About Mike Brewer
The Trail Run
I am a runner. It is my go-to form of exercise and allows me to stay fit while enjoying time to clear my head. We just sold our house and with it, my well-worn run route. I am a creature of habit which serves me well in many ways but there is a downside. As with any form of exercise, there comes a point when it no longer challenges you.
Enter – the trail runs.
I am now doing trail runs and in short order, I found that my stamina when running on the more difficult trails is different from my regular daily runs. My intention is to build up until I can run the trail without pausing to catch my breath. I’m not there yet. It takes time and repetition.
Whatever your preferred form of physical activity, there is a general measurement of recovery. How long can you engage in exercise before you need to stop and restore your breathing? Once you pause, how long does it take to recover? That length of time is your recovery measurement and with consistent effort and repetitions, your recovery time will shrink. That is my goal with the trail runs and I am confident that I will get there. For now, however, when I need to stop to catch my breath, I walk back down the trail until my breathing is normal, then resume the run. I believe this method is more than a penalty – it is the path that will enable me to run the entire trail without stopping.
What does this have to do with business? We are in a constant state of change. People and businesses are either growing or decaying. We tend to resist change, but it is inevitable.
Our industry in the crux of change. The technology we have used for the past decade or more is rapidly become obsolete. The same can be said of our business models. For those of us who have been in the multifamily space for a while, it is staggering how much we have evolved. We used to use pegboards and carbon paper for rent collections, receipts, rent rolls, and more! We have come a long way but there is a new trail in front of us and we either go all in to figure it out or we resist and find ourselves out of the race entirely.
Learning new technology is daunting at first and you may need to pause and catch your breath. That’s okay. When you’re ready, take a deep breath, square your shoulders, and lean in to the changes. Find your resources, your tools for learning, and your cohort of others who are doing same thing. Avoid complaining or spending too much time with the naysayers because they are slowing you down. Instead, sit in the front row and absorb everything you can.
Do the reps. Make mistakes and try again. Become a force for good change and before you know it, you will run the trail without stopping to catch your breath.
Goodbye
Funerals rarely top the list of things people give much thought to – until there is a need. Funerals serve an important purpose. They allow us to reflect on the person we’ve lost, their impact on the world, and who they were beyond our experience of them. Funerals give us the opportunity to say goodbye – and to do it well.
It’s important – saying goodbye well.
There is an old saying “Bring me my flowers while I am still here.” There are more than a few songs on the topic, too. It’s a simple concept really. Spend time with the people you value while you can. Choose to be a vessel of love and joy to others now. Don’t wait until it’s too late or put it off until someday.
It occurs to me that this simple life lesson applies to how we interact with all the humans in our care and those around us. Purposeful engagement, being fully present, listening with intention, and acting with sympathy and compassion serve as a beautiful bouquet of relationship flowers.
Saying goodbye well is equally important when a current employee leaves whether by their selection or yours. Recognizing the dignity and humanity of each person is fundamental when interacting with each other without regard to whether the person was a good fit for your company or culture. Leave them feeling valued. Build them up. Celebrate their future. Ask to hear back from them about their next success.
It costs nothing to make people feel important.
Dreading the interaction to come, some bosses assume a cold demeanor in the face of terminations. Cut. Dried. Over and out. It’s efficient but not excellent. Others have been known to avoid the person at all costs, allowing HR to do the dirty work and hoping not to bump into the person on their way out. The instinct to avoid the awkward situation may be understandable, but the practice isn’t laudable. It’s weak.
My encouragement to you today is to practice saying goodbye well.
Have you changed the ways you acknowledge and engage in good-byes? Share your stories with us!
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Who Tells Your Story?
Lance Armstrong is known as a cycling legend and for a few other things which we will get to in a minute. He won the Tour de France seven consecutive times. At just 25 years old, Lance was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes, lungs, brain, and abdomen. His chances for recovery were abysmal but with world class treatment, he recovered and returned to professional cycling.
The Livestrong Foundation was established in 1997 to provide support for people affected by cancer. It also issued those yellow rubber LIVESTRONG armbands that quickly became ubiquitous. Other charities and events saw the success and low cost of the armbands and they are still in use today around the globe.
If Lance had done nothing else besides being a champion cyclist and a head of the Livestrong Foundation, he would go down in history as a hero. But that is not the whole of his story. Dogged by doping scandals throughout his career, Lance denied ever being involved in doping. He had the ‘clean’ tests to prove it. In 2012, the US Anti-Doping Agency conducted an investigation that concluded that Lance had used performance enhancing drugs throughout his career. He was stripped of his titles, lost his endorsements, and removed from the Livestrong Foundation.
It was a staggering fall from grace. And everyone in the world knew it.
So, what’s next? Should Lance crawl under a rock and never find his way forward again? Is that the punishment for catastrophic failure?
Do we have an expectation that there is no redemption for people who have made bad decisions?
Most of us are fortunate to have avoided such public humiliation. But what about less well-known screw ups? Have you ever been downsized from your job? What about termination for cause – when you were clearly in the wrong? Should that make you unemployable? Forever?
Generally speaking, as potential employers, we make it difficult for prospective employees to tell us the truth. Fearful of lawsuits, former employers stick to the stats – dates of service, position, and salary.
These questions come to mind. Would we rather hear a pretty lie from an applicant instead of the ugly truth? Do we believe that people can learn from their mistakes? How will we know what they learned if we never make it safe to acknowledge what happened? How would you change your interview style to make truth telling safe?
Human beings are fallible. We are also in a constant state of learning and evolving. Maybe it is better to have someone on your team who knows how to learn from their mistakes instead of someone who believes they never make them.
What do you think? Are you scared to hire someone with a less than perfect career history? Share your wisdom with us!
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Cracking Nuts
Pecan pies, divinity candy, roasted and salted, or just plain – pecans are ubiquitous in the south. Whether you call them pea-CANs or pea-CAHNs is likely down to where you grew up as the pronunciation was passed down through the generations. When I was young, we never bought pecans that had already been shelled – not when my parents had free child labor readily available in the form of my siblings and me. I remember that there was a pecan tree where we rode our bikes, and we could take as many pecans as we could carry. I was really bummed when that tree was struck by lightning, bringing our free pecans to an end.
We learned how to crack pecans by putting two nuts in your palm and applying pressure with both hands then picking out the meat and leaving the shell. If you’ve ever mistakenly left even a tiny bit of the inner shell, the bitter taste served as a reminder to be more careful next time. I recall that we had a bowl of unshelled nuts with a nutcracker and picks to aid in getting to the good stuff. The bowl had some sort of fake bark on the outside. You know it’s from another time when it’s labeled vintage and you can buy it on eBay for almost $70!
Shelling pecans manually may never come back in vogue but there are some things from the past that are worth the labor to bring them back. Good old Americana in the form of family road trips seems to be making a bit of a comeback. I know that seems like a far-flung idea what with gas knocking on the door of $5/gallon, but I believe that the pandemic has awakened a desire to return to earlier family experiences. If there is one way for families to reconnect, it’s a road trip. If you can survive days 1-3, there is a tipping point where you start to communicate with each other. But brace yourself – the early days can be a grind and have you questioning what sort of crazy decision started this mess.
Thinking about those endless drives to see roadside attractions and national areas of interest reminds me of some of the roadway giants – Howard Johnson’s, Holiday Inn, and Stuckey’s. Among the many things I looked forward to were the Stuckey’s pecan logs. Light fluffy nougat dipped in caramel and rolled in pecans, the Stuckey’s pecan log was too much of everything – delicious, sweet, and sticky perfection.
Stuckey’s motto – Relax. Refresh. Refuel. – signaled their role as a precursor to the modern convenience store. The Stuckey’s story began in 1937 with a roadside stand and a family-owned pecan grove but its brand heyday was definitely in the 60s & 70s with 370 stores in 40 states, which makes sense because that was pretty much the peak of the family road trip.
Over time, the stores went into decline, and the family business was sold. Eventually, the brand was diluted and its future was grim. Enter Stephanie Stuckey, an environmental lawyer who decided to revive the brand and her grandfather’s vision. It is an uphill battle by any measure, but if it can be done – this dynamo will make it happen. If you aren’t connected to Stephanie on LinkedIn or following her on social media, stop right now and do it. You know she’s got something going for her if the massive views on TikTok are any indication.
Stuckey’s comeback story is a master class in the power of one person, the importance of candor-filled storytelling, and social media done right. Whatever obstacles you face – grit, humor, honesty, integrity, respect, and authenticity will go a long way to improving your lot. So, I’m not going to rewrite Stephanie’s story when she tells it so elegantly. She says, “I invested in storytelling, and I invested in beautiful design.” She believes that spending strategic dollars on design is the most important aspect of branding. AND she is hanging onto the company sacred cow – that pecan log roll. Smart thinking.
I would kick myself if I failed to mention that Stephanie Stuckey has a standing invitation to be a guest on our podcast “Collective Conversations” any time. I would consider it a high honor to hear her story firsthand. So, if any of you know Stephanie – please connect us!
Do you have a Stuckey’s story? Or a brand revival story? Share them with us here or on our social media. We all learn from each other.
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What Do You Fear
What Do You Fear
Fear is embedded in the stories we tell ourselves. From the fear of public speaking and small spaces to spiders and snakes, most people can readily identify something they are afraid of. Left unchecked, fear can creep up on you and begin to seize control of your choices. When that happens, I encourage you to face it head-on – be willing to feel uncomfortable, anxious, embarrassed, or judged – and take back your control.
Caroline – The Wise One
I had the genuine honor of hosting the great Caroline Ferguson on this week’s episode of Collective Conversations. She is the accomplished interviewer of the Solutions by Southwest Utility podcast and is just a tremendous human overall.
As we kicked off the episode this week, Caroline reminded me that I was the first guest on her podcast back in 2018! She shared the story from her perspective – it was the first time she had ever traveled alone, and she was terrified. She arrived at our offices to sit down for the interview and she was so nervous – hands shaking, heart pounding armed with a laptop and small microphone. I remember feeling her anxious energy and before we hit record, I recall saying something along the lines of “Hey. We are just two people having a chat over a cup of coffee.” When you listen to that interview today, it’s hard to tell that she was anything other than a seasoned pro.
Caroline felt the fear and did it anyway. She knew in her gut that if she wasn’t willing to face her fears and do the work, she would struggle to create intentional connections and build genuine relationships with others in the industry. She makes a valid point that we consider growth as it relates to sales, rents, bottom line, etc., but growth should also be counted in relationships without regard to whether you ever do business together.
Free Your Mind – The Rest Will Follow
Last year, we discussed this topic. Conquering fears is not accomplished in one fell swoop. If the thought feels overwhelming, it is not necessary to become instantly fearless – but just to fear (a little) less – just enough less to allow you to take the next step. Small steps lead to bigger steps and eventually to a life less encumbered by fear.
In our conversation this week, I could feel Caroline’s command of the medium as our chat moved on to the topic of leadership – something she feels passionately about. Facing her fears paid such big dividends in her life and freed up her mind to build on her aspirations.
Caroline spoke eloquently about leadership and the importance of listening. She credits her mentor with saying, “Listening is so close to love that most people can’t tell the difference.” What a profound statement! Listening with intention (and without distraction) is the most loving thing we can offer another human. It conveys a simple message – I see you, I hear you, and you are worth my time. What you are saying is more important than whatever is trying to pull my attention away. That feels a lot like love to me.
You can live your life without ever facing your fears, but it is almost guaranteed to be a smaller life than you are destined for. Fears can slowly shrink your life but trusting yourself to fear (enough) less is like a muscle. The more times you do it – the stronger your courage becomes, and fear begins to wither. As your courage grows so does your sphere of influence, your ability to connect with others and to listen intently.
My encouragement to you is this – shut down the stories you tell yourself that constrain you from reaching for your goals be they professional, personal, relationships, or other. Don’t restrict yourself – fear (just a small bit) less.
When you feel the thrill of facing your fears and doing the thing anyway, please share it with us. We are encouraged by your stories.
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