We've all been there before. You know, the times in our lives where it seems like we can't seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we have to ask ourselves the all important question: "Should I just quit?".
Today, I watched in disbelief as my Chicago Bears went down in flames because their quarterback decided to "ride the pine" rather than finish strong. This presented a very unique opportunity for two other quarterbacks on the Bears, and it ended up that the 3rd string QB (Hanie) decided to play hard and try and lead a team from a 14-0 deficit to a win in the 4th quarter. He did a fantastic job under tremendous pressure and stress.
I never want to be in the position of quitting. It is against everything that I believe in. You see, when someone quits, that means an opportunity presents itself to someone else. I give Hanie major kudos for trying. He had that feeling deep down that he could do it; he could lead them to victory. That's the kind of attitude that we need to have on a daily basis. You know the one. The one that says, "I can do this, I can push myself past the limits of what I think I can do." It's not easy, believe me, and I fail miserably so many times, but I do want to be the guy who tries.
In my favorite book - The Bible - Paul says in Philippians 3:12-14:
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Never give up.....................Keep pressing on!
I sit here tonight across from the L2C gate at O'Hare Airport in Chicago run down, exhausted, and just plain frustrated. You see, like always, flying through O'Hare becomes a nightmare. It never fails. I tell myself over and over again - "DO NOT FLY THROUGH O'HARE IN THE WINTER," but pricing trumps my conscience, and I realize once again, there is a reason why flights are always cheaper flying through here instead of another Hub City. I can go months without having a delay, cancellation, or any other strange occurrence, but Chicago always leaves me with all three!
I am on my way home from a great Leadership Summit in NW Arkansas with the Soderquist Center. If you have never heard of this great organization, visit them here: www.soderquist.org They truly transform companies and help make better leaders. We've had the privilege of utilizing their services for our company at Lockard and with the CCIM Institute and they have taken us to places that we never thought we could go and things we never thought we could achieve.
I was traveling down there yesterday and had to leave the house at 5am for a 6:55am flight out of Cedar Rapids. Of course, without fail, we had a blizzard the night before and I couldn't plow the driveway for my wife because I couldn't really fire up the snow blower at 4:30am and wake up all of my neighbors. It couldn't happen any other day, of course not, just the day I'm leaving. A normal 45 minute drive to Cedar Rapids turned into an hour and a half and I arrived at 6:20am for a 6:55 flight which I find out is delayed due to a mechanical problem until 7:30am. No problem, still time to make my connection in Chicago. We (Jamie, our President of Construction) board the plane, and we end up sitting on the plane for an hour and 45 minutes because of an ATC (Air Traffic Control) hold in Chicago - of course! So, making our connection is now totally out of the question, and this means that we'll have to catch another flight to NW Arkansas. We finally take off and land in Chicago and then sit on the tarmac @ O'Hare for another 30 minutes because our gate was occupied. When we landed I looked at Jamie and said, "you do realize that we could have driven all the way to Chicago and we'd be here by now, dont' you?" I hate that feeling.
We made it to NW Arkansas several hours late, had a wonderful time at the leadership summit. Then it came time to head back to the airport to leave....again I have to make the dreaded stop @ O'Hare. Jamie took off for Dallas on his way to Oklahoma City. He has no problems, but for me.......well you guessed it, an ATC hold - again - delayed the flight for an hour out of NW Arkansas. I land in Chicago and then ATC caused another hold here to get to Cedar Rapids. The reader board goes from a 9:45pm departure to a 10:12pm departure, to a 10:30pm departure, to a 12:11am departure. You should of heard the gasps and people becoming irate at the gate. I mean, it sounded like someone took their babies, dogs, car, house, or something else of severe importance. Without fail there is always that one guy who will be "the guy." He's the one that gets everyone all wound up. He's the "neighborhood spokesman" who doesn't want Walmart to locate a store in his neighborhood's backyard. He's the one who has to make sure that everyone knows he has to be heard.
Believe me, I've been there. I used to work for American Airlines at the gate in Dallas/Fort Worth, and I know how these people can treat you. I've had my tie pulled, been cussed at, and everything in between. I feel for these people at the airport. They always get their heads bit off for no reason. By the tone of "Mr. Know-It-All," you would have thought that the gate agent was responsible for the Kennedy assassination, the disappearance of Hoffa, and 9/11. The poor girl at the counter didn't do anything. She can't control the guys in the tower or the planes on the ground. I have huge empathy for her as I know she has been there time and time again. It's not like she can get home to her family either. She has to wait until we get out, so she can leave for the night. I don't think she enjoys working until midnight, when she should be done around 10pm.
It is in times like these that I just have to go out of my way and tell them that they are doing a great job and that I need to apologize for the behavior of the Iowan who just totally flipped out.
One of the best quotes I heard at the Leadership Summit this week wasn't from Don Soderquist, or Chuck Hyde, or Tom Verdery or any other high-profile leaders. (Believe me, they had unbelievable information to share). It was by a guy named Colby from a small town in Texas. He probably only said about two words during the whole summit, but when he spoke at the end of the day, it was awesome. He said this:
"People don't care what you know, until they know that you care."
We can't lead our organizations, our homes, our churches, or anything until people know that you truly and deeply care. I'd encourage you, go out of your way to show others you care. It goes a long way!
