Meet Paul Spiegelman. He’s another Dallas/Ft. Worth guy with some noteworthy accomplishments.
Find out how Paul started a business that involved spending nights on a cot to serve customers 24 hours a day…and ultimately became a best selling author, speaker and culture enthusiast.
Paul Spiegelman is Chief Culture Officer of Stericycle, a NASDAQ listed global services organization with 13,000 employees and is the Founder of BerylHealth and The Beryl Institute. Paul also co-founded the Inc. Small Giants Community, an organization that brings together leaders who are focused on values-based business principles.
I had this talk with Paul last year for a not-yet-launched project, ChasingDFWCool.com. I’m still planning to launch that project, but this conversation with Paul needed to be released so you can benefit from it.
We talk about leadership, culture, customer service, writing and many other topics that Paul cares a great deal about. He’s also a Dallas Stars hockey fan so I knew I’d like him right away. I think you’ll like him, too.
While the crowd is entertained, we’re in the locker room preparing for the 2nd half.
It’s the end of June, the end of the first half of another year. Did you play well in the first half? Are you behind on the scoreboard, or ahead?
It’s time to jog into the locker room and prepare for the second half of 2014. Meanwhile, the band hits the field and the twirlers prance around to entertain the folks in the stands.
You and me, we get no entertainment ’cause we’re playing in the game. While others are grabbing hot dogs and soft drinks, we’re busy reviewing what worked and what didn’t work in the first half.
Into the locker room we go. We remove our shoes, grab a towel and a Gatorade bottle and take our seat. The coach will be in here shortly and let us know what the plan is for the rest of the game.
After spending time with the other coaches, the head coach enters the room, grabs a whiteboard marker and begins.
He starts off barking about the things he knows we know how to do…but failed to do in the first half. It’s our neglect. He’s blasting us and we hang our head ’cause we know he’s right. There were lots of things we didn’t do because of our neglect. It wasn’t a lack of knowledge, or even practice. We were just too lazy to give it the effort it deserved. And it cost us. Our opponent took advantage of us. They outworked us. The coach is right.
The coach is specific. He even calls us out by name. It’s not personal. It’s individual. We’re responsible and he’s holding us accountable. We’ve let the team down. Again, the coach is right.
We hang our head some more, but after a few seconds of feeling bad and getting mad…we make up our mind that the second half is going to be different. We’re going to fix the things that hurt us in the first half. The coach is right, “This second half is a brand new game. Forget the first half. It’s over. The only way to win this game is to win this second half.”
The coach starts focusing on the things we did well in the first half. He points out the success we had and why. He’s telling us to build on that. It’s evidence, he says, of the things we can do that our opponent can’t handle. He urges us to turn up the intensity in those areas.
He ends the halftime speech by telling us how we’re going to win this game. The strategy seems pretty clear. We’re going to do those things we’ve done in practice dozens of times. We know how to do them. He’s not telling us to rely on something brand new that we’ve never done – or some tactics we don’t know. Everything he’s telling us are things we know very well.
The coach diagrams a few things on the whiteboard to remind us of where to be, and when to be there. It’s all position and timing, things we’ve gone over and over again. It gives us visual evidence again of our responsibilities.
Our shoes are back on. We’re all ready to leave the locker room. It’s just about time to start the second half.
The coach has us huddle in close and he tells us in a loud, but calm tone…
Do what you know. Be responsible. Be accountable. Outwork your opponent. Refuse to lose!
He and the coaches leave the locker room. We’ve got seconds before heading out. Now all the players, still in the huddle are led by our captain who yells, “Refuse to lose on 3. One, two, three!” In unison, our team yells at the top our lungs, “Refuse to lose!”
It’s time to hit the field again. We’ve got another half to play!
When obstacles arise you change your direction to reach your goal;
you do not change your decision to get there.” -Zig Ziglar
Halfway through the year and it’s time to triage some things.
Do you triage your career? Your business? Your life?
What’s working? What’s not working?
Why isn’t it working? Why is it working?
What can I do differently? Better?
The focal points continue to be —
Do more of what works. Do less of what doesn’t.
No, that’s not the same mission you see most people talk about. They’ll say, “Do more of what makes you happy.” Or, “Do more of what makes you awesome.” Or, “Do more of what you love.” Or this one, “Do less, not more.”
I don’t find those valuable…for lots of reasons. Happiness varies. Chasing happiness also is ridiculously selfish.
As for awesomeness, most of us aren’t awesome and I’m cool with that. Do we have to be awesome to be productive, helpful and serving? Can we have moments of awesomeness? Of course. It’s like all the talk about heroes. We’ve likely all got the ability to be heroic at times. That doesn’t make us heroes. I do lots of work in leadership. Acts of leadership can be done by anybody at any time. That doesn’t make them leaders.
I love my family. I love my faith. I’m going to always try to “do more” of those things. But again, the way most people talk about love, especially in the context of “do more of what you love” seems awfully selfish. Do more of what YOU love.
As for “do less, not more” — well, that’s just sheer laziness. Nope, I’m not attracted to the concept of doing less. I’m attracted to doing more. I just want to make sure I’m putting forth the effort I should in the areas that deserve or need my work.
I want to do more of what works. I want to increase activities that result in progress. And I want to reduce the stuff I do that has no, or limited, results. Some call it success. Or winning. However I choose to define it – and all depends on the context:
Business/Career – I want to do more of what creates customers, dazzles customers, increases lead generation, improves profits/income, etc.
Spiritual – I want to do more of what increases holiness and righteousness.
Health – I want to do more of what will improve and maintain fitness, energy, etc.
Family – I want to do more of what will improve my marriage, my effectiveness as a father/grandfather, etc.
Friends – I want to do more of what will make me a better friend.
Today’s show is about change, improvement, exploration, discovery and attempting to get out of the woods. Enjoy!
Last September I connected with Mary DeMuth, a DFW-based author/speaker. Our conversation was originally recorded for an upcoming project, ChasingDFWCool.com (a project that has suffered delay).
Today, I’m releasing this episode because there are some terrific insights provided by Mary. We talk about writing, speaking, overcoming difficulties and connecting with people who can support us.
More business people should take a lesson (or two) from creative people. Our lot in life isn’t so different, but our approaches often are. I hope you’ll reach out and thank Mary for spending some time teaching us the things she’d learned along the way.
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