Leadership Quotes & More Pictures

Steph and I had the opportunity to attend a leadership conference this past weekend. John Maxwell was one of the keynote speakers. For those of you who don't know, I'm a huge Maxwell fan. I receive and listen to an audio CD every month and have read several of his books. I credit a lot what what I learned about leadership to him. He's taught me what questions to ask as a leader and how to develop a team. At the conference he talked about and promoted his new book, The 5 Levels of Leadership. He talks about how there are five different levels of leadership and allows you (the leader) to gauge where he is with each member of his team. I'm looking forward to reading it and learning.

I feel very strongly about personal development and continuing to better myself as a person. I think everyone enjoys the betterment of themselves, but they just don't want to take the time to read, study or listen. Secretly we want the information downloaded into our minds. Below are a few of my favorite John Maxwell & other leadership quotes. Hopefully they will give wisdom, knowledge and understand that wasn't there previously. Enjoy!

These are notes from only three of the books I have read (it took me 2 hours to type these notes up). Other books that I have read of his are: Developing the Leader Within You (Amazing book), Everyone Communicates Few Connect (Great for basic relationship building), Failing Forward (creating proper mindset for failure), The 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leader’s Day, Today Matters and Road Map for Success.

Thinking for a Change

·         The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them; a man may live long yet live very little. The truth is that you can spend your life any way you want, but you can spend it only once.

·         Calendars and  journals remind you of how you’ve spent your time, show you whether your activities match your priorities, and help you see whether you are making progress

·         Hurting people hurt people

·         There is no more noble occupation in the world than to assist another human being, to help someone succeed

·         If you want to improve your world, then focus your attention on helping others

·         People with humility don’t think less of themselves; they just think of themselves less

·         If you help others get what you want, you’ll automatically get what you want

Being a People Person

·         If you want people to act right toward you, you act right toward them and many times you’ll change them

·         Even a quick affirmation will give people a sense of value

·         Charisma – Be more concerned about making other feel good about themselves than you are in making them feel good about you

·         The secret of motivating others is providing them with hope

·         People must have affirmation and praise in order to maintain a high level of performance

·         One of the surest ways to build confidence is to find one thing you’re good at and specialize until you are special

·         Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence

·         If the only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem will look like a nail

·         No gain is ever made without the possibility of loss

·         Careless confrontation can be devastating

·         Not seeing people as they are, but what they can be

21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

·         Without leadership ability a person’s impact is only a fraction of what it could be

·         When talented teams don’t win, examine the leadership

·         Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less

·         Knowledge alone won’t make someone a leader

·         Champions don’t become one in the ring, they are just recognized there

·         If you fail to learn from your mistakes, you are going to continue to fail

·         If you can’t give credit and take blame, you will drown in your inability to inspire

·         Trust is the foundation of leadership

·         One measure of leadership is the caliber of people that follow you

·         Who you are is what you attract

·         People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care

·         If you want someone on your side, don’t try to convince them, connect with them

·         Nothing is more effective than sincere accurate praise

·         Nobody does anything great alone

·         Self-conscious people are rarely good leaders

·         Nothing is more confusing for people than to receive good advice, but see a bad example

·         The leader finds the dream then the people

·         You cannot kindle a fire in someone’s heart unless it is burning within your own

·         Activity is not necessarily accomplishment

·         The greater the leader, the more he must give up

·         Today’s success is the greatest threat to tomorrow’s success

·         The right action at the right time will bring success

·         Everything rises and falls on leadership

Tobiah continues to grow as well (but obviously in a much different way). By grow, I mean getting taller, because the kid is still super light (under 12lbs). Steph has been doing tummy time with him more often, and Grandpa Ford has been reading stories to him. Last week, Tobiah began reading to grandpa and adding his own commentary. Maybe he'll be a sportscaster someday!! Today while I was holding and talking to him I notice he was mirroring me, which normal for kids to do at his age. But when I say he was mirroring me, I mean he was mirroring me. The same furrowed brow, the same forehead lines, even the same looks! I told him that it has taken 29 years for me to master these looks and he has done it in just over two months! Below are some of my recent favorites. I saved my favorite for the very last. Enjoy!

Daddy Daycare & Taco John's

There haven't been a lot of times that I have gotten to spend alone time with Tobiah, but this week was an exception. Steph had a baby shower for one of our good friends Megan and then Thursday she wanted to go spend time with her friends at the IOS. This meant that Daddy Daycare was needed two nights in a row. To be honest, I was a little nervous because Steph is really good at knowing what he wants. I can do the things that will settle him, but I can't easily identify them myself. Wednesday night I got home and within 30 minutes he was beginning to fuss. Long story short, after about 20 minutes I was able to get him settled down. Later that evening he was beginning to get hungry, so I warmed up a bottle in his steamer, but I accidentally put too much water in the steamer, so when his bottle was ready it was too hot. Tobiah began ranting on how bad a father I was and asking aloud why would mommy leave him with this unfit man. I quickly cooled the bottle down under cold running water and things immediately got better.

The next night I was even more nervous, because I wanted to account for my mistake and have a little bonding time with ToBuddy. Thursday night was much better. I changed and feed him appropriately!! He was also fuss free! So we spent a little time playing on his mat, singing songs and watching a documentary on the Revolutionary War (hey the kid has to know that freedom wasn't free). I felt much better when Steph came home on Thursday letting her know how good of boy she has (and Tobiah was good too)!

On Saturday Steph and Tobiah made the adventure down to go see Suzy and the kids at their new house in Mason City. I was unable to go with because I needed to work. Steph told me how much fun the kids had talking to Tobiah. They gave him toys and trucks to take home. They asked cute questions like "Auntie Stephy, make sure to let us know when he turns 4 or 5 so that he can play with us" or "We can't wait to see him walk next time we see him" and "When will he get get his teeth"? All sweet innocent question that come out the mouths of naive children.

When Steph got home I asked what they had for lunch. She told me they went to Taco John's. I love Taco John's! Taco Tuesday, Six Pack and a Pound and sweet sweet Churros. Steph told me that it wasn't very good, which is disappointing because when its bad, its bad. I think Tobiah didn't care for it much either because that night Tobiah threw/spit up 8 times (I'm talking major outfit changing and burp rag filling)! He had 4 poopy diapers, one of them was a MAJOR blowout that required a bath, he peed on himself while being changed and finally he had gas ALL night! I know what you are think how gross that all is, and it was, but I couldn't help but to laugh uncontrollably throughout the entire evening! I told Steph that she may want to lay off the Taco John's for a while after the adventure we had last night! I guess this is all a part of raising a family, but it was definitely a memorable and gross night. One that I hope doesn't occur too often.

This morning was of Veggie Tales. We now know that God is bigger then the Boogie Man, we know that we should only pray to God and not man even if it means that we could be thrown in a lions den.We also learned that we shouldn't steal from others and that we need to be kind to others. Finally we learned that not everyone has a water buffalo. So we can't go around singing that everyone has a water buffalo. We were going to learn at some point, might as well been today.

Two Months, Moneyball & the Apple Orchard

 At this point in life time seems to being going by so incredibly fast. Tobiah is turning two months tomorrow, work requires me to be better than my best and the seasons are changing so fast that I thought summer just started. Add that all up and carry the one equals a great life with tons of excitement going on.

As I already mentioned my little Tobuddy is turning two months tomorrow. TWO MONTHS! Wow! It is literally hard for me to comprehend that he's been a part of our lives for two months. When I first think about it, I feel like he was just born yesterday, but as I continue thinking about it I can't really remember what life was like before him. I know that's weird and probably doesn't make much sense (heck I would of called me crazy if I heard that 3 months ago). To think back on all the things we've brought him to and experienced with him. He's went to his first (of MANY) Twins games, we did the State Fair, he's been to bonfires, birthday parties, a drive-in restaurant and he's got to meet hundreds of people that are so very special to Steph and I. Of all the things listed above, I enjoy most when Tobiah gets to meet or spend time with people that Steph and I respect and have developed good relationships with. To me, its another area that Steph and I can share our lives with people.

On Friday night my parents graciously volunteered to watch Tobiah so Steph and I could watch Moneyball. Before the movie (I have to give a plug for my Husband of the Year Nomination), I made a nice supper for Steph. I grilled two different types of steaks, the first was a bacon wrapped sirloin and the second was called a canoe. It is a thinly sliced (probably 1/4" inch) sirloin with mushrooms, onions and swiss cheese on top of it. Then the steak is folded up so the steak acts as a canoe for the mushrooms, onions and cheese. Quite delish! I also make jalapeno poppers and broccoli with cheddar cheese. After supper we were on our way to the movie. Overall it was a wonderful movie and I strongly encourage people going, especially if you love baseball. I won't give to much of it away, but the movie does a good job of sharing actual baseball lingo and gives an actual depiction of what happens behind the scenes at the front office. Afterwards my dad asked what I thought and I shared my feelings and shared a little bit more of the storyline with him. Then he asked would it be in my top 10 baseball movies, I said absolutely, but then he asked me something I wasn't prepared for. He asked what are my top 10 baseball movies. I sat there frozen, with no real good answer for him. So below is my top 10 baseball movies of all time.

1. Field of Dreams - I talked a lot about it in my Tobiah's First Twins Game post.
2. The Rookie - An emotional story about a man's dream of playing major league baseball.
3. Fever Pitch - Jimmy Fallot's character reminds me of a cross between Scotty & I.
4. Moneyball - Probably the best pure baseball movie made. Real good, I can't wait to own it.
5. A League of Their Own - Such a quotable movie. "There's no crying in baseball"
6. For Love of the Game - Chick flick & a great story of his past and recounting important memories
7. 61* - This is a great movie about Maris and his 61 home run season
8. Bull Durham - Lot of bad language, but hilarious and a lot fun
9. Major League - Again some inappropriate language, but love the line "Just a bit outside"
10. Eight Men Out - A good rendition of the 1919 Black Soxs and how they were banned from baseball
Honorable Mention - Pride of the Yankees - I recently saw this movie and learned a lot about Lou Gerhig and his remarkable streak, but then also his rapid decline because of ALS. Emotional movie.

Then today we took Tobiah to the Minnetonka Apple Orchard. It was such a perfect day for it. The weather was 65 degrees, but the sun felt so warm. It truly was a beautiful fall day. It was Steph, Tobiah, my parents, Mike, Em & Zeker that all went. Tobiah and Zeke were so good. They both were looking around and smiling. I know they don't understand where they were or what they were doing, but it was fun for us to take them there and enjoy such a nice day. The orchard was set up real nice, there is a lot of open space for people to walk around, they have a petting zoo with llamas, goats, rabbits & chickens. Finally they had a really cool and fun corn maze. The corn was probably 8.5 feet tall and they did a good job of creating routes and dead ends. I was really impressed with the maze and the whole orchard. The weather was a big piece of it, but I would strongly recommend anyone with kids should take them there and let them run loose. I know someday Tobiah will enjoy that.

It's Been A While....

It's been a while since my last post. I honestly don't like that fact that it has been such a long time, but sometimes life gets in the way and laziness over takes ambition. A lot has happened over the past month that I need to share and give updates on.

My last post was about Tobiah's first Twins game and how special that was. Unfortunately, not much has gone well from them since that day. They are in a stretch of losing 35 out of their past 44. Not only are they playing terrible baseball (situational hitting, fielding, baserunning & pitching....to think about they aren't doing any one thing well....UGH!), but they aren't even putting a MLB team on the field each night. The Twins would be fined by MLB if they had this lineup playing in Spring Training games. At the end of the game tonight, only Michael Cuddyer was the true major league hitter and to think I  (and 39,000 other people) have paid for these games and are receiving such a poor product in return. The only thing that can be said is it's embarrassing. I hope Mr. Pohlad and the Dave St. Peter have the guts to fire Bill Smith, the training staff and potentially Joe Vavra. Paul Molitor needs to be some where in Ron Gardenhire's coaching staff, preferably as hitting coach. To say the least, the Twins have many offseason moves ahead of them and it will be interesting to see what they do. A slow start next April (and a difficult schedule they have) could lead to a lot of open seats in Target Field throughout the rest of the summer.

Also since my last post the political environment has heated up. President Obama gave his Jobs Bill Act Speech (which should be passed, Right Away. Right Away Congress should pass this bill) last week and even though it was delivered OK (he's a great orator, anything he says will sound good), he knows that it will never pass because of the tax increase that are attached to it. I would bet that most House Republicans would  support the bill if instead of income tax increases for the top 2% wage earners, he cut spending somewhere to pay for this bill. If you look at the proposed Act from a very high level, it is government spending and taking money from one group and redistributing to another group. Raising taxes is never a good idea in the midst of a slowed/stalled economy. Capital and cash needs to remain flowing in order for the free enterprise system to fully function.

As far as a Republican Presidential candidate for 2012, the field doesn't look quite as weak as it did just a few short months ago. I watched parts of the first two debates and even though the field is missing a few key names such as Bobby Jindal, Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, Paul Ryan and Jeb Bush, the current candidates are getting the attention of the American people. In my mind the party has two legitimate candidates, one that I fully support (Rick Perry) and the other I don't want to see get the nomination (Mitt Romney). Below is a list of the top 5 candidates and a quick summary of how I see each of them:

• Michele Bachmann - Tea Party Republican. Outspoken, adds tons of energy to the party and I agree with most things she believes, she is unelectable. She's too polarizing and has too many gaffes, the media would destroy her just like they did Sarah Palin in 2008.
• Newt Gingrich - Former Speaker of the House. Great leader, good speaker and has outstanding insight and experience. Unfortunately for him he has marriage issues (mainly he can't stay married) and a large majority of his close campaign staff left him this spring. Newt could be a good VP candidate or even a good cabinet member, but not President.
• Ron Paul - Libertarian. Has good grass roots support and not all of his ideas are bad. Let's be honest, he's too extreme, polarizing and isn't likeable. The longer he stays in the race the more he hurts the party.
• Mitt Romney - Moderate Republican. Successful businessman and in a time when the country faces its most difficult financial challenges. He's become a career politician and plays the game well. Unfortunately for him he's known as a flip flopper (John Kerry) and for me way too moderate and doesn't have the conviction and leadership that this country needs.
• Rick Perry - Conservative Republican. He's added a lot of energy to the party since he announced he was running. Has stolen a lot of Bachmann's support and has catapulted to the top of the polls. There are a lot of unknowns about him and what he would do as President, but initial thoughts are he is the best candidate and has a really good chance of defeating President Obama in the 2012 election. 

Also, in the last month has been the rise (and fall) of Target.com. As mention earlier, Target has taken their website back from Amazon who supported the website for the last several years. The transition from Amazon to Target hasn't gone that smoothly. There has been several issues with getting the Amazon system and orders history to sync and transfer to the new Target platform. In addition to that, there have been the expected system issues that come with launching a brand new website. Finally, Missoni (right, I didn't know what that was a week ago either), has been successful beyond Target's wildest imagination. The craze was not only like a Black Friday day at the stores, but the traffic overloaded the website. All this means is that I've had to work more hours than initially anticipated. While it has been fun and exciting, it has come at a time when I long to be at home. This has put a lot more pressure on Steph to take care of Tobiah while I tend to matters at work. Thank goodness Dana (Steph's dad) has decided to move in and be an extra set of hands around the house. The important this is that Target.com has learned a lot and should be in great position come the Christmas season and beyond. The growing pains should end shortly as well as the long hours.

Finally, my new favorite subject, Tobiah! He's such a good little guy. He's starting to smile more and more. He's not nearly as fussy as he was two weeks ago. He truly is a happy baby and it is so much fun watching him and wondering what he's thinking. When he's sitting in his bouncer he will usually be looking around at what's happening and then he'll just start talking. I've added "The Great Communicator" as one of his new nicknames because he'll just start talking and he uses voice influctions like he is actually speaking! It really is amazing! It's fun taking him out when we run errands or when we go on family walks. He'll just be chatting away. Between him and Steph there won't be room for me to say anything. I continue to make progress on being a dad, for example, the other day I was holding Tobiah and he spit up on me. Previous Darek would of freaked out and gotten a new shirt, but not that day, I embraced the spit up and continued to burp him and clean him off before changing out my shirt.


That's all for today, I know it was a ton, but I really wanted to give an update on how things are going. Stay tuned for more posts and adventures of Tobiah!

Tobiah's First Twins Game

Four weeks ago today Tobiah William entered the world. I'm still amazed and in awe that I'm actually a dad. The thing is that I'm absolutely loving it. Tobiah is such a good little guy. I know that every parent loves their kid and think they are the best, but I really think he's a little stud. One of the things that I always imagined was taking by boy to "the game". I think James Earl Jones said it the best in the movie Field of Dreams

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again." Terence Mann - Field of Dreams

I love that movie for so many reasons. It's about a man foolishly chasing his dream and following voice that ultimately will become his destiny. I love that it is about the game of baseball and how nostalgic the game has been. It looks back to the past when towns would recruit players to play town team baseball. I love that its about old players coming back one more time to relive their dream. The dream that was stolen from them from the commissioner of baseball after the black sox scandal in 1919. I love all the twist and turns that the movie gives us. I love that quote by James Earl Jones and how it describes the game and how baseball has been the only consistent thing in the history of our great country. The thing I love most of all is how Ray sees his dad on his field and how Ray realizes that everything he went through in building the field was to give Ray the opportunity to make amends with his dad. The quote below is the end of the first conversation that Ray has with his dad.

John Kinsella: Well, good night Ray.
Ray Kinsella: Good night, John.
[They shake hands and John begins to walk away]
Ray Kinsella: Hey... Dad?
[John turns]
Ray Kinsella: [choked up] "You wanna have a catch?"
John Kinsella: I'd like that. 

That's gets me so emotional. To me there isn't anything more special then a son playing catch with his dad. I think back of the hundred maybe thousands of times that I've played catch with my dad. I love and treasure every throw, the sound of a ball crisply hitting the glove, that feel of the ball moving through the air. Today as I sit typing this, I wonder how many times my dad had to hold back the tears as him and I were playing catch? I bet Ray felt the same way as he had a "catch" with his dad and I look forward to the first time that Tobiah and I play catch. I say all of that to properly set up how special it was for me to take Tobiah to his first game. I know that he didn't understand where he was at or what he was doing or even how monumental that moment was for me. I've always dreamed of having a son that I could enjoy the game of baseball with. The reason I desire it so much is because I know the bond the game can create. My dad and I are best friends today and a major driver is because of the bond we have for baseball. It was my dad's first love, my first love and hopefully it will be Tobiah's first love.

 It was giddy all day because we were to Tobiah's first Twins game, but Steph was also going to bring him to my work and give my coworkers an opportunity to meet them. Tobiah was a little hungry when he arrived and was a little fussy, but there were plenty of "moms" there to hold him and have him stop fussing. It was so much fun for me to watch my coworkers hold him or even stop down and meet him. At about 5:30, we were off to the game. I never really took time to think about all the extra time it takes to get around with a baby. Not only do you need to feed and change him, but you need to pack his diaper bag (diapers, wet wipes, extra clothes, bibs, pacifiers and burp rags), get him into his car seat, placing him in the car, taking him out of the car, strapping on the Bjorn, loading him into the Bjorn, adjusting the Bjorn and grabbing his diaper bag. That is quite a few more steps then go, park, go.

 We did not sit in our normal seats behind home plate, we sat in the 2nd row of the Powerball Pavillion. The seats were a lot of fun. I love getting a different perspective of the park. Attached are the pictures I took from our seats. The weather was absolutely perfect. The game time temperature was 78 degrees with a slight breeze. Tobiah was such a trooper during the game. He was super good. He slept for the first two innings, with the exception of one time when the announcer said "Baseball fans, your Minnesota Twins". He jerked himself awake gave a big smile, yawned and fell back a sleep.

It was such a perfect night (except for the Twins losing), the best part of the game was Ben Revere making one of the best catches I've seen in my life. He chased down a ball hit to dead center and with his numbers facing home plate, he lept and caught the ball as he crashed into the 411 sign in dead center. The ball was crushed on a line and Revere chased it down 50 yards and then lept and caught it. It was honestly a great catch. I later heard Gordo's radio call of that play and Gordo even said that Revere won't catch this one. That kid plays with heart, Twins style, now only if we can get him to ground out to the pitcher so much.

Even if Ben Revere didn't make that catch it still would of been a memorable night for Steph and I. This is only the first of hundreds of Twins games that I will be taking him to in his life. I'm so happy that we had the opportunity to enjoy it outside at Target Field. Tobiah will never be subject to the confines of the Metrodome. He will only know outdoor baseball, the way God meant it.