It's Been a Long Time

It has been a while since I have blogged.  It seems that life continues to move forward and I am running to keep up...or getting left behind.  It is a matter of the glass being half empty or half full, or just needing to put it in the dishwasher!  

I was encouraged to return to school to get my 6 Sigma certification at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.  Woo Hoo!  Frat parties, football games, and club sports...that's all I need to spice up my life.  Actually, I haven't seen one frat party, let alone a football game.  How on earth did I study when I had two kids and completing my degrees? I was even working full time then.  

But I am in a class that requires group work.  There is a group of young men from the Industrial Engineering Department who have graciously allowed this woman...who just happens to be old enough to be their mother...into their group.

A lot of people ask what 6 Sigma is.  Click here: What is Six Sigma? 

I think the thought provoking question is Why do I need a certification? Although I can take pride in the work I do, sometimes it takes certifications to be considered "credible."  In South Dakota, it seems that you have to live outside of the state to be credible.  However, I am thinking, why NOT get certified (versus certifiable)?!?

As I watched a movie the other night, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the character, Sonny, repeatedly states: Everything will be alright in the end... if it's not alright then it's not the end.  So despite the challenge of returning to school, I guess for me it is all about making sure that everything turns out alright, certificate in hand!  

Road Trips

This week I am traveling with my boss.  We drove to Omaha first.  The first mission: get her daughter to Creighton.  CHECK! Second mission is to meet with contractors.  If there is anything I am learning is that I am able to be flexible.  Anyone who knows me well knows that can be a challenge for me.  

Last night after dinner we took a walk downtown Omaha.  If you never have it should be on your To Do list (http://www.oldmarket.com).  At one shop I found a journal.  My thoughts about journals is that you normally write deep secrets.  This one is to write all the awesome things in your day.  I needed that reminder.  Why not focus on the awesome...when your room key works at the hotel, when you see students return for school, chocolate raspberry frozen yogurt that is 95% fat free, when you get to travel with your new boss!

Flexibility can be tough but writing about awesomeness in your day helps keep everything in perspective.  What awesome things to happen today?

On the Road Again!?!

I am frequently asked if I get tired of always traveling.  Are you kidding me?!? Who doesn't enjoy a good ol' fashion road trip across South Dakota!?! Especially during the week of the famous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally...

I am not complaining in the least.  I was headed east; the bikes were headed west.  The sun was shining and I had my radio blasting (satellite radio is about all the works between Exits 110 and 192).  That is, after I made a few phone calls using my hands-free option in my car.  I have nothing but time on my hands when I am driving from town to town.  That is until the bars on my phone indicate that there is no cell tower and the satellite radio becomes mundane. But never fear because there are always books on tape/CD/downloaded/etc.  

I enjoy seeing the people who get pulled over for some traffic violation.  It is most enjoyable when it is the person who just passed me going 120 mph, but that moment of sweet karma seldom happens.  I also get the chance to see what new cars people are buying and who is traveling from where.  License plates adorn the interstate and highways all the way from Alaska to Florida and from Maryland to California.  I get to have my own traveling bingo and I don't have to share the prize with anyone!


The best part of driving alone to the next destination...reflection time.  It seems like I have enough time to reflect on the way things are going and how to prepare for the meeting I am heading to.  I get a chance to really think about how to handle a complicated or not-so-complicated situation.  It's my time with no television, limited cell phone service, and just a few motorcycles.

It is all in how you perceive ALL THAT TRAVEL! 

To Pin or Not to Pin

How many of you have heard of Pinterest?  I must admit that I must be the last person on the earth to have set up a Pinterest account.  Mostly, I believe that I have so many usernames and passwords to social media mayhem that I do not think I need yet another account.  I have Twitter, Facebook, Hootsuite, Google +, Foursquare, Skype, Messenger, and now I have been invited to join Pinterest.  

Amazingly, I have been introduced to a whole new way to use Pinterest with my work.  I can set up a board to link to different resources that I like to use in my professional life.  I do not have to put my "fun" hat on and reveal every hour of every day what I am doing and where I am and who I am doing it with.  Although I know my LARGE fan base absolutely hangs on every word! Ha!


I have found a useful link for Pinterest (http://www.positivelysplendid.com/2012/02/guide-to-proper-pintiquette-pinterest.html).  It talks about the ettiquette.  I think there should be one of these for every social media tool out there.  So if you are with me as one of the last Pinteresters, read the attached article and then decide.  If all else fails, hold on because there may be yet another social media site coming soon to your Google Chrome! :)

Last Week in the Office

Packing and moving out of the office.  It is bitter sweet!  Seeing how many things are going in the trash makes me wonder just why I keep certain things.  The financials and reports need to be kept, but there seem to be so many items that I don't need.  It is good to purge.  

 I look at some of the pictures I have in the office.  Pictures of my sons before they turned into adult men.  Pictures of my nieces and nephew before they grew up.  There are a lot of memories not only in the pictures, but in the original placement of those pictures in my office.  I was so proud to set up my "new" office and now it is time to move to another office.  I am sure I will put the details into the placement of those pictures again.  Better yet...maybe it is time for more current pictures of the boys and my granddaughter.  Thus, symbolizing another new memory and many more to come.

By the way...see the books?  Maybe I should think about reading more than the table of contents and the covers. I resolve to scan each book more diligently.  Packing and moving can be cleansing.  Bitter sweet, but rejuvenating.

Transitions

It has been a few days since I have posted.  I am experiencing transition as a leader...once again.  I have found myself working for two companies as I leave one and begin a career with another.  As I spoke to one of my board members from the organization I am leaving, I was finding myself asking the critical question of what I want for this organization.  I have been a short-timer (3 years), but so many accomplishments have happened because of the people who have and do work here.  I hope that I am leaving with people knowing that they can accomplish so much with or without me.  More importantly, without me.  We have experienced leaving the nest and our parents hoping that they raised us right.  I think this is no different.  I have seen the people I work with grow personally and professionally.  I want them to continue on that path.  


There is an Irish proverb that I hope they all remember as I leave:

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Declaration of Independence

Today we celebrate America's birthday, the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  What a precedence for leadership.  Those men went beyond the boundaries that had been set forth and developed a statement of independence.  There are plenty of books about the authors and their styles of leadership, but one can still wonder what made them take that step.  Not all of them were admired, and some considered them renegades.  But they did it any way.  This is an example of stepping out of the euphoric box.  When have I gone outside of the box and challenged the system?  How will my leadership be remembered?