Here we go again.  Another year has begun and we all are looking forward to brighter days.  So what are you doing to make today better than yesterday?  Yes, it is up to you to make change happen.  If you really think the government or anyone else for that matter is going to save the day, you need to wake up and do a reality check.  In other words, quit making excuses and start doing something to improve your situation.

I believe that as our society has grown, it has become easier to get lost in the crowd.  Many people have chosen to leave their responsibility for being a productive, caring human being to “the man”.  Unfortunately, “the man” doesn’t really care about you and your dreams and will always put its self- interest first.

So, what to do?  First, step off that wheel you’re on and take some time to reflect on what you’re trying to accomplish.  It’s okay to have dreams, but it’s even better to have a plan that you will follow to make them a reality.  All of the greatest accomplishments, whether personal or in business started with one person having an idea.  What is your idea?

Next, move your idea forward.  You do this by surrounding yourself with people who believe what you believe.  Share your ideas with them and keep moving forward.  Don’t worry, there will be plenty of unexpected forks in the road along the way.  You need to accept that your “plan” needs to be flexible so you can quickly adapt.  Holding on to your “perfect idea/plan” can cause your fast sailing boat to quickly stop as you drop the anchor.  Being able to trim your sails with the changing wind will allow you to gain momentum and keep moving toward the realization of your dream.

Until next time….may your fresh start to a new year release the independent doer within you.

The key, in my opinion, is how we choose to view and tell our story. When a tragedy happens, do we take it as confirmation of our own failings, or do we look for lessons that we can learn from the episode? It’s never easy and I don’t want to trivialize the emotion of the moment or the sorrow of human suffering. When we first encounter the sorrow or the fear or the hurt, we have no choice but to cope – any way we can. But once we survive the episode, when we have time to breathe, how do we talk about the event?

We have a choice.

We can view the event as part of our long tale of woe and make it so. Or we can view the event as a stepping stone that leads us onward and upward.

Sometimes, we can only see the positives when we look back over our lives. The same events that at the time were heart-stopping and deadly, in retrospect, turn out to be the very events that propelled us forward into our best moments.

In my case, my dream to be a speaker and communicator was realized when I spoke at Tedx Napa Valley in September. I got there through a series of high and lows, twists and turns, laughter and tears. I wouldn’t trade any of it for the lessons I have learned.

What about you? Do you have scars or tattoos that tell the story of your life?

How will you do in 2012?  I think the key to your business’s success is pretty simple.  It all comes down to execution.

For many, this is easier said than done.  You’re either  going to dig deep inside and turn the switch from pilot light to ON or you will move through 2012 with a lot of talk about what you need to do.

Step 1:  Ignite the pilot light

Step 2:  Turn the switch to on

Step 3:  Prepare for lift off

Step 4:  Set your sights on immediate short-term success

Step 5:  Move quickly to get your first win

Step 6:  Celebrate each victory with your team

Step 7:  Implement your next strategy

Step 8:  Repeat steps 4-7!

With each success, you will find the fire building within.  Capitalize on this momentum.  Plan on less talking about “it” and more doing “it” as you walk down the path you desire.

Until next time…soar to new heights with your flame aglow and leave the hot air behind.

The vineyard manager showed them what grapes to pick.  It was now their turn.  Away they went snipping and clipping away.  Grape bunches were quickly filling their plastic bins.  The full-time vineyard crews were quickly moving past the newbies and although I didn’t understand their comments I could tell by their tone that they knew these folks couldn’t keep up with them and would surely collapse under the heat of the rising sun.

Oh boy, everyone was having such a good time.  The team spirit was flying high and  even when the vineyard foreman pointed out grapes being missed, they would quickly correct their mistakes.  That’s the fun part – being able to walk in someone else’s shoes for the moment.  It allows you to learn something new but at the same time provides a greater appreciation for what is really involved.

For the hospitality team, they walked away with a few new blisters and a great story to share with their guests arriving later that day.  But even greater is the fact that each employee recognized that they are part of a team that requires everyone to be at their best to achieve success.

Until next time…try walking in another’s shoes sometime and discover how important they are to you.

In my hours of pondering my friend and his situation, what finally came into my mind was “BRAT”.  For those of you who, like me, have a fussy stomach, you might know that “BRAT” is medical shorthand for a diet of bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast.  This is generally recommended for folks who are having difficulty eating, which my friend now does.

How does “BRAT” apply to me and my relationship to my friend?  Well, in Sonoma County, we have recently ended the Gravenstein apple season.  In my personal opinion, Gravenstein apples make the very best applesauce.   So, over the last couple of months, I have been converting organic Gravenstein apples from local growers in Sebastopol into chunky, homemade, low sugar applesauce and canning it.  The cans are given to my friend so that he has them available in his pantry when he needs them.

Additionally, since my friend loves blackberry jam, I have taken my dog Blue, and haunted the area back roads to pick blackberries on the weekends and convert them into jam.  Through my efforts, in addition to applesauce, my friend will also have homemade blackberry jam to put on bagels, which comprise the “toast” portion of his diet.

Preparing special foods that my friend likes and can eat is a very small thing to do, in light of what he is facing.  The special foods that I prepare will not prevent the cancer from eventually taking my friend.  They will not keep the pain away.  But, in some small way, perhaps by preparing foods that he loves and can eat, it will provide him, as well as me, some small measure of comfort and an acknowledgement that he is loved and that he means a lot to people.

It is a small thing, but, sometimes, all that you can do in the face of such a devastating prognosis is what you “can”.

No, I am not talking about betting the horses, although the results of this kind of playing favorites can result in some pretty serious losses.  What I am referring to is the tendency of parents to favor one of their children over another.  In my experience, when this topic comes up, virtually all parents will stoutly maintain that they treat all of their children the same.  However, from conversations that I have had with family and friends over the years, it is apparent that some very intelligent people are either seriously clueless about their own behavior or on a really long cruise up that river in Egypt (de Nile).

I recently attended a class offered through the community education branch of a local junior college.  The subject was how to deal with issues around the planning and administration of parental estates.  I went in support of a good friend who is currently involved with assisting her surviving parent and dealing with adversarial relationships among her siblings.

In listening to the speaker and questions from the audience, it quickly became apparent to me that there were numerous serious family rifts that had been either caused by ongoing preferential treatment by parents during their lifetimes or by a perceived inequitable division of their estates.  Unfortunately, there is no easy or sure way to make sure that this sort of thing does not happen in a family.

Perhaps parents need to take a step (or three or four) back and honestly assess their behavior towards their children.  Do they “reward” the life circumstances of one child (a spouse and children) over the circumstances of another (single with a career)?  Do they allow themselves to be manipulated (financially and/or emotionally) by any of their children?   Do they become angry and defensive when their children try to discuss the dynamics of their family relationships?

Although self-reflection can be a daunting task, and changing long-term behavior patterns is difficult, making the effort could mean ending up in the “winner’s circle” rather than “finishing up the track” or “breaking down” in the family relationship race.  So many times, I have heard people say “I love my relatives, but I don’t really like them”.  Wouldn’t you like to be able to say “I love my family and I really do like them, too”?

When it comes to priorities, sometimes it feels like we are constantly trying to balance on a teetering see-saw with an unpredictable person on the other end.

This out of balance feeling seems to be impacting everyone lately from businesses to individuals. We are all under constant pressure to do more, to give back, to network, to Tweet, to eat slow food. We don’t want to be the lone slacker so we do more and more every day.  But we soon find ourselves doing fewer things well (and waiting a long time for our dinner).

The solution, in my opinion, is clarity. If we will individually and collectively take a rest from doing and spend a little more time contemplating, we will be in a better position to identify the things that really matter. We need a sense of purpose that helps us prioritize not only our daily activities but also our corporate goals and objectives.

At BDCo, we have gotten some great insights from thinking about and articulating our firm’s purpose, which we call our “Why” statement. The idea came from Simon Sinek’s book, Start with Why. The idea is a simple one but its power is quite amazing. Just by staying focused on those things that matter most, you start making better decisions.  It happens when you start thinking about your core beliefs and then look for others who share them.

We have seen this approach make a difference in wineries, in charitable and civic organizations, and in businesses of every sort. But it starts with each one of us as individuals. Take a few minutes to first define your personal beliefs and then think about actions you can take each day in  support of those beliefs.  How do your personal beliefs line up with those of your company? What can you do today that gives you a sense of passion?

Define your beliefs and then use them to set priorities. I believe in you. 

What about you?  What do you want to do?  Will your time be filled with travel, helping in the community or just not having a schedule?  All of the above sounds like a start but what else?  Obviously, I am not ready to retire because I am still worried about having a list to check off.

Recently we had a family vacation in Maui.  My kids are young adults which made this vacation even more special.  This year we enjoyed a true vacation as the kids volunteered to cook dinner and clean-up.  Many an evening I sat on our lanai sipping a beverage while watching the sunset with no schedule on hand – it was a nice vision for retirement.   But how realistic is that?

So here I sit wondering if retirement will be all that it is cracked up to be.  I think before I get to that day I am going to take it for a test drive.

Until next time…how do you see your sunset years?

First of all, the Scottie market has been skewed by the 2010 Westminster Best-in-Show win of Sadie the Scottie.  Don’t get me wrong – I applauded as loudly as anybody when Sadie was crowned.  But, apparently, Scotties are suddenly an “in” dog.  Their stock is hot (unlike the recent misadventures of another market) and people who don’t know the breed and its quirks are suddenly rushing to buy one of those “cute” little black dogs.

My initial effort to find a reputable breeder involved going to the websites of two well known national dog organizations and requesting a breeder referral. I never received an acknowledgement or a referral from either organization.

Around the same time, I sent e-mail inquiries via a regional breed website to two Scottie breeders that I had met while attending dog shows.  Once again, there was no response. Talk about bad customer service – to be contacted by somebody with money in hand ready to buy your “product” and to give no response. Why even bother to have a website with an e-mail address available?  You might as well have a fully stocked store with beautiful window displays that is never open.

Happily, since that time I have spoken with a breeder in another state and have filled out a comprehensive application to be placed on her puppy waiting list. She has provided references from some owners of her puppies and I have interviewed these folks about their experiences with her.  I have studied her extensive and frequently updated website (her husband is a programmer).  Her attitude is that she wants to do the best thing for the puppies she personally breeds, the potential puppy owner, and for the Scottie breed in general.

This is somebody who clearly understands not only the importance of marketing, but of following through with excellent customer service.  As devotees of another Scottish export, golf, will confirm you can’t just take a swing, you need to have a solid follow through!

What direction are you sailing?  The wine industry is showing positive signs that the storm has passed and a bright future is just beyond the horizon.  However, I don’t think the industry can fall into a false sense of security that it is going to be the good old days again.  I have heard a lot of chatter that the customer has changed.  They are looking for a deal or not purchasing.  I think there is something else at play.

The day of order-taking is over!  The perception of value lies in the impression that you give your guest and nowhere else.  What can you do to improve their impression?  Based upon the typical tasting room experience, there is plenty to be done.

I recently visited two tasting rooms one afternon in the Napa Valley.  The first was a famous destination where I was part of a private tasting.  The grounds were beautiful!  The tasting? Well it was so so.  The wines were pretty good, but I was looking for more…not wine, but an experience.  So, down the road I went.

My next stop was at a small family-owned winery.  The grounds were nothing special.  The tasting room consisted of a folding table with the barrel room just beyond the wall.  The tasting…awesome!  Why?  An employee who loved his job and the family he worked for!  It showed in everything he did.  The surprise for me was to see the owner/vintner in the tasting room the entire time I was there.  He met the guests and chatted with them.  Here was someone who knew how to separate his winery from so many others.  It wasn’t an over the top facility…just the opposite.  The wines…incredible.  But most of all, it was people who loved building relationships with others.

As the wine industry continues to move forward, I hope that many will step up and improve their guest experience.  It truly is the value consumers are looking for.  Just remember that each person coming in contact with your winery is a guest first!  Customer second! Wine Club member third! Ambassador for life!

Until next time…which way will you sail?