Author Chris Brady's Blog

Caption Contest #8

I'll get back to being serious here shortly, but I guess I'm just in a good holiday mood.  Can't stop posting this lighter stuff.  I can't wait to see what you guys come up with on this one!

Winter Driving

 

            Winter is wonderful.  I think I first realized it once I learned to drive.  Somewhere in the process of hunching forward trying to see out the very bottom of the windshield where the slow-to-work defroster had only begun to remove the inch-thick ice, and all this while barreling down a slippery highway at seventy miles an hour, I decided that winter is a season with its own special charms.

            Take, for instance, the older gentleman two streets over from my house.  If it snows during the night (when all sane people are sleeping) he fancies himself a reborn Paul Revere; pushing his five-hundred horsepower snow-blower back and forth across his postage-stamp-sized driveway at five a.m. as if to say, “There, you little snowflakes!  Land on MY property under the cloak of darkness, will ya!?” all the while alerting the rest of us slumbering and unsuspecting neighbors to the imminent danger.

            Clearing driveways is child’s play, however, when compared to the theatrics that develop on the roadways during winter.  There’s a whole army of volunteer accident causers who immediately flock to the roads and highways to drive slowly in the left lane and brake suddenly for emergencies like clouds and distant oxygen.  The more accomplished among this class can be found spun backwards in ditches with their lights still on and dumb looks on their faces as if to say, “how’d I get here!?”  These traits are most dominant in the first snow fall of the year when half the population behaves as if they have never seen snow before.

            Even more noteworthy, however, are the trained professionals that can be recognized by the official looking orange or yellow trucks they drive called ‘plows’.  This term is derived from what they do to you if you attempt to drive near them.  Plow drivers are also especially adept at spraying slush and snow at high velocities directly onto your windshield for sustained periods of time, or driving down the middle of two lanes and backing traffic up for miles.  They are also among the best in the world at sitting in the median of highways and doing absolutely nothing.

            And if the volunteer and professionals aren’t enough, there are the four-wheel-drivers to consider.  This is a species very peculiar in its total lack of understanding of physics.  Because all four (usually oversized) tires are powered or ‘driven’, the vehicles of choice in the four-wheeler crowd have remarkable abilities of self-propulsion, even in snow and ice.  This mobility breeds an immediate overconfidence in the driver who quickly forgets that such performance is due his equipment and not his innate driving skills.  Having forgotten this, he then assumes his braking performance will match his mobility: an erroneous conclusion commonly resulting in the transformation of a heavy off-road truck into a battering ram (an observation, no doubt, made by Dodge and resulting in the naming of their ‘Ram’ trucks).  This is further complicated by the fact that most owners of four wheel drive trucks feel compelled to affix enormous and attractive sharp snow plows to the front of their vehicles.  These enhancements lead to even more effective metal working when contacting smaller cars at the precise moment the four wheel driver realizes the deficiencies of his braking.* 

            Many additional driving characteristics can be witnessed during a snow storm.  There are those that decide to drive safely by slowing down seven and a half miles before their turn, causing everybody behind them to slam on their brakes, slide out of control, and end up in the ditch just to avoid them.  Others decide that since there is a quarter inch of snow on the ground, it is suddenly acceptable to drive down the center of the road, whereby subsequent motorists, spotting these tracks, decide to follow in the same path until the whole county has been transformed into single-lane one-way streets.  Still others can be found driving cars with snow stacked two feet deep on hoods and trunks and windows, apparently for the purpose of transporting said snow from Point A to Point B (two towns which, mysteriously, have never been found on any map).  But the most notorious of winter driving offenders is the famed ‘pull-out-in-front-of-you’ driver.  This person waits until you are just a few feet away before driving directly into your path, no doubt assuming you have the stopping power of four-wheel-drivers.  If through some fait-accompli of miraculous driving skill, luck, and destiny you are able to avoid slamming into the offender head first, you will receive an angry look as if to say, “Why so reckless?  Can’t you see it’s slippery out here?”

            So after twenty-some years of enduring these winter hardships, I did the only sane thing.  I moved to Florida where everyone drives safely!  (And if you believe that, you’ve obviously never been there!)

* Because of this effectiveness, there are certain neighborhoods of a rural nature where snow plows are left on trucks all year long in honor of the ‘glory days’ of winter.

Today's the Day!

One of my favorite quotes comes from treasure hunter Mel Fisher, who would show up at the dock every day for seventeen years encouraging his employees by saying, "Today's the day!"  Fisher and his gang were on a mission to find the Atocha, a Spanish treasure galleon bound for Europe with a load of gold, copper, and precious gems.  It was rumored to be the richest lost treasure ship ever, and had remained hidden off the dangerous coast of Florida for centuries.  Finally, after an incredible story of perseverence, unfair governmental interference, greedy competitors, and family heartbreaks, Fisher and his crew hit the mother load and found the Atocha!  His daily doses of positive prediction that "Today's the Day!" had finally paid off.

I like the quote as a daily encouragement, to be sure.  We all need to say something like this to ourselves when the going gets tough, when we start to feel discouraged, or when the vision starts to fade a little.  It is important to develop positive "self-talk" that keeps us focused and propped up.  However, I also like Fisher's quote, because it has a second meaning that I am not even sure he intended.  "Today's the Day!" also means that we should cherish this day, and forget the past, while not living too much in the future.  Yesterday is gone.  Tomorrow can only be hoped for, but is not promised, and today is all we really have!  As the Bible says, "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Matthew 6:34 KJV).  I like this quote because as we repeat it to ourselves and others, it helps us to be encouraged about the great things that we can discover this day, the treasures we can experience and share this day, and the fact that we can't really become too enamored or concerned about future days, or hung up on failures of past days, because, in fact, Today is the Day!"

We should certainly learn from our past.  And we'd be fools not to prepare for tomorrow and dream about possibilities, but these things should never be done at the expense of today.  Let's each make today count for all it's worth, remembering that indeed: Today's the Day!

Caption Contest #7

You readers out there have been cracking me up on these caption contests!  And I guess a contest is supposed to have a winner, but it is so hard to choose!  I have to admit, the funniest ones are the ones I couldn't post!!!!  Trust me, I wish I could share them with you!!  Maybe someday.  In the meantime, here's another one.  :)

The Right Information

Andy Stanley wrote, "It is not the acquisition of information that properly prepares a leader to lead; rather, it is the application of the right information.  People need to be trained around the core principles they need to know, not an endless amount of information that is nice for them to know."

In today's Information Age, information is all around us.  It is almost too plentiful.  We can get information about almost any subject nearly effortlessly.  But an increase in information does not necessarily lead to an increase in knowledge, and certainly not so for wisdom.  We must become adept at tuning out the noise, figuring out quickly and effectively what information is relevant and principle-based, and disregarding the rest.  The most successful people are those who can disseminate the important from the almost-important as a matter of habit.  In all the noise of our modern world, what is important?  What is fruitful for study?  What is worth my time to learn?  What is principle-based?  What is core?

This is where it is helpful for a developing leader to have a mentor who can recommend great books that will focus on the right information.  A strategic leadership development plan and system are also very important.  The short-cut through the noise is to follow someone who has successfully navigated the same waters successfully.  To lead, one has to be a student.  To grow quickly and effectively as a leader, one must become an astute student. Get good at getting the right information.  You can't learn everything, so focus on learning the most important things!      

Caption Contest Continues

 

Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover

Feel free to add captions to this!  But I also wanted to make the point that appearances can  be deceiving!  This is Bill Gates and his gang at the outset of launching the largest company in world history!  Would you have invested in these guys?????  I think I'd more likely have tried selling them hair spray.

Character Under Fire

      The American Revolutionary War, which likely hadn't been called that yet, was not going well for the colonials at the end of 1776.  George Washington and his volunteer army had been battered all across the islands of New York by the British.  The combined forces of the Royal Navy and the British regular infantry and cavalry had made a mockery of the colonial resistance. A nighttime escape in fog was all that preserved Washington’s forces.  Made to retreat into New Jersey, the colonials were then pushed all the way across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. Fortunately for them, the British decided to hunker down for winter, and pulled most of their forces back to New York.  Detachments were left throughout New Jersey to keep an eye on the miniscule colonial force.

     With enlistments running out, and the confidence in the cause of independence at an all time low, Washington made a daring move to cross the Delaware on Christmas night and surprise-attack the garrison at Trenton.  In the annals of military history, it was a small engagement, but in the morale of the colonies it was a master stroke.  Washington’s attack succeeded perfectly, capturing the entire detachment at Trenton.  Instead of going from defeat to defeat, retreating across state after state, the little band of revolutionaries had proven that they were not yet beaten.

The commander in chief of British and Hessian forces in America, Major General Howe, was furious.  He immediately ordered General Cornwallis and his army to march on Washington in New Jersey with full force.  Over five thousand professional soldiers, including artillery, set out immediately for New Jersey.

 

 George Washington, managing his prisoners and captured stores in Trenton, received word of Cornwallis’s advancing army.  He quickly dispatched 600 men to slow the British advance so he could arrange yet another of his last-minute escapes. Without sufficient time to depart on his terms, his little army would be crushed. 

      

 Washington placed the French aristocrat General Roche de Fermoy in command of the small force.  de Fermoy was one of a long line of adventurers from Europe who had come to America seeking military honors and fame.  Many of these men made claims concerning their past leadership experiences and titles that may or may not have been true.  Forced to keep good relations with foreign countries supporting the cause, Washington was often given no choice but to award command positions to many such adventurers.  Some proved capable, others did not.  Second to de   Fermoy, with his 200 Pennsylvania rifleman, Washington placed Edward Hand.  Hand’s men, accustomed to hunting in the hills of Pennsylvania, were famous for their marksmanship.  They were deadly accurate with their long, rifled guns.

                            

 It would be 600 men against 5,000, but the colonials only had to slow the advance of the mighty British.  Placing themselves in the woods on either side of the road, and splitting the Pennsylvania riflemen into two groups,100 for each side of the road, the colonials got into position.

                        

 The sight of 5,000 men in brilliant military discipline marching boldly down the road was apparently too much for de Fermoy.  At the first shot fired he was seen riding at a full gallop toward the rear of the colonial lines.  Then he continued

riding and left the scene altogether.  Confused and stunned, Edward Hand calmly assumed overall command.

 

Hand directed the colonials to wait until the British were extremely close before firing.  Then suddenly the woods around the British force erupted in smoke and noise and clumps of British soldiers fell wounded and dead.  The British scrambled to form battle lines, then they fired in rapid succession.  But the colonials had already pulled back through the woods.  Now the Pennsylvania riflemen had their turn from a greater distance.  Again, the incoming fire into the exposed British was deadly.  Not to be deterred, the British ordered an advance into the woods, but by the time they reached where their enemy had been hiding, the colonials were long gone.

                                     

 This process of heavy hidden fire, quick retreat, Pennsylvania rifle decimation, and more retreat was repeated throughout the day.  At no point did the small colonial force give the British a chance to use their superior numbers or artillery.  But continuously the raking fire from multiple angles of woods was deadly for the British.  By the time this process was repeated for the fifth time, however, Hand and his brave band of men were being overrun.  There was only so much 600 could do against 5,000.  But suddenly loud bursts of artillery shells were heard as plumes of dirt and death soared into the sky among the advancing British ranks.  It was Washington’s main army joining the resistance.  The two armies were beginning to engage as it grew dark.

                                          

 Cornwallis, weary from pushing through heavier resistance than expected, with enormous casualties on his side, decided not to press the attack at night.  He called off his troops and encamped for the night.  And of course, this is exactly what Washington needed.  He kept campfires burning and charged a small group of men with making enough noise to sound like an entire camp.

                                             

 Washington’s escape was successful that night, as he stole away an entire army from right under the nose of the enemy.  Marching quickly before Cornwallis could figure out what happened, Washington and his force showed up in Princeton,

New Jersey and routed and captured the troops Cornwallis had left there in reserve.  Ultimately, Washington was able to escape the beleaguered British and winter safely, riding high on the wave of victories he had stolen from the jaws of defeat.

                                 

The small victories at the close of 1776 proved critical.  Moral was raised, hope in the cause was re-sparked, and the fight for independence survived its closest brush with extinction.  And as is usually the case, it all hinged on leadership.  Edward Hand and his contrasting example of leadership as opposed to de Fermoy could not be more illustrative of the difference between true and counterfeit leadership.  De Fermoy was all bluster; beating his chest and showing his titles and claiming great abilities.  But when the first shot were fired, he fled for the hills like a frightened school girl.  On the other hand (couldn’t help the pun), Edward Hand had no formal training or title or claim to fame.  But he was a real leader.  When the imposter fled the scene, Hand filled the gap.  He very confidently and competently took command and did what needed to be done.

                                          

 This great example from the founding of a nation and what it shows about leadership should never be forgotten.  Imposters in the world of leadership abound.  Those who talk the loudest about how great they are, what they are going to do, and how great their abilities are, are often the first to flee the scene when the going gets tough.  Real leaders, on the other hand, quietly go about the business of doing what needs to be done; often without fanfare or title or official position.  As Orrin Woodward is fond of saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”   Indeed, you can learn a lot about someone by how they act when the shots are fired, when the 5,000 are advancing on 600, when it is time to put up or shut up.  In motocross racing there is a saying that, “When the gate drops, the talk stops.”

 

Further, it can be seen how much can be accomplished by just one person deciding to lead.  Edward Hand was only one man, and he wasn’t even officially in charge of the 600 men who had been abandoned by their commander.  But his actions had enormous ramifications on history.  Every leader would be wise to remember his example.  One person can, and does, make a difference.  And often, that difference is too large to be measured.

                                                    

 So when challenges come your way, when the shots being fired are live ammunition, when the going gets tough: you will have a choice.  You can be a de Fermoy, or you can be an Edward Hand.  That choice, at those moments, will define your legacy.  Choose well.  Lead.          

Funny Caption Contest, #4

This one is funny enough without a caption!  But I'm sure you readers out there can enhance it!

Two Important Questions

There are two important questions we should each ask ourselves on a regular basis:

1.  Ten years from now, what will I wish I had done today?

2.  If I knew I couldn't fail, what would I be working on?

Life is complicated.  No matter who you are, you will encounter problems and challenges.  There are endless tasks to complete, and there is always something around the next corner to challenge your resolve.  But keeping yourself grounded in the bigger picture is a good guard against distraction, discouragement, and ineffectiveness.  These two questions help keep the bigger picture of what you are trying to accomplish at the forefront of your mind.