I recently read “First Things First: The Rules of Being a Warner” by Kurt and Brenda Warner. Kurt Warner’s impressive football career and his proclivity for crediting all his successes to Jesus Christ has made him an interesting media figure.
This book has it’s roots in a popular 2008 New York Times article called “Rules of the Family” where author Karen Crouse lists the eight rules for being a Warner kid. Reader response was so positive that the Warner’s thought they’d elaborate on more of their family values, and First Things First was born.
I don’t typically buy biographies, but as a Cardinals fan (and specifically a fan of Warner and what he stands for), I thought I’d give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised at my level of enjoyment. The book is an open and honest look into the ups and downs of Warnerhood. From setting-straight the internet version of how they met, to learning to live a life of celebrity and influence, to stories of how they deal with everyday marriage and family situations, the book is excellent.
One recurring theme that I found particularly fascinating was how Kurt and Brenda differ when it comes to signing autographs away from the field. Even though both work hard to preserve their family time, Kurt tends to take the position that simply signing an autograph is quicker and easier than explaining that he’s with his family and that he needs to stay focused on them. Brenda seems to prefer that he do the latter, but Kurt generally does the former. Kurt also seems torn because he sees each fan interaction as a chance to influence that person for Christ.
This got me thinking about how difficult it would be to live a life where people are always interrupting your family dinner, your trip to the grocery store, your vacation, and even your small-talk with the auto mechanic. That has to get old. I also began thinking about how we as fans tend to act so selfishly with celebrities. Somehow, in our excitement to meet someone famous, we fall into a sort-of temporary narcissism that permits us to put our need for an autograph over all else.
Though I’m not a person who gets particularly star struck, I know that I have probably been guilty of approaching a famous person at an inopportune time. After reading this book, I’ll certainly think twice before interrupting someone’s dinner for my own benefit. I appreciated the chance to see the struggle that the Warners endure with something so seemingly superficial as signing an autograph. I can definitely see both sides of the issue.
What about you? Have you ever tried approaching a celebrity for an autograph on his/her personal time? What do you think you would do if you were in his/her shoes?
This is an incredible short film (about 20 minutes). If you haven’t got time to watch this now, be sure to come back when you have the chance to watch the entire thing. Very well done.
Everyone who truly loves Christmas also loves to see neighborhoods decked-out in true holiday spirit. As we walk/drive/sleigh through each year’s winter wonderland of lights, we see homes with decorations that fill us so full of Christmas Spirit that we could swear we are one carol away from bursting.
Every season, Heidi and I make it a point to take a few evening walks around our neighborhood and check out the Christmas lights. A number of years ago, we started talking about the specific things we liked and the things we didn’t like about the decorations we saw, and eventually we came up with an unofficial scoring process. This year, we decided to make our scoring method “official” and share it with the world. Get your free scorecard, and start judging your neighbors’ yuletide prowess tonight:
Obviously, this is meant as fun way to look at one of America’s favorite holiday past times, so don’t come Grinchin’ to me if you see something on the deductions list that you make a yearly part of your holiday decor ( unnecessary blinkage will always be a deduction). If you think of something that I have omitted, please leave a comment and I’ll see about adding it to next year’s scorecard.
Merry Christmas!
Today, I watched a video that not only made me cry, but that also made think hard about the finite time I have been given to be a daddy to Harrison. He is not yet two years of age, and already I have sensed myself taking our time together for granted.
I have been impatient when I should have been patient. I have sent him away when I should have scooped him into my arms. I have raised my voice when I should have spoken with loving authority. I have allowed the little things in life to be little things when I should be cherishing every moment.
How quickly we become dulled to the miracles of God.
Today’s post is one to help me remember the things I need to remember, and I ask for parents of any age (dads especially) to be a part of this. Please take a moment to write a comment telling about something in your parenting to which you wish you would have paid more attention, or something you always try to keep in mind as you raise your children. What things seemed like a big deal that really weren’t? What things seemed trivial that were actually more important than you realized? What’s one thing you would do differently? What would you do the same?
Currently, I’m working as a third grade teacher at a local school district. It’s a good job. I am fortunate to have this opportunity right now because the education industry is in a bit of upheaval — especially with deepening state budget cuts. I’m reasonably successful as a teacher, have the blessing of an alarmingly short commute, and enjoy an uncommon amount of days off. Despite the positives, I know in my heart that this job is just a stepping stone to something else. I just wish I knew what that “something else” was.
I have had people tell me that they think that I am “meant” to teach — that this is the job to which God has called me. I’m not so sure. While I don’t wake up dreading the workday ahead, I also don’t wake up with a passion for what I do. Don’t get me wrong, I work hard and try my best each day, I just don’t love it in the core of my being. To gripe about my current situation would be to wallow in ungratefulness, but to claim deep contentedness would be lying.
In truth, I sometimes look around at others and begin to envy their careers. My brother-in-law is the Director of Communications for a U.S. State Senator. My friend Justin is a physician who is a few months short of completing his residency. My high school girlfriend’s “little” sister is doing mission work in Myanmar with her husband.
It’s never really been the money or the status that I envy, but the purpose. Each seems to ooze a purposefulness that I tend to lack. My hope is that, as I work the jobs between now and “what I’m meant to do”, I will do so with an open mind and continually expand my toolkit of knowledge and experience.
Here are some of the things I’ve already learned from the jobs I have held since college:
What about you? What keys to success did you learn from stepping-stone jobs? Did you have a particular job that you hated when you did it, but now look back and see the value it added to your life experience?
This weekend, Heidi and I took Harrison to Disneyland for the first time. We never planned on taking him as a one-year-old, but when the grandparents graciously offer to pay for your hotel and admission, how can you say no? We had a great deal of fun on this trip (though I recommend not going over Labor Day weekend), but I must admit that I was disappointed in some of the changes I noticed at the Disneyland Resort.
For decades, the Walt Disney Company has been the model for other businesses who want to create a wow experience for customers. Their theme parks have been the pinnacle of showmanship, and they have a long history of going the distance to create magical memories. The core of this magic has always rested in the quality of their employees — more commonly called “cast members”. In Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service, the Disney Institute quotes past President and CEO Michael Eisner as saying,
“Nothing so visibly defines Disney’s parks as the warmth and commitment of our cast members over the years, and the appreciation that guests feel for the way they are treated.”
Unfortunately for Disney, our most recent visit was marked by a very apparent lack of “warmth and commitment” from cast members of all stripes.
Instead of attentive, cheerful parking attendants, I saw only disinterested, miserable people who could barely muster up enough enthusiasm to point to our parking space. I get more energy from the lot attendants at Cardinal’s games.
As we boarded the tram, I expected to hear the cheerful voice of the tram operator welcoming me to the happiest place on earth. Instead, I hear a barely intelligible list of rules barked out over the on-board speakers without the slightest hint of inflection. This is showmanship? Honestly, that experience was no more remarkable than listening to the guy running the DC Metro trains.
As we approached the gates, our bags are checked by the same impersonal robots who can’t even form a smile as they rifle through my son’s diaper bag. No, “Is this his first visit?” conversation, just a grunt and we’re waved through. Were these guys trained by the TSA?
The ticket-takers were not any more personable. The magical sound that the booth makes as I scanned my ticket was tarnished by the thirty-year-old booth operator named Marco who mumbles a depressed “next” to the rest of the line. Where’s the attention to detail?
Perhaps most appalling was the lack of showmanship I saw from the cast members inside the park. Most of the ride operators might as well have been Six Flags employees. The vast majority of them did not make any effort to create an experience — they just did their job. Oftentimes, they focused their attention on other cast members and chatted with each other as family after family passed them by. I even had a girl working the Fantasmic show interrupt me asking for help so that she could tell another passing cast member that she “got in trouble for talking to friends at work”.
Instead of coming to work to create WOW experiences, the cast members I saw this past weekend came for the sole purpose of punching a clock — and it showed.
I doubt seriously that anyone associated with the Disney Company will read this post, but if by some chance someone does, let me say this: I love Disney’s long and rich history of creating WOW experiences, and I want that drive to create magic to live on as my kids take their kids to your park thirty years from now. What I have seen in my last few visits is an obvious decline in the very heart and soul that sets Disney apart from other vacation destinations. If things don’t improve, then you will be relegated to the status of just another theme park — something that Walt Disney never wanted. I hope to see more effort from your cast members in the future. They will make or break your reputation.
What about you? Have you seen a decline in customer service at any of the Disney theme parks?
Dear CNN, I am writing this letter to inform you that penguins are not people, and to let you know that running news stories about penguins and talking about them as if they were the Kowalskis next door is assinine. Furthermore, trying to compare a pair of male Magellanic Penguins to a gay human couple in an attempt to show how natural it is to be gay is a bit of a slap in the face to homosexuals. Besides, the analogy totally backfired. Can we get back to the real news, please?
Just over three months ago, I decided to give Twitter a try and created an account for myself. From the very beginning, I have been skeptical about whether or not Twitter could add value to my life or enhance my leadership influence, and participating in the twitterverse still has not convinced me.
Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Christian book publisher Thomas Nelson, Inc. is the one who ultimately convinced me to give Twitter a try. His blog is one of the best places to find great posts on leadership, social media, customer service, publishing, personal productivity, and about a dozen other important topics (go there now and subscribe to his posts, you won’t regret it). Mr. Hyatt is a strong believer in Twitter’s ability to build influence and expand leadership, and he’s an avid Twitterer.
Aside from following a few friends and family members, I specifically chose to follow Mr. Hyatt’s Twitter feed so that I could get a clearer insight into what makes him a great leader. Unfortunately, I have grown to realize that the things he tweets don’t impact me at anywhere near the level that his blogs do. Sure, some of his tweets link to his great blog posts, but I already subscribe to his RSS feed, so the Twitter link is redundant. On occasion, he’ll post a link to an article that I find interesting, and its fun to hear him talk about his morning runs, but few of those tweets challenge me beyond the exact moment I read them.
And its definitely not just him.
I follow a number of people who I consider big-time influencers, but I generally get the same reaction to their tweets. Their influence on me exists more in their books, articles, and blog posts, not in their tweets. Does that make sense? I think it’s the inherent lack of depth combined with having to comb through a collection of too many pointless messages that continues to turn me off. I realize that this post has a “me, me, me” timbre to it, but when it comes right down to it, should I invest my time in something that isn’t directly challenging me and making me better?
I’m not going to call it quits with Twitter, and I will continue to read the tweets of Mr. Hyatt and all the other people I currently follow. I’ll even continue making tweets of my own. While I’m not currently prepared to say that Twitter is pointless, I am confessing that, after more than three months, I’m still not a convert.
Am I still missing something? Do you agree or disagree with my take on Twitter’s value?
Even though I have never used their services before, I decided to try Monster.com to help me find a new job. I still don’t have a job, and the only thing Monster.com has managed to do for me is flood my inbox with junk mail. No leads, no call-backs from businesses where I submitted a resume, just a pile of digital garbage.
I’m not talking about a few junk emails here and there, I’m talking about 15-20 emails a day. Some are your typical fare — enlarge-your-manhood, please-her-all-night-long sort of stuff — but most are junk mail disguised as employment opportunities. These make me the most furious.
In two months I have received zero actual job leads from Monster.com and I am not a happy customer. If you are a person in search of a job, I highly recommend that you move along and don’t waste your time with Monster. If you are a business in search of employees, don’t tarnish your company’s image be aligning yourself with this worthless organization.
I’m going now to delete my account. Thanks for nothing Monster.com.
