Those words from one of my dad’s friends and softball buddies summed up the feelings of a lot of us upon my dad’s death recently.

Bethel Eastham was never on the cover of Time magazine; never amassed a huge fortune or became a real estate tycoon; he never held public office or made it to the big leagues.

He was much more.

A loving husband of 59 years to my mom. He sacrificed to provide for and raise his 4 kids. A servant to his friends at church, his neighbors, his family, and his softball teammates.

I loved him very much. Didn’t say it to him very often. But I did. And I learned a lot from him. A great role model. A great dad and grandpa (Pop).

I will miss him terribly.

But I also look forward to our reunion in Heaven where he now sits in the presence of God Almighty. I’ll see you soon, Dad.

Eight guards have been fired and two more resigned after photos like this surfaced showing drunken debauchery, including a unique way to drink vodka.

But whether they were contractors or regular employees of the federal government, your tax dollars were paying them to protect our embassy in Afghanistan. Doesn’t that make you proud!

I hope the firings go further up the chain than these 8 guards.

See more at http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed1/idUSISL471509

US Postal Service

I was just about to enter the local post office when a woman was coming out. I don’t know what her experience was, but her comment spoke volumes.

Talking to herself, she shook her head and quietly said, “And now they want to take over health care…”

Not a great endoresement of government service. (I used the automated machine to mail my packages instead of going to the counter.)

Another example of “good enough for government work?”

I went for a run yesterday. I knew it was going to rain, but I went anyway.

Besides, it’s cooler running in a rainstorm than the normal 97 degrees this time of year.

Sure enough, the storm blew in. Raining sideways. 50 mph winds.

One lady even stopped to ask if she could give me a ride somewhere. (I declined.)

I know it looked odd. This crazy guy out jogging in a torrential downpour, wind screaming out of the north. I can just hear their comments…

Idiot.
Dork.
Freak.

Maybe so. But I was actually enjoying the weather! After all, it was cooler. And it was sort of a personal challenge.

I also started thinking about the fact that I was willing to do what most other people were not willing to do because I know exercise is important.

That’s one of those things you need to decide in advance (like what time you’ll get out of bed in the morning). If you wait until it’s raining (or until the alarm clock goes off), you’ll make a different decision.

Then I thought of the bigger application. What are people willing to do in their lives that others aren’t?

Make 3 more cold calls? Every day?

Go back and get a Master’s degree?

Show up for swim practice every morning at 5 a.m. to get a chance at the Olympic trials?

Freak.

What are you willing to do that others are not?

I have a better idea. Cash for Clunker Employees!

Trade in that older model employee who is not giving you the mileage you should be getting.

Get a $4500 rebate to invest in hiring and training a new, enthusiastic, more efficient employee!

Look closely at the name of the bar in the photo above. Tavernacle.

Yep, you guessed it. A bar just about 6 blocks from the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City where the famous choir is based.

I can’t imagine the church is thrilled about the name of the bar since they’re not big supporters of drinking alcohol. But I do have to admire the cleverness of combining the word “tavern” with the nearby “tabernacle” to come up with a great name for the bar.

I’m sure some guy has tried to get one over on his wife by saying (or mumbling quickly), “I’ll be back after a while. I’m going over to the Tavernacle.” She doesn’t hear the “v” and thinks he’s being devout.

What are you doing to make your brand stand out?

The convention center was just 2 blocks from the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was performing the next morning.

I’m not a Mormon, but what you’re that close, you’ve just got to go see a world famous organization like that.

It was magnificent.

It’s is a joy to watch world class performers demonstrate their skill. Whether they are a singer, architect, skateboarder, surgeon, or speaker. They make it look or sound so easy – until you try it, and realize you have a lot to learn.

What skill are you honing in order to become world class? You could just settle for average (or below), but there are already so many of those! Be world class. In something!

God pointed me to the south and east where I literally ran into the Arlington National Cemetery.

What an amazing place of honor. Over 300,000 people are buried there, including John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

You can’t help but be in awe of the magnitude of sacrifice of the men and women who rest there.

I had been preoccupied, thinking about an upcoming speaking engagement and inconvenient travel arrangements. Shame on me. I have no problems.

I get to live in and enjoy the tremendous freedoms bought and paid for by the heroes laid to rest at Arlington. We should all be extremely thankful.

SGMP Conference Brainstorm Results

I had the opportunity to speak recently at the national conference of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals (SGMP) on the topic of “Good Enough for Government Work.”

The intent is to instill a culture of excellence and accountability within their agencies and not settle for “good enough.”

Hopefully, some of them will implement some of those ideas when they get back to their offices, including suggestions like:

– Fire someone who deserves it
– Insist on and reward excellence
– Find a way to instill pride and ownership in the team, in the mission, in the agency
– Stop lying to your employees on their performance appraisals. Call it like you see it!

In the meantime, click on the link above (Brainstorm Results) to see their ideas on how to improve and ensure quality service in the government sector.

In Washington DC for a speaking engagement recently, I had occasion to walk past this building. I thought it looked like a very impressive piece of architecture and so I looked to see what it was.

Wow! The Library of Congress!

And there I was without my library card…!

But then I had a few questions:

–Do you have to be a Congressman to be able to use the Library of Congress?
–How long can they check out books for?
–If they return a book late, do they have to pay a fine? How much? Does that just come out of our taxes, since we fund Congress?
–Do they have the same books you would find at some of the Presidential Libraries across the country, or are they different?

Hmmm…