Mentors – If you don’t have one, find one!!!

In the last few weeks my professional mentor, Rick Muzyk retired.  Even though he announced his retirement many months ago, somehow I always expected him to call one day and say “Just kidding!!”.   As the reality of Rick’s retirement sets in, I have been thinking a lot lately about how I have benefitted in my career from mentorship and how invaluable it is to anyone at any point in their career.

I have been very lucky to have two key professional mentors in my life, Rick Muzyk and David Rae.  The interesting thing, to me at least, is that these two gentlemen could not be more different in personality, style, approach and strengths.  However, I had the opportunity to work with each of them at two different stages of my career and benefitted greatly from their guidance and wisdom.

The Early Years – David Rae

I met David Rae on the day I started my “career”.  I was a 19-year old Co-Op student who moved to Ottawa to do a work term.  David had joined the firm a week before I did, so although there is over a ten year age difference we bonded over being the “newbies”.   I really was still a kid when I started out, and didn’t really know much about anything (although I sure thought I did!!). 

David is reserved, detail-oriented, and methodical in his thoughts and actions.  For those of you that know me, you know reserved, detail-oriented and methodical have never been used to describe me. 

On the surface you might think that we would have a hard time relating.  Luckily, from a personal perspective we both liked to shoot pool and have a beer or two after work so we quickly became friends.  Around the office, David also had a passion for developing people.  David would bring me in to sit in on client conference calls so I could get a “flavour” for client communication and management.  David was also the first person to let me “shadow manage” projects by helping me work through the basics, but also letting me try different things in a controlled environment.  One of the most vital things David taught me was the need to surround oneself with colleagues that have complementary skills in order to succeed.  David valued me for my differences and helped me to grow as a result. 

David and his family moved to New Brunswick in 1997.  He stayed with our firm so we still stayed in touch, but we did not have an opportunity to work together much from that point on. 

In 2001 when I got married I was honoured that David made the trip all the way from New Brunswick to stand for me at my wedding in Ontario.  Recently on a business trip to New Brunswick, David and I had a chance to grab a beer (well, maybe more than one) after having not seen each other in a number of years.  It was as if no time had passed since we last raised a glass. 

The Middle Years – Rick Muzyk 

As I continued to complete my undergraduate degree and work for the same firm, my main focus was continuing to develop technical and project management skills.  Once I had developed a solid technical base, I decided that I wanted to shift my career more into client relationship management and sales, which is when I met Rick.

Rick’s and my association dates back to September of 1999 when I was manning a tradeshow booth at a real estate conference in Toronto.  Rick, who recently joined the firm as our Vice President, Real Estate was in Toronto and came by the booth to check out how we were presenting ourselves to the market.   We instantly hit it off and the rest as they say is history. 

Whereas David and I from a pure personality perspective were almost opposites, Rick and I were cut from the same cloth.   We are both passionate, energetic, driven, client-focused people.  In some ways I am surprised we were able to be in the same room together without it running out of oxygen!!

Over the past twelve years I have learned so much from Rick, too much to even begin to list it all here.  His business knowledge, passion, enthusiasm and vision have not only inspired me, but they have pushed me to grow, learn new things and develop as a professional, a leader and a person. 

In Retrospect

I consider myself so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with David and Rick, and to call both of them my friends.   I am not a big fan of clichés, however, looking back at my career I am constantly reminded of the old saying, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”.  Had I met Rick at the beginning of my career, or David later on, I likely would not have connected with them the same way that I did, and I wouldn’t have benefited from the guidance and leadership that they shared with me. 

I am sharing this story to encourage anyone to seek out a mentor and give yourself over to their guidance and teaching.  I cannot thank David and Rick enough for helping to make me the professional and the person that I am today.  I owe them both more than I can ever repay. 

Thanks for reading.  Please connect with me on Linked-In (be sure the mention the blog) and follow me on Twitter (@billroth13).

Bill Roth

“The Success Junkie”

A Lesson from Lexi and Jackson

This past Saturday both my kids, Lexi and Jackson, began their 2011 Skating Lessons at the local recreation centre.  We spent Friday trying on skates, getting them sharpened and convincing Jackson that wearing his helmet was COOL!!

Lexi took skating lessons in the Spring of last year.  She had really taken to it at the time, but hadn’t been on skates in eight months.  Jackson had only put skates on once ever (and it didn’t please him very much, to say the least), so we weren’t sure how the lessons were going to go. 

Julie and I sat intently, quietly hoping that things would go well.  Both kids struggled, Jackson throughout his lesson, and Lexi at first as she worked the rust off her early skills (she really did improve by the end).  I cringed as I watched them take numerous falls and slips, some of them looked pretty hard.  However, I was filled with an immense sense of pride as I watched after each fall, both of them get up (or at least try to) and try again.  There was no crying, no complaining to the coach, no sitting on the ice and giving up.   The first thing I asked them after the lesson as they came off the ice, their snow pants covered with snow and ice, was “Did you have fun?!?.  Both of them responded with a resounding and joyful “YES!” despite the adversity they both faced. 

Later in the day I was talking to both kids about their skating experiences again, just to see if they had changed their opinions of the excitement they had just after they came off the ice.  I was once again amazed that they both had the same level of excitement and interest.   As Lexi and I continued to talk, she mentioned that she knew that she fell down a lot at the start of her lesson.  I told her that she had made me proud by how quickly she got back up each time she fell.  Although she smiled when I said it, I think some of the deeper meaning was lost but I did tell her that “It doesn’t matter how many times you fall, as long as you get back up just one more time!”

The day’s events got me thinking, when do we as adults create a phobia of failure or “falling down” or “looking silly” that often times halts our growth, that keeps us from trying new things, or in many cases from casing our dreams.   Here I have two young kids who were willing to get on an ice rink in front of hundreds of strangers, both adults and kids, and fall down over and over (fail, temporarily) and just get back up and try again.  How many adults would willingly and joyfully put themselves in that kind of situation.   How many of us slink away into a corner after a failure or set back.  How many people are “once bitten, twice shy” when it comes to trying something new or taking a risk.  As leaders, how many of us punish members of our teams when they “fall down” on the job. 

I am 100% sure that after a few lessons both kids will have improved immensely at their skating, in no small way because of their determination to “get back up”.   How much more could we achieve as individuals if we were willing to have such dogged determination to achieving our goals.  How much innovation could we create on our teams if we encouraged people to “fall down” and “get back up again”.

Next time you fall down (literally or figuratively), I hope you remember this story and follow Lexi’s and Jackson’s examples and GET BACK UP!

Thanks for reading.  Please connect with me on Linked-In (be sure the mention the blog)  and follow me on Twitter (@billroth13).

Bill Roth

“The Success Junkie”

My Favourite Business and Success Books

As I returned to work after the holiday break, which was preceeded by a two-and-a-half week vacation, I must admit I had a hard time getting my "head back into the game".  I sat at my desk Tuesday morning and was feeling a bit lost as to where/how to begin 2011 so I decided to pick up a few of my favourite books from my professional library to look for inspiration.  In total, I have approximately 80 hard-cover books covering areas of leadership, business, sales and marketing, human psychology, inspiration, etc.  However, since getting an iPad last summer, the size of my hard copy library has become fairly stagnant as I am now reading almost exclusively eBooks these days (although admittedly, I still have a few old school books on my night stand that I am trying to get through). 

I am a huge believer in lifelong learning.  I have been out of school for over a decade but through a steady diet of educational books I truly believe that I have learned as much or more after I completed university.  To stay current and mentally sharp in today's fast paced, change-addicted world, we all need to make sure that we never stop learning. 

In returning to my library for the first time in over a month, it got me thinking that in general there are a few books that I go back to most of the time when I am looking for a pointer or some inspiration.  I want to share the following list of favourite business and success titles from my library. 

7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey (No list would be complete without it!)
Good to Great by Jim Collins
In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman (Another classic)
Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan
Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (Nobody tells a story filled with thought-provoking insight like Gladwell)
On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis (One of the first and best books on leadership that I have read)
Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles (I am a Raving Fan of both authors)
The Sales Bible by Jeffrey Gitomer (I love all of Gitomer's Books and would recommend any of them)
Rain Making by Ford Harding (For any professional whether in sales or not, this is a must)
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (Hard core economics mixed with excellent writing make for one of the most interesting books I have ever read)
Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill (I am always amazed that this book was written so long ago!)
Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Suess (Don't laugh until you have re-read it!)

Hopefully you found a few new ideas for future reading in my favourites.  This is by no means an exhaustive list or a best-of list.  These are just my personal favourites from those that I have read to-date.  My wish list on Amazon.com is almost as long as the titles in my library.  I would like to recruit you to help me on my continuing journey to learn more about leadership and success.  Please post a list of your favourite books in the comments section to help me find the book that will keep me company on my next cross-country flight.

On a related note, for those of you who are looking for an eReader, I would highly recommend the iPad (in addition to the eReader function it obviously does a whole lot more).  My wife has a Kindle and it is nice, but you still need a light on to read it, which is a big deal for me as a late night or middle-of-the-night reader.  Now that being said, I am a huge fan of the Kindle App for the iPad over Apple's iBooks.  I love the white text/black background setting, which let's me read with the lights out in bed or on a plane without lighting up the room (or waking up my wife!).  In general, I also find the books on Amazon.com are cheaper than on iTunes. 

Please connect with me on Linked-In (be sure to mention the blog) and follow me on Twitter (@billroth13).

Happy Reading,
Bill
"The Success Junkie"