Making Corn Plops and Pow Juice taught me several critical lessons about leadership, work and life.

Isn’t it amazing that a childhood game could teach so much?  I’m not sure if Dad had a full sense of his impact but we learned many powerful lessons:

• Attitude can Save your Life.
• Work can be Fun.
• Everyone should Know their Assignment.
• Teamwork gets Things done Fast and Efficiently.
• Correct, Don’t Condemn and be Sure to Complement.
• Great Leaders Stand with you Shoulder to Shoulder. 

Reflecting on Corn Plops and Pow Juice I realize that while Wheaties may be “The Breakfast of Champions” Corn Plops and Pow Juice is the true “breakfast of a championship organization and life.”

 

Great Leaders Stand with You Shoulder to Shoulder.

When I think of our imaginary enterprise the only picture that comes to mind is the three of us working together and Dad taking the lead.  We had good leadership. This was my first example of a leader standing shoulder to shoulder with those on their team.  Just like in sports (except for game-time) coaches are on the field with their players.  At game-time they are as close to their players as the rules will allow.  As leaders, that is how we need to be, standing shoulder to shoulder with those that we are responsible for.  

(To be continued.)

Correct, Don’t Condemn and be Sure to Complement.

I make mistakes; how about you?  Sometimes I don’t recognize my mistakes and I need someone to help me see them.  As fallible souls we need correction in our lives.  Good leadership will do this for us.  However, good leaders must correct immediately so that accumulated frustration doesn’t push them to condemn someone.  Condemnation can be very damaging and is difficult to repair.

Compliments are needed too.  Some studies recommend a 10 – 1 ratio of complements to correction.  If someone possessed a good quality, tell them.  If someone does a good job, tell them.  You can tell them and make it even more special with a hand written note.  If you have ever received one you know that this is a powerful way to affirm someone. 

(To be continued.)

Teamwork Gets Things done Fast and Efficiently.

As case after case of breakfast products rolled off our production line, even as a kid, I could see that the three of us working together was a lot more productive then if each of us was working alone.  I learned that there is a synergy and an excitement about what a corporate effort can produce.  Just like the sayings “Two heads are better then one.” and “A triple-braided rope is not easily broken.” our joint effort produced the best results.

(To be continued.)

Work can be Fun.

Making Corn Plops and Pow Juice was fun.  Dad saw to it.  Neither my brother nor I had the slightest sense that we were working.  A key job of leadership is to make the task fun.  How do you do this? Here are a few things that worked for me:

• Use humor by showing a funny related video segment.  
• Hold a contest of short duration, reward with a cheap, cheesy, unusual prize.
• Food always works.  Bring in a pastry, go out to lunch, have a pot luck.
• Consider participating in a sports league.  Older people doing physical things can be hysterical (although dangerous.)  People who work together, playing sports, is widely recognized for its team building characteristics.

Come up with your own “fun plan” and you’ll make your work-place even more enjoyable than making Corn Plops and Pow Juice.  

(To be continued.)

Attitude Can Save Your Life.

My father was the consummate positive thinker.  He knew, first-hand, the sick tendency of the human mind to dwell on the negative. He believed that, to counter that, and live life to the fullest, required a mental exertion in the opposite direction.  He also knew that the day would come when his sons would face difficulties and that our having a positive attitude would be a big key to moving through our disappointments successfully.

Probably, just like you, I wasn’t long into my life before I faced disappointment and failure.  As a child it was things like the loss of a loved pet, the death of a family and personal friend, and being hit by a car and spending a month-and-a-half in the hospital and healing.  As an adult, experiencing betrayal in business and personal relationships, death of family members, divorce and financial loss.  I give my dad a lot of the credit for my being able to walk through these experiences, generally, with a good attitude.  Once someone commented with amazement that I could joke about a terrible thing that I was going through.  My response was, “OK. But don’t you think that’s a lot better than killing myself?”

How can anyone start their day, with anything but a good attitude, after making thousands of cases of Corn Plops and Pow Juice?  (And it only took about ten minutes!)

(To be continued.)

Corn Plops and Pow Juice

When I was about seven years old and my brother was 14, we would often join my father in the morning in his bathroom while he was shaving.  You see, Dad had created a fantasy factory for us.  Our imaginary company made a delicious cereal called Corn Plops and an equally yummy breakfast drink called Pow Juice.  Each of us had our designated jobs. Dad was our team leader. Working together our production line produced breakfast products at a pace that seemed like the speed of light. Invariably problems would occur in our processes and we would make corrections.  We didn’t want to disappoint our customers.   As the youngest, sometimes things would get pretty intense for me.  After all, the game was totally in our imaginations.  If I missed an assignment Dad got me back on track.  There was never any condemnation and each shift concluded with the words “job well done.” 

(To be continued.)