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RISEZINE
A Publication of Please
Rise
Spring 2010 Vol. 5 No. 4
Welcome to
RiseZine my quarterly electronic
magazine (ezine) that can help you solve problems in your business and your
life. It is my desire to bring you inspiration from the experiences I
gained during the twenty (20) years I spent as a Judge of the Denver County
Court participating in the transformation of lives. I’m convinced that
those experiences will heighten your knowledge, sensitivity and outlook on
the issues you face in your business and your life. I am honored to share
your precious time with you.
P O P for Success
“For unto everyone that
hath shall be given and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not
shall be taken away even that which he hath.” Matthew 25:29 Holy Bible,
King James Version. That’s the way Malcolm Gladwell opens his New York
Times bestseller Outliers; The Story of Success, 2008. I was so
impressed with the book that last week when I returned to Spencer Elementary
School in Savannah, Georgia to speak to the “Young Men of Honor” (YMOH), I
wanted to share the premise of Gladwell’s book in a way that was
understandable to ten and eleven-year-old boys. My earlier visits (nee
chats) all contained elements of the principles of success as I saw them.
In prior meetings, I created a RAP to help me introduce my ideas and
mnemonics to help them remember the concepts: “Get on your feet, clap your
hands, lend a hand, please rise; you’re Alpha Lambda’s Young Men of Honor,
you will have successful lives.”
In my first meeting with
YMOH one year ago, I used the mnemonic B-A-L-L to encourage them to [B]elieve,
[A]chieve [L]ead and [L]earn. I used the D-E-E-D
mnemonic from last quarter’s RiseZine at my meeting with them in November.
It was always my intention to define success for them and demonstrate how
they possessed the elements necessary for success in their lives. After
reading Outliers, my focus changed from how do we define success to
how do we achieve success. Malcolm Gladwell immediately transformed for me
the way I understand success.
The word “outlier” comes
from what scientists call, “phenomena outside the normal or ordinary
experiences; a statistical observation that is markedly different in value
than the others of the sample.” Is extraordinary genius, luck or
significant effort necessary to achieve success? Gladwell answers the
pertinent question about our culture, “Is how well we do determined solely
on innate ability or is persistence and effort significant. The attitude
persists during your tenure in school or the workforce and the success you
achieve is related to that attitude.” If you want extraordinary results,
you need extraordinary effort. Meaningful work is found through passion,
not genius. So you throw your heart and mind into it and it develops “big
success” > outliers!
Mastery of your work is
how Gladwell defines success. He introduces his reading audience to the
10,000 hour rule. That is how long an apprenticeship is needed before you
become an expert or be able to master your work…roughly 10 years. He cites
the example of the Beatles…how long did they practice before they became
World Famous? In 1957, Paul McCartney and John Lennon were the beneficiaries
of an amazingly fortuitous event. When a promoter needed a band to play
eight hours a day, seven days a week in Hamburg Germany, the Beatles were
chosen. By the time they hit the United States in 1964, they had well over
10,000 hours of practice. I can take my own example: how long did I
practice law before I became a judge, 10 years? How long did you practice
your craft, profession or skill before you mastered it; 10 years? Can you be
an expert surgeon before you achieve 10,000 hours of practice? Doctor, I
don’t want you operating on me with anything less than 10,000 hours. I want
an outlier!
I wondered how I would
get these Fifth-graders to remember the concept for achieving success. I
remembered a joke by Jeff Foxworthy, host of the television program, “Are
You Smarter than a Fifth-Grader”. He told a joke about how much fun his
family had playing with a sheet of bubble wrap. I was speaking to
Fifth-graders so if I could create a sound, rather than chance that they
might not follow the use of the word ‘mnemonic’ I could seal the message. I
passed around a sheet of bubble wrap so all thirty of the young men could
pinch it and then asked them what sound it made… They began to chant POP!
POP! POP! We had our word for the day: P-O-P
Passion –
Opportunity
– Perseverance
Passion
Before I conducted the Leadership Training
Seminar in Yakima, WA last month for the Washington Association of
Maintenance and Operations Administrators (WAMOA), I spoke to several
members about the biggest challenge they faced with their employees. Most
of them mentioned the need to ignite the passion in their employees
for the work they did. At the seminar I asked those attendees to think back
to their first day on the job; describe the feeling they had, the
anticipation, excitement of a new experience and the desire to prove
themselves. Then I asked them how their attitude differed now from that
first day. To re-ignite the passion in their employees, they had to find
the passion themselves and demonstrate it in carrying out their management
duties. It is what brought them to service as a public professional, and
what will sustain them throughout their career.
For the Young Men of Honor, it was a different
challenge. I wanted them to think about the things they enjoyed doing and
how those things could be converted to a business. Of course, a few
mentioned sports; but, most were passionate about computer technology, law,
art, music and games. US News and World Report ranked Thomas Jefferson High
School, Alexandria, VA., as the “Top School in America”. TJ Principal said,
“[N]one of our students have the same passion, but all of them are
passionate about something.” Having a passion is widely accepted and
embraced. Passion placed TJ at the top of the list for the last three
years. We must acknowledge and encourage the pursuit of passion for every
student, employee and family member. The thing that keeps popping up in
your life must be a talent that needs to be nurtured for success.
Opportunity
The Beatles were very ordinary musicians
before they went to Hamburg, Germany. Playing every night for those years
made the difference. Gladwell found, “Practice isn’t the thing you do when
you’re good; it’s the thing you do that makes you good!”
Ironically, outliers may start out as very ordinary people who achieve great
success because of extraordinary opportunity. Many of my peers relate to
the extraordinary opportunity we received when President Lyndon Johnson
signed the Equal Opportunity Grant program into law in the mid-sixties and
allowed us to pay for our college educations. When you are supported by
your community, you seize that opportunity and are sufficiently passionate
about it to pursue it, success results.
The Young Men of Honor have been presented
with an opportunity to build relationships with other motivated young men
their age. With the great support from their mentors, community and Program
Director Diane Jackson, they are seizing that opportunity; as evidenced by
their growth and achievement in their academic careers so far. Who we
surround ourselves with has a profound effect on who we are. Are you
seizing the opportunities you get and turning them into successful efforts?
Outliers do!
Perseverance
What can we learn from those who succeeded in
their endeavors? It is displayed prominently on the whiteboard at the front
of the classroom where the Young Men of Honor meet…Never Give Up! It
takes time to accumulate 10,000 hours. Success is a lifetime endeavor. My
ninety-year-old father-in-law, Frezell Gurley, “Freeze” accompanied me to
the Young Men of Honor meeting last week. I asked the students to guess his
age; he was happy when they underestimated it by 20 years! Then, I
asked Freeze if he was still learning. He said, “Everyday!” If they see
that a ninety-year-old man still has a thirst for knowledge, then 10,000
hours (or ten years) don’t seem like such a long time. If you shouldn’t
give up at ninety years old, what should you be doing at your age? Or, do
you need to pinch the bubble wrap?
Passion –Opportunity – Perseverance
P O P
It’s a formula for success.
Can’t your organization use a healthy infusion
of inspiration, motivation or training in Leadership, Decision-making,
Communication, Ethics or Team-Building? I can provide a keynote, workshop,
seminar or individual coaching tailored to meet your needs and help you and
your team RISE. Email
Beau@PleaseRise.com.
Judge Beau Patterson
PO Box 24008
Hilton Head Island, SC 29925-4008
(843) 342-7473
Facsimile: (843) 342-7470
“Actually, it’s not
that most people don’t have much and they just want a little; It’s that they
have it all and they just want a little.” -Anonymous
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