I don’t fully know a monk is. I think it’s a wild, wooley man with a burlap sack mumbling prayers in some desert hut, arguing with God on the spiritual plane while toiling on the physical one. I don’t fully know what one would look like in the 21st century America – but in my mind it’s Fred Rogers with a beard and maybe a bigger body. In my life, I find God’s tasks are numerous, large, and always slightly too tough.

Oh, I don’t discourage anyone from following a path of a Monk. Man, Woman, and all my wonderful Fellows who are on their journey of personal discorvery – all are welcome at the Lord’s Table.  If you feel it as a Call, it’s a Call. I do want to offer warnings from my path (what, 4 months? Is that even a step?) in that God will grant you certain Powers – self-discipline, personal accountability, and an authentic perspective on the world in which much is taken for granted.

Each Power is a configuration of your soul – if you take in self-discipline into your heart, vices turn facile and joys are appreciated because they have to be earned. It is going “cold turkey” on much of the consumeristic lifestyle we’ve enjoyed in America, and directing your mind towards purposeful work. Video games, podcasts, beer, marijuana – these have little-to-no appeal for me these days when once I needed all of them in my daily routine.  If you take in personal accountability – you will have an honest understanding of your limitations, your values, and the intrinsic worth of you soul to God. It was not a pleasant inventory for me, to be sure, but I check in periodically and I find that my limitations expand, my values are clear and non-fungible by circumstances or people, and my intrinsic value is what it always was to God, but now it is to me. If you take in authentic perspective – you can know and speak Truths and Worries honestly, which allows others to share their fears and concerns openly. But you will not be heard by most, and Truths or Worries (because what, we Monks-in-Training know everything?) aren’t nearly as dire to others as they are to us.

Sometimes I think there’s a paradox if God can truly know everything and grant us free will. I think He knows the general outline but likes the actors interpret the scenes. That’s some Monk-theology if I ever heard it.

I have a lot of experience raising two children – precisely 5 years with Jacob and almost 8 with Ellie. In the time, whenever we go to a toy shop, a local groceries, or to Target (Monks-in-training need stuff too!) I always tell the kids to say “Thank You”. I heard on an Ezra Klein podcast that there only culturally etiquette time to say “Thank You” in both directions is between the buyer and the shop-owner. It is an exchange of value that is mutually beneficial to both parties, so both parties are grateful. I didn’t know that – that podcast I listened to this year and I’ve been doing it out of “gotta teach these kiddos some manners….” instinct.

But, is that really the only time to say Thank You? I don’t know if that’s true because that would indicate that no other engagements have mutual benefits to the parties. Is it weird to be grateful for the Post Office? Or is it something I should take for granted? If I take it for granted, then I have an expectation of service and communication. If I take it as gratitude, then I’ve no expectations at all. I am unsure because both options feel extreme. I think it really comes down to other side’s expectations as well – if they’re wondering the same thing or wanting the similar. If one was moderate-inclined, one would try to hold both tracks in parallel.

Oh whatever. Just say Thank You.  No one does it enough and rarely do people thank the thankers – so make sure you spot the few left still trying to be generous in spirit and give them a heartfelt thanks. These are challenging times and it’s easy to lean-back and close up. It’s expected.

Frankly, and I’m embarrassed to say, rewarded in more Progressive circles. I worry that the generous spirit of progressives will be curtailed through self-censure and community-reinforced norms to “keep up appearances” to insulate itself from what is a rapidly deteriorating country.

I am Progressive-in-spirit, but I have to shake my head at what the community-at-Large is doing with their time and efforts. More on that later.

I had a tough conversation with a manager, talking about a decision from one of his team-members to leave the company and go to a competitor. As I unpacked the reasons given by the team member, I thought “this guy is going to be disappointed with our competitor too…”

I’m not trying to be pompous – it’s just that certain industries thrive under specific pressures and deadlines, and personalities either gravitate to them, or veer away from them.

Before starting D&T with Dominic, I did the following jobs

• Film Projectionist
• Gymnastics Coach
• Pre-school Teacher
• Bartender
• Collections Agent
• Client Relations for a law firm
• Executive Assistant

I did all these jobs in five years! Think about that –  that means I was jumping from one job to the next in less than a year! By the time I learned how to do the job I was already running for the exit. Something was always not right for me – I wasn’t getting challenged, I “deserved” a promotion, the culture was too boring/too toxic/too saccharine.

So I jumped to another job, thinking that the next gig would be more my style, and I finally would find my niche. And you know what? I did! For about three months into the job I would love it. I learned a new trade and addressed new challenges. Then the honeymoon period would end and it all would become drudgery and rote actions.

According to massive amounts of article that the business development gurus post on Linkedin, or anything you hear on “Culture” from TedTalks, I should be humbled and paranoid about this experience. Great founders OBSESS about culture! So losing people means I’m failing as an employer, right?! I should be shivering in my boots, fretting on why my culture was toxic and how, oh how can I fix it before the company implodes!

But I don’t agree – instead I feel sanguine about the experience. The employee that left is looking for a place wherever he/she needs to fit, and that’s the right choice for that person. The culture at D&T doesn’t fit everyone, and it’s a fool’s errand for it to try to be all things to all people. For the people who like the culture, they will stay and build upon it; everyone else will leave and find their place. And yes, Dom and I worked hard and continue to work hard on the culture of the company and we’re constantly challenging ourselves to Do Good and Be Good (our company motto) by Doing Better and Being Better for all the good people who do work here. 

Right now I feel very confident that the culture is strong, the people who stay here are happy, and that the grass is green enough, thank you very much.

I said the grass is GREEN! GREEN!!! You hear ME?!

“People want leadership, Mr. President, and in the absence of genuine leadership, they’ll listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. They want leadership. They’re so thirsty for it they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand.” Lewis Rothschild – “The American President”

The value of straight talk is unparalleled. I know people who want to look savvy, and they come of as cagey; people who want to look powerful, and the silence is deafening. Nothing is motivating about being coy with your vision and your plan for the business or for your people.

With that said, it’s not necessary to “open the kimono” about all matters, especially stressful ones. If you’re a manager or a leader, you have to deal with a number of stressful issues daily. Odds are, you’re calibrated emotionally and psychologically to handle these stresses, and telling everyone the world’s problems is a fast way to create alarm and cause undue harm.

So there is a balance – people need to know what is going on, and where they stand, and they need to know that you are thinking about these two things all the time. It’s the fruit of wisdom to know what to say and when to say it.

MJF for the win!

2015 here we are!

Yes, it’s almost February, but here’s a quick blog post.

Some major news: Our Director of Operations Timothy Daly is launching his blog called Employee Seven. It’s a great perspective from the only non-entrepreneur/sales/technical leader we have on the team. He’s OPERATIONS!  The backbone of all companies – great and small.

Here’s a snippet from his blog post “UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS”

Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.

– Donald Rumsfeld, Former US Secretary of State (Wikipedia)

The first thing an Employee #7 needs to recognize is that there is a *lot* of information out there. No one person can know all of it. Just off the top of my head:

• Federal Employment Laws
• State Employment Laws
• Business Licences
• Tax Law
• GAAP Accounting Standards
• Financing options
• Budgeting
• Recruiting
• Renting Office Space
• Buying/Leasing Furniture
• Cash Flow
• Securing Credit
• Collections
• Vendor Management

You cannot know it all.

read more @ http://www.employeeseven.com/

I love cold calls. I love going in blind, seeing if there’s a live pulse on the other end, and seeing if there’s a way to move forward on your agenda.

Odds are, if you call my office, and I pick up, I will listen to whatever you have to sell for at least 5 minutes.

A good salesman will create the most engaging conversation you will have all day, I guarantee it.

Now, I understand that a lot of people don’t like being “sold.” To those people I say “it’s not selling if there’s no need for the services or goods.”

One of my best, most reliable vendor generates six-figures in sales annually. He came from a cold call. I guess he got me on the right day. The truth, though, is that there was no “right day.” What got me intrigued was more about him than his services. He was honest and forthright, and he made himself available several times. I canceled on a few meetings; he was flexible. I was rude and too busy – he was cool and accommodating. No, I wasn’t intentionally rude, but it’s hard to be civil 100% of the time and not de-prioritize a sales meeting vs your day-to-day meeting.

Oftentimes my company gets business through word of mouth or referrals. In that world, you’re eating whatever comes through the door – whether it’s dog food or steak. In cold calling, you have the opportunity, however slight, to seize control of your destiny. And that’s true for your business as well as your new clients.

Hey, I just did a public race, in November, in CHICAGO, at 6AM!

Some personal accomplishments

1.) I never stopped running throughout the 5K

2.) This was the first time running outside, in a crowd

3.) this is the first time Julie and I ran together and my time was WAY up because of it. (By WAY up I mean I averaged a 10:15 mile rather than the codgerly-run of 12 min-miles  I normally stumble through).

Some fun after-effects are that I want to do a 10K; my irrational fear of running outside is lessening, and I somehow feel like I’m a better person for doing this. I still hate running, and it feels silly to feel like I accomplished something simply by running a certain distance, but given the amount of pain incurred for running a 5K, I can rationalize both away. Have no fear, folks…

I will tell you now, as a business-owner of 5 years

There are those days

those days that you do not live for

those days that are painful, brutal, the ones you do not want to show up to the office for

the ones that are above your paygrade

you don’t get to avoid those days

those days come and you deliver

there are those days that are crucial

painful, brutal

they make it all unworthwhile

they make it open, and they are bleak.

those days are the days you recognize that you are doing something bigger, and probably making a big mistake

those days are very very difficult, and it’s your best to make sure you leave with dignity intact.

I believe we live for, and hide from, those days.

Today was that day.

I hope to never have another, but I know if I don’t I’ll never fulfill the promises of this company, the people here, and to myself.

So there’s a small problem with running a company with your friends and family.

Friends, close friends, know a lot of intimate things about my life whether I want them to or not. For one, our Operations guys know my salary. They know the salaries of my brothers. Heck, I know THEIR salaries. Also, because I work with my brothers and my dad, there’s a lot of ::ahem:: “Family Dynamics” on display in the company. Basically, a lot of airing out of the dirty laundry.

As I get older I think more and more about how valuable it is to have privacy for me and my wife. Which is why it’s ironic I write this out in a public blog post. Loss of my privacy came gradually as the company grew. At some point, it was more valuable for me to manage than to run payroll, so now we got a guy to do that. At some point, I stopped doing HR activities. Now someone handles my 401k and investments. The list goes on and on.

This trend of “more people know my life” is only going to pick up steam as the company grows. Nuthin’ to do about it.

Nothing really actionable about this, just griping.

Well, seriously, there’s a few clues. When Dom and I paused to reflect on the core reasons for success, we realized that it came from a lot of wrong-minded decisions early-on.

Start-ups are organized experiments of a theoretical businesses or products. If the experiments produce a successful product or business model, you have a winner. Oftentimes, it’s a null result.

This company was founded by Dom and I.

Dom and I were running a business for the first time, and we made a lot of mistakes. A LOT OF MISTAKES, and having friends and family work with us gave us the relationship latitude to bounce-back from those mistakes where complete strangers probably would have quit a long time ago.

Moreover, it allowed our new employees to grow and take on way more responsibility than they ever had, and in doing so they “proved themselves” able to tackle the massive tasks in a growing company.

In the end, this company’s foundation is based on friends and family coming together, and the new folks who join us experience that sense of camaraderie and friendship. It’s not Michael Scott, but it’s close.

3.) Business is Personal

Dom and I have a thin skin on client’s moods and their needs. We never built up a sense of entitlement that we saw a lot of our colleagues had in the space. Every criticism was a personal wound to us.

Those are the things I think helped us get here. They’re not magical – honestly #3 is a little trite and I’ve seen it written dozens of times somewhere else. But that’s part of our motto – “Do Good, Be Good.” When you do good work, you are being good – to your people, your clients, and yourself.

Feel free to hit me up anytime. I’m hanging out mostly in the Tribune Tower these days, so come on by.