Achieve Your Dreams

Have you wondered what it is like to accomplish your greatest dream?

Hayward Field 2015 Oregon Relays

Taylor, Kolbi, Jenny, and Jordan were ranked in the top twelve of the 2014 women’s outdoor high jumpers in the state of Idaho. They are good athletes. It was an honor to coach them and the other high jumpers this 2015 season. Thank you to Greg Harm and the coaching staff at Eagle High. I'll be speaking of the other jumpers and the 2015 season in later newsletters.

During 2014 Jenny, Taylor, Jordan, and Kolbi maintained a starting height of 4’6” & 4’8” and had completed competitions with 4’10” 5' & Jenny's exciting state winning jump of 5’4.” When asked at the end of last season how high they wanted to jump the next season, what their individual dream goal heights might be, they responded 5’6," and each of them wanted a shot at the school record. 5’ 6.25.”

During the off-season we used a visualization exercise and raised their practice height to 5’0” and kept the new standard before them. The jumpers were encouraged to also put pencil marks around their house of their goal height and feel themselves soaring over it every day. One practice brought cold damp 40 mile an hour gusts from two directions into the mats and Jordan flew over 5'2."

At the beginning of this season we encouraged a starting height to be a bar set at 5’0.” There was push back and concern at starting their competition at such a high height. We talked about breathing and energy. Jordan was asked to compete in her other events for the season. Kolbi, Taylor, and Jenny were our three competitors in high jump. Jenny had a bothersome muscle strain on her jump leg and most of the way through the season she took time off to heal and prepare to compete at state.

Kolbi and Taylor's combined attempts at the women's high jump record in 2015 totaled nine times in eleven meets. Nine meets at 5'6" means they attempted 27 jumps in competition because they each get 3 attempts to clear the bar. Neither of them had cleared 5”4” in competition before the 2015 season and both Taylor and Kolbi eclipsed that height in their first two meets. Just like the champion she is Jenny finished strong and achieved the goal she wanted at state. Several of Taylor and Kolbi's attempts at 5'6" were so inspiring to their family, friends, competitors, and coaches our groans could be heard on the moon. 

The jumpers ability to consistently visualize achieving their goal and continue to train at a new levels is what created a memorable and empowering journey along the way to each of their success. The men's and women's high jumping season of celebration and wonder, missed attempts and getting huge air, exhausted minds and bodies from training and overcoming obstacles, head games and victory laps, gave them clarity of what they can accomplish as athletes and teammates, and best of all they discovered more about who they truly are.

High jumpers offer this important perspective on attaining the goals you dream of.

• Visualize the Goal and Watch Yourself Accomplishing It
• Raise the Bar of Expectation for Yourself
• Elevate Your Behaviors In Spite of Anything
• Soar to Success
• Along the Way You Discover Who You Are

You can achieve your dreams and your journey to your goal will be incredible.

Dr. Tom Lobaugh

Achieve Excellent Communication with This One Action Step

What we say & How we say it,                                        Transforms lives.

Every sales person or customer, student or teacher, guest or friend, family or teammate will be directly and indirectly influenced not just by what you say; they will be transformed by how you say it. How many meetings have you attended when the air in the room was suddenly sucked away by an issue shared with a patronizing and hurtful tone of voice? Meetings become quiet, choking, and non-productive.

Discovering your genuine and authentic tone of voice takes embracing who you are with love. The one action step you can take today is: Briefly write down the happiest event or moment in your life. Answer each next question with two or three words. How did you feel during the event? What words best describe how you felt after the event? What do you remember most about yourself in that specific moment of happiness? You should have at least three and possibly nine describing words of your greatest happiness. Complete this statement with every word you came up with:

I am _________, __________, _________, _________, ________. When the statement is complete read it out loud. Put the statement on your mirror and read it every morning and evening out loud. This action step will also help you create an attitude of great value for any person you are communicating with.

When others listen to your words with your genuineness and sincere tone their life in that moment should be an experience of tremendous value. You hold the empowering choice to accept and celebrate who you are, claim an attitude of positivity, and choose words and phrases with a tone of encouragement.

What we say & How we say it, Transforms lives.

CONGRATULATIONS Chase Bank, Capitol Plaza Team Boise, ID!

Congratulations to Chase Bank, Capitol Plaza Team Boise, Idaho and to Stephanie Nielson & Holly Wells our first quarter recipients of the 3C’s of Excellent Customer Service!

Stephanie and Holly consistently provide a superior customer service for their clients that includes Cultivating a long awaited attitude, Creating a welcoming space, and Communicating with class. Thank you to Kevin Guth, Vice President and Branch Manager for helping to create an atmosphere where excellent customer service is awarded and applauded.

3C's logo provided by Amy Levitus, freelance graphic designer, Lemonade Chi.

Independent Coffee Shops in Eagle, Idaho Grounded in Creating a Welcoming Space

When you walk into these Eagle, ID coffee shops the hospitality you experience from their interior design is as uniquely inviting as their roasts, blends, drink flavors, and food menus.

Heather Allen, owner at Perks of Life, says, “The best customer service is a quality product,” adding that, “good equipment, having a local roaster who serves daily freshly roasted beans, and employees that care” all work toward providing an unmatched product and excellent service. Perks of Life welcomes you into a classy quietness where customers are encouraged to engage an ambiance of peacefulness and comfort; like a coffee retreat with a barista who cares about you and the coffee they serve.

Sunny Kim, owner at Café Crane, agrees that excellent customer service is the best way to retain customers after they have been introduced to Mrs. Powell’s famous cinnamon role recipe and to their North West coffee roasting flavors. Café Crane has created a cheerful space like a family living room experience with great tunes, big screen television, and where the baristas offer an enthusiastic hospitality.

Rickard Bjerkander, Roaster at Rembrandts, says that excellent customer is about building relationships and creating a connection. “Sometimes it’s the coffee they connect with, sometimes it’s another customer or a friend, sometimes with one of us, and sometimes it’s the whole experience of this place.” Rembrandts roasting machine has a bold servant’s presence on the dining floor of this refurbished old church and is a huge part of the coffee shop’s eclectic atmosphere. From employee to customer everyone has a unique engaging a story like the artwork, creaky floor, and bold mission statement; all you need to do is lean across to anyone at Rembrandts and you will have met new friends.

Naomi Preston, owner of Wild West Bakery and Espresso, and her staff welcome customers with a down-home-cowboy-y’all-are-welcome hospitality. Wild West’s space is like a country home kitchen that is the center of all things family and whose back door is always the preferred entrance. When the barista greets you after walking in off the street, it is like you have stumbled into a spontaneous ‘get together’ at a beloved neighbors home who has always got coffee or tea on for guests.

Jason Wilson, owner of Big Star Coffee, has a ‘great hall’ welcoming space with two industrial glass garage doors that actually open. Windows everywhere, glass from floor to ceiling, and a wide-open space offers the customer a unique post-modern feel, as well as a warm and personal gathering area around the fireplace or pushing tables together. In the center of it all are the barista’ personal genuine connections focusing the attention on the customer.

Whatever your coffee desires, the next time you are Eagle, ID, enjoy these coffee shops interior designs and ambiance as an extension of their customer service. It will open up your senses to experience of wholeness of hospitality and the coffee they serve.

Other articles on experiencing presence within the coffee world you are sure to enjoy:

Chris Ryan, Editor at Fresh Cup magazine on: TUNED IN: How to enhance your shop's atmosphere through music   www.freshcup.com

Dan Charles, NPR Correspondent, Food and Agriculture on: How Coffee Brings The World Together

Dr. Tom Lobaugh                            Inspiring the world to excellence one heart at a time

Roberts Mansion, EJ's Garden Bistro, and Ghosts

If you are ever in Spokane, WA for a weekend or vacation you've got to stay at the Roberts Mansion Bed Breakfast and Event Center and enjoy the good food and delightful ambiance at EJ's Garden Bistro. Located in historic Browne's Addition, the staff's hospitality and service are superb, the mansion spectacular, the outdoor fire pit perfect, the original antique pool table stunning, and rooms comfortable and beautifully restored. We stayed in the Secret Garden Suite for a weekend celebration and were treated like royalty. Owner Mary Moltke is a joy and welcomes guests as family and Manager Kristy's inviting spirit and enthusiastic grand tour create quite the historic ambiance. Google carries a article that the mansion may be haunted. Our first night we had the living room ceiling light suddenly go out and we had a pool cue unexpectedly move against a back wall in the magnificent pool room downstairs. Could have been a sneaky father playing games with his son. No matter to us because the ghost at Roberts Mansion appears just as welcoming as the staff! (1923 W. First Avenue Spokane, WA 99201  509.456.8839)

While you are walking around Browne's Addition be sure to grab a micro beer at Elk Public House, a coffee and gelato at the Cafe Capri where you are sure to meet a new friend, and you can get a great hair cut and pampering at Fathom Salon Spa.

Thank you Mary, Kristy, and staff for a memorable stay!. Thank you Jon.

Dr. Tom Lobaugh                            Inspiring the world to excellence one heart at a time

The 3C’s of ExCCCellent Customer Service: Increase Productivity & Healthy Bottom Line

Cultivating a Long Awaited Attitude.  A licensed therapist and minister were joking about welcoming the staff of their particularly large congregation every time they saw them with a joyful surprised, “Where have you been? We’ve been waiting for you. Glad to see you!” So they decided to try it out on each staff person as they walked down the halls to there respective offices one Tuesday morning around 8AM. They had to run and catch up to a few who had sneaked in quietly only adding to the dramatic introduction. A few of the staff were emotionally moved by being recognized, many enjoyed it with great laughter, and several were skeptical and asked in one form or another, “Are you serious?” Most of the staff remarked how it made their day and at that staff meeting they thought it would be a grand experiment to try with everyone who came through the doors that day. When a client or customer walk through your doors, or you walk through their doors, do they experience a meaningful welcome expressing, “Where have you been our whole life!” Imagine what will happen when they do. Morale in the office will be more positive and customer service will be an incredible experience.

Creating a Welcoming Space. Creating a welcoming space at work is a creative way for clients and employees to be invited into the uplifting and positive side of any particular company’s world. Welcome spaces are an important bridge between customer and business. What would happen if we added and created to our Welcome Centers with an inviting spirit making clients experience something positive, enjoyable, and meaningful? What can be done with your workspace that inspires you and those who may stop by? Sometimes company policies provide guidelines for workspace areas and you may want to adhere to it and you may not. It is a great practice to check with management and communicate your ideas as it may open a door for another area in the office needing an inviting makeover. There is a car wash/car engine oil and fluid businesses. Their waiting area is crammed with chairs and near the check out register. The clerk is one of the happiest and most quiet people I have ever met. He is methodical in checking people out as he cares for each person individually and it creates a bottleneck. The pens have neon feathers glued to their ends and when you sign your ticket or receipt the feather moves wildly to your signature. He has two silly trolls taped to the register on their bellies so when you approach the register you see their smiling faces and colored hair and when you pay you see their behinds. It is hilarious. The room’s walls are jammed with memorabilia and he taped a sign over the TV reading, “Broken. Talk to someone.”

Communicating with Class. There is nothing classier in communicating with clients than a moment where they hear and experience your integrity. Thoughtful words are empowering to the listener. They change lives when they are shared from a humble and good space of truthfulness recognizing the client and looking them in the eye. Take a moment each day and center yourself with a few deep breaths and prepare yourself to communicate with honor. Phrases like, “Thank you;” “You are welcome;” “My deepest apologies;” “Please;” “It has been a pleasure,” will encourage positive behaviors that will change the world. Each of you have your own stories where these words and the truth in the eyes of those behind the words have lifted your hearts and made you know how amazing you are.

The 3C’s are an excellent way of inspiring employees and providing a positive customer service experience. When both of these are in sync everyone is more productive and that leads to a positive healthy bottom line.

Dr. Tom Lobaugh

Inspire Excellence

Becoming Fearless

Stinky Feet

   “Well, let’s see,” she began and looked kindly at Justin.

   “When we were in Decatur, Georgia and David was with Columbia Theological Seminary, we were with a group of families who were also connected to the seminary. One of the mission opportunities that several of the faculty and their families worked with was to take care of the homeless, especially their feet. Many homeless do not care for their feet for a bunch of reasons, and many of them have no socks or shoes, or the shoes they do have are too small or too big and without socks; their feet can consistently become infected and very dirty. So a group of families decided to put together a ministry once a week to attend to the feet of the homeless. They asked doctors to be with them in case of infected emergencies that needed medical attention, and mostly the seminary families would show up with aprons and towels and wash basins and disinfectant soap, and sit at the feet of the homeless, take their feet in their hands, wash them, and give them fresh pairs of socks. One of the seminary families had a wonderful thirteen-year-old daughter who approached me one week to go with them. I politely declined and made up a reason for not being able to attend. I prayed to God, ‘God send me anywhere on any mission, but not to the feet of the homeless, please.’ ”

   “I heard no response and felt comfortable that God had answered my prayers. Stinky ugly feet turn my stomach, and I knew that I would lose it if I went. I am fully aware that there were others called into this kind of front line ministry, and I support them and admire their courage, but there was no way I could ever touch dirty, stinky, infected feet. About a week later, the same delightful girl asked me again, and I declined citing another important event needing my presence.”

   “A couple of weeks went by, and this young girl asked again, and I said something about a program at the seminary, and she said, ‘Oh I spoke to David and that event has been cancelled, so you’re free!’ ”

   “I was stuck. I had to go. Tom, it was awful. It was so terrifying it felt like was I was going to throw up. The girl took me by the hand that evening and showed me how it all worked, and said that my only job was to draw the water for the basins, and pour the bad water out. I could do that as long as I didn’t have to wash any feet. This little thirteen-year-old girl was a dream to watch. She would place those sanitary gloves on her hands, kneel before these men, and take their foot into the water and wash them ever so gently, and then dry them with a towel. I couldn’t help but think of the woman at Jesus’ feet. As I brought another basin, the girl took my hand and asked me to sit with her for a moment. I did to be nice to her, and what happened next changed me. One of the men stepped forward, and began removing his shoes. I got up to leave, and he said to me, “ ‘It’s gonna be all right tonight.’ ”

   “We, the girl and I, helped his large foot come from around the basin and into the water. It was the most infected and horrible foot I had ever seen. It was sickening. The girl moved closer to me, and called for the doctor, and the man said directly to me, ‘It’s gonna be all right tonight.’ ”

   “I began washing his feet. He said, ‘Thank you,’ the real thank you that humbles you, you know?”

   Justin shook his head yes and Liz continued, wiping a tear, “As we finished with him, and the doctor took over, the little girl said, ‘You did it Liz, you did so good.’ ”

   Justin said as we were falling asleep, “The game was cool, dinner was amazing, they are so nice, and what about Liz’s story of the homeless’ nasty, stinky feet and the girl who is my age? She was my age dad, made me cry. I think you need to put that one in the book. OMG that’s an amazing story.”

Taking Action: Becoming Fearless

   We are all on a journey of becoming. It is a mission built into every cell and atom on earth: Create and Become. Imagine what happens when we begin to see our life as a journey of becoming. How many others do you know who fight against this reality and whose life has become a list of complaints? Take courage and invite yourself into the empowered life of being formed especially with regard to becoming fearless. Listen for The Other’s guiding presence calling to each of us with: “It’s gonna be all right,” “You did it,” “You’re free,” “You are the eighth day of creation,” “Take joy in your children.” Thirteen-year-olds see and feel and act on a lot of good in life. They live OUT LOUD in the midst of fear most of the time. What happens when we risk becoming fearless and love The Other’s way for the sake of others, just like Liz and her teenage guide?

(pg. 85, Broken Hearts Open Doors: The Art of Welcoming Others ; Inspire Excellence, 2012)

Adaptability is the Key to Great Leadership

Asking for Directions to Somewhere Over There

Whether you ascribe to the Biblical principles of leadership, “Where there is no vision the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18), “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function …” (Romans 12:4), and “But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave …” (Matthew 20:26) or to Frances Hesselbein’s valuing respect and leading by example, “We don’t have to agree with everything everyone says, but we do need to be civil. The ugliness, the personal attacks we see … these are things that should never be said by leaders anywhere about anyone ... You have to live your values. Leadership is a matter of how to be, not how to do;” or to John Maxwell who claims, “A leader knows the way, goes the way, shows the way;” or to Benjamin Disraeli statement that “I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?” or to Rosalynn Carter’s belief that, “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be,” leaders in times of transformation must lead. When leaders are asked, “Where are you leading us,” from people in a re-forming organization will often demand, the answer about the promised land sounds rather loose with built in abilities to modify at any time, “Somewhere over there” because leadership must be able to become and form as we move toward our goal.

Good leadership recognizes who is moving with the new direction and who is not on board and must make decisions for forward movement adapting toward the new vision of the congregation or organization. No one ever promised adapting would be welcomed or easy. Peace is not the absence of conflict. Those who serve on a board of directors or serve on a session do not do it to be liked. If any individual or group is purposefully going in another direction, decisions need to be made, conversations had, feelings affirmed, and if divisions remain then a parting of the ways should be extended in grace and compassion. If not, families, corporations, organizations, and congregation will be dead in the water.

Organizations, going through a critical transformation need a guidance system, a renewed mission and focused vision, a set of maps to lead them into new territories, a tracking method connected to a greater knowledge to help them see when they get lost. We all need a positioning approach to allow adaptability in order to take a few different paths as we continue moving toward our goals, our promised land, that, “something other” than ourselves that is liberation in order to, as the jester prophetically announced for our road trip, “save your ass.”

The consultant we hired, Dr. Peter Pizor (www.pizor.com), told us that our plan “should be designed to work like a transatlantic airplane whose navigating equipment automatically makes over seven thousand minor tactical adjustments on a flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo to keep the plane headed in the right direction.” (Lobaugh; Broken Hearts, Open Doors: The Art of Welcoming Others, pg. 11-13; Inspire Excellence, 2012) 

Great leadership consistently adjusts progress and decisions toward the vision and doing everything possible to inspire others to move in the direction of somewhere over there.

What needs to be done to adapt today and be a great leader? What adaptations does your family need from you to lead?

Dr. Tom Lobaugh

Inspire Excellence