Don't get caught in the middle.

As a marketing manager, I wanted to offer some free guidance on companies looking to advance in 2014. As the title states, don't get caught in the middle. So what exactly is the middle? The most important thing in offering a service or product to a customer is defining your terms. Be clear. Don't expect your customers to figure it out or they will make it what they want for you.

 As you know, the world is getting more and more connected everyday with the latest social media methods. There seem to be new social media sites appearing everyday and old ones revamping and returning stronger than ever (Myspace 2.0 and Google+ are expected to bust new doors down in 2014!) Businesses are able to close in on the distance between their products (or advertisements) and the consumer like never before. Companies will be able to utilize the services of say people like me that will capture trends on the virtual/online presence like before.

So, the middle. The middle is the danger zone that exists in every company. Let's take a look at TVs for example. Customers want small ones to take on the go (such as available via an app on an iPhone or Droid) or the ginormous ones that essentially make you feel like you are sitting in the stands of the football game you are watching. When is the last time you or anyone you know has looked for a 27" TV (except for maybe a kitchen space)?Small is great, large is great, middle is bad. This approach works on every product you can imagine. Even people looking for churches desire large ones that are doing ridiculous amounts of ministry they can be a part of or small ones where they can really know everyone there.

Don't get caught in the middle of 2014 wishing you had prioritized the small and the large. 

Culture of the Classroom: The Valedictorian Demon

It is my suggestion that there is a problem in our education system that is highlighted on the last day of school. I am talking about, as you guessed from the title, the valedictorian. Is this blog about 'everyone receiving a trophy'? No. The arguments against that are rampant on the internet, so I will not discuss that here. What this is about is creativity, imagination, daring to engage with the lost art of, well, art. More precisely, the arts. (You just said plural in your head, didn't you?)

Every year the students that have shown the diligence to study and take academic exams extremely well over their entire scholastic experiences are celebrated. I am not saying they should not be celebrated. These young men and women are amazingly gifted and that should be highlighted and praised. Do I consider them demons? Not the individual person, but the intention behind it. This is about celebrating the students with other gifts and strengths not captured by tests.

So what about those who don't measure up in the field of tests, lost in the system, who are not strengthened by quizzes, but are simply remarkable individuals in other areas? What about the kid who draws in class and is so passionate about drawing, but is not given the freedom to explore it? 

Can parents provide an outlet for kids to paint? Sure, they do all the time. Programs offer outlets for kids that need it. Even adults are now finding their way back to it with "Painting Happy Hours" (Groupon tickets available) where men and women can have beer, socialize while doing something that they probably wanted to do since they were kids. The after school painting class doesn't take away from the fact that this side of their life is not as important as learning the types of clouds that are in the sky. Sorry Mrs. Porter, I still can't remember them all. Extracurricular activities are extra when it some kids' lives it should be curricular.

What about the teachers? Honestly, I really wish the conditions were better for teachers. I have family and friends that are teachers. They don't know my prayers for them, but here is some of the insight. My prayer for them is to have a desire to inspire, not have all straight A students, nor is it that their teaching career become the most watched reality TV show.

(Tangent: To teachers I say this: I have never been in your shoes, but I believe you are the best in society. You're creating the future leaders and engineers and developers of the next culture. Parents don't get as much time with these kids as you do. In my mind, you are not even simply teacher. You are more than that. You are the one to shape and mold these minds.)

I am a parent now, and though it still sounds funny to say that to myself, I have loved every minute of it. When I watch and engage with my son, I am fascinated by what merely interests him. Seeing him learn is beautiful. I don't want to spoil him and give him everything. He will do without and understand that not everything is given to him at a whim. But in all my power and abilities, and with the help of teachers that I will probably annoy, my son will be given free 'reign' to explore who he is. If he is strong in academics, I will cultivate the best learning environment possible. If it is related to the arts, then somehow I will make that priority against the grain while he learns the art of discipline in the classroom, and I don't only mean that as behavior.

I know someone that would always get into trouble in school, but was really smart. Sure, he lacked the discipline to focus on the tests and do well. If you connected the dots you would realize that it was not his behavior that needed adjustment, but rather the school system. The academic portion was not strong enough to outweigh his creativity. It was not powerful enough to make him forget his desire to engage with his imagination. The school system, still today, sadly, is not enough.

Now I understand that we have schools designed for arts (i.e. performing arts and the sort). But my question is why is this not the social norm? Why are they separate? No, not why are they separate. Why are they STILL separate?  It is up to you and I to formulate and design a way for all types of students to be given the credit due their nature. Do you understand why I used those two words, formulate and design? It is because I believe in a world where the academic and the imaginative minds can come together to create a world that helps our kids see beyond the limitations of the world around them. Do you?

Thoughts on the year

Here I am reflecting on my birthday today and what that means. I find myself perplexed at all the challenges this past year has brought and hopefully can mentally file them here.


In the midst of so many highlights, I did have some lowlights. I had some goals this year that didn’t work out. I may have won Sailor of the Year, but I did not get promoted to Chief. I failed. I wanted to run 1 hour 30 minutes in a half marathon. I finished in 1:31. I failed. I wanted to bite my tongue in a few situations and not talk negatively about anyone because character is of extreme importance to me. Instead I (sometimes) joined in the rumor mill. I failed. The good thing about all these goals I did not meet, the ones I failed miserably at and the ones I barely missed, they do not define me. They are not my identity. It is my hope that (hopefully many, many years from now) my gravestone doesn’t read like this – Here lies Eric Bryan, who never made rank and never ran as fast as he wanted to and sometimes talked bad about people. I’ve never read an obituary that was full of things that person never had.


In all my interactions with people this past year, it has built within me a desire to help others who are struggling with their failures to be set free. To help, I offer this. What reality are you looking at? What is your truth? In my studies, I have been looking at two different worlds in which people live, both titled reality.


The first is a reality that is all about acquiring power and protecting power. This is a world based on fear, guilt (I did something bad), and shame (I am something bad). Fear can show up in many different ways. It can be seen as anger, envy, not being able to forgive, and perhaps jealousy. Essentially it comes down to you did not get what YOU wanted. I’m not going to lie, it hurts. Living in fear hurts the soul, the mind, the heart. It just hurts.


Sometimes putting one step in front of the other to try and move away from the pain is the toughest thing we have ever done in our life. Part of my growing up in the last 15 years in the faith is that I wanted a systematic answer for every situation. In some cases, I had to force an answer. Why couldn’t I just leave some things to the mystery of God being larger than my thoughts? For example, sometimes it is hard to see God’s goodness when it is incongruent with a stillborn baby or a random earthquake that wiped out hundreds.


The second reality is living in a world of service, forgiveness, and thankfulness. It is about assessing reality correctly. Here, we live a life based on love for one another. This is a place that we realize that we don’t have to have all the answers, but are able to find that when situations arise that could be labeled bad, we stop and think first. We don’t define it on our own terms, but rather seek how we should respond.


How one responds is a reflection of that person’s character. I believe that good character is not letting circumstances affect you responding in a humble, loving way. Not to say I am going to be sort some of Christian divine doormat for you to step on, but rather, even if I am more powerful than you or the most powerful person in the room, I won’t think of myself as the most important. The reason I can do this is because in this reality, I can be confident in who I am, what my value is, and instead of trying to prove myself to you, I can enjoy and learn from you, encourage you, and in the end of that approach, we have both grown and matured in the process. I’m not afraid to be me and not afraid to let you be you. It means I will try and speak courage and goodness into your life, away from standards prescribed by the first reality.


So there are a few of my thoughts reflecting on the past year. Have a blessed day!

GETTING IN TUNE WITH YOUR EMPLOYEES

INTRODUCTION Last weekend I was playing some music for some friends on the guitar. The first song I had to stop and adjust the tuning of the guitar. It was BAD. I should have tuned it up before playing. In the (what would be my) last song, a string broke. Needless to say I will not be winning any Grammy awards any time soon. But just as I noticed the reaction to how my friends responded to this performance behind a guitar, I am also one of those guys that, over the years, have taken an interest in the way people respond to routine circumstances. Take the most basic interaction possible, walking in your office early in the morning and you say, "Good morning, how are you?" How they answer this question will ultimately tell you how the rest of the day will go in further interactions. If they respond with "hey, good morning" back (or something similar), then chances are high that it will be a normal day. Any response out of the ordinary will signify whether their mentality is in a proper state of mind to give full attention to the daily tasks at hand. Sure you want full attention, but do they? Do you even know what they want? How do you know that you know? Our jobs more or less form our identity, if not all then part of it. Example needed? Sure. Go to a party and try to meet someone new. What is usually one of the first questions you ask or are asked? Yep, "what do you do?" is all too often asked because somehow we believe that answer will give us the biggest impression of who someone is, and why not? People spend the majority of their time at work so it makes sense to ask it. We do not ask “who are you?” because that seems a little invasive and some may not even know what to say. For those that do know what to say, chances are they will guide the conversation that way in how they respond. Within a four year time span I will have completed my bachelors in Organizational Leadership, and two master degrees (MBA in marketing and Master of Divinity). I'm not bragging. Achiever is my number one strength, so I would end up in trouble somewhere if it were not for being overwhelmed working full time and working on two master degrees at the same time. I say all this to say that I know who I am, what I am capable of and it is not based on what I do. Not only has realizing what my strengths are and personality is, mixed with degrees that cater to those, I have been shaped to function in a certain way. Your employees are being shaped every day, but do they realize it? People want to understand themselves better. At least in the 100% of people I have asked (over 150) if they would want to understand themselves better, no one has ever said no. Some felt they had a pretty good handle on things, but even they were still teachable and willing to learn more. Perhaps they lack the tools and resources to help them articulate what motivates, inspires, and drives them to perform. Perhaps it is the unknown that wakes them up every morning as they seek to find a sense of purpose in this all too confusing world. To leaders, I make the challenge that we should be paying attention to not just completed jobs and assignments, but hold ourselves responsible to the state of being in the workplace. And why do I bring this up? Because whether you realize it or not, whether you agree with it or not, the need for personnel and personality awareness is needed. The culture is not as binary as it once was. Things are not only black or white, up or down, right or wrong. There are more than two ways of viewing situations. I would bet your employees see things differently than they check off while taking the annual climate survey. It is going to take a new leadership mentality to understand the new followership mentality. You may have come up in a booming world, expanding everyday while your employees are living in a world that is getting more connected and smaller day by day. How do two different mindsets work together? Can it even work? PUTTING IT TO THE TEST Just a little while ago I was excited to try everything I had gathered together in my studies and apply it to my current work structure. I'll provide two examples. For the first test, a group test, I sat down and did profiles with all 12 staff members that worked for me. The surprising thing is that it did not take long. They take a couple of online tests and we have a 15-30 minute conversation. I wish there was a way to calculate the amount of time this saved me for the next two years before I transferred to a different job. Employees were put into position that catered to their strengths and I got away from having well rounded workers. They knew what they did strongly and they did it! That office had never flowed so beautiful. We welcomed the tasks presented to us as if were royalty visiting our office. The change was getting away from multi-tasking and cross training. The second test was a one-on-one scenario. He was a young employee, brand new to the organization that had some trouble situations that came up regularly in his first six months. But the trouble was not at work, it was his personal life that was affecting his work. Those are always tough to discern what level of involvement do you get and how you handle it. Sometimes you have to let employees go, but with this young man, I knew there was something simply holding him back and a slight turn of the dial, he would be in tune with success. We sat down and casually began an informal counseling session. One day on the second week of these random informal sessions, I said, "Go home (it was 10:30a.m.) and spend the day thinking about what inspires you. Come back tomorrow ready to talk about it." The next day was quite busy so we did not get a chance to talk until the end of the day. The bottom line is that he was raised by a single mom and wanted to make her proud. Within the next two days I called his mom. I thanked her for raising such a bright, hard worker and we were pleased to have him on our team. She must have mentioned something to him (what I was hoping to happen) because for the next year that we worked together, not one single issue or questionable act. He did everything without an attitude and he also did not let his personal life affect his work. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? If you consider yourself a leader, would you not want employees that were working to their strengths and producing more? Would you want to know how to maximize that ROI because your staff trusts that you have included them when you made decisions for the company’s future and kept their interests in mind? Certainly those two will sometimes mix like oil and water, but the key element is the mentality you led with in those situations even when you know it would not work out. Just as you would need to with a guitar, you would also need to get in tune with your employees if you plan on performing at the best level possible. And the beauty is the more you practice, the easier things get for you and the employees. If you keep forcing tasks to happen when it goes against the employees’ strengths and abilities, then like a guitar string, they may break.

HOW TO ACCOMPLISH ALL YOUR GOALS.

What are your goals this year? Let's back up. What were your goals last year? Did you accomplish everything you wanted to? do you even remember what they were? yeah, me neither. Why do we get so consumed with goals at the new year and justify our way (and our weight) out of them by Easter? The problem is with the goals we are setting and where they come from. It is natural to want the best for ourselves, but we always somehow think we know what the best is for our lives. This is naive at best. It is natural to indulge with the comfortable nature that rises in the face of adversity. We do not always remain effervescent in our attempts to change, grow, and develop some desires in our hearts. So exactly how do we accomplish the goals we set for ourselves? How do we break the cycle of naming a goal, trying for two months, and faulting out well before the goal is accomplished. How do we know what the best is for our own lives? Try a different approach to setting your goals. For starters, really think about what your goals should be. Pray about them. Be realistic, but challenge yourself to truly grow because of them. Allow God to put some goals in your life, that as you grow in your faith and begin to take steps of faith you would have not taken before. Having a deeper purpose will perhaps push you to go above and beyond. Mediocre goals will bring about mediocre results. So I say go big! Go all out! If you are unfamiliar with the term adiaphorous, it means to do neither good nor harm. Do not settle for goals that really do not make a difference in anything in life. This is year our goals are not sedated. This is year we awake from the depths of goals abjured! This is the year we live and live to fullest! This is the year our souls remain unquenched until the day we say our goals are fully accomplished. This is the year! This is the time!

5 Tips to your best marathon!

On March 11, 2012 I ran the inaugural San Diego Half Marathon. I came in at a personal best time of 1 hour 38 minutes. That's basically running 1 mile ever 7 minutes and 32 seconds.

There were many contributing factors that helped me get to this goal. For the last few months I had been running on average anywhere from 80-100 miles per month.
Most would say doing this is what helped. I ran a half marathon 6 months ago and finished 1:46. Knocking 8 minutes off my time was a really great feeling. So how did I do it? Below are the contributing factors.

1. Eat hamburgers, specifically from fast food places. They are the perfect meal, especially before longer runs. I recommend the night before so when you wake up early and hit the trail, boardwalk, or streets, your stomach will be pulling you forward faster each week.

2. Stop drinking sodas. If you stop drinking sodas, like I did, you will gain weight. Im 8lbs heavier since i stopped!! Without having that acid in your stomach cleaning out your stomach making you go number 2, it will add to the effect of number 1 listed above. Alcohol is still good though.

3. Sleeping less is best! If you are just starting to train, start with a tremendous loss of sleep. This will help when you get in the mindlessness of mile 9 or 10. I recommend about 4 hours of sleep and wake up and run 6 miles. Don't eat breakfast if you want the real feeling.

4. Don't let stopping at a medical station slow your time down because the clock won't stop even if you do! Run through injuries. Injuries can be a buzz kill. Don't let your body convince your mind you can't do it. You can! If its bad enough, there are medical stations along the run.

5. If you don't look the part, you won't have a great start. Spend money on running gear. The last thing you want is to be on the starting line sticking out among the rest of the runners. I spent $300 in the last few months so no one would notice I'm not a real runner. This helps when you're taking off at the starting line. If you blend in, you will win.

The good thing about the 5 tips, is that they are universal and can apply to anyone. Utilize these and you will get your best time!

Leaving, to go home

Irony. It's such an interesting concept. One of which I ask that you would please sojourn with me during this brief post discussing the matter.

Probably the most pragmatic, consistent, and perhaps annoying concept throughout my life. It never ceases to give me one of those rare slaps in the face, either humorously or seriously.

I should tell you up front that I may be what you call an Apple Whore. Although I have not looked, I would not doubt that urbandictionary.com carries a length of various definitions, but I will simply say for me, it refers to the many Apple/Mac products that I carry. From the Ipod Touch, Ipod Shuffle, Iphone, Ipad, all the way up to my MacBook Pro. My transition was a long and suffering road to holding out, but with the likes of key people in my life, I made the switch and never looked back. But how this love-love relationship is still going is based on one thing...Microsoft.

You see, Microsoft is a producer of a small point of sale gadget called Symbol. You would never know it, but you actually see them in every MAC store across the country. They are those little handheld gadgets that Apple clerks use to swipe your card, email you the receipt and get you out of the madness as quickly as possible. Isn't that something? Apple relying on Microsoft to handle their most precious need, the money?

It does not surprise me that I am writing this blog, because this little story translates into so much of what I witnessed in the last few weeks. I recently visited my parents in Louisiana. I admit, it was a bit more fun this trip. I surprised my mom for her 60th birthday present. She nearly had a heart attack, but she was happy, so I say mission accomplished. Some quality time with family as well, and that was that.
What I was not ready for was a drive around town one day. It was so depressing, I could barely stand it. Buildings and businesses looked so unwelcome, as if they were trying to drive people away. It reminded me of stories you would hear of an old man that lives alone at the end of the street, that no one really knows, but had a ton of stories about. Yeah, that guy reminded me of the city. Unwelcome and unwanted. Years ago, it seemed so promising. What happened?

Again I go back and visit the question, "what were you aiming at?" Dallas Willard would say, "what is your vision?" Such an important question to ask, isn't it? Does this question not somehow reflect who you want to be? What type of person you want to be associated as? The essence of your nature and being?

I hope this question does not come at an incommodious time, but I feel it is best asked sooner rather than later. It can be a defeating question, one flanked by another after another. Even one has come to mind already: Not what is my aim, but what should my aim be? What should be my vision and how do I know? Ok, that was 2, 3 more questions.

Maybe my old stomping grounds would have done best to pose these questions before it was too late. Now with much of it torn down, burnt down, or fading into the earth, I now know for sure that my vision 13 years ago has led me to a much better life. It was simply putting something in mind to work towards, asking God to bless along the way, and He did, far greater than I could have ever imagined. I adhered to the proverbs of making my plans and letting God direct my steps. But that is an easy verse to get lost in. I often wondered if making no plans is simply a run around of saying, "I'm making plans to make no plans." Again, the irony.
And no matter what, decisions, no matter what company we thought we were buying from, ended up being funneled through another. Just as those decisions we think we are purchasing through our own beliefs still go through the heart of God, whether we acknowledge it or not. What I mean is simply this, nothing we do or say or even think escapes without first being known to God. His grace allows for a person to make choices they want, whether in accordance to His desire for us or not. I would say as a side note, that there are indeed some things that will never happen because of His will of decree for us, but there is a lot of freedom given to us as well, probably more than we could ever comprehend. Regardless, none of it escapes Him.


I wish the best for you and hope that we could possibly explore these questions; the aims, goals, visions for what life offers, and being open to allowing God to shape them all.

grace and peace,
eB