Hollywood is obsessed with the glamour of the special operator, you know, the one who carries a full battle-rattle vest of special tools, weapons, armor, and gadgets – the man who jumps off moving trains, blows up vehicles, and saves the day…that guy. If Hollywood can be obsessed with him, which doesn’t really exist, I think I can be obsessed with the real guys. Hidden in the back corner of Barnes & Noble is a shelf with a few books written about them, a few of the books written by the men who actually were there. In the Army, they refer to themselves as the quiet professionals. I can’t tell you how much I respect this model of thinking. You go through years of the worlds most intense training – learn skills that few people can even think of doing, and go save the world on missions that nobody will even admit took place unless they are a failure. Why? Why would someone give so much and risk it all for little to no credit – no recognition and no fame? This trait, and this trait alone I find to be so incredible.

There are quiet professions all around us. I’m not just talking about the commando (although they are a perfect example to make my point). I am talking about the small business leader – the infantry soldier, the school teacher, the mentor, the doctor, the one who chooses to take on more in life and does it for little or no recognition. They see that their life exists to help others, leave a legacy, and make their journey mean something.

I wake up everyday and beat myself up about getting better – being better. My business partner and I have spent days, weeks, even months training trying to fix our broken selves, to improve who we are, and learn to do it better. You would think that the road less traveled that is significantly more challenging would be the undesirable choice. But so many of my role models chose that road – they are on it willingly and as far as I know, very few people even know they have chosen it. I can’t tell you what about them chooses this, but I can tell you I respect them.

I just hope to be like them – to mean more to life than what we are given, to leave more than when we started. It’s a movement I hope to see more in our culture. It’s just so cool to see people give so much and work so hard for so little. My brother Darrin will be going to Ranger school in about a month and I can’t tell you how much I respect him – his lessons don’t come easy, there were a million other paths he could have chosen but he didn’t.

So, here’s to the quiet professional.

Perspective in life is everything. Dire straights can instantly shift to divine intervention when you spin your perspective. What once was high-flying positive emotion can be crushed in an instant when your perspective all of a sudden goes the other direction. Recently in my life perspective has been either the savior or the de-motivator. I found myself asking why that is…why can’t you always see the good – the positive perspective. Well, the answer is you can. Your perspective on perspective itself limits your results! Trippy huh?

Your perspective is completely up to you. It is never determined by your friends, your boss, neighbor, or co-workers. Your perspective is entirely under your control and the perspective your friends have is entirely up to their control. If you think about it, the thoughts and perspectives one might have can be entirely opposite to someone else’s. There are certain skills people can use to help one see another perspective but we will save that subject for another day.

Positive and negative emotions within the subconscious mind are unbiased but incongruent. The presence of one always equals the absence of the other. They both do not and cannot share the same space. The day I realized I had the power to decide what emotions were present was the day I became a new person. It is easy to fall into a trap of believing you lack the power to change this. Your emotions alter your perspective and change the way you act in life. The perspectives you have dictate your behaviors and the behaviors alter your results.

Today I vow to take a step back and look at the emotion behind my perspective and decide if that is the perspective that gives me the most positive outcome. Can I see this situation from all perspectives? What emotion is present? What would I like to see and believe in my perspective? And finally, what emotion do I really want? When I answer these questions I find peace and positive perspectives in even the most difficult situations. Being resourceful in these moments of crisis and catastrophe are really what define today’s world leaders. Life is never without trials, difficult moments, and stress – but life always contains perspectives which can provide the solution or the continuation of a problem.

I thought I should share this breakthrough and hope that you too can gain power over your perspective and find true resourcefulness when you need it most.

One of the most important lessons I have learned recently explains the short-falls of some of the world’s most important missions both in military and business. For the most part, leaders are excellent at drawing up mission statements and objectives. From that point the results split drastically. Once you have a mission, you need a plan. However, these are not separate isolated concepts rather they are complementary and directly correlated. Serious mistakes are made when you get caught up in the plan.

Let me explain. The plan only serves one purpose: to accomplish the mission. The plan does not need additional flair or politics. Often times, plans are drawn up from political influence, intellectual “structural requirements”, societal influences, and other un-related elements. Let’s review an example.

To keep things simple, let’s stick with a Military example. Take a look at the failure of Operation Eagle Claw: The attempt to rescue the 52 American hostages held in Iran.o The mission was to safely rescue these 52 Americans. The plan turned into a political monumental show of force opportunity for every branch under the Joint Chiefs. The Navy needed to be used, Army commandos were selected as the operators to conduct the assault, Air Force had to be involved for transport, and every other element wanted a hand in the “PLAN”. The attempt later failed when several of the helicopters (not ever used for Special Forces raids were used despite poor maintenance and lack of night-vision trained pilots) failed mechanically and had to turn back. The mision was then cancelled on the ground by DELTA Force Commander Col. Charlie Beckwith due to the lack of helicopters to deliver the assult force. Upon the departure of the force from Desert One, a Sea Stallion helicopter slammed into an Air Force EC-130 upon take-off causing a huge explosion and starting a fire killing several of our men. The plan failed, and therefore the mission failed. The plan became the mission; requiring extra influence, un-trained resources, over-complication, and too many cooks in the kitchen. Pride and self-benefitting agendas corrupt some of the most well intended plans.

During the day I work as the CEO of SMG, and Vodik Corporation. Both jobs give me the gift to see abnormal things most people overlook. I see efficiencies in business management and corporate communication, specifically when involving today’s technology.

I was in Orlando Florida with a client. We decided to have dinner at Applebee’s. When we sat down we were told to press a button on this little computer box mounted at the end of the table to page our waitress if we needed anything. This was new; I hadn’t seen anything like it at any other restaurant. While we sat and browsed the menu, the LCD screen displayed a variety of food graphics and promotions. I thought to myself, “What a great idea” but immediately my positive thoughts were turned to doubt when thinking about how many restaurant owners would dismiss the technology and label it ‘too-expensive’ or ‘a luxury’ while failing to see it’s long-term value.

This nifty computer box tracked the waitress’s response times and noted how many times we requested attention. By the end of the dinner, I realized we had barely even used it and we had the best service I could remember. I can only imagine our waitress’s thoughts while knowing she was being scored and most likely rewarded by keeping her service quality high. And as you can guess, her tip was well deserved. Once again, technology helped a small restaurant see huge returns from a positive vibe, excellent service, and a return customer. I believe its money well spent. Great job Applebee’s, Lake Mary, FL!

http://www.slashfood.com/2009/12/15/applebees-table-devices/