"Is there really any other reason than me?"

Here is Integrity, Action and Community at work, creating great things.

After you read this, ask yourself, "...is there really any other reason than me...?"

Read the question posed to TV personality, Mike Rowe and then his reply...

Mike,
I'm not sure where I heard that you are an Eagle Scout, which brings me to my question. Could you PLEASE take a moment & post to my 13 year old son Kelby & encourage him to finish scouting (& anything else that'll help with this?) Reason I'm asking is that he only lacks 1 1/2 - 2 years in reaching Eagle, but some of his buddies have got him to thinking scouting isn't cool at his age.
Thanks much, Gary --

*****

Kelby,

Your Dad asked me to drop you a line and say something inspirational that might persuade you to dig down deep and find the determination to make the rank of Eagle Scout. It's a reasonable request, from a father who obviously wants to see his son succeed. But here’s the thing - The Eagle Award is not really meant for people who need to be dragged across the finish line. It’s meant for a select few, and I have no idea if you have the guts to see it through.

Statistically, I suspect you do not. Only one out of a hundred Scouts make Eagle, so if you fail, there will be lots of other people with whom you can share excuses. Quitting now might disappoint your Dad, but I doubt that he or anyone else will be overly surprised. Anytime 99 out of 100 people do the same thing, it’s not exactly a shock.

I’m not trying to be cute with a bunch of reverse psychology. When I was 15, there was nothing that anyone could have said to me that would have inspired me to do something I didn't want to do, especially a stranger with a TV show. So I’m not going to assume you’re any different, or pretend that I have some influence or insight that you haven’t already heard from a dozen other people who actually know and care about you. I’ll just tell you straight up, that doing something extraordinary can be very lonely, and most people simply aren’t cut out for it. Being an Eagle Scout requires you to be different than most everyone around you, and being different is really, really hard. That’s why the award is called “an accomplishment.”

Personally, and for whatever it’s worth, the best decisions I've made in my own life, are those decisions that put me on the outside of being cool. Singing in the Opera, working in home shopping, staring in the school play when the entire football team laughed at me, and especially earning my Eagle, were all choices that required sacrifice, hard work, and delayed gratification. I have no idea if you possess those qualities, or even envy them. But I can tell you for certain, that NOT getting your Eagle, will be one of the easiest things you’ve ever done.

Anyway, I have no idea if you would prefer an easy life of predictability and mediocrity, or if have the passion to follow the road less traveled. Only you get to decide that.

Good Luck,
Mike

This Memorial Day weekend I had the great pleasure of attending the Eagle Scout Court-of-Honor for my nephew, in Dallas, Texas. His speech was remarkable for it's prescience...

First, I want to thank all of you for coming today. I know that for all of us it is incredibly difficult to wake up so early, especially on a day that we have off. But we have a wonderful breakfast waiting for you.

I just want to say how honored I am to have this bestowed upon me. Many times throughout the last 6 years I told myself a million times, “Just give up. It’s impossible. It’s too hard. You’ll never make it.” And although this went through my mind quite a bit, I never really gave up hope. I knew I had time. Although I had this time, I wanted to finish as quickly as possible. When I first crossed over in March of 2003, I told myself that I wanted to be an Eagle Scout before I entered high school. That was my goal. Freshman year came and went, and I still had not achieved it. But I did not stop trying. I kept pushing, even at times when I did not want to, and that made all the difference.

To the younger scouts: you may have time. You’re 11, 12, 13 years old. Many years lie ahead of you on your scouting journey, but do not wait to take action. Be proactive. Do all that you can to progress, it truly does help. Before you enter high school, do everything in your power to progress as far as you can. Do not necessarily become an Eagle before high school, because, as I learned, it is a horrendously difficult task, but take your game to the next level. Earn the two more merit badges that you have partials on. Finish your swimming requirements. All of these little things that you may have the time for now CAN and WILL fade into the background as your coursework picks up and you become more involved in your community. I guarantee it will happen. It is far easier to work now, instead of later. Achieving the Eagle rank is extremely difficult in and of itself, as some of you will find soon enough, but if you approach the process in the wrong way, you can make it nearly impossible.

In light of all this, do not limit this attitude to just scouts. Be proactive in all that you do. Work, THEN play. Not the other way around. Keep your priorities straight and your focus on your goals. Finish your math homework, and then go watch a little TV. I can assure you, hard work and focus are the keys to success. It is neither skill nor natural born ability. Keep striving, do your best, and never give up.

It took me a long time to get where I am today, and I can honestly say that without many people I never would have made it....

It is clear that Integrity, Community and Action were at work here and it is clear where Community can work against us as hard as we will let it.

As the new Eagle Scout says, "...hard work and focus are the keys to success..."

Were you inspired? How did/will you overcome the innumerable excuses that will come to mind when the going gets tough?

Let this community know. Here's a safe place to get support for your plans and goals. What type of people are in your community, in general? Do they think of ways to support you or are they quicker to justify the obstacles?

MSS

The Less Needed, The Better...

1. What is the effect on a community when an individual assumes they are more valuable than they are?
2. What is the effect on that individual?
3. What is the community's duty to that individual?

These are the questions I'm wondering about now (about 10 hours before this will be posted). Consider this parable:

From the Translator's Introduction of The Art of War by Sun Tzu (Thomas Cleary)

According to an old story, a lord of ancient China once asked his physician, a member of a family of healers, which of them was the most skilled in the art. The physician, whose reputation was such that his name became synonymous with medical science in China, replied, "My eldest brother sees the spirit of sickness and removes it before it takes shape, so his name does not get out of the house. My elder brother cures sickness when it is still extremely minute, so his name does not get out of the neighborhood. As for me, I puncture veins, prescribe potions and massage skin, so from time to time my name gets out and is heard among the lords."

This is not (necessarily) a doctor story!

A member of one of my communities (a course in self-expression and leadership that I take), decided to leave the group, citing excessive demands on her time by a myriad of philanthropic obligations.

I was surprised at the spectrum of my visceral responses. They ranged from, "...who cares?..." to guilt (for not being a possibility that would inspire her to stay) to offense (that she would consider her time more valuable than the rest of the group's).

Then, I remembered this story of the Chinese physician.

In the story, the honored physician recognizes that the less is needed, the better. The best use of knowledge and strategy makes conflict (a.k.a.: treatment, hard work, etc) unnecessary.

I am afraid that my colleague has denied herself the benefit of acquiring the technology to optimize her use of knowledge and strategy in her communities and we, one of her communities, are denied the vicarious experience of her learning to add to our personal experiences. I am that her completion of the course would have given her access to even greater effectiveness and more free-time, yet, apparently, she's not coming back.

As a member of the group, I share responsibility for not being a stand for her to fulfill her commitment and live into the possibility she created for herself and for us.

Just because I didn't achieve my intent of keeping the whole group intact, doesn't mean I will give up on the cause. I just need to get better. (the 10,000 hours Malcolm Gladwell talks about in Outliers).

You know that the greatest things don't need any one individual, they need an effective, cohesive community.

How should I have been to touch. move and inspire this person to stay with the group? Keep in mind, it's not about persuasion, it's not about attachment, it's about commitment...

Has it happened to you? What did you do? What will you do next time?

Do tell!!


MSS

A Perfect Example

Just as I'm thinking about it, I encounter a PERFECT EXAMPLE...

... You are not going to believe this. This is one of the most extraordinary occurrences I have ever experienced...

As is typical with an obliging universe, two conferences I wanted to attend were scheduled sequentially at the San Diego Convention Center. May 1 - 3 was the I Can Do It! Conference and May 4 - 6 was the American Association of Neurosurgeons (AANS) annual conference. I decided to commute via Amtrak from Fullerton.

On Tuesday, I caught the train in San Diego for Fullerton at about 6 PM and had a whole car essentially to myself. At the first stop (30 minutes into the 2 hour 10 minute trip) a friendly sounding group of men joined me in "my" car and claimed it for the "Trainiacs".

I couldn't resist, so I asked, "What's a Trainiac?" and I came to discover that Trainiacs are a Tribe of over 170 "familiar strangers" organized over the past couple of years, for the purpose of keeping each other apprised of delays, crowding, alternative routes, carpools, etc., including occasional picnics and other group events.

The very nice man, who was explaining all this to me, gave me his card which identified him as the "CTO" - Chief Trainiac Officer! This guy is positively brilliant at leading a Tribe. Seth Godin needs to include this example in the next printing of the book.

The CTO asked me if I was a regular commuter (No) and what kind of work I was in. I said what I always say, "I teach and mentor how to start & operate a profitable non-traditional business" and after a while I invited him to read this Blog.

He asked me for the URL and I said, "DrSchnitzer.com, D-r-S-c-h..." when he interrupted and said, "Mark?" I was stunned but imagine my surprise when he told me that I had operated on his wife many years ago and that we also had a common friend and ran into each other at a party some time ago! We just talked for the rest of the trip... (about 90 minutes).

The real point of the tale is the stellar example of leadership and tribe building demonstrated by this man.

He:

1. Demonstrates integrity,
2. Comes from a background of relatedness,
3. Invents possibilities that he then
4. Presents to people as opportunity
5. They choose freely and are satisfied with their choice

It was brilliant and perfect and, were it not for my keeping a notebook and having the intention to write, the story would have been lost to the dusty, unreliable attic of my memory vault.

It is comforting to pass this skill off as rare but I submit that the rest of us are just being "reasonable" (making up a reason to let ourselves off-the-hook).

Discovering or creating a background of relatedness, creating possibility, presenting opportunity and then allowing for authentic choice is simple (not always easy).

We just have to chose to be unreasonable and choose to recognize the power of the tribe. It is the access to power and enduring self-expression. Virtually every great thing arose out of a community that was organized by a group of like-minded leaders (consider The Susan Komen Foundation for the Cure and Nancy Brinker).

The attraction of a Tribe to change the world is my intention as a leader. I was very happily motivated by the example of the man who accomplished it out of selflessness and unreasonableness.

I will continue to do it, too. It makes for a bigger game and, sometimes, size does matter!

How about you?

MSS

P.S. Make certain to read yesterday's post and add a Haiku verse (or several) to the book project.