A Christmas Post

I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave New Year
All anguish pain and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear
They said there'd be snow at Christmas
They said there'd be peace on Earth
Hallelujah Noel be it Heaven or Hell
The Christmas we get we deserve

This is the last verse of "I Believe in Father Christmas." Greg Lake (Emerson Lake & Palmer) wrote this song as an objection to the commercialism of Christmas. You don’t need snow to have a happy Christmas (which is good, because we’re spending Christmas in the Caribbean), it comes from within. So whether you believe in the true spirit of Christmas or you are a cynic, you get the Christmas you deserve. Merry Christmas.

Music

I mentioned in my last post that I like music. Check this out - reverse engineering

A Meme

I've been tagged with a meme from Mariposa. I'm supposed to tell 8 things about myself and then tag 8 other blogs. Here are my facts, I'll have to try to think of other blogs to get.

• I love to travel around the world, met other people, and learn about other cultures.
• I enjoy good food and wine, sometimes a little to much, which leads me to the next one...
• I have been running competitively since 1981. I've also done some bike racing, triathlons, duathlons...anything for fun.
• I still consider Chicagoland my home, even if I don't get there as often as I like.
• I'm married with 2 teen agers back in Kansas, but soon we'll all be together in the Cayman Islands.
• I really like music. I play guitar when I get the chance (not often enough).
  
• I started my professional career as an officer in the US Navy. I had a very high-level security clearance. I would tell you more, but than I'd have to kill you ;<)
• I have 3 bikes; one for road racing, one for time trials/triathlons, and a mountain bike. I have raced on all of them.

There it is...

Danish Philosophy

I'm in Denmark again and I was reading about a famous Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard. I came across a quote I really liked;

"The thing is to find a truth which is true for me"

This applies to each of us, personally and professionally. I've shared many of my ideas on project management, but everyone has to figure out what works for them. If my ideas don't work for you, I've still succeeded by pushing you in a better direction.

Compassion

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” - The Dalai Lama

I saw this quote and thought it was worth repeating. Compassion is taking the time to be aware of other's distress. Working on projects can bring stress which can lead to distress. Are we as leaders taking time to be compassionate, or do we just keep pushing our team harder?