Winter Is Upon Us - What Happened to the Fall?

Yes, we are winding down 2009 and will soon be heading into the holiday season. The NFL is full swing and the NBA just started the regular season. Baseball is winding down with only one playoff series remaining, albeit an important one to this Yankees fan. How did all this happen so fast? It seems like just yesterday I was looking at Carolina's basketball schedule for January and thinking it's going to be a long year. I guess the old adage about time passing faster as you get older has a ring of truth to it for me today.

Why so melancholy you might ask? I don't know to be honest. I just can't put my finger on it. Things are great at the office. I love the job and I'm working with an amazing group of folks, all of whom are brighter and younger than me. Hmmmmm. Could that be it? No, at my age, everyone is brighter and younger!

Perhaps today's cover picture provides a hint. After all, my Ellie is now in middle-school. She is in 6th grade, but that can't be because just yesterday we put her on the bus for her first day of 1st grade. She has grown so much over the past five years and pretty soon she won't be my little girl any longer. She will be this young woman who will no longer want to hang out with Dad on the couch in the evening. Of course, that is the dilemna that every Dad eventually faces, but perhaps because I see it happening so clearly I'm letting it hit my age meter a just bit too hard. Hmmmmmmmm. No, it's not really that either, although it's clearly an influence.

So, what is it that makes the end of a year so difficult? It can't be the impending onset of the holiday season since it is my favorite time of the year. I love the idea of wearing sweaters and taking long drives to places where the leaves are changing and painting the sky with wonderful colors and amazing scenary. I love sitting outside during the cool evenings, although I must admit there are times when I think that would be so much more enjoyable if I could have a smoke while I'm there. Oh well, that's never going to happen again. Hopefully!

Okay, so I don't know exactly what's up with me and my current mood, but I do know that it isn't really bad or sad or negative. It is just this sense of passing that seems to be haunting me at the moment. It's as if I missed something or I forgot something!

Anyway, I'll figure it out eventually. Meanwhile, I'm back and thinking about how I need to post everyday from now on if I really want to have a viable blog. I also purchased a new camera and plan to take even more photo's for the blog, so all good news ahead!

Building Doors

The famous comedian Milton Berle once said; "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door." Well, that is what I've been doing since my last post on April 3rd. Really? April 3rd? Amazing!

Oh well, it has been a tad busy, but I must admit that I've been having a delightful time. I had forgotten how much I enjoy being a sales leader. Are we blowing the targets out the door? Well, not completely....not yet anyway. But we are doing very well given the economy and the struggles we have had with finding the right balance of hunters and farmers. Plus of course, that famous quote from Zig Ziglar; "Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust" applies as well. Sometimes it is really difficult to qualify the opportunity and the firm presenting the opportunity in a way that justifies the investment and commitment required to win the client's trust and faith, not to mention the business! Relationships matter today, probably more than ever and tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc. are really starting to find traction with senior executives across the country. I've been with LinkedIn for as long as I can remember and have had a paid subscription since they first introduced the model, so I'm a tad amazed sometimes when folks ask me if I use it and if it adds any value. Duh!

Seriously though, anyone not connected in today's market economy is going to struggle. David Nour, a well known social networking strategist and one of the foremost thought leaders on the quantifiable value of business relationships, writes extensively about the importance of having a relationship-centric strategy in his new book, "Relationship Economics: Transform Your Most Valuable Business Contacts into Personal and Professional Success". But how can you have business contacts if you are not connected and getting connected happens both on-line and in person, although I have a propensity for doing it in person because I like to meet folks up-front and personal. I think shaking someones hand is still the best way in the world to get to know them. I do on-line networking and I'm reasonably good at it with nearly 350 LinkIn connections, but there is simply no substitute for meeting someone face-to-face and having that eye contact. So much is learned in so short a time!

Family has been good for most of the year. Joe is really progressing and although we struggle with his new eating habits (ever since that drug in late '08 he has struggled with his weigh and appetite), he is enjoying the summer. In fact, he is currently hanging out with his Aunt Mary in Akron, Ohio after spending just under a week with his big brother in Northern Virginia. Mom and Dad miss him and even his sister has noted a strange absence around the house. Perhaps it's that teenage boy smell that seems to follow him around like an old dog who's afraid of being left alone. Then again, maybe we don't miss him after all!

I would love to find some small opportunity for a long weekend before school starts again, but it isn't looking good at this moment. We have visitor's arriving from Europe next week on the same day that I head out to Boulder for a Board meeting. I get back on the same day as Joe arrives and then we're off again for something or the other and then school starts. Bummer! I need a break! Perhaps I can steal away for a short weekend with my brother Joe. Nothing to do by chat and drink some wine during the evening's, but I can get by with that for a couple of nights.

Anyway, hope everyone is loving the summer. I must take some pictures of the kids before they both stop being kids! Meanwhile, a view from the United Kingdom.

Made The Switch

Hey there folks. Yea, I know. I haven't been very active as of late, but then I knew this new gig was going to eat up a good deal of my time. I just didn't realize that it was going to absorb as much time as it has this past quarter. Still, it is pretty darn nice to be locked into a gig that actually has you getting up in the morning with a spring in your step and a smile on your face. On the 1st of April I made it official and joined Market Force Information as the Senior Vice President of Sales & Strategic Accounts. Patrick D. Gaul, Inc. is going to take a backseat to Market Force for the forseeable future and while the decision to make this change wasn't entirely easy, it was not as difficult as I had anticipated. As I told a mate of mine last night, it feels good and I'm really excited about this year. I sincerely believe that a good attitude is a precursor to a successful venture and this truly feels like it is going to be a successful venture.

Anyway, as I noted, I've been really remiss in posting of late and I intend to try to address that deficiency over the coming weeks/months. So much has happened and I've not written about any of it! It's so easy to let things drift away and I absolutely must get this blog back in shape.

Meanwhile, I have to get back to work. Being a SVP actually requires a rather serious investment of my time each day and I have to be careful to keep my day prioritized. Otherwise, I find myself up at late at night or early in the morning catching up with the previous day. Not good for a guy who likes to sleep 8 hours a night if he can make it happen.

GTS '09

Here we are, waiting to start the Georgia Technology Summit. Todd Bell, the CIO of Verizon Wireless is introducing the day and our keynote speaker, Tom Friedman. I'm really chuffed because I was the guy who first raised the idea of inviting Tom to join us today. I first encountered Tom in 1989 when I read "From Beirut to Jerusalem", which fascinated me because at the time I was managing sales operations in Israel, Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon.

Another reason for being truly excited today is the fact that this is the largest gathering of technologists in Atlanta since the last Prayer breakfast. Cool!

Focus

Today started out on a less than thrilling note. After getting up early with less than a full night's sleep (don't know why, but I've just not been sleeping very well for the past six weeks), I got dressed and headed off to the office thinking I'd get an early start to the week. Unfortunately, I managed to leave my laptop in my home office and only discovered that I was without it when I got to the office. So, back in the car to drive home, pick-up the laptop and head back to the office. Of course, by the time I headed back I was knee deep into rush hour and so what I had hoped would be a quick run into the office and an extra hour of productivity this morning turned out to be 50 miles in the car and an hour of driving.

So here's my question. Am I: a.) getting old? b.) simply absent minded? or c.) lacking in focus? I wonder because I'm finding that more and more these days I'm struggling to stay on top of everything that comes my way and that has never been a problem in the past. I could juggle 10 things at the office without ever completely dropping anything, although I obviously had to prioritize those ten items. Now, I just seem to lose the plot and in the process I find that I lose track of one or two items that I'm suppose to be tracking. Nothing major mind you. Usually it's the small things that get misplaced, but it is nevertheless disconcerting and I'm guessing it's the beginning of the end for the "never say no" kid! That's right. I'm now going to have to actually figure out what I have on my plate before I take on any additional chores, either at the office or at home. I've even gone so far as to start recording my top priorities for each week so I can track my progress against them. I even got someone helping me by reviewing at the end of the week my progress against the top priorities and trying to analyze what is occurring when I fail to achieve them. Good! I like the discipline of thinking through what needs to get done and then actually tracking them to ensure completion. I suppose some folks might think I'm being a tad silly taking this approach, but I'm of a mind that if you are struggling with something you should ask for new ideas and accept help if it is offered. What do you think?

I can't write anymore about the situation between Israel and Gaza. It is just too horrific to think about and every time I do get focused on it I'm not certain who I get more angry with, the Israeli's or Hamas. They are both so bull headed and so determined to win at any cost. I get the rockets constantly falling into the south of Israel as being totally unacceptable, but I also get that fact that Israel has been using economic measures to starve Hamas out of Gaza and that those measures have in fact damaged the economy in Gaza to the point that people don't have even the basic necessities. Two wrongs never made a right and I fear in this case both sides are unwilling to compromise or seek outside help. Israel isn't winning any points with the rest of the world with images of wounded children pouring into CNN and Fox News, nor is Hamas likely to seek an end given the damage Isael is creating for its brand with these tactics. It is all too sad to think about, yet it lays heavily on my mind having spent so much time in Israel over the past six years. I love their country and the Israeli people and I know for most of them this is not the way they would prefer their lives to be conducted, but I guess sometimes you have to confront the unpleasant directly, even if it isn't your preferred course of action.