Team Life 12/27/2017

Good Morning Team and Happy Hump Day!!! Today I want to share something a little different for you all. I don’t always dive too deep into my personal life in my Team Life posts but today is special. So on this day, 26 years ago, my life was changed forever. Today marks my oldest son’s 26th birthday. David Alexander Salinas was born at Andrews Air Force Base while I was stationed in Washington DC in the US Navy. His mother Sylvia and I were young but we were full of joy and knew we wanted to start a family. It’s funny when I think about my mindset back then. How I knew in my heart I was ready for children and then BANG!!!! Here he is and you realize you can never be ready for the impact your child will have on you. Shortly after David was born during his mom’s 6 week follow up exam she was admitted into the hospital for almost two months. While they tried to determine what was going on with her health. She eventually was diagnosed with Lupus. Although that time was rough, I would not trade the time I was given to raise my son and bond with him during that time. Of course like I always say, no one goes through hard times on their own. Thankfully my mother-in-law was able to come and help for a week as well as my mom. They were both a tremendous help guiding me and teaching this new dad who didn’t know a thing about caring for a child on my own but we made it through. David was just like any young boy. Always running and jumping and pushing his limits. I recall a time when he discovered he could jump the small section of stairs going up to the second floor of our home. The stairs were split into two sections. A small section consisting of four steps and then the large section of about 13 steps. So on this occasion he jumped the small section and proceeded to eyeball the larger section of steps and before I could even try to say no, he was up in the air attempting to jump the large section. He did clear 5 steps and then proceeded to tumble the rest of the way down. He landed on his belly face down on the floor, looked back up at the stairs brushed himself off and went right to that sixth step and jumped back down. The boy has no quit in him. Over time, as he got older and like many couples, his mom and I divorced and he and his brother went to live with her. That was a hard time for me. At the time both of my sons specifically asked me to let them live with mom. Like a lot of fathers, I was the disciplinarian in the family so I guess they thought they would get along with mom better. Shortly after that she re-married and proceeded to move them to Virginia and to Las Vegas for a time. During those years of course David was growing into a teenager and getting into teenage trouble. Through all of his ups and downs though, he has always known right from wrong and quickly realized he did not want the wrong choices. David has also dealt with his share of adversity. As a young child he had repeated problems with his ears and multiple procedures to try and resolve them but unfortunately he still lost a significant portion of his hearing on one side. We tried to get him used to wearing a hearing aid but like many kids he would have nothing to do with it. I can’t tell you how many hearing aids he lost or broke. He never let it slow him down though, he adapted and you would never realize it today unless he told you. David has struggled with some emotional teenage issues but did what he needed to do to overcome them. He moved back to Texas to be back with family with the help of my dad. My dad gave him his first job and while living in San Antonio is where he met Amy. Amy is now my sons wife and I have to say she is the rock that keeps my son grounded and at peace. Amy and her kids are my son’s family and he treats them all with the love and respect they deserve. David and Amy are truly one of the happiest couples I have ever seen. She is not only a blessing to my son, but a blessing to my family as a whole. When I talk about Team, it is not just among coworkers or fitness related teams. Most of us forget that the biggest and best Team we are a part of is our family team. David and Amy are truly the picture of an awesome team. David has also impacted my life as an adult through his support of me. From an emotional stand point when I had to talk with him about the failing of my second marriage and the development of my new relationship to Elizabeth. He has seen me struggle and he is always there to talk and listen and offer word of support and encouragement. I cannot fully express just how much it means to me that I have the relationship I have with not only David but his younger brother as well Major. As a father, I am blessed to have my sons in my life. So let me say this, in no way would I ever claim to be even close to a perfect father. If I could go back there are so many things I would do differently, but none of us have that luxury. But we can learn from our shortfalls and keep pushing forward and I am proud to say that I see that Never Give Up mentality in David. Each and every one of us has the ability to adapt and improvise and overcome adversity, the choice is all yours. Yes, it is a choice. If you get beat down by the SUCK, you can choose to stay down and blame everything and everyone else but yourself or you can suck it up, pick yourself up and get back into the Fight. So today, I want to Say, Happy Birthday David. I hope you have an awesome day wherever the road may take you. Hold true to your values and never let anything or anyone come between you and the man you want to be. You are stronger than you realize. Embrace the SUCK and keep pushing forward towards your goals. I am proud and honored to be your father. I love you. To all of you onboard the Team Life team, each and every one of you are stronger than you realize. You do have it in you to achieve your goals. You are Elite. Keep pushing forward and as always, Never Give Up!!!

Team Life 12/13/2017

Happy Wednesday Team. I hope you are all having a good and successful week so far. The work week is half over so now is the time to gather your teams and discuss your progress for the week and adapt your tactics if needed. Ensure that everyone is on track and if anyone needs assistance, ensure they get the help that is needed so the team succeeds. So let’s talk about assisting. Inevitably on some teams there are members that struggle from time to time and could use a hand. However, sometimes there are teammates that are just slackers and repeatedly ask for help simply because they do not want to do the assigned task and they know if they ask for help that someone will step in and take on the lion’s share of the work and get it done. So how do you as a teammate handle the slacker? In my opinion, the best answer is to just do it. If that slacker doesn’t want to do his job then step up and do it. Trust me, a good leader will, over time know his or her team and will see the actions and results of his team members. Eventually the slacker will start being assigned fewer and fewer meaningful tasks and if that individual is not smart enough to see the writing on the wall or even if he or she does and does not care eventually they will find themselves no longer part of that team or organization as a whole. So the next question for you is, as a leader, how do you handle that slacker team member? First off, as a leader, it is your responsibility to know your team. Know them as people first. Know what makes them tick, know their likes and dislikes and most importantly, know their level and quality of work. All of these things can be learned over time by being engaged with your team. A good leader does not just dole out tasks and simply wait for an end result. A good leader assigns the tasks and regularly meats with the team as a whole and individually to check status, assess plans, and also taking advantage of this time to build that personal relationship with the team. So, if you are that leader that has the slacker, coaching is key. The slacker team member needs to be informed of his or her substandard performance and a plan needs to be put in place to give that individual the opportunity to mitigate his or her shortfalls and get on a path to success. There is absolutely no reason to make this a tense confrontation. However, if once given the opportunity the individual fails to take advantage of the opportunity, then some hard questions need to be asked. There may be outside issues impacting your team member’s personal life that are affecting his or hers focus. Let’s be honest, we all have moments where life outside of work can be hitting us hard on multiple fronts. If this is the case, let your team member know you are there for them. Let’s face, it most career jobs, we spend more times with our work team than with our own families and that being said your work team is your family as well and they need to be treated as such. A good leader truly does care about the moral of his or her teams. If the issue is simply one of unwillingness to comply with assigned tasks or standards and fails to correct the sub-standard performance, than as a good leader it is your duty to sever the tie to that individual. That is what is best for the team and the organization as a whole. Remember, as a leader you are not only responsible for you team but you also have a responsibility to the big picture and the success of the organization. Each and every one of you has it in you to be a good leader. Some of us are willing to step up and take on that role but in some shape or form we are all given opportunities to be leaders from day to day. Take ownership of that and lead to the best of your ability. Have the discipline to hold yourself to a higher standard and lead by example. Never ask your team to do something you do not know how to do or at least have the willingness to learn how it is done by your team. You rely on your team to be the experts in their fields so trust that they can help get the team to success. Take care of your team, because it is your team that takes care of you. So let’s get out there and continue to push forward towards our goals. Be willing to go all in and embrace the SUCK!!! Be ready to adapt, improvise and overcome the challenges that lay ahead. So no one is ever a success on their own, we all succeed or fail as a TEAM!!!. Have a great rest of the week, and finish strong. You are Elite!!! HOOYAH TEAM!!! Never Give Up!!!

Team Life 12/11/2017

WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!!!! Time to get out of that rack and get that blood pumping and lets get ready to jump right into a new week of possibilities and challenges. Let's get FIRED UP and MOTIVATED to meet those challenges head on. Remember, that you are stronger than you realize and you can take on any challenge with the right attitude. Remember that life is not about the struggles you face or how many times you get knocked down. It is about how you adapt, grow and learn from the challenges and beat downs and how you endure and get back up and keep getting after it day in and day out despite the struggles. Nothing worth having is ever easy. How bad do you want it, is the question? So get out there and gather up your teams and ensure you are all on the same page. Ensure you are ready and properly equipped to take on the challenges of the week ahead and get after it and successfully execute your goals. Each and every one of you has it in you. You are Elite!!! Now let's get out there and kick those challenges in the teeth!!! HOOYAH TEAM!!! Never Give Up!!!