so long to invest, though, I'll give him kudos here. He had an employer matching program that matched fifty cents on the dollar up to the first 6% of his investment (this, by the way is just the most common 401(k) fixed match plan out there, and by no means represents everything).

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Don't Bring It With You

It is incredibly easy to let stress in one area of your life cause problems in others. The person who comes home from a long day at the office only to take it out on the family has become a bit of a cliche even in popular culture. But the street runs both ways, and to successfully navigate the various areas of your life, it is important to separate stress from activity.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Three Things To Do When You Are Paralyzed By Fear

Several times in my career I have found myself either in a situation or coaching someone in a situation where fear has taken hold and led to inaction. The most frequent time is when I have taken on a new position and am plagued with the thought of "what have I gotten myself into?" Or perhaps it manifests itself with self-doubting questions around whether I am performing at the level I should. Perhaps for you it is a large project that you are not sure you are the right leader for. Maybe it is the big presentation that has you frozen. Regardless the cause, fear can be a pretty powerful anti-motivator in the workplace.

Friday, June 5, 2015

How to Get Rich Quick

Wouldn't you like to get rich overnight? Perhaps you would pick up a Lamborghini like that one in the picture. Or maybe you would just dive in your money, Scrooge McDuck-style. Whatever you would do with it, having it fast is exciting.

While you're at it, you might as well jump on a crash diet that promises to help you drop twenty pounds in less than a week. Those have to be healthy for your body, and what could go wrong?

Thursday, June 4, 2015

How Low Can You Go?

How little money do you need to survive? The 2015 poverty threshold for a family of four is $24,250 or just over $2,000 per month. By contrast the median household income in the United States was reported at $51,939 as of 2013.

Just like work expands to fill the time allowed, lifestyle often expands to fill the budget allowed. Sure, you might save a little more when you have a little more room in the budget, but most people spend right up to the limit.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

5 Keys to a Successful Career

The definition of success in career can vary from person to person, whether position, span of control, money, or otherwise. But no matter what your definition, successful people tend to share these key traits.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Eat the Hot Pepper

Mark Twain once allegedly said, "Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day." There are various corollary statements and derivatives, but the basic point is this: If you start your day with the worst thing you have to do, it will only look up. Brian Tracy has turned this quote into a full length book called Eat That Frog! (disclosure: that is an affiliate link) that recommends doing the worst task in the morning as a method of reducing procrastination.

Monday, June 1, 2015

Another worthless meeting: The Discussion

By now, you should realize that my least favorite type of meeting is "The Public Reading." That said, there are several other types of meetings that I don't particularly enjoy, and I don't think move the needle much with the business. Given the amount of time we all spend in meetings, any efforts to make them more effective should be applauded.

So, as you can see from the title, another meeting I find less than thrilling is "The Discussion."

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