A Pivotal Decision

The weeks and months that followed that heated 5S implementation session encounter involved less direct confrontation but they were far from smooth and rarely achieved the results or impact the corporate office expected. To that end, few were achieving the results even I expected - and I didn’t know enough yet to have terribly high expectations. The initiative exchange with the fellow I had worked beside for a couple years prior was a wake-up call; the “because I said so” approach just wouldn’t work. I had to learn as much as I could about earning influence and communicating effectively, as quickly as possible. That was my only hope to gain the buy-in I’d need for those senior team members to be willing to make the necessary changes for the 5S process to even remotely take shape.

Terry’s mentorship was a big help and he had been suggesting different books for me to read for quite some time. Just like during high school, I hated sitting still - and it’s really tough to read unless you’re sitting still - so I wasn’t doing as much of that as I needed to. But I soon found the world of audio books. In those days, nearly all of mine were on cassette tape (because the CD player in my vehicle was broken and I didn’t want to spend the hundred bucks to replace it). To squeeze those audio books in, I had to essentially give up the 80s hair bands I enjoyed listening to in my daily commute. 

While that seems like an insignificant trade off as I look back, it was monumental at the time. Prior to meeting Cindy, a few of my roommates and closest friends played in a rock band. In addition to seeing them play whenever and wherever I could, a small group of us went to as many concerts as we could get to - all of which involved extreme shenanigans. As my relationship with Cindy grew, and our lives and careers ramped up, I had less time for all that mess, but there were certainly still opportunities to engage in the occasional drunken stupor. 

As time went by in the 5S implementation role, I noticed that few of the folks who were in their careers where I was hoping to get to were participating in such nonsense - and definitely not with the intensity I was, even on occasion. I realized that this bad habit that had consumed so much of the ten years leading up to that point was indeed a barrier to getting to where I wanted to be. I’ve often heard the story of Hernán Cortés burning the ships after making landfall in Mexico, effectively removing any option of retreat. 

On February 3, 2001, I sucked down a six pack of beer as I grilled dinner before going to my neighbors house to watch the first-ever XFL football game. As I stood by the grill hammering beers, even though six was barely a starting point for me then, a six-year-old Matthew watched me intently. I didn’t think much of it then, it was something I had been doing for as long and I had known Cindy. By the end of the evening though, I realized that getting to where I wanted to be would require letting go of who I had been.

Before I go any further, please know that this is in no way an attack on anyone who drinks. In complete transparency, I’ve never been able to do anything in moderation. Hell, I’ve never tried. In the words of Ricky-Bobby, “If you’re not first, you’re last.” Seriously, I knew that it had to be an all-or-nothing decision. And that pivotal decision required me to make a bunch of tough changes, ones that impacted nearly every area of my life. 

Pivots demand brutal self-honesty and firm action; that moment of Matt watching me guzzle beers like it was normal served as a turning point that helped me turn a personal adversity into a leadership foundation. That definiteness of decision, albeit one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, has been one of the most fruitful seeds I’ve ever found from any adversity. We’ll look at that in more detail next. Before that, I’ll challenge you to identify one habit or pattern needing a pivot. Commit to one decisive first step, one where you burn the ships, and track it for just the next week.