Author: jeff noel

Retired Disney Institute Keynote Speaker and Prolific Blogger. Five daily, differently-themed personal blogs (about life's 5 big choices) on five interconnected sites.

Professionally Clueless?

Full Of Bull?
Full Of Bull?

You hear it on the streets everyday. And in the workplace hallways and break rooms. You hear it in the daily commute. It’s everywhere. It’s pessimistic. It’s pathetic.

But it brings people joy, I think, to wallow in their misery.

Leaders are struggling, everywhere you look. And this has the ripple effect on the people they lead, and it becomes this vicious cycle. So everyone tries to work harder, but people are so confused, they don’t even know where they are heading anymore.

I recently overheard an apparent leader talk about Twitter, Blogs, You Tube and other social media tools, like they understood it.

Has it gotten so bad in the struggle to survive, that many smart, dedicated people are now becoming professionally clueless?

Walt Disney Was Inspired

Walt Disney was inspired. No one was more passionate about his vision for Family Entertainment than he was.

And when Walt Disney died in 1966, his brother, Roy O. Disney, had a big decision to make.

Walt Disney and his associates purchased 43-square miles of virgin swamp, pine forest and oak hammock in central Florida. They bought it cheap. Roy Disney could sell it cheap, and just get out of the deal. I mean, the great visionary is gone and the project hadn’t yet begun.

We can all be thankful Roy chose to finish his brother’s vision for EPCOT. Some are sad and say Walt Disney never got to see his vision come to life. Disney fanatics like me say, he saw his vision so clearly, that others could see it and couldn’t help but make it a reality.

A wonderful place where fantasy is real, and reality is fantastic. Like last night when my son and I stopped by the Magic Kingdom, on the way home from the Apple Store, for a Dole Whip and a parade, the Main Street Electrical Parade.

Had To Do It

Life Is Full Of Dragons To Overcome
Life Is Full Of Dragons To Overcome

Many of you are waiting for the economy to pick up, before you’re willing to work harder and more creatively than in your entire life. Meanwhile, you complain about your situation.

We’re human. These things happen. But why?

Work with me here. When I’m at the track doing speed work and it’s a windy day, I insist on running into the wind. My times will be slower which isn’t as motivating as seeing the wind-aided times.

When doing road work, every time there’s a hill, I run faster up the hill than down. At the gym, no runner works harder on their core than me.

Why? Because the long way is the short cut.

When race day comes, guess who’s the most prepared?

Back To The Saturday Run

We Ran Through Windermere, Where Tiger Lives
We Ran Through Windermere, Where Tiger Lives

One of the challenges with our business world is that the people who are capable of decision making are not capable of keeping up with technology. Many reasons for this, and it really doesn’t even matter.

Yet the people who keep up with technology and understand it’s potential, particularly with social media, are not in decision-making positions.

This forms an unfortunate paradox.

Every once in a while there are exceptions to the rule. I planted a seed with a fellow midlife runner on our Saturday run. Not sure he got it. Or that he can even remotely consider it.

Sooner, rather than later, this will create an opportunity point. Or not. And so it goes. Life. Hard decision. Risks. Boundary pushing.

But the potential rewards are enormous. Gigantic.

This is one of my favorite things about running. And about life.

And We Saw This
And We Saw This
And This
And This