CEO's Corner
Stop, Drop and Roll. I think we were all taught that in grade school, in
case we were caught in a fire.
My definition of a “fire” today is the occasional extremely frustrating
situations that can occur unexpectedly. We’ve all experienced them and thought in the heat of the moment, “This
can’t be happening to me.”
My most recent example occurred last week. I was in Chicago trying to
get back to Denver on a very early-morning flight. Once I arrived at the airport, I found out my flight had been cancelled and I
was stuck in Chicago until late that night. Normally it would have been fine had I not had
scheduled appointments in Denver that day. . . and if I hadn’t just returned my rental car. . . and if my power pack to my laptop
wasn’t packed in my suitcase that had already been checked . . . and if my cell phone battery wasn’t dead…!
For a short time I envisioned it as a “disaster day.” I didn’t know
where to begin. I’d have to scramble to cancel appointments and then figure out how to be productive for the next 11 hours.
At that moment, I literally made myself “Stop.” There was nothing I could do about it.
Secondly, I thought, “Drop.” I needed to release my
frustration, as it wasn’t productive.
Next I thought, “Roll.” Roll on to a solution immediately to
make things better. It made me smile when this phrase popped into my head. I thought, this is what I need to do when faced with the
unexpected fires that need to be put out.
Give it a try next time you find yourself in a “fire.” At
least it might make you smile. : )
Janet M. Rickstrew
CEO, Tomboy
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