jeff noel – Page 1058 – Disney Brand Loyalty Keynote Speaker

Super Freak She’s Super Freaky

Okay, the human mind is remarkably strange. This Rick James song from long ago is in my head. Why? Because I’ve just reflected on the past two jungle jeff blog posts.

Wake up calls. Corporate down-sizing. Christmas Day attempted terrorist attack. It’s all kinda freaky, super freaky.

The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch. Pancreatic cancer. Wife. Three young kids. Best-selling author. Hero. Role model. Computer Science Professor. Oprah Winfrey Guest. Deceased.

These are unprecedented times. Turbulent times. Stressful times. Uncertain times.

But time marches on. Question is, “Will we?”

Leadership Wake Up Call

Yesterday’s jungle jeff blog post ended sort of weird, didn’t it?

It felt like that to me anyway.

Leadership. Personal leadership or professional leadership. It doesn’t matter.

Maybe it’s “right-sizing” at work, that’s your wake-up call.

Maybe it’s an alarming medical report that does it at home.

These are the things that rattle our cage and inspire us to make dramatic changes.

Positive changes.

Life-altering changes.

Just the other day, a neighbor commented that he was relieved he was given a package. As an executive, he felt he always remained a “target”.

Now, he no longer has that worry. He said he saw it coming and started an entrepreneurial business last year. Now he can devote full-time effort to it. He claimed he should have done this long ago.

Good for him. Proactive effort. Now, back to the point. What are you planning to do this year?

Makes everyone think, doesn’t it?

And then the Christmas Day attempted terrorist attack reminded me of something.

Sense of Urgency

Reading a book has the potential to alter the way we behave. This can be a gift. It can also be a curse.

The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch, was a gift.

Randy’s book helped me see the same things I always see, in a completely different light.

It was in the contemplative moments, inspired by his news, “You have about six months to live”, that really helped me see a blind spot.

A blind spot that most humans share.

Putting important things off because they are not urgent.

Health. Family. Spirit. Life. Legacy.

What does this have to do with leadership?

Do I really have to explain it? Because if I do, it worries me that you still might not get it.

You will eventually, but what if someone disconnects your phone?

Leadership Books

I get it. There is only so much a person can read. We can’t do it all. Right there with you. And, many of us received new books as gifts recently.

What books changed your life last year?

There were a few for me. Two had significant impact.

Up first, The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch. Randy was a Carnegie Mellon computer science professor, in his mid-40’s. He had a wife and three children under the age of six.

Then he got pancreatic cancer.

To paraphrase what I heard Randy say:

This isn’t a book about dying. It’s a book about living.

It isn’t a book for you and me. It is a book for Randy Pausch’s children.

How did this book change my life?

It is in living in the moment that makes us great leaders. Doing things – things that matter – with a heightened sense of urgency has changed my life. I’ll tell you why tomorrow.

jungle jeff New Year New You?

Happy New Year. Anyone reading this with a hangover? 🙂

Just a guess. A hunch. Been there done that.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 the highest, how much thought have you put into your big, audacious goals for 2010?

You don’t even want to know mine. Seriously. It’s like a 15, or maybe a 20!

That’s totally flipping out of control, isn’t it? Maybe some of you are still drunk, but pinky-swear, that’s the real number.

Okay, here comes the “Hail Mary Pass“ – I ain’t waiting to find out my time is almost up, and then try to start doing something great.

I also am not going to wait for another potentially serious wake-up call to get my butt in gear.

Different strokes for different folks.