Get Along with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere

Here's my weekly edition of the most relevant career advice. Hope you will take at least a few of these pointers on ways to cultivate positive relationships in business.

www.leadersbeacon.com/50-ways-to-creating-enduring-connections

Pickleball - Florida's Great Pasttime

Retirement was something I've never really thought about before. The idea of hanging around in my bathrobe, reading the newspaper, and sorting out all of my prescriptions sounds pleasant for about a week.  I'm one who needs to stay constantly active.

Now that I have experienced my first day in The Villages, Florida, I'm ready to retire by the end of the month. The Villages is an active retirement community of 80,000 residents over 55 years old, including my parents for the next eight weeks. The planned city 50 miles north of Orlando has eight recreation centers, 28 executive & 7 championship golf courses, nightly entertainment, two 12-screen movie theaters, it's own daily newspaper and television station, 30 restaurants, plus six additional country clubs.

More importantly, it has about a hundred courts for Pickleball, a sport that has captured the minds and hearts of senior citizens throughtout the Sunshine State. It was invented by someone who  did not want to move around a lot. To the virgin eye, Pickleball looks like a miniture version of tennis. However, I've now been around the Pickleball block a time or two.

Pickleball is played two on two on a concrete surface the size of half a tennis court. Paddles replace rackets and whiffle balls are used instead of tennis balls. My partner and coach today was a 63 year old British woman named Anna. My dad's partner was 72 year old Crown Point, Indiana native named Bill.

They were good . . . real good. Patient, yet firm, Bill and Anna showed us the finer points on how to serve underhand, when the ball should bounce, how not to spike it, and where to stand so you rarely have to move. However, we'll be sore tomorrow.

So next time you're in the southern panhandle, skip Disney, Cape Canaveral, South Beach, the Florida Keys, or the Everglades. Instead, find a paddle and kick some geriatric Pickleball tail.

The Brewmasters Have Little to do with Beer

"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza." - Dave Barry

Tomorrow  will be my seventh year with the Carolina Brewmasters, a group of knucklehead homebrewers in search of crafting the perfect beer.  For me, the brew process does not even make my top five reasons I'm part of this fine organization.

My top 5

5. Organzing the Charlotte Oktoberfest - yes, a bunch of volunteers put on one of Charlotte's biggest festivals of the year. In fact, we have raised over $50,000 annually to charities in need. One of those selected was the Victory Junction Gang, Kyle Petty's summer camp for kids with autism, cancer, down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, and other challenges children face. The entire festival takes nine months to get ready, over 200 volunteers are needed, and the true meaning of teamwork and selflessness is characterized from beginning to end.

4. Diversity of the club - men, women, black, white, Asian, gay, straight, old, older, oldest, physically impaired, lawyers, actors, brokers, the unemployed, the good looking, the not so good looking. You name it, we have it (and get along).

3. Beer is the conversation of choice. And what an excellent topic this can be. Point 1 - it's not politics, religion, relationships, careers, the Joneses, sports team obessions, or the economy. Point 2 - it's not snobby conversation, because when it comes down to it - it's just water, malt, yeast, and hops. In other words, it's not wine.

2. Just like a kid sharing their arts & crafts with their parents, we create something that others can enjoy. We would much rather share than hoard to ourselves. We take pride in our creation, which is part art, part science. When we get bored with one style, we have over 50 others to choose from. Plus a six pack of your homebrew make for some pretty cool birthday presents.

1. Call it sappy or pathetic, but some of my closest friends I've made since college are Carolina Brewmasters. From the hockey games to the trips to Asheville, the basement meetings to the BBQ's, my social life hasn't died, just matured (a bit). But more than that, the friendships with the families and their kids that my wife, son, and I have  made these past years are the true bonds that make me proud to be a Brewmaster.

Getting into Better Career Shape

Here's my weekly edition of the most relevant career advice by another blogger, Tom Denham. His articles revolve around navigating happily through your professional life.

In his latest article, he explores resolutions for your career.

Your New Year’s Resolution: Getting Into Better “Career Shape”