Welcome back from Snowpalooza!  What a disrupter this recent winter storm was for the U.S. but in particular a showstopper for Texas.  Since we have some travels under our belts as a family I have friends in lots of low places – lots of snow places as well.  They all checked in on me during the power outages and for the most part it was 75% concern 25% teasing.  ERCOT now has notoriety and the Lone Star State as a go it alone on an energy grid provider is convenient banter.  My house was one that lost power for extended periods and it got uncomfortably cold – I did get a little nervous about the coming days’ weather forecast and decided I should go ahead and get more firewood since we at least have a gas fireplace.  Four hours later into that endeavor I had enough firewood to push through the next few days.  If nothing else, our new puppy stayed mostly warm – she got a log every two hours…

The whole event was yet another impromptu transparency experiment.  What I mean by this is it instantly showed people responding without much preparation.  In my case, Randy at Randy’s Firewood LLC was the type of guy I hope my boys model.  I’m outdoorsy but not necessarily an outdoorsman; I’m not one to hunt and fish for my meals.  I have never bought firewood from Randy before but after spending 4 hours start to finish completing my transaction with him I’ll be back.  It was the worst wait ever but by the time I got to the counter I told him I had a midsize SUV and to fill it up.  Randy then responded with a gentle “no” but you can have “x” much.  To quote him mostly accurately “I didn’t want to open today but obviously I had to and I want to make sure I can help as many customers as possible so I am limiting the sales to all.”  Randy earned my lifelong patronage that day and my respect – it was really, really cold by any geographic standard (like 6 absolute degrees; not factoring windchill) and he was outside with his family from start to finish providing a means towards warmth for countless families.

Last night the boys were streaming a new show until the internet went bad so me and the missus ended up watching a recorded Bull episode.  After that we watched a dated Celebrity Undercover Boss and the episode featured Deion Sanders and covered many local DFW matters.  For most of it I teared up along with Deion, especially when he addressed the unsuspecting aspects and what he would do over.  The first feature person we meet is a gentleman who serves as a coach/man/father/caregiver to about 80 youth in a football league.  He shares with Deion his own childhood days, that he went on to play top tier D1 football on scholarship, then was struck by a motorist and wheelchair bound for 2 years.  He runs a lawn care business and has days where his utilities are in jeopardy because he invests most of his earnings in the youth program.

An opportunity away from soaring.

This quote we hear often from Deion throughout the show.

Next up we meet a phenomenal female high school football coach working in North Dallas.  “I take it personally when we fall short on the kids because you never know what it means for them.”  If you watch the episode, you’ll quickly realize she can coach anyone on anything; she’s just that good.

And then we’re introduced to a faith based homeless outreach program – we meet a young man going to college (with lawyer ambitions) but sleeps under a bridge and was in 15 foster families as a high schooler.  His only pair of shoes are flip flops with holes in them and he talks about gathering his sleeping bag every morning before heading to class.  I had a hard time composing that last sentence without busting into somewhat-quiet heaves and I was just recounting what the young man said. I felt guilty because I was watching it in my favorite chair on my big tv in my more than big enough house. My parents modeled community investment (that give back to your neighbors spirit) and on most days I fall short of what they did and they did so on much more humble providings.

An opportunity away from soaring.

I’m hopeful our staff feel they are on the verge of great breakthroughs with our kids.  Deion may be Prime Time, but for Perspective, just ask a teacher.

This week’s been a bit more tilted than many others but it’s growing to be the norm.  I woke up this morning early and for the first time in my professional career I reported to work in sweats.  Now granted it was 5:30 am and I was privileged to assist our employees as they received COVID vaccines, but the moment wasn’t lost on my coworkers.  I sported a swim and dive hoodie, sweat pants, and athletic shoes no less.  Didn’t even fix my hair 🙂 but did brush my teeth before heading out.  I’m writing this entry 600 miles away now from where I started my day and huddled up with my oldest.  We start his training early tomorrow in the cold and wet.

One of my buddies is the director of research for Gallup’s Education Practice and school folks will identify with his deep contributions on Clifton StrengthFinder.  He’s a farm boy for sure growing up in Nebraska and receiving all of his degrees from Nebraska U – Gallup is headquartered in Omaha.  He’s also a really funny guy and our exchanges have always been tinged with razor tongues.  He has always dished back to me as good as anyone.

The Harvard Business Review posted today an article entitled ‘How to Be Funny at Work’ which made for a great short read.  Here is the link to the article.  The co-authors are Stanford Business wonks who have top tier credentials and should command your attention.  They cite one statistic early on that “leaders with any sense of humor are seen as 27% more motivating and admired than those who don’t joke around.”  My Gallup buddy whose company is referenced also chimes in with ‘one of the greatest drivers of employee performance is having a close friend — presumably one you laugh with — at work.’

The authors detail out four styles of humor that I will verbatim list below:

• Stand-Up: bold, irreverent, and unafraid to ruffle a few feathers for a laugh. (Example: Wanda Sykes)
• Sweetheart: earnest, understated, and use humor that lightens the mood (Example: James Corden)
• Sniper: edgy, sarcastic, nuanced — masters of the unexpected dig (Example: Michelle Wolf)
• Magnet: expressive, charismatic, and easy to make laugh (Example: (Jimmy Fallon)  

There’s even a test linked in the article where you can determine which style you most likely align with.

Also towards the end the authors bring it home for me and I suspect many of you.

Now let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room: We’re writing this in February 2021, a year into a pandemic that has killed millions and put many out of work. Is this really a time for laughter? Yes. We believe that the leaders weaving humor into this weird new world are the ones truly helping their employees to get through it.

I spent this morning asking fellow employees, some I’ve known for over a decade, to tell me their date of birth, gender, race, and ethnicity.  Multiple times I said “are you sure?”  This is Pandemic 2021 but during this lifetime experience humor indeed brings levity to the situation.  And if you’re unsure about your ability to be funny, just get a dog!