100 Business Days Out: Day 83 - New Faces

Fig and Sue brought friends up from Columbus for the weekend. Bryan, Harrah, Scott and Shelly. They got in late last night (later than they expected because of mechanical plane problems) and we met them this morning for a run and walk. We than added them into our routine of the day: the workout, some piddling time, off to beach around noon, hang out there until 3 or 4, back to the house for shower and happy hour, and then dinner, and then time in the fire pit talking, and then off to bed. What I now take for granted as a routine was for them, (and others who come visit), a great vacation day. Oh the things we take for granted if we are not careful. Fig and Sue's friends are great. That should not be surprising when you think about it. Leaves don't fall far from the tree, birds of a feather, etc. They all apply. It does make me stop and think on why when we work we aren't surrounded with our best friends and family. The family stuff is an easy answer. We have spent the last 50 years trying to get rid of families in business with anti-nepotism policies. I have to come to think that this is actually antiquated thinking. Family-oriented businesses have for a long time thrived and grown (and might even last longer than other businesses) and they are built on the foundation of people who want to be with each other and have a true vested interest in the continued success of the business. I think we should be trying to return to the family model and make work again a place where it would not be out of the ordinary to be in a meeting with your brother or daughter. And as to friends, we need to figure out how to work with the best of our friends if we are to make work the enjoyable experience it should be. After today hanging with Fig's friends (two of them work with him), I could see myself wanting to work with them and I can imagine how they get along at the office. That's the way it is supposed to work. I am just glad I get a few days with them to enjoy the new company and make friends of the new faces.

100 Business Days Out: Day 81 - Word from Home

Today I felt the call from home reaching out. I had two phone conversations with friends/associates back home and also friends of ours from home who have been vacationing on the east coast with their family in Mystic (about 20 minutes from here) stopped by for lunch. All of the conversations centered around things that were happening back home with work, other friends, activities, charities. etc. My friend Jeff Brown as we got off the phone, said, "sure wish you were coming back home sooner". I was touched and was recognizing the call from home being more deeply centered in me that I imagined. When you live in an area where you don't have family, you don't have children, and your work doesn't hold you there, you make the decision to live somewhere because of the environment, yes, but also more importantly because of the people who you have in your lives. For me, this would be the friends I have cultivated from jobs, charitable organizations, my church, my running, and a few others who we have met along the way. As it is in life, a few are really close friends and others are more acquaintances, but they, in totality, remain an anchoring element for us to live in the Bay Area. This past week I got a call from one of the closest friends we have letting us know that they were going to be leaving the Bay Area to follow a job in Boston. It's a great job and the right career move so it is hard to fault them for this, but this word from home was not a good one as it removed a piece of the tethering to the Bay Area for us. So today was a good day to hear and see others from home and to hear the words wanting us to come home soon. Home is where the heart is, that is true but home is also where those who are in your heart are. So, for me because the grea friends I have, the return to home is one that I can greatly anticipate and look forward.

100 Business Days Out: Day 61 - What are Friends For?

Last night I got an email and call from a friend who needed my help and he kind of needed it "now". He was in a bind and needed me to help him on putting together a presentation on stuff I knew a lot about. It was not that he couldn't do it himself but he knew that I could whip it together in a way that would be just what the doctor ordered. But, here I am trying to get away from it all...trying to go into downtime mode...but it's for a friend who is in need. So, what did I do? I did what friends are supposed to do. I balanced it all out. After dinner and all the socializing was done, I snuck away, put on my thinking cap, fired up the laptop and viola, by 1AM I had it done and shot off to him over email. This morning at 6:30AM we reviewed it online and over the phone and as my buddy said, "you nailed it". After I got off the phone, I smiled a tired smile to myself because what we do for friends is that we make ourselves available to utilize our talents and strengths when they need them from us. And in return, they should make themselves available back. And if that all works out the way it is supposed to work out, the world goes around correctly. And yes, we might lose a few hours sleep here and there and we get taken away from our agenda and plans, but at the end of the day, that is what friends are for...aren't they?