What's the Point Jam Session with Hot Dog Mike

Insightful conversation with Michael Juiliano, aka Hot Dog Mike, about how he went from hotels to dishing out hot dogs. And more importantly why he did it and how he maintains momentum.

What's The Point Jam Session with 100 Mile Race Finisher, John Self

Just over two years ago John went for a 32 minute walk/run...he walked for 28 minutes and ran for 4 minutes. That day marked a dramatic shift in his life...and his purpose. He made a decision to stop letting excuses get in the way of doing something that mattered, prolonging his life and making a difference.

Earlier this month he completed the Umstead 100 mile endurance run in North Carolina. While this is certainly not the end of the journey, it was a monumental achievement and milestone. Surely, there will be many more to come.

If you need some inspiration to do meaningful work and to remove the everyday roadblocks which prevent you from achieving your dreams, please watch this. 

And pardon for some of the poor audio...that will be corrected for next time.

My next WTP Jam Session will be with +Michael Juiliano , better known as Hot Dog Mike. Schedule TBD.

Sticking Your Neck Out

Part of practicing art...doing something remarkable, something that gets noticed is to go where others choose not to go. By putting this sort of skin in the game you almost always get two things…a connection with at least one person who sees the world as you do. And someone else will be offended, annoyed or angered. Art is never appreciated by everyone. Nor should it be. If it were, all things would be relatively the same, alas we'd live in a very boring and average world. Thankfully there are people who enjoy sticking out their necks to do work that matters…the understand the trade-off between risk and reward. And better yet they understand that playing it safe is the most risky thing of all.

Props to the 21C hotel in Bentonville, Arkansas for getting my attention with this little guy at the lobby entry.

What Can I Do to Improve?

Most of the time we wait for someone to tell us…because that's what we've been taught. Rarely do we take the initiative to ask (our boss, customer, friend/spouse) this question without solicitation…mostly because we're afraid to. Asking the question invites criticism of our work, our world view and what we stand for. Asking suggests that we aren't good enough and that we have issues to correct. Perhaps the questions should be rephrased…how can I help make things better?

As a leader imagine if your front line employees came to you with that sort of initiative. Now imagine what the employee might say if you came to them with the same question…what can we do to help you realize your goals, dreams (different than asking how can we help you improve)?

We're taught that as leaders our job is to get the most out of people…that's management. We're taught to teach, measure and correct…to improve productivity and yield. We're taught that as followers we should do our best to meet standards, fit in and follow the game plan. And if we're not doing so, our bosses will tell us. But what would happen if we moved the waiting game out of the way? What if everyone every once in a while asked themselves (then those around them)…how can I make things better? Imagine how refreshing that would be.

Margaret Thatcher- RIP

Thanks Hugh for the image