There is just no other way to say it.
It was pretty cool.

I was surrounded by everything that makes being six totally awesome.

The walls were painted like baseball stitching, covered in parts by baseball cards, or posters of favorite Phillies players. An Optimus Prime helmet rested near its Ironman counterpart. The window ledge provided the setting for a collection of Star Wars Lego figures, a few of their spacecrafts lying just below. The dresser was a playing ground for a quickly transforming toy (the name escapes me as it emerged long after I was a kid). Nearby, a bin contained several stuffed animals. Another shelf proudly displayed various awarded baseballs from games. A collection of baseball caps hung from the wall, some from favorite teams, but most from little league versions.

Like I said, it was awesome.

When I first arrived at the house, Jack provided me a twenty-minute tour of his room, making sure I understood the significance of each and every single item. I learned the story about the game where he earned a certain ball, the newest Star Wars Lego toy and why he hasn’t quite finished building it yet, and which little league hat was his favorite. I saw how different toys worked and had the opportunity to compare last year’s Halloween mask with the frontrunner for this year.

In other words, Jack was proud. He surrounded himself with his favorite things and his favorite memories.

And it got me thinking…

Are we still doing this? Are we still allowing ourselves to put up those favorite things and favorite memories?

I definitely remember the day I threw away all my stuffed animals and the day I took down my Batman poster. I remember getting rid of action figures and replacing baseball trophies with better-designed bedside tables.

And I’m wondering, is this good?

Don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying that our rooms should remained locked in childhood versions, but I am wondering how our environment affects our mood. I’m surrounded by electronics in my house that perpetuate certain mass media ideals. I don’t regularly pretend, play, or create in my environment, but instead I consume. I don’t print up photographs from events, but I may share them on my facebook profile.

And I don’t know if all of this is the best.

I’ve read too many stories about students and their negative thoughts or status updates on facebook, and part of me wonders if our “rooms” could be a contributing factor.
If our walls have become completely blank…
If our trophy stands have been put away…
If our all our toys reside at the nearby Goodwill…

…does it perhaps become too easy to forget that we are pretty cool people and that we still have awesome things going on in life?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But I looked at the pride that Jack took in his room, and I knew I wanted to get a bit of that back in my own life.

Don’t worry, I’m not going on an action-figure shopping spree, but I may buy a few more picture frames in the coming weeks and bring some of these facebook photos off my virtual wall and put them up on some real ones.

If you’ve been slacking like me in this regard, maybe you should do the same.

1) The Dallas Mavericks won the NBA Championship and owner Mark Cuban let original owner Donald Carter accept the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy.

2) Newt Gingrich’s entire campaign staff quit gaining much national attention.

3) I sat and watched the closing credits of X-Men: First Class.

So you’re probably thinking, what does this have to do with anything?

As I sat in the theatre and read hundreds if not thousands of names during the X-Men credits, I couldn’t help but think, “wow, a lot of people worked on this.” As much attention as James McAvoy & Michael Fassbender are gaining for their great portrayals of Professor Xavier & Magnetto, hundreds if not thousands supported the film that made this happen. They wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.

Newt Gingrich, although recognized as one of the great minds of the Republican Party, is unlikely to capture the nomination for President simply because he no longer has a cast of hundreds supporting him. Those closest to him in his campaign at this point in time have all resigned. Whatever reason it might be, all the brilliance in the world won’t help if their isn’t a team in the background.

Mark Cuban was known for being vocal if not overly vocal as an owner. He was flashy and constantly in the spotlight. But then there was this championship run where he remained incredibly silent. During the moment of triumph, he allowed the original owner, the man who helped create the Mavericks, come and receive that first award. There was a great deal of POSITIVE publicity about this act.

So the lessons?

No one can do it all on their own.

Great success is often a team effort.

We must recognize those who have come before us.

It’s that simple.

There is a huge cast of characters that helped shape me into the person and speaker that I am today. That list includes (but in no way is limited to): Mom & Dad, Dave, Jane, Mary, Grandma & Grandpa, Great Grandma, Grammy, Jim, Chad, Don, Dick, Alice, Bruce, Phil, Sue, Tara, Jim, Judith, Marek, Larry, Erik, Michelle, Christine, Michelle, Sally, Polly, John, Robby, Molly, Katherine, Ashlee, David, Ross, Wil, Will, Carol, Jeff, Liz, Gary, Craig, Stan, Mike, Dave, Jason, Josh, Jonathan, Glenn, Collin, Mike, Phil, Scott, Stu, Norm, Mike, Grant, Brendon, Ed, Patrick, Hayley, Cara, Jill, Sandi, Sandy, Don, Terri, Micah, Carolyn, MaryBeth, Chris, Mary Jane, Janet, Paul, Suzi, Patty, Tracy, Jennifer, Erin, Jenni, Matt, Scott, Dave, Charlie, Joe, Jeff, Scott, Kevin, Rob, Darrin, Courtney, Ben, Bob, Matt, Steve, Andrew, Andy, Bonnie, Shannon, Cori, Dustin, Brett, Paris, Tiffany, Anne, Nancy, Kindra, Doug, Steve, Kurt, Mike, Kristi, Tonya, Sharon, Kathleen, Victor, Matt, Dave, and many, many, MANY more. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.

Who is on your credits list?

Don’t forget to check out Patrick’s Summer School 2011.

The Trust Walk is nothing new. Many organizations do it, and I’m a huge advocate of this taking place at night. Bishop Manogue has a gorgeous two story indoor campus, allowing some great opportunities for the activity. Since there was an odd number of participants, I took part in the walk as well, pairing up with a student.

During the first part, I was the “eyes,” providing relevant details about our location on campus, the upcoming obstacles, and reassuring safety measures. I keep calm. I continue to talk to let the person know I’m nearby. I reassure. I’ve lead the activity several times over the years, so I know what (most people) like to hear during the time in which their eyes are closed. I’m biased–I did a good job.

But then it was my turn to close my eyes. To be honest, I hadn’t done THIS part since high school. Okay, I’ve done it a bit, but in a large gym during a mini-walk at a leadership day. Now I was on the second floor of a building I barely knew with an understanding that I’d soon be walking six or so minutes back across the campus and also down a staircase.

I don’t want to fault my partner. She actually did an INCREDIBLE job of providing specific instructions. She kept calm. I didn’t bump into anything. I didn’t get hurt. I didn’t fall I knew where the stairs were (and she even counted steps down to the floor for me). But I have to admit, I was still a little scared. When I was the eyes, I was able to provide details about the campus, naming specific artwork or room names. She did the same, but I don’t know the campus, and so I really didn’t know where I was (even though she was giving really good directions).

So I walked slower. I was more hesitant.

And it made me think about beginning something new.

First, I think that if we are the more “experienced” people are on campuses, it’s time for us to step up and get ready for all of the new students to join us. What can we do to welcome them in? How do we welcome them in? How can we help them open their eyes? I’m a huge fan of schools that utilize Link Crew for their high school or WEB for their middle school. Both of these programs are excellent “eyes” for new students and empower leaders to truly mentor new students.

Second, I think if we recognize our eyes are closed, we need to be open to trust. It took me quite some time, but when we finally got to the last hallway or so, I picked up my pace just a bit and trusted. I didn’t know exactly where I was (or perhaps as well as my partner who regularly walked the hallways), but I began to realize she wasn’t going to let me fail. Even then though, if I had failed, the worst thing that would have happened would be that I’d walk into a wall (the stairwell was way behind me). At this point, it’s a matter of me being willing to walk. In other words, don’t delay your success simply because you might have a minor failure.

Just some quick thoughts. I hope you all are able to open your eyes this year and help others see their possibility!

(ps–many thanks to the student leaders at Bishop Manogue)

I don’t understand a single word in the video, but you can tell there is great meaning in it. I had watched the video several times before I started hearing news stories on it. Turns out this was a special birthday surprise put on by the bus company for its employee. It was part of a larger campaign to find unique ways to recognize the service of their workers.

In a day and age where most companies tend to cut back or make rewards simply monetary, it’s nice to see creativity that recognizes that special part of the human spirit.

How can you do the same this year? What creative ways can you recognize those that help you? How can we make the people around us truly feel special?

These are a few of the questions I hope you wrestle with in the coming months. Please let me know the cool answers you discover!

That’s why I was surprised on Monday.

I received an email from the Sundance Volunteer Coordinators.

Why? Because April 18-24th is National Volunteer Week. They wanted to thank the Sundance Volunteers (again! they did this several times throughout the festival). At first I thought it was a generic email, but then I as I read it has some comments from my various supervisors at the festival highlighting some of my personal contributions.

If you’ve been to my ACTIVE APPRECIATION workshop, you know how much I love this email:

A) The comments were incredibly SPECIFIC. I can’t believe that my supervisors had the time in their schedule to write these thoughts down. We were pretty busy during the festival–yes, there was a lot of fun–but it was a pretty hectic schedule.

B) The comments focused on the INDIVIDUAL. A generic email to all volunteers would have worked, but Sundance took the time to data-merge something to customize it for the recipient. It made me feel as if Sundance valued MY service.

C) It was so UNEXPECTED. I really didn’t expect to hear from Sundance again until August when the Alumni volunteer process begins, but there was an email for me on Monday just saying “thanks again.”

So my challenge today is to recognize those volunteers around you. If you can, volunteer a bit this week. Make something happen.

Who knows… you may bring a smile to someone’s face.

On February 18th, I flew on a United flight from Phoenix to Chicago on my way to a convention in Georgia. I’ve already described some of the events from that trip: the funny boy in security and the nice Canadian man I visited with throughout the flight. I neglected to mention one key moment.

After the Canadian man and I had chatted for quite some time, he got up to walk around for a moment or two and stretch his legs. I took that time to put on my Bose headphones again and zone out from the loud airplane sounds. I closed my eyes for a moment or two, but opened them just in time to see the flight attendant. She saw I was actually awake and came back quickly

“The captain wanted to give you this.”

I was a bit surprised and had to doublecheck.

“Yes, the captain wanted to give you this.”

It was his business card. On the back he had jotted down a few short sentences thanking me for being a customer and allowing him the chance to continue to serve.

Yes, I’m definitely aware that my Premier Executive status with United probably triggered this note, but it still meant something that he wrote it. He didn’t have to. I’ve never received anything like this on any flight I’ve ever taken. That day was different. The captain, after leveling off the plane and making sure we weren’t going to hit any turbulence for a bit, used some of his “free” time to appreciate me as a customer.

I’m surprised more airlines haven’t made this into a more regular practice. Pick 3-4 customers each flight and send them a note. It would definitely surprise them and they’d totally share that pleasant surprise with friends.

Can we do the same? I know that as much as I talk about appreciation, I’ve been bad of late on some of those surprise moments. I need to work on it.

What do you need to work on?

Who could you send that random note to?

Is there someone in your school, organization, workplace that could use that pleasant surprise?

Make it happen today!

If you’ve seen my Active Appreciation workshop, you know that I’m a fan of thanking and recognition. The three major ideas of that workshop are to shift from Group to Individual, from General to Specific, and from the Expected/Traditional method to the Unexpected & Creative. It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen all of that take place in such a fun manner.

The festival does a great job in recognizing its volunteers. There is a special volunteer jacket, opportunities to see films, a special volunteer appreciation day, and regular emails with links to articles whenever someone praises the volunteers in the press–it’s part of what makes the experience so fun.

my "happythankyoumoreplease" award

My special Racquetball Club Team B group took it to another level. The Theatre Manager and Assistant Managers began a tradition while at another venue a few years back called “The Honey Bear Awards” (Utah has been known as “The Bee Hive State”). A collection of small bear-shaped honey jars were brought out and a full awards show commenced. The dedication to the whole production is part of what made the short ceremony so fun. One by one, each volunteer on the team was recognized with their own Honey Bear–their award linked to an aspect of their task, personality, and/or contribution as well as the title of a specific film from the festival. Each recipient made a short speech and each award created more laughter, smiles, and photographs as we tried to celebrate these last few moments together.

I spent most of my volunteer time in the tent, communicating with ticketholders and those in the waitlist. For my efforts, I received the “happythankyoumoreplease” award.

I know its a bottle of honey, but there is meaning behind it. When I arrived back in Phoenix the following day, I took it out of my suitcase and proudly displayed it on the memory shelf I have in my office. I’ve already looked at it several times–it serving as a reminder of an amazing volunteer experience with new friends and a way to do appreciation right.