Tuesday Thoughts on Chaos and Hot Wings (#61)
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Hi there,
There's been a LOT since I last wrote. The baby's grown several pounds, DELTA continues to rage, and Afghanistan collapsed in a weekend.
Each has and continues to impact me in a year where I'm chronically drained. It feels like the pendulum might be starting to swing back and, sometimes, reprieve comes from the least expected places.
The rain dripped down my floppy and now ill-suited sun hat, the thunder roared angrily at my back, and I ran.
I ran in joyful bliss.
The unexpected storm was a fitting metaphor for what I’ve gone through this year. I prepared for sweltering heat and ended up in a thunderstorm. Miles from home, I had a few choices. I could have cried out woe is me as I sought shelter. I could’ve turned and high-tailed it home.
Instead, I embraced the storm.
If you'd like to read the rest of the essay, click here.
Kat Cole on the Farnam Street Podcast
Lately, I've been a sucker for a good story. Coming from a poor home where her mother worked three jobs, Kat's career kicked off at 17 as a Hooters hostess, at 26 she was a vice president of Hooters, and at 31 revived Cinnabon as its President.
These are my takeaways from her podcast:
Approaching life with humble confidence; Kat doesn't go into any situation knowing exactly what to do, but she knows she'll figure it out.
Recognize the dark side of gratitude.
We can be too grateful for what we have that we become stuck. For example, her mother did not leave her alcoholic father until Kat was nine because her mother was grateful to live in a nice home with a decent income, a significant improvement over where she'd come from.
It's more important to do the right thing than be right.
During Kat's first shift as a Hooters shift lead, a server was improperly filling the salt and pepper shakers. When confronted, she said Kat had previously done the same thing. Kat acknowledged the server was right, but instead of excusing the behavior responded that we'll both do it correctly moving forward. This process has repeated itself through several similar peer-to-supervisor transitions. Be prepared to be called on all your imperfections in those moments; acknowledge them and do the right thing.
"Anytime you are criticized, assume first it’s correct. Just allow yourself to digest that and then respond."
"And I really do believe outside of losing life and losing love, there is nothing worse than losing trust."
As the new President of Cinnabon, Kat met the franchise owners and told them about an upcoming product being sold at Costco. The product that actually went to Costco was different from what she described and told owners. Appearing as a threat, she immediately pulled the product at the cost of millions of dollars but earned owners' trust. As a result, Kat was able to push bolder changes later that could have appeared as threats to the franchises except for their trust in her.
Kat's go-to questions when working with businesses and employees, which she and her husband have also adopted a slightly tweaked version for their monthiversary:
What can I stop doing?
What can I start doing (or continue doing)?
What is one thing I can do differently?
And the podcast also has a great story about wings and customer service judo. =)
Gratitude
The VA Doctor who followed up on a few bad lab numbers. Apparently, my exhaustion may have some medical explanations. That also means targets.
A burger off a grill at my brother-in-law's small birthday BBQ.
Playing baby games. Cadence sticks her tongue out at me and then we go back and forth, her giggling the whole time.
Pic of the Week
Go Knights, Charge On!
Until next time, stay safe, sane, and intentional.
Scott
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