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EntreLeadership: A Playbook for Life

When Dave Ramsey’s signed copy of EntreLeadership arrived in the mail, I settled down for the night and figured I would read a few pages. Two hours later, it was one a.m. when I turned out the light. Yup, the book captivated me right from the start. Bill Kybels, a senior pastor from Willow Creek Church, summed up my feelings about the book:

“I love this book! One minute Dave sounds like a Harvard prof, and the next minute he is coming at you like an alley fighter! Either way you will wind up being a better leader.”

You cannot lead without passion, Dave writes. How true this is. The most successful leaders are driven by passion, and it is this passion that sustains them year after year. After reading the chapter on passion, I immediately thought of Hands & Voices. When I first joined this parent-driven organization, there were just three chapters. I agreed to start the fourth chapter– only because I saw the passion that burned in the eyes of Leeanne Seaver and Janet DesGeorges. Their passion mirrored my own, and I knew I found a home in this organization. If there’s a testimonial to the power of passion that leads, then Hands & Voices embodies it. In less than ten years, we went from a handful of chapters to world wide.

But back to the book. At first glance, one might simply think this is a business book about leadership, nothing more. At first, I wondered what I might get out of it– after all, I’m a mom, a writer, an early intervention provider and a board member. But then I remembered that I’m also a Send Out Cards distributor, and hello… that’s a business. And since I’m at the beginning of it all, I’m where Dave was back when he set up a card table in his living room. Dave calls this his playbook, in fact, he calls this a “championship playbook for business.” But I find that definition to be too narrow. When I turned the last page of this book, I realized it was so much more than just about leadership in business. It was in fact, a playbook for life.

Throughout the whole book, I found myself underlining bits of wisdom that I could apply to every day life. One of my favorites: “You are never too old. You are never the wrong color. You are never too disabled. You are never the wrong political party. There is never a big enough obstacle to keep a person with passion operating in a higher calling from winning. “ Good stuff. And it applies to anything in life.

You know what else I liked about this book? Dave opens up wide about the mistakes he made along the way and shows how he evolved as a leader. How many times have we placed someone on a pedestal and thought to ourselves, “I’m not like them, they’re so successful, so good at what they do, I could never get to where they are.” So we don’t even bother to try. We don’t push ourselves and test our limits, because we’re measuring ourselves against someone who has paid the price to get where they are today.

Not only is Dave a great leader, but he happens to be a barefoot water skier as well. Deep into the book, in a chapter about recognizing others, he shares a tidbit about Keith St. Onge, the two-time World Barefoot Champion:

“Because of our success and the media I do, I have been blessed to meet many famous and world-class people. A few years ago I met and became friends with the world champion in a particular sport. I was a little worried that he would be arrogant and instead he was gentle, kind, polite, and an amazing athlete. As we talked late one night at my kitchen table he told me of the untold hours and sacrifice his father had gone through to help him train through his teenage years. He humbly attributed his world champion status to his dad’s encouragement and sacrifice.”

Without Keith knowing, Dave sent a two-page letter to his parents, Claude and Jackie, sharing what he observed from working with Keith and thanking them for being great parents. “I was totally emotional reading it,” said Claude. “Having Dave compliment our son and us– well, I had tears of joy. I read it more than once.”

“When I got that letter, I felt so proud,” said Jackie. “For a long time, I didn’t feel that I had anything to do with his success. I was grateful that Dave took the time to share what he thought about Keith, that he expressed his feelings in a letter to us.”

The ripple of that letter goes on. When I first read a copy of Dave’s letter to Keith’s parents a year ago, I started to become more aware of how I could recognize and honor others in my life. I sent out cards, letters and emails and took more time to acknowledge the impact of those I’ve crossed paths with. And that’s what EntreLeadership will do for you– it’s not just a playbook for businesses, it’s a playbook for life. Dave ends the book saying, “Go make a difference in the way business is conducted.” But you won’t change just the way you conduct business, you’ll change the way you journey through life.

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Unwrap Your Passion, And Happiness Will Follow

(Originally posted as a guest blog on Happiness Inside, which is now closed)

Earlier this year, I pursued a passion that was long buried inside of me. I didn’t even realize how long it was buried until I began to unwrap it on my 44th birthday last year.

I was sitting on the pontoon at my parent’s lake, thinking back to some of the best memories of my life. I was rather down at that moment, so I wanted to conjure up some memories that included some happy times. I thought back to my teen years. I learned to water ski on my bare feet shortly after my sixteenth birthday. What a thrill that was! I spent the next three years barefooting with the guys on Christie Lake. Every single time that I went out on the water, I was happy.

One day, when I was nineteen, I decided to go out and practice some wake crossings. I caught a toe and slammed into the water in a not-so-graceful cartwheel. In an instant, I went from hard of hearing to deaf. When I climbed into the boat and started talking to my friends, I couldn’t hear myself talk. I just figured that I had water in my ears and that the hearing I had left would return.

It didn’t.

At first, adjusting to being deaf was a horrible struggle. There were many days and nights that I cried. One day, I came to the realization that I could either do battle every day, or I could embrace this new identity as a deaf person and get on with life. From that moment, another passion was unwrapped. I learned American Sign Language and a rich world opened up filled with deaf and hard of hearing friends. Happiness arrived with that new-found passion. Most of my career since graduating from college has centered around helping others who are deaf and hard of hearing. I started and ran a non-profit organization, Illinois Hands and Voices and began providing mentoring services through the state’s Early Intervention program. Along the way, I uncovered a passion for birth and I attended several home and hospital births as a doula. Every birth filled me with incredible happiness inside.

Fast forward to October of last year: my husband sent me a link to the Today Show segment featuring Judy Myers, a 66-year-old woman who learned to barefoot water ski at the age of 53. I connected with her and she invited me to come to the World Barefoot Center to learn to barefoot again. The very moment that I put my feet on the water, I was filled with incredible joy. The sport that had brought both happiness and sadness in my life was now filling me with happiness again.

At the World Barefoot Center, I met Keith St. Onge, the owner and a two-time World Barefoot Champion. Keith learned to barefoot at the age of ten and by time he was thirteen, he knew he wanted to follow his passion for the sport. He has competed since he was eleven, turned pro at eighteen and runs the ski school and a wetsuit company. The sport has brought him all over the world and he has been featured on ESPN, CNN and in several magazines.

“Barefoot water skiing is my passion—it’s what I wanted to do since I was thirteen,” Keith shared. “I wanted to be the greatest. I wanted to be a pro the same way that young kids want to be a fireman. And I get to fuel my passion every day. When I’m on the water on my bare feet—it’s a feeling of complete freedom. When you fuel your passion–passion brings happiness—they feed off each other.”

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Keith’s mom, Jackie St. Onge and I asked her to share her thoughts on passion.

“Passion is your joy,” Jackie explained. “It is the essence of who you are. You have to unwrap it and find it. Some people find it easier than others. The body and the mind and the soul become one when you find your passion. Passion comes naturally to a person. It is like running water: turn on the tap and it flows.”

Passion and happiness are intertwined. When you discover your passion and incorporate it into your life, happiness follows. If you’re not sure how to answer the question, “What is your passion?” you can find the answer by reflecting on the happy and joyful times in your life. What fires you up? What feeds your soul? What puts a smile on your face in the morning and a deep sense of satisfaction and joy when your head hits the pillow at night?

Passion is inside each and every one of us. Unwrap yours.

Copyright Karen Putz, November 2010

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Barefooting on espnW

Barefooting has gone mainstream on espnW. Note, the lakes are not alligator-infested. The alligators are “supposedly” small on the lake. (Having said that, now watch, I’ll get eaten by an alligator next time I’m in Florida.) Enjoy!

Karen Putz Re-ignites Her Water Skiing Passion

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My Dad’s Memorial, Norman Griffard

“Eighty-six years… that’s a good, long life,” a friend remarked. Indeed, it is, yet it still feels too short. Dad’s cancer journey came to an end this morning. If there’s one thing that I’m thankful for, is that cancer gave us time to say goodbye.

But goodbyes are never easy. How fitting though, that the post that I wrote for the Chicago Tribune TribLocal was printed in today’s edition: It’s Not Easy to Say Goodbye.

We are gathering for the burial and memorial of Norman J. (That’s J as in Jesus, as he always said) Griffard this Saturday at one p.m. at the VFW Hall, 560 N. Phelps Street, Decatur, Michigan. There will be a memorial luncheon following the military salute service.

In lieu of flowers, donations would be greatly appreciated for the two organizations that have given selfless service:

Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan,Paw Paw Office

801 Hazen Street, Suite A

Paw Paw, MI 49079

VFW Post 6248

560 N. Phelps Street

Decatur, Michigan 49045

Goodbye, Dad. Thanks for 45 years– I’m going to miss you.

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Women’s Barefoot Week Featured in Waterski Magazine

Back in November, 2010, I spent a week barefooting with gals from all over the U.S. We gathered at the World Barefoot Center for a week of fun skimming on the water. Waterski magazine joined us for a morning and took a snapshot of all of us barefooting off two booms, two boats (see below). The article and short clip about my return to barefooting are in the March issue of Waterski magazine.

Waterskier magazine included a blurb about Women’s week in their newsletter (reprinted below). The World Barefoot Center will host another Women’s Barefoot Week in November and it promises to fill up fast, so reserve your spot! This is your only chance to see Keith St. Onge, David Small and Swampy in a dress!

WOMEN’S BAREFOOT WEEK

Judy “Old Lady” Meyers, 67, is on a mission to prove that barefooting is not just a sport for the physically young, but is a sport that everyone, especially women of all ages, can safely enjoy.

Judy organized the recent “Women’s Week” barefoot clinic at the World Barefoot Center, Nov. 1-6, in Winter Haven, Fla. Fifteen women’s barefooters – 12 over the age of 40, with four of those being over age 60 – enjoyed a week of barefooting and camaraderie.

‘Footers pictured above are (back row, left-to-right): Keith St. Onge and Lauren Lindeman, World Barefoot Center; Karen Putz, Chicago, Ill.; Claudia Landon, Post Falls, Idaho; Judy Myer, Alpine, Calif.; Coach Gary “Swampy” Bouchard, World Barefoot Center; Valerie Shinn, Redmond, Wash.; David Small, World Barefoot Center; Lorraine Piskura, New Fairfield, Conn; (Kneeling, left-to-right): Charlene Portman, Clearwater, Fla.; Joann O’Connor, Oshkosh, Wis.; Kay Wiser, Winter Haven, Fla.; and Lisa Browning, Winter Haven, Fla.

For information about women’s barefooting and future events, contact Judy at oldbarefooter@mac.com.

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Life is… Full.

Life has ramped up to the point where every day is incredibly full and time spins by in a flash. ZVRS has taken off with the Z4 now on the iPod Touch and the iPhone4. It was really neat to be able to call my mother-in-law on the iPod Touch. I also used it to talk to my Dad at the rehabilitation center– but I nearly had a heart attack at the conversation: A Call to the Nursing Home.

Twenty eleven is proving to be the year of stories in the media. This morning, my story was shared on AOL’s That’s Fit blog: Karen Re-Discovered Her Passion. The M Projects released an interview that was filmed last month in Florida: The Pearls: Karen Putz Interview. The Hot Mammas Project Case Study is a site that focuses on mentors for women: Karen Putz, Unwrap Your Passion.

In January, I attended the “Yes to Success” seminar given by Debra Poneman. It was an amazing weekend and I learned a lot from Debra. She is doing another seminar in April in Chicago and I highly recommend it for anyone who is looking to make some changes in their life. Debra will provide a sign language interpreter upon request. You can register and find more info here: Yes to Success. In the photo below, Debra is seen with Janet Attwood, author of one of my cherished books, The Passion Test. I highly recommend Janet’s book if you’re exploring how to pursue your passion in life.
Tomorrow night, I will be attending the Soul of Leadership presentation by Deepak Chopra. Deepak took Debra’s seminar more than twenty years ago. I guess you could say that “Yes to Success” really worked for him!

In two weeks, I’ll be heading back down to what is becoming my second home, the World Barefoot Center. We’ll be meeting up with the crew from Growing Bolder — they have a great website and a show on PBS. There are all kinds of stories on the site of people who are living bold lives and doing things that they love, no matter the age. Judy Myers and I are planning to share our story of how we met and took up an extreme sport despite not being part of the twenty-something crowd. Gotta love the Growing Bolder motto: “It’s not about age, it’s about attitude.”

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The “Second” That Lasts a Lifetime

I came across the tweet on Twitter: “Thought Of The Day: It only takes a second to make someone feel special, but that second may last a lifetime in their mind. The tweet was produced by Steve Harper, a guy who specializes in teaching The Ripple Effect: Maximizing the Power of Relationships for Life & Business (Second Edition).

Funny, I couldn’t get that tweet out of mind. I copied it and saved it, because I knew a blog post was brewing from it. I thought back to one of my religion school teachers, Mrs. Marshall. She taught a class that prepared a group of us for our confirmation at St. Mary’s Church in Dolton. One Saturday morning, the class was being especially rowdy that day. The boys were boisterous and creating havoc in the classroom and Mrs. Marshall was quickly losing control. All of her attempts to settle down the class were falling on deaf ears. She finally resorted to raising her voice and losing her patience. Everyone eventually settled down to do some paperwork that she handed out. Mrs. Marshall sat back in her chair and I saw tears in her eyes.

My heart went out to her. I got out a sheet of paper and quickly wrote her a note. To this day, I don’t even remember what I wrote, but I wrote a couple of paragraphs about the situation in the classroom and that I thought she was a wonderful teacher. I handed her the note after class had ended.

At the start of the next class, Mrs. Marshall came up to me and thanked me for the note. After my Confirmation in May, she sent me a thank you note for the flowers that I gave her. In the note she shared:

Congratulations on your Confirmation! My wishes for you are these:

When you are lonely, I wish you love.

When you are down, I wish you joy.

When you are troubled, I wish you peace.

When things are complicated, I wish you simple beauty.

When things are chaotic, I wish you inner peace.

When things look empty, I wish you hope.

And may the gifts of the Holy Spirit help you to have all of these throughout your whole life. Thank you so much for the lovely flowers. I wore them with so much pride. And I was so proud of you. Sincerely yours, Mrs. Marshall.

In July of that year, my father received a phone call. “Mrs. Marshall died on Sunday,” he told me when I arrived home from a friend’s house. “She had a severe asthma attack, followed by a stroke. Her son called to tell you because she had your letter in her hands when she passed away. You were her favorite and that letter was special to her.”

She was only 56 years old and left behind a husband, three kids and a grandson.

Which leads me back to that quote above. “It only takes a second to make someone feel special, but that second may last a lifetime in their mind.”

I never forgot Mrs. Marshall, but I had forgotten the note she wrote to me. I found it a year ago, when it fell out from the back pages of my bible. I passed the words on to a friend who was going through a difficult time in life. There’s a powerful lesson here– taking just a moment to tell someone that they are special can last a lifetime in their mind. Thanks to Mrs. Marshall, that ripple goes on.

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Decide That You Want It More Than You Fear It

How many times have you held back because you feared something?

I’ve been pondering “fears” lately. Recently, I received a comment from a reader who is hard of hearing and struggling with anxiety– “Social groups are almost impossible at times,” she relates. She has agreed to teach a weaving class in her community and is scared that she will have trouble getting through it with the communication challenges ahead of her.

Boy, oh boy, can I relate. Social situations, parties, group discussions– they used to strike fear inside of me and sometimes, they still do. Communication in those situations becomes a rapid-fire ping-pong game– sometimes so fast that the ball is just a blur and you get nothing out of the game.

I emailed the reader and this is what I shared with her:

I can understand being scared about teaching the weaving class but let me tell you– you can do this! At the beginning of the first class, be honest about your hearing loss and explain to the class what you need to make communication happen– that everyone has to face you when talking, to speak a bit slower and that if they need to get your attention– to raise their hand before they speak, etc. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to do this but the rewards are great– students will adjust and you’ll have better access to communication and be able to share your skills with less anxiety about trying to follow everyone. Communication is a two-way street but you have to teach others what you need to make that happen.

In another email I shared:

It’s ok to be nervous, just don’t let it prevent you from moving forward. Face your fear head on. My daughter sent me this picture at a time when I was dealing with some fears so I’m passing it on to you:

Lauren sent me that photo during Women’s Barefoot Week at the World Barefoot Center. She had no idea how timely that photo was. I’ll have to back up a bit to explain. In March, when I first went down to Lake Conine to learn how to barefoot again, one of the questions that I asked Keith St. Onge was, “Are there alligators in this lake?”

Yup, that’s right. I’m not too fond of alligators. In fact, they downright scare the daylights out of me. As long as they’re far away with a fence between me and their sharp teeth, I’m good. When Lauren was in Girl Scouts, she came home with a picture of her holding a baby alligator. I was very glad that I wasn’t there, or I would have had visions of the taped mouth coming undone and my little girl devored on the spot. One year, Joe and I took the kids to an alligator attraction and I was happy when we finally left.

Keith’s response to my question was simply, “Yes, but they don’t bother us. The boat engine scares them away.” I wanted to barefoot more than I was scared of the marine life, so off I went into the water.

Then in the middle of Women’s week, I was sitting in the water after a barefoot run, waiting for the boat to come back and pick me up. The boat was taking forever to idle back to me. I turned around and stared into the open jaws of an alligator coming to attack me in the water…

And then I woke up.

That’s right, I had a nice little alligator nightmare. I couldn’t fall back asleep for a long time after that. The next morning, we did a photo shoot on the water. I was sitting in the second boat, waiting for my turn on the water. One of the gals pointed out an alligator swimming by. The other boat began coming closer and the alligator disappeared. I tried to put the image out of my mind, because I knew I had to get in the water.

Come on, Karen, nothing’s going to happen.

Well, what if I’m the first person to get attacked on this lake?

Don’t be silly, the alligators are scared of boats, they’ll stay away.

All too soon, it was my turn to get in the water and my legs were shaky. I fell on my first attempt to get up and I tried to tumble around to get back up and finally let go. David Small was driving and he asked me if I was nervous about the photo shoot. I could only shrug– I wasn’t about to explain my silly alligator fears at that moment.

Later that morning, I told Keith about the alligator nightmare and he grinned at me. “Face your fears!” he told me.

“I face my fears every time I get in the water,” I grumbled at him. But he was right–when you face your fears, you move beyond them.

But that night, I had another alligator nightmare. This time, I was watching the alligator swimming closer to me and I tried to yell at everyone in the boat. They were talking and laughing and too far away by the time the alligator chomped on me. And then I woke up.

Good grief.

Lauren’s photo came that day. “Decide That You Want It More Than You Fear It.” I laughed when I saw the photo– laughed at how uncanny the universe is in delivering nuggets of wisdom into our lives. She had no idea about the fears I was juggling that week– she simply saw the quote on someone’s Facebook status and decided to turn it into an inspirational picture.

So the next time you face something that scares you or fears that hold you back from something you want to do, decide that you want it more than you fear it. The next time I jump into Lake Conine, I’m not going to give alligators a second thought.

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Happiness Inside Guest Post

I am guest posting this month over at Happiness Inside. I love the community over there– happy folks who share a lot of wisdom! The site is run by Gordon Simmons and Tracy Brown who had a vision when they first created their online community. Their vision became a site, Happiness Inside, a social networking site that brings positive people together to learn more about what it takes to lead happy lives.

From Gordon:

We envisioned a place where people could learn more about being happier, and where others would share their knowledge, resources, and experience. We envisioned hundreds, and then thousands, and then tens of thousands of people coming together to support each other, inform each other, care about each other, and ultimately, to spread their positivity throughout their communities offline too.

Happiness Inside is a wonderful online community– I invite you to join us there! Enjoy!

Unwrap Your Passion and Happiness Will Follow

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An Entire Week of Lipreading

At the ZVRS booth on Saturday, the Z Team showcased a water ski video that had some clips of me barefoot water skiing in it. One by one, customers began coming up to me and asking questions about barefooting and my trip to Florida for the Women’s Barefoot Week at the World Barefoot Center. One of the questions that came up over and over was a question related to communication: what was it like to be the only deaf person among fourteen gals for a whole week? How did we communicate?

Quite simply, I lipread my way through the week. One hundred percent of my understanding of speech comes from lipreading. I can’t understand anything that is spoken to me without some kind of visual input– whether via sign, written English or lipreading. I can handle most one-one-conversations with relative ease, that is, most of the time. There are some folks that I have a tough time lipreading and it requires an adjustment on their part for a conversation to take place. There are probably times when I think I’ve lipread correctly, but later discover that my information processing was totally off.

Group conversations are a literal nightmare at times. As soon as I finish lipreading the first person and then ping-pong my eyes to the next person, by then a third person has already chimed in. Lipreading becomes useless at that point. The only way to handle group conversations is for folks to take turns talking and making eye contact with me before speaking or to have someone summarize a conversation. Fortunately for me, the group did both by the second day. Judy Myers and Joann O’Connor became my interpreters for the week. We got to the point where I’d just have to look at them and they’d summarize what was going on or the conversations that I missed. I still missed out on huge chunks of conversations, but that’s the nature of being deaf among a group. By the end of each day, I knew when my exhausted mind had enough– the lips would move but nothing was making sense. It was time to call it a night at that point.

Getting instruction from Keith St. Onge was a piece of cake, as I could lipread him easily. In some cases, I had an advantage, as I could lipread him on the water over the roar of the boat. He definitely didn’t have to shout to communicate while I was barefooting. When it came time to instruct me on the basics of backward barefooting, Keith called me up to the hull of the boat and had me lie down on my stomach. Judy sat in front of me and repeated everything Keith said as he positioned my feet through the steps. This instruction method worked well, as I was barefooting backwards by the third day.

What really touched my heart was watching everyone in the boat signing “awesome” and exploding in deaf applause after my first backward run– that’s a sight that will forever be etched in my mind.

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