beBetter 

It’s 8 a.m. and I’m sitting in a very cold medical exam room. The dermatologist will be in any minute to begin my annual full-body exam. Gosh, all I can think about is how humiliating this is. It’s hard to have the discipline to do this every year. 

CeCe is standing in my home office and I’m staring down at her shoes as she asks, “Do you notice anything about my shoes today?” Thank goodness, I finally realize they are not the same shoe! Wow, they are almost the exact same color, appear to be the same style and very similar sole. The only difference I can really see is on top of the shoes where the laces (which are the same color) are styled differently. Why does anyone need two pairs of shoes this similar? 

It’s Monday night and we have been out of town for four nights now, which I know pushes CeCe’s travel limit. Although I shared with her while sitting on the beach that my schedule for the week would allow me to work remotely for longer, I could tell from her lack of conversation and our prior travel experiences that she will be disappointed if we do not head home tomorrow. So, I start making changes in my schedule to handle all of my calls on the six-hour drive home.  

This is a hilarious short video of Sully’s meltdown while expressing his deep desire to be with Pops (that’s me!). I obviously love it. And this mindset can be inspirational if we consider relating it to our client experiences. Are we focused on them enough?

Gosh, it’s already 7:45 a.m. as I jump into the shower after a quick shave. I’ve got little time to spare before an 8:30 meeting. Shampoo my hair, quick rinse and reach for the bar of soap. No soap! Dang, I had this same problem yesterday and forgot to put a new bar in here. I’m not using CeCe’s perfumed bath wash again — I got some strange looks yesterday. Nope, I’m going to step out and get a bar of soap.

I’m staring at my cell phone ringing from an unknown number on my way home from our cabin where DIRECTV has missed their second appointment with me. It’s three hours round trip so you can imagine my mindset is not exactly even-tempered. I have been talking with the DIRECTV support team and advanced resolution team all morning. And based on my experience, there’s nothing advanced about their service or capabilities. I did learn a few new excuses which I took the time to point out as they rolled each one out. 

Our front curb is a mess as I begin to pick up large pieces of concrete. We had a company cut two 36 inch slabs out so we can have some additional drainage added to handle excess water in our yard. I’m trying to salvage some of the sod so I can patch a spot in the backyard that I destroyed a few weeks ago which CeCe has not forgotten about. She is fond of a beautiful yard and I have been in the doghouse over this dead grass. 

Recently, CeCe and our daughter Haley traveled to Seattle with me for the AICPA Women’s Initiative Executive Committee meeting. We went a couple of days early so we could hike and enjoy some of the beautiful surrounding mountains and lakes.

Our first morning, we were headed out to Tiger Mountain Trailhead for a hike. We got a little later start than I had planned (I think we were closer to CeCe’s plan), so Haley began to Google some spots for a quick brunch. We came across a place right on our way called Eggs & Us where we stopped and had an amazing meal with great service. We loved it. But we did not realize how special it was until the next morning.

My feet hit the floor in a rush. With the daylight peeking under our bedroom curtains I knew I had overslept. Yikes! It’s 6:30 and I have a video conference call at 7:00 a.m.! Although I might set the alarm, I always wake up before it goes off. I never oversleep, but obviously, I had today and the timing couldn’t have been worse. I do a quick change and turn on CeCe’s Keurig to warm up while I fire up my computer.

In golf, your ability to play the “short game” is the quickest way to lower your score. You cannot shoot low scores in golf if you can’t chip and putt. Obviously, the pros spend hours refining this aspect of the game. And guess what skills go the quickest if you don’t play regularly? For me at least, it’s chipping and putting. This has never been more evident to me than last month ─ my once a year golf outing at Sage Valley. This year, I shot the worst score of my golfing career (108). That fantastic little score included triple bogeys on four holes. It was ugly, really ugly.

So far in this blog series, we pulled the curtain back on innovation, growth strategies, alignment and change management for large firms. We are now focusing on pulling back the curtain on strategic trends that are prevalent for many firms but not as frequently central to their strategic plan. All of these trends and strategies come directly from interacting with over 20 CEOs and COOs of Top 100 CPA firms. For some firms and maybe for yours, these next trends could be part of your plan to be distinctive and relevant. 

Life lessons learned at the airport have become almost commonplace for me and last week’s trip was no exception. As I sat in seat 19C, I opened my Kindle to finish the latest book in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. I was barely halfway down the first page when I felt it. Someone was staring at me, and it was the lady sitting right next to me in the window seat. “Oh no,” I thought. “I have a talker.” A situation that is a big threat to an introvert like myself.

As CeCe (my wife, Cathy) and I were checking our luggage curbside at the airport, she commented that someone had on too much perfume. In complete transparency, we are both very sensitive to strong fragrances.

I really didn’t think much about her comment as I had not noticed a strong fragrance. As we were getting ready to board our flight (boarding last, of course), we were the last two passengers walking down the jetway. About halfway down, CeCe said, “that person with the fragrance is on this flight. Gosh, I hope they are not sitting close to us!” I giggled but still had not noticed a strong fragrance.