Growing up I was fascinated by Batman and Robin.   It is an American comic book icon.    I often looked forward to borrowing a copy from my classmate, as my family could not afford it.    The comic book brought hours of enjoyment.

As I reflect on Batman and Robin’s relationship, I noticed their chemistry.  They are compatible, as they know what each other does and understand their respective roles.   Together they are unstoppable.  Batman is the main character and Robin is what I call the supporting character.   Robin is a role player who plays his role really well.   Robin is comfortable being a sidekick and continues to do it for many years.   They complement each other and continue to fight against their villain.

At work, I also see people who pair up like Batman and Robin.   Batman usually gets the accolades for all the accomplishments of the group, while Robin is a willing participant.   Robin goes wherever Batman goes, from department to department at times.   So, what’s my point?  I’m of the opinion that it is okay to be Robin for a period of time in your career.  Because Batman is taking you under his wing to nurture, mentor, and help you grow and develop.    Those are priceless gifts that go a long way in establishing a successful career for you.

At some point in Robin’s career, Robin must think, what would it be like if I’m the star?   It would be nice if he saved the city and received the accolades and recognition.    Maybe Robin is comfortable being the sidekick and has no desire to do his own thing.   Robin might just be happy to say “Holy atomic pile, Batman!”.

The reality in life is Robin cannot stand behind Batman forever.  What if Batman retires?  Would Robin be forced to retire?  Robin needs to venture out and try his own thing.  Flex his muscles and demonstrate that he can accomplish things without Batman’s help.   It would be looked at as a confidence builder for him to realize his goals and do them on his own terms.    Over the last four years, I’ve seen people whom I deemed as Robin step outside their comfort zone and do their own thing.    Most of them were successful.  They pushed themselves and made a name for themselves.   It is not easy; if it were easy then everyone would be doing it.

I’ll end this post with these conversations between Robin and Batman,

Robin: “You can’t get away from Batman that easy!”
Batman: “Easily.”
Robin: “Easily.”
Batman: “Good grammar is essential, Robin.”
Robin: “Thank you.”
Batman: “You’re welcome.”

I say of course you can get away from Batman.  Does Robin have the initiative to take the first step?  Initiative is the most important thing.  Once the first step is over the rest will fall into place.

I’ll end this note with this exchange from Batman to Robin: “When you get a little older, you’ll see how easy it is to become lured by the female of the species.”    It is time to move on Robin.  Make a name for yourself.   For those folks whom you know that are Robin, engage them to take on the challenge and grow and develop.

In Merriam Webster happiness is defined as a state of wellbeing and contentment, or a pleasurable or satisfying experience.     When I think of happiness, this quote comes to mind,

Happiness is always a by-product.  It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular.  But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness. 

~Robertson Davies

When I think of happiness, it is relative to a person’s circumstances, time and state of mind.   It also varies from one person to another.   Some people find happiness through material things. Other finds happiness through helping others.  When I was growing up, I was happy when I spent time at my parents’ convenience store, because I got to interact with the folks who buy stuff from us and the workers at the market.  I also found happiness drawing and creating posters for use at school because it was a means for self-expression.

As you go through life, what makes you happy changes; it is indeed relative to a point in time or phase of your life.  I find that sometimes we kind of live our life backwards.  We work to earn more money and accumulate stuff to make us happy.  However, it is better to find your true calling and then express your passion to achieve your goal.   As I ponder this topic, I can’t help but think of what matters to us the most.   I viewed that health is important and being healthy should make us happy because it enables us to do what we want.

I view a happy person as someone who can enjoy a journey with unexpected stops, but enjoy the scenery as he/she passes through.   I’m often reminded that I need to put my expectations in perspective.  The last time I served at St. Martin’s soup kitchen it reminded me that other people are facing problems; that a gift of a meal brings joy to them.   It is a humbling experience that made me come back to keep me grounded.

As I reflect on this topic, I can’t help but think that there are people who find tremendous happiness in making others happy in spite of the grief that they themselves are going through.   They put others’ welfare ahead of theirs.  Mother Teresa is an inspiration for what she did.  She dedicated her life to help the poor people.  She founded the Missionaries of Charity with the objective of providing free service to the poorest of the poor.

These days, I’m happy when I spend time with my two daughters and wife.   I’m thankful for the opportunity to be part of their activities and lying down and sharing stories with my daughters.   I believe in doing random acts of kindness.   A simple thank you goes a long way to putting a smile on people’s faces.   Each day I count my blessings and avoid falling in the trap of complaining.   Because I always remind myself that other people are going through tougher challenges than I am.

I’d like to close this post with this:

The happy have whole days,
and those they choose.
The unhappy have but hours,
and those they lose.
~Colley Cibber

May you find happiness in the little things in life like taking a walk in the park.  May you seize the moment and make the most of your opportunity.  As my friend Judy says, “She believes that truly happy people are the ones who are thankful for what they have.”

A teachable moment is defined as a time at which learning a particular topic or idea becomes possible or relevant.   What does that really mean?  It means that when something happens, it provides an opportunity to share an experience, knowledge or feedback that can help the person learn something valuable.  In most situations, that conversation ends up having a lasting effect on that person.

Applying the same concept at work, I called it instantaneous feedback.   For example, during a meeting, one of my directs said something that did not come across nicely.  The other party was not happy with the outcome of the meeting.  After the meeting, we returned to my office and I asked my direct what just transpired.   The person was not sure what went wrong.   I explained the situation and proceed to cite an example and gave suggestions on how we can best handle such a situation in the future.   It clarified the situation and the instantaneous feedback provided a learning opportunity.   The stickiness of the lesson has a lasting effect.

In December of last year, while coaching my daughter’s 4^th grade girls basketball team against St. Anthony, we arrived at the gym surprised to see that the St. Anthony team’s players were taller than our players.  I was taken aback by what I saw, but kept my composure so as to not get my team worried.   By the time the game reached third quarter, we were ahead by 10 points.   I called a timeout and told my players that we are not going to score.  At first they were confused. I explained to them that we have a big lead and it is unsportsmanlike to try to score.  I proceeded to elaborate that we need to respect the other team; that if we were in the same situation we would not want the other team to embarrass us.    I looked at the opportunity as a teachable moment to impart a valuable lesson of sportsmanship.    Over the season, the team learned to stop scoring when we had a lead of more than 10 points.    I’m proud of my team for learning sportsmanship.   At the end of the day, the win does not mean much if they don’t learn something that they can take with them for the rest of their playing days.

As a leader in my organization, I feel that it is my job to watch out for the best interest of the people working for us.  That’s why I’m committed to coaching and mentoring.   I firmly believe that people are our most important asset.   We can have the best technology, but without the right people in the right place we cannot be successful.   A teachable moment is another vehicle to impart our knowledge and experience.    Sharing is the best way to improve our community and when our community increases its capability, the company and shareholders will benefit from it.   It will also increase our competitive advantage.

In 2000, I left my job at a big five accounting firm because I was frustrated that my career was going nowhere.   Because I was eager to move on, I took an opportunity to go back and work as a consultant.    Two years earlier, I had quit a consulting assignment to work full time to climb the proverbial corporate ladder.   You’ll ask, why go back when I want to move up the corporate ladder?   Back then I made a decision in haste, but looking back I was not sure why. Maybe it was my gut feeling that it was time to move on.

That move to work as a consultant ended up being the best move of my career.   Someone took me under his wing and invested the time to show me the ropes and the lay of the land of the company.  Back then I had no concept of mentoring, but I was truly thankful and felt blessed.   Being technically strong in getting my job, I lacked the skills needed to succeed in the long run.   I would not have worked for the manager if not for the dot-net boom that led to the departure of most of the members of the team.   When he was introduced to the team, he came across as down to earth and made a good impression to the remaining members of the team.

After the initial meeting, I did some research and found out that he’s well respected by a lot of people and known to be a great leader.   During our initial one-on-one, he told me that he wanted me to stay and work for him as he was trying to rebuild the team.   He asked me what I wanted to do and to get back to him.   Since I really wanted to be an employee, I told him on my next meeting that I wanted to have the chance to be the team leader.   He said that he was not sure about it, but was willing to give me a chance.   I was really thankful that he took the chance.  In the end, I spent the best 7 years of my career at that firm.

What’s my point for this post?

1)      Mentoring is a big part of our progress and success.

2)      By identifying our weaknesses and areas of improvement, we can seek mentors who are proficient in those fields.

3)      It is important to demonstrate to the mentor that you value them and make an effort to seek their advice.

4)      You can have more than one mentor, because each mentor provides certain expertise that can help you focus on your development needs.

5)      Be mindful of their time and make sure that you write down action items and provide status updates to your mentor. This way they know that you’re not wasting their time.

6)      Mentoring alone will not make you successful; you need to work hard and do your job.

7)      As you benefit from a mentor, pay it forward and mentor other people.

In closing, a mentor can help you learn more about yourself and develop the necessary skills that can help you in your career.  Do some researches before you seek someone to be your mentor; make sure that you’ll keep the commitment and pay it forward.    A mentoring relationship does not have to be formal.  An informal mentoring relationship is equally valuable, depending on your situation.

Go seek a mentor and mentor others to pay it forward.

There will be times in your life in which something happens that causes you to lose control of the situation.   To cite some examples,  someone cutting you off on your way to work, your manager at work criticizing you in front of your colleagues, or no foul was called when you were clearly fouled during a basketball game to name a few.   In the heat of the moment, you went off the deep end and lost it.   As a result, you have said things that you did not mean or made bad decisions that resulted in negative outcomes.

When we act in haste, our mind is not thinking clearly, therefore our decisions are skewed.  We could be consumed by our negative emotions that cloud our mind and prevent us from making sense of the situation.  In the end, someone could be emotionally hurt or, worse yet, physically hurt.   Must we end up in the situation where we regret our actions and how we conduct ourselves in order for us to learn a lesson?

Nobody expects you to be perfect.  However, we are always responsible for our actions whether we like it or not and have to deal with the consequences.   It might be true that the other party was wrong, but your actions may exacerbate the situation.   It is evident that you have no influence on the incident, but you have control of how you react to the situation.

Citing a recent incident that showed that no one is immune to the challenges of daily life, consider Rory McIlroy, the number golfer in the world.   He walked off the course in the second round of the Honda Classic after going 7 over par after ninth hole.  He cited a wisdom tooth problem for pulling out of the tournament.   Some people were suspicious about the reason for pulling out of the tournament.   A few days later, Rory apologized for pulling out of the tournament and explained that he is not in a great place mentally.  Yes, he had a wisdom tooth problem, but he owed it to the fans and tournament organizer to gut it out and play through it.

No one says that we can’t make mistakes.  Often how you react after a bad situation could define who you are as a person.  Rory took the high road and apologized for his mistake.  He understands that as an athlete he needs to set good example because he is a role model and has influence on others, because your follower could act as you do.

Just like a coach, when you display anger at your player, they will in turn do the same.  If you shout at the officials, they will do the same, because they will think it is acceptable behavior.  When you lead others, you are a role model whether you like it or not.  People around you have their eyes on you and observe the way you conduct yourself.  As a coach, you need to keep your emotions in check and take a step back.  Take things in perspective.  Sometimes it is not easy to hold back, but when your players see you, they will know it is correct to hold back and walk away.

The next time you’re faced with a tough situation.  Try the following:

• Take a deep breath
• Step back and try to control your emotion
• Analyze how important it is to react swiftly or if walking away is an option
• Assess what is at stake
• In most cases, unless someone intended it to hurt you, it is best to walk away and ignore the incident.
• When we act while being consumed with negative emotion, we lose our ability to be logical and objective.  So it is best to slow down and take a deep breath.
• If you made a mistake, make amends and apologize.  Admission and acknowledgement are important ways of showing you sincerely regret your actions.

The purpose of this blog post is not to say that it is incorrect to make a mistake.  But rather the point is to impart knowledge on how to best deal with situation.  In many ways, we are role models and as such people watch and observe our actions.  It is best to set an example and inspire others to do the right thing.   Remember by making mistakes we learn from them and that enables us to grow and develop to be the best person that we can be.

Above all, we can only make an impact on society if we share our knowledge and expertise.  When we succeed in controlling our emotions and hold back, avoiding making decisions when consumed with negative emotion, our struggle will serve as a lesson for those who work with us or follow us.   I’m a firm believer that we almost always have the choice to be angry or just sad.   To hold back or walk away, it is never easy, but in the end, we are always responsible for our actions.  With that said, the next time you’re faced with such a situation, step back and take a deep breath.

In the fall of 2012, my nine year old daughter decided that she wants to join St. Elizabeth 4^th grade girls basketball team.    I recognized that this would give me an opportunity to be part of her activity so I volunteered as an assistant coach.

A few weeks before the season started, I received a phone call from the commissioner of our school that our team did not have a coach.   He suggested that I think about volunteering as the head coach.   I was not sure I was up for the challenge.   I spoke to my daughter and asked her if she really wanted to play basketball.   My thought process was, if I can convince her not to join, then I’m off the hook.  But she insisted that she wanted to play and urged me to coach the team.    That night I pondered on the responsibility as a head coach and its demand.   As it is, my work demand is high, but then I still want to be part of my daughter’s activity.     In my mind, I did not want to miss out on the opportunity.

During the next two weeks, I worked on my schedule and tried to move things around so I could be available.  I gave the commissioner a call and informed him of my decision to coach my daughter’s team.    That night I was left wondering if I have what it takes to coach the 4^th grade girls basketball team.   I used to play basketball, but the last time I played was about 15 years ago.   The last time I coached a team was back when I was a senior in high school coaching the freshman team.

Over the next few weeks, I prepared for the upcoming season by reading books, practicing and watching videos.   I realized that I was putting in a lot of time and effort.   As always, I never do things halfway.  If I decide to do something, I often put in 100% effort and try my best.  That’s how my father taught me growing up.  You need to always try your best.  The outcome might not be what you expected, but as long as you tried your very best and put in your best effort, that was good enough for him.   It is the same values that I passed along to my daughters.   A great addition to my team was the daughter of my former co-worker, who offered to help me coach my team.

I was anxious about our first practice.   I started the session by asking the girls why they wanted to play basketball.   Each of them gave me their reason and I gave them my objective for coaching the team.   My focus for the practice was learning the fundamentals, teamwork, sportsmanship, trusting one another and having fun playing the game.

Our first game was against St. Anthony.  When we walked in the gym, I was surprised to see the girls on the other team were a lot taller than the girls on my team.    I kept my composure and focused on our game.  I knew, if we played our game and focused our defense, we had a chance to win the game.  The first game went really well and we won the game.   We also taught the girls sportsmanship by stopping from scoring once our lead was over a dozen points.  It was a hard concept for them to understand, but in the end they understood why it is important for us to respect our opponent.

Over the next few games, the team learned to work through adversity and won a couple of close games.   Before we knew it, we had won five games in a row.    Some folks approached me and congratulated me for a job well done, but I kept on saying that it was the team that did all the work.  I often attributed our success to the team’s commitment to teamwork.    I also found out that there were some reservations that this team might not do well this season.    From my perspective, there was no doubt that my team was capable of winning games, because of their commitment to learn and work hard at all times.

We closed the season with a loss, but that loss taught us a valuable lesson, that we need to play the entire game and we cannot just show up the second half.  We lost by a point.  I told the team that I was proud of them for coming out and playing well the second half.     The team remained hungry and eager to prove themselves.

We won our semi-final game and went on to play in the championship.   In the championship game, we faced the same team that we played three close games during the season.   We won all three games, but I emphasized to my team that we could not take them lightly.  Before the start of the game, I told the girls that I was so proud of them for working hard all year and they should enjoy this game.   I told them that I believed in them and that we needed to leave everything on the court and be aggressive. I stressed that we needed to come out strong and played our game.   We led the first half, but then they came back and led by 4 points with less than 3 minutes to go.   We were out of sync.   I called a couple of timeouts and during each one of the timeouts I told them that I believed in them that we could come back from the deficit.    I reiterated that I believed in them and did they believe in themselves.   They responded “YES.”  We proceeded to score a three-point play, then another basket that gave us the lead.    We won the game by a point.   The girls were so happy and everyone came running onto the court.

I was so happy for the girls.  They played hard and came back to win the game.   This win demonstrated that with hard work, dedication and commitment we can overcome all obstacles.   I told them that I’m really proud of them.     During the awarding ceremony, I thanked the host of the event, our opponent, AOL, who played four great games, the parents for their commitment, my assistant coaches for their contributions, and my players for working hard all season.   We completed a magical season in which we compiled an 11-1 record.

Here is my lesson learned:

• Be patient – Patience is the most important virtue.   By stepping back and learning to listen to them, I was able to help them learn the fundamentals of basketball and enjoy it in the process.
• Believe in them – I never doubted my team’s capabilities.  From day one, I knew that with proper coaching and support my team’s capability was unlimited.    I saw the joy in their eyes whenever they came to practice and played the game.
• Work hard – There were days in which I felt like I was working two jobs.  I put in 100% at work then came home and worked on the lessons and plays for my team.
• Never give up – My personal approach applies to my team.  I never gave up on them and continued to encourage them to try their best until the time runs out.  This resulted in winning 6 close games, five of which we came from behind to win.   Affirming that I believed in them was the first step in accomplishing our goal.
• Keeping my composure – Throughout the season I kept my composure and never showed that I was worried.   I kept on encouraging my team to work through it and never waver.
• Apply effective feedback – Whenever they made a mistake, I often encouraged them to reset and forget the mistake and focus on the next play or shot.    When a player was not playing well, I provided encouragement and engaged them in a one-on-one dialogue.

I’m truly thankful for the coaching opportunity.  I’m so glad that I took this opportunity.  I spent time with my daughter and formed a bond and shared an experience that we will share for a lifetime.    I will always remember this experience.    It reinforced my belief that I always have to seize the moment and make the most of the opportunity.   Go Crusaders!

Delegation by definition is the act or process of delegating or being delegated.  It is transferring of responsibility between the manager and his/her subordinate.   This does not mean that the manager is completely freed of the responsibility or no longer accountable, but rather the subordinate is empowered to carry out the task on the manager’s behalf.

Early on in my career, I thrived on being a single performer.   The reason I like to work as a single performer is because by and large you control your own destiny.   As a programmer, as long as you understand the programming language and its limitations, follow the design methodology, understand the business requirements, work closely with your business and manage your time, you can control the outcome.   In many respects, you get what you put in.   It is an old saying my father told me many times:  You’ll only achieve something if you put in the effort needed to accomplish the goal.   It sounds simple, but indeed, it is simple.    The results speak for themselves as I moved up the ranks and gained confidence along the way.

It is quicker for me to do it myself

While is it true that it is quicker if you do the work yourself, depending on your role in your organization, it might help you achieve your goal in the short term, but in the long term you’re not helping your organization achieve its goal.

The need to get it done quickly and getting it out of the way can also give you a false sense of accomplishment.   The mere fact that the task was completed gives you the feeling that you can check it off your list.

So, why delegate?

• Free up your time – this is ultimately the best reason why you need to delegate.  Delegating frees up your time to work on things that have the highest value to the organization. It also means that you can work on strategic thinking to help expand your company’s capabilities.
• Growing talent – this is essential to every organization.  The overall capabilities of the organization will increase in equal proportion to the more people we develop.   By delegating our responsibilities, people will learn new skills that will help them become valuable resources of the company.
• Increase morale – delegation is only effective if we empower the people to carry out the task.  Empowering people can improve their morale.    The improvement in morale equates to better engagement and improvement in retention.
• Sharing your expertise – showing people how to do things and explaining the purpose or what it means to the organization helps people understand how their work fits in the overall scheme of things.  By showing people how do things, they will respect and appreciate your gesture.
• You still own the responsibility – while you’re helping someone accomplish the task, you still own the responsibility and are accountable for the delivery of the task.  Delegation does not preclude you from owning the task.   You’ll learn a new skill by working through others.  It will help you learn how to trust and have confidence in others.
• Do not dump – some people fall into the trap that they can delegate anything they don’t like to work on.   At times they delegate without providing support or guidance or forget to empower the people to need to get the job done.   Without proper guidance and support, the people you’re working with will not learn how to effectively get their jobs done.

Delegation in itself is a great thing.  It all starts with an acknowledgement that you need to spend your time on other tasks that matter to you the most.   It shifts the focus from completing tasks to achieving what is important to you and the organization.   It means looking through different lenses in which we focus on quality and not quantity.   Similarly, all people who want to cook aren’t Chefs.  In order to be a Chef, you need to have the advance skills only bestowed to that level or caliber.  However, it does not mean that you cannot aspire to be a Chef.   Just like any job, we learn from someone we admire and respect.   That same analogy applies to being a Chef.   They all started learning from someone they admire and respect.  Overtime they learn new skills and become a Chef.

From an overall scheme of things, sharing your knowledge and expertise is a way to improve a community.  When we share our knowledge, we empower people to grow and develop.  It is through sharing that we can make this world a better place.   Feel free to share your thoughts.

With the competitive landscape and the existing economic conditions, companies need to find ways to stay competitive and gain or maintain market share.   Companies’ profitability can be attributed to the following: efficiency, quality, productivity and innovation.    It is increasingly important to differentiate yourself from your competitors.   Some companies differentiate themselves in the following ways, by providing the best customer service, being first to market with innovative solutions, focusing on simplification or being known for best quality.

In the same light, companies look to their people to help come up with ideas that can help the company gain competitive advantage.    Most companies still acknowledge that people are their most important resources.   I’m of the opinion that a company can have the best technology and machinery, but without the right people in the right place to program and operate them, the company cannot be successful.  Ultimately people are what make or break a company.

Just like a basket of apples, how can one apple standout from the rest?  Could it be by being the largest, shiniest or the color is vibrant?   It does not matter if you’re an entrepreneur or employee; you need to demonstrate certain attributes that make you stand out from the rest.    From my experience, here are some of the ways to standout:

• Commit to renewing and recharging your energy – this is the most important point that I want to highlight.  In order for you to be able to differentiate yourself, you need to feel good about yourself. Renewing yourself means spending time to relax and recharge.  This could be done by meditating or spending time on things that you love, such as family and hobbies, that keep you at ease.   Make sure to remember that each day you need to spend time that contributes to your wellbeing and take the opportunity to reflect on the things you’re working on and how it contributes to your goal.
• Be a subject matter expert (SME)  –  Be an expert on a topic, business process, operation areas, programming languages, user design (UX), etc.   By becoming an expert, you’ll be the go-to person for people to seek help and get things done.
• Volunteer your time in cross-functional projects – this is the best way to get your name out there.   By participating in these types of initiatives, you can expand your reach, but make sure to follow through your commitment and get the job done.
• Take on project that no one wants  – I make a career out of being the guy that takes on projects that other people deem unimportant.   Yet by doing those projects, management sees the value of being a team player and taking one for the team.  This ultimately helps me get myself in the mix of people they deem to be important to the organization.
• Helping others – our organization is like an eco system.  For it to work effectively sometimes we seek help and other times we give back to the community.    Help others and be known for your knowledge and abilities.
• Focus on continuous development – sharpen your saw and look for new things to learn and develop. By committing to continuous improvement, you can develop new skills and increase your capability, thereby differentiating yourself.
• Represent something – take an interest in programs that you’re passionate about or start something new.   In my situation, my passion is developing talents. To this end, I commit to spend time to mentor, coach and develop people around me.    I make it a point to provide effective feedback.  By effective feedback I mean providing constructive feedback immediately after the situation arises and providing guidance for the way forward.  This is also the reason why I’m active as co-captain of Stevens recruiting.  I’m responsible for conducting the information session, recruiting at career fairs and interviewing candidates for UBS.
• Network – it is important for you to network with people other than doing the work with one another.  Spend time getting to know the people, who they are and if they value and understand their goals.
• Selling yourself – In spite of all the work that you do, sometimes people don’t know your contribution, not because they don’t care, but because they are also busy with their own business.  So, it is important to you to sell yourself to let others know what you do and the value or benefits of the work you and your team are doing and how it contributes to the organization.

Just like the basket of apples, you need to make people see you among all the apples.  Make them notice you and ultimately select you to work with them.   Make them want to be on your team and inspire them to achieve greater goals.    Sometimes it seems like getting the work done is the means to an end, but really the journey is a big part of it.  You need to figure out how to focus your attention and also recharge yourself.     If you like this post, I ask you to do one of two things: share with me your ways of differentiating yourself or share this post with a friend.

I’ll start by saying, “Welcome 2013!  A year of opportunity for us to make our dream a reality.”   Ushering in a New Year reminds me of Oprah Winfrey’s quote, “Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.”    It is akin to turning a page in our book of life and starting a new chapter, which is a blank canvas for us to draw whatever we want.

One of my favorite things to do as I end a year and start a new one is to review my plan and make adjustments that help me position myself as I ring in the New Year.    By doing so, I can start the year right and focus on the things that are important to me and my family.

Here are a few things that can help you begin your year:

1)    Take a risk – I urge you to take a chance, a calculated risk that is.   Work outside your comfort zone and expand your horizon.

2)    Plan – Prepare a career plan and track your progress.   This way, you know where you’re heading.

3)    Coach – Find a coach to help you grow and develop.  If professional athletes have coaches to observe and provide feedback to help them improve their game, why don’t we have a coach at work?  Seek a coach to observe you work and helping you improve our skills.   This way you’ll continue to develop your skills.

4)    Believe in continuous learning – The day you stop learning, you’ll be left behind by everyone else.  It is important to continue to learning new things and increase your capabilities.

5)    Network and collaborate – I believe in the saying that no man is an island.  I encourage you to network and connect with others.   Find a common interest and collaborate to develop new things; by doing this, you’ll expand your horizon.

6)    When in doubt ask questions – Early on in my career, I paid the price for assuming things.  In the end, certain mistakes took a long time for me to recover from.  I advise that you ask questions and avoid the headache altogether.

7)    Lastly, do something nice for someone.   The random act of kindness can make someone’s day or help someone overcome some challenges.  If we share our knowledge and experience, we can make this world a better place.

I’ll end this blog post by sharing a poem by William Arthur Ward.

Another fresh new year is here
Another year to live
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!

Embrace the gift of a brand new day.  Face it with enthusiasm and make the most of it.    Remember that the choice is yours – to be happy or to be sad.   Happy New Year to everyone!   May the New Year bring good health and prosperity to you and your family.

I’m starting my post by reflecting on Mark Twain quotes, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore. Dream. Discover.”     Just like most folks, at times I do feel the comfort of the current state and am hesitant to test the water.   Why risk it?  Why make a move and end up at the bottom of the pool?  Why change things at work?  Too many questions, but I don’t have any answers, as I have not put much thought into it.

To summarize my year, it has been a great year for me because of the following reasons:

• Participated in the St. Elizabeth Men’s Cornerstone program – for years, I hesitated attending this retreat, but in the end I’m glad I did because I have a profound sense of appreciation for what I have and gained 18 good friends along the way.
• Promotion at work – after years of waiting for my turn, I never waver and continue to work hard. I evolved by learning new skills and doing my very best at all times.  I never give up and believe in chasing my dream and making it happen.  It helps that I stayed positive during the numerous years of not getting my promotions.  All throughout this journey, I continued to put my people ahead of my personal agenda and make sure that I show my appreciation for their commitment and contributions.   It is my belief that people are the most important assets.
• Participated as an assistant coach for my daughter’s recreational soccer team – soccer is not my best sport, but I figured that I’m a quick learner.  I enjoyed being there for my daughter and helping out the coach.  I truly enjoyed this experience and bonded with my daughter.
• Caddied for my daughter’s golf lesson and tournaments – I value the time I spent with my daughter and the test of my patience.   We’ve spent a lot of hours playing together that made me look forward to next season with much enthusiasm.    The highlight was when she played at the Twin Willow shootout and placed second.  I’m so proud of her.  I’ll forever remember this experience.
• Book launch of the Lead Change Book project on Character-Based Leader – writing a book has been on my checklist for many years.  I’m honored to work with 20 other authors that I never met until the book was launched.  This is pure collaboration using social media to its full extent.  We met through Twitter and collaborated until we completed this book.   The icing on the cake was when I met Tara at the Danbury book signing.   What an experience!  A true test of pushing the limit and working outside of my comfort zone.
• Presenting the Recipe to the 2012 Year Up at UBS – I prepared this material in the middle of the year and was excited to share it with folks who are starting their careers and learning the ropes.  The goal of the presentation was to impart knowledge on what it takes to be successful.
• Hosted a picnic for my group – I believe that, as a leader of my group, I’m serving my people first and making sure that I show them my appreciation for their hard work and commitment.   I took over a new group in June and was given the challenging tasks of building out a new platform while continuing to roll out the existing application. By helping the team to focus on our goals, we were able to complete our initial deliverables and then build out the new platform.  It is an amazing accomplishment considering we were behind the eight ball by 5 months.  The picnic was the highlight that people on my team still talk about to this date.
• Learning a lot about myself – Hurricane Sandy tested my ability to help the firm recover its critical infrastructure.  I worked through adversity and led the team through our recovery and restoration efforts.    With 9 days of no electricity and working through almost 30 hours and, all in all, two weeks of continued work,  I learned that I’m capable to lead in tough situations when called upon.
• Coaching my daughter’s basketball team – being an assistant coach is one thing, but coaching is taking the challenge to the next level.    I look at this opportunity to teach the girls leadership and teamwork.  At the same time, I’m there for my daughter and making the most of my opportunity to be part of her activities.   Like anything that I get myself involved in, I do it 100% as I spend time planning, reviewing and organizing sessions.  So far we have a great season and the girls are having fun learning how to play basketball.
• Celebrated three years of blogging – this is an important milestone in my aspiration to spread the word and share my knowledge and experiences.   This is one of the most important missions I have—to help raise awareness on issues or challenges that people are encountering.

By all standards, this is one of the best years I ever had.   As I look back to the year that went by so fast, I feel blessed that I created a plan and tracked my progress throughout the year.   The lesson that I want to impart to everyone is that you need to create a plan.  Because without a plan, you’ll be working on other people’s plans.   Without a plan, it is like walking blindfolded as you go down the stairs.  Please start your year by creating a plan, then track your progress.   I urge you to dream, explore and discover new things and challenge yourself.

As I look forward to next year, I challenge myself to think about Mark Twain’s quote as I start updating my plan.   I want to make sure I challenge myself and avoid playing the what-if scenario.   In the next two weeks, I’ll be reviewing my plan and plotting my next steps.   Mark Twain’s quote will be a constant reminder not to play it safe.    As your take away, I hope you’ll prepare your plan and track your progress throughout the year.    I encourage you to share your story and let me know how I can be of help.  Best wishes to you on the coming year.