A glimpse into greatness...

So, most of you know that a couple months ago, my boss and mentor Kevin passed away. I was thinking about him today and I wanted to share a little glimpse into Kevin's greatness - this is a list Kevin created to provide those who worked for him clarity on what he expected of them, his philosophy on management, and what he expected of himself. He shared this list with me a couple years ago when I first started working for him and it is awesome insight into who Kevin was. He encouraged me to create my own list (which I won't bore you with), but I think everyone should do it... even if it isn't for work, do it for yourself personally. It is interesting to see what you believe in, what you think you believe in, and to see where you come up short. (I try to compare my actions with my list to see if I actually live according to the principles I claim about myself.)

This is Kevin's list - I will restrain myself to only putting the list itself in here, despite the fact that I really want add stories that show how Kevin personified this list - Kevin was what he believed he was, which is not extremely common, in my experience.

Behavioral Expectations

• Behave like an owner - be the master of your projects
• Have an opinion - what do you recommend?
• Be reliable and deliver what was agreed to: results and timing
• Be accountable: "victim" mentality is unacceptable
• Be thorough and accurate on everything, even the small things
• No surprises
• Come to meetings prepared and on-time
• Ask questions
• Anticipate your managements questions
• Take risks - learn from mistakes
• Provide me with feedback
• Take personal responsibility for maintaining a work/life balance

Management Philosophy

• Lead by example
• If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there
• Be bigger than life- physically fit, spiritually fit, confident
• Go for the jugular
• Acquire professional expertise
• Cultivate influential friends (build networks)
• Communicate well
• Simplify everything
• Knowledge is power. Know your projects, know your competition
• Select capable, loyal people- Invest in their development
• Be honest

My Role

• Provide clear strategic direction
• I am accountable for everything
• Lead management thinking
• Manage your development to get you promoted
• Identify and eliminate development opportunities
• Showcase your accomplishments
• Motivate, coach, provide opportunities to grow

I signed up for Facebook - oops.

Facebook and Twitter are the newest, hottest things in my industry. EVERY large company is trying to figure how they should be integrated into these social networking platforms. At my work, we had a couple ideas on how to utilize this, and to explore/demonstrate these ideas, I had to sign up for an account. I didn't really think much of it at the time - just another work project. Critical mistake, however- I use my actual data. (Name, schools, etc.)

Now, suddenly, I have started getting loads of friend requests. Several from people I don't know (weirdos), but mostly from people I went to high school and college with. Soooo, what I am I supposed to do? I feel totally sucked in. I feel like I can't ignore these friendship requests from people I used to know... they might take it personally and think I am mean. But, I don't really have much desire to get involved in this right now either - I was just doing it for work. So what do I do? I decide I have to accept these friendship requests. So, I go in and accept these requests and think my obligation of friendship to past acquintances is complete - You're my friend - let's call it good.

Not the end of the story, however. Apparently, when you log into your account, it tells people who are in your network that you are logged in. How did I learn about this feature? Well, because I was in a meeting, projecting my computer screen for about 8 people to see, demonstrating some ideas for integration with social networking. I sign into my Facebook account to demonstrate what I am talking about, and suddenly, I get an Instant Message (through Facebook) saying, "Long time, no talk. How's life?" from someone I haven't seen since high school. I quickly close the IM, realizing this poor girl is going to think I am incredibly rude for ignoring her, but I am at work AND in a meeting and really don't have much choice. I resume my demonstration, and suddenly, "Amy Guymon! You got married? I didn't think that was ever going to happen!" pops up on my screen. Same thing- poor guy is going to think I am the devil, but I don't have much of a choice. And I think- surely that has got to be it... surely there aren't THAT many people just hanging out on Facebook, waiting for poor unsuspecting suckers to log in. Well, about 3 minutes later, up comes, "Hey!!! It's the human alphabet! How's it going?"

At that point, I am so red and embarrassed, and everyone else is laughing so hard and having WAAAY too much fun speculating about what the heck that message means - that I can't take it anymore. I just quickly sign out, shut down my browser, log off the internet, and hope that whatever peephole Facebook has opened letting these people know I am online has been closed. And now, I refuse to go back. I am terrified now to sign in to Facebook - scared that there are just hoards of people waiting to pounce as soon as I log in. So, if you want to be my Facebook friend - I am sorry. I refuse to sign in to accept your friendship. I am scared of the consequences.

Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap

My team works very closely with the E-commerce team (obviously - we are the Online Marketing team... Online/Ecommerce - you see the connection.) So, to make sure we have a nice cohesive working relationship between members of the team, we try to schedule a couple cross-department team building activities each year. This picture is from a hike we took in early June this year - we hiked to the top of some mountain behind Draper (don't ask me the name of it.) So, what is this guy doing? We were up high enough that there was still snow around this spring - I told this guy I would buy him a bag of Corn Nuts if we would sit in the spring for 15 seconds wearing all his clothes. (The spring was FREEZING.) He held out... until I offered 2 bags of Corn Nuts. He sure looked ridiculous (and uncomfortable) hiking back down the mountain with the whole back side of his jeans completely soaked. I thought it was hilarious. Have I ever mentioned how easily entertained I am?

So, one other funny picture - this is a picture of a couple of us sitting down for lunch on this hike. Notice who happens to have the pile of food. In my defense, I was pregnant at the time. :) OK, actually, I was one of only two people who thought to bring a back pack. So, I was lucky enough to haul EVERYONE'S sandwiches, chips, and drinks up the mountain. Incidentally, when we got to the top, one of the guys I work with said, "Amy, you really shouldn't be carrying that heavy bag while you're pregnant." Yeah, AFTER we got to the top.

And what the heck does "stat" mean anyway?

I have seen ER - I know that when there is a gunshot victim, doctors need 2 quarts of saline and a blood transfusion "stat!" So, I always assumed "stat" meant fast, immediately, emergency, etc. But people keep coming in here to get their blood drawn and the blood drawers (what is their official title?) keep asking if it is "stat". I assume these people walking in here very leisurely aren't gunshot victims and that if this was an emergency, these people would be at a hospital emergency room, not a lab. So, does anyone want to fill me in on what "stat" really means in the medical environment?

Twilight - apparently, it is a big deal

I haven't jumped on the Twilight bandwagon. (I managed to successfully completely avoid the Harry Potter bandwagon - I haven't read a word of any of the books or watched more than 30 seconds of the movie.) But apparently, people are almost fanatical about this book series. The women in this clinic haven't stopped talking about it in the 2 1/2 hours I have been here. All about the characters and how someone has some special power that hasn't been used yet (or something). And about how the author borrowed the first 300 pages of her latest book to a friend to get her opinion and the friend posted it on the internet, so now the author has decided she may never finish the series (insert anger at the friend and some sniffs of sadness here).

Vampires in high school... I just don't get it.

What kind of idiot decided 3 hours of fasting would work for pregnant women?

I failed my first blood glucose test, which means I may have gestational diabetes. But, the test has a high rate of false positives, so it means I get to come hang out at this clinic for 3 hours FASTING while they do a more in-depth blood glucose test. I have several issues with this:

Issue #1. The doctor said I could leave between my hourly blood draws. So, Corbyn and I showed up planning to do a little shopping between the pokes of the needle. But, apparently, we were misinformed - you can't leave because a lot of women faint, throw-up, etc. during this test. Also, you can't expend much energy because that could influence the results. So, instead of getting some needed errands done, I now just have to hang out and waste 3 hours of my life. (Luckily, my laptop goes with me where ever I go, so at least I can be doing something during these 3 hours.) - And poor Corbyn - he was trying to be a good, supportive husband and now got sucked in to 3 hours of wasted time. (He actually left and is going to come back to get me, but considering it takes 30 minutes each way to get here, he pretty much just wasted 2 hours of his morning.)

Issue #2: If you throw up, you have to start the test entirely over. WHAT???!!??? These doctors have spent the past 7 months telling me that I have to eat something at least every 2 hours so I can stop puking so much - and that didn't really work great (I still puke alot), but at least it helped stem the tide. Now they tell me I have to go 3 hours without eating, AND I can't puke. Um, OK. So, I am sitting here trying to not get nauseous (I have gotten really good at delaying the inevitable barf, so I am hoping I can make it), but this women next to me isn't making it any easier. She is also doing the 3 hour blood test and she is having a very hard time of it. She is breathing VERY hard, sweating, grunting, dry-heaving, etc... it would probably be comical if she didn't look/sound exactly how I am feeling.

Issue #3: 100 grams of sugar in the most disgusting drink ever. I can think of many, many more pleasant ways to down 100 grams of sugar than the disgusting, concentrated syrup they give you to drink. Give me a Twinkie or some Oreos... that would at least make one part of this ordeal enjoyable.

I mean really - is this the best technology modern medicine has been able to dream up?