• Tag Archives humans_being

  • The Powerfully Insightful And Wicked Smart Wife!

    Posted on by Tim

    This was originally posted on LinkedIn. Occasionally, an actual conversation happens for me.

    I reached out to a colleague as I had not heard from him in a while. Consequently, I was concerned about him, I sent him a message in Teams to see how he was doing.

    As well, I took time and had an actual conversation with one of my teenage daughters, as her “best friend forever” has been traveling for the past couple of weeks.

    I had a good, actual conversation with my wife about “showing up.”  She challenged me further with her own experience.

    Undeniably, I was surprised, shocked, and delighted by what she shared. 

    On the train somewhere between Croatia and Austria

    An actual conversation

    My wife was born and raised in Yugoslavia. Today, her country is known as Hrvatska or, in English, Croatia.

    Certainly, there is a cultural difference she shared was how her Mom would visit with the neighbors daily.  Mostly unannounced, for short, long, and in-between visits.  My mother-in-law would show up.

    When people visit Croatia, visitors are pleasantly surprised by how nice most of their encounters with Croatians are in person.  In general, Croatians show up.

    Separately, my wife reminded me of a chapter in Cody McClain Brown’s “Chasing a Croatian Girl.” In chapter 12, Cody describes neighbors and how they show up. Not to spoil the story, it’s worth a read. Try to continue to show up at work AND at home. 

    Consider this as a guide for your teams to higher performance.  Think of it as a way to strengthen the relationships you have with your family, neighbors, and friends.


    📂This entry was posted in Personal 📎and tagged

  • Oh, The Challenges Of Being Human While Being Human!

    Posted on by Tim

    This was originally posted on LinkedIn.

    How do you show up? Being human is tough.

    Generally, I can tell you that I am hit-and-miss, inconsistent about how I show up.  In both my personal and professional life.  There is no distinction between how I live privately or show up at work.

    Could showing up be a part of our problems? Is it one of the “whys” behind our challenges?

    Basically, I do not know, but I am trying to figure out if showing up is a factor in our challenges.  Let me pause here to offer some context as to what I perceive as “showing up.”

    To clarify, for me, showing up is parts authenticity, curiosity, determination, grit, transparency, and probably more nouns than this post allows.  Specifically, I work hard to avoid “cognitive dissonance”; inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, in the personas, roles, and stances I find myself in daily.

    For me, it takes self-discipline to show up daily in life; it is a constant struggle.

    Steps in the Salzburg Castle, Austria

    Being human

    I was encouraged by a conversation I recently had.

    So, I asked one of my mentors, Ravi Verma, this question during an Agile for Patriots coaching call.

    “What made certain graduates successful at finding roles as Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Product Owners?”

    I was surprised by the insight he shared.

    Ravi stated that in some ways, successful graduates relentlessly pursue improvement. 

    For example, he explained that successful graduates are like a runner who sets a goal to shave a half-second off or her race time. Additionally, The runner then sets another goal for a half-second reduction and repeats the process to achieve the desired results.

    Maybe this might help you in the coming week. Please let me know how it did.


    📂This entry was posted in Agile Personal Scrum 📎and tagged