The Power of the Point

January 29, 2025

I found myself watching an archery hunting show a few weeks back, and this particular episode was focused on broadhead technologies for hunting arrows.  I’ve shot bow and arrows a few times, always with the blunt tip practice arrows, but I’ve also seen the hunting arrows with the razor blade wings, so to speak.  

What I didn’t know was that there is all kinds of technology within the broadhead industry.  There are arrows with a screw of sorts on the front, so that the arrow spins through the animal as it’s proceeding through, and arrows with blades that retract when they hit bone, so that the arrow isn’t slowed much in its path of destruction.  And, there are even blunt hunting arrows - for things like rabbits and squirrels - used to avoid damaging the flesh and fur so you can make mama a nice stew and a new squirrel-skin coat!  

Have you ever been listening to someone, and as they ramble on you wonder to yourself - what is the point they’re trying to make?  This demonstrates the antithesis to my title - the weakness of vagueness.  This month’s blog is going to dig into the power of the point, with discussion on the impact of objectives and intention in our daily lives - as business leaders, and for anyone.  

Join me if you will -   

When I wrote the line in the paragraph above, about the weakness of vagueness, my mind immediately flashed to the recent presidential election - and specifically the Harris campaign, which is where I’ll start this blog at the risk of offending some readers.  *and - please don’t be offended, this is just me thinking on electronic paper.  

Trump came into the campaign carrying his longtime slogan - Make America Great Again - this time especially focused on illegal immigration.  As the election season evolved a coalition gathered to include focus on free speech and reduction in the size and scope of government (ala DOGE and Elon Musk), keep America out of unnecessary foreign conflicts (ala Tulsi Gabbard and many Libertarians), and Make America Healthy Again with the joining of the RFK, Jr. supporters.  All sharp points, and each wielded by an individual sworn to the cause and not to the person of Trump.  

Harris, on the other hand, carried a message built on the legacy of her predecessor.  Things are good and getting better, we must preserve women’s rights (and men’s rights if they say they’re a woman), and Orange Man Bad - maybe a Nazi.  The campaign spent nearly $1.5 Billion, including multi-million dollar fees to people like Oprah and Beyonce, but even at the crafted speaking events it seemed to me the point of Harris’s message was “I am a woman of color, and I am not Donald Trump”.  Nothing solid regarding a vision for the future, little about plans for the economy, inflation, or immigration - just remember at the ballot box - orange man bad.  

In the end, the result was that nearly every county in America voted redder than they did in 2020, and the electoral college swung to over 300 for Trump, winning me $20 from my foreign exchange student.  (which I don’t think he’s paid!)  

And, since Trump’s inauguration, his nominations and executive actions have very much demonstrated he took seriously those main points to the coalition.  Coming from more the Libertarian wing, I couldn’t be more pleased, as things like reducing the scope of government, energy independence, free speech, and keeping America out of foreign entanglements are and have always been the most important to me.  And - like many - I’ve always had some trepidations about Trump.  So, I’m hoping this plays out in the direction it seems to be going, rather than take a turn into actual orange man bad!  Time will tell - and please don’t run up the deficit or debt any further!

My podcast guest earlier this week was Dain Johnson, and he’s an engineer turned psychology nut and then Masters in Organizational Psychology, and he coaches technical engineers how to succeed as managers and eventually, as directors and CEO’s.  When we spoke about some of the key differences in approach between a production engineer, and an engineer managing other engineers, Dain’s first foundational element in his coaching is to Establish Objectives.  What is this team trying to achieve? - and what is each individual’s expected contribution to that team objective?  In other words - “what is the point!?”  It’s great for an engineering company to have a well-crafted mission and vision statement, and even for the R & D department to have its own values, but when it comes to doing the work - it has to boil down to teams and ultimately to individuals, and they must have clear objectives.  

Dain’s next foundational element was Organize Efforts, which to me is to take an assessment of current resources, as well as constraints.  Motivate Action, Develop People, and Measure Performance round out the foundational set, and rather than try to define in a few sentences what Dain and I spoke about for 20 minutes, I think I’ll bring this blog down into the micro level - or at least the individual.  

Jill and I signed up for a gym membership last weekend, at the Genesis Club on Prospect in Fort Collins.  It’s the former Fort Collins Club location, and I’m also excited to use the climbing wall in the Airpark location - and to check out the OG Miramont (now South FC location for Genesis), which is undergoing a remodel currently.  

For some context, I was running consistently from 2018 - 2022, had a calf and then a knee injury in 2023 that bothered for a bit in the fall - and then more over the winter, and I spent the spring of 2024 rehabbing again - and then inconsistently running over the summer and early fall - and then another injury which I’ve been rehabbing and I’m finally back in running shape - although I’m thinking maybe I need to do more cycling and swimming and weight training for my fitness - at least that’s what’s on my mind.  Now, I’m a fatter-than-I-look 196 pounds this morning, but I’ve had three good workouts in the past week, and I’m scheduling intentional time at least 4 days a week to use my pricey (to me) new membership.  

On Monday, we met with a personal trainer on the offer of a free fitness evaluation on sign-up, and I have to say that the elements Bryce outlined at Genesis seemed to resonate very well with the coaching foundations that Dain outlined later in the week.  

Part of the onboarding process was a checklist of objectives - what is the point of this new membership?  For me, it’s a combo platter of health and fitness and longevity.  I snore a lot less when I’m 180 pounds - and it’s a lot easier to run, or to do push-ups.  I want to be able to take long hikes if I want to, or maybe even long runs once again if I can temper the injury risk with workouts, and I want to be able to do hard things well into my 70’s!  

The Organize Efforts efforts part was initiated during the fitness assessment and after, when Bryce gave us a kind but frank assessment of where we were at, and he also motivated action through anonymous storytelling of recent or continuing clients.  And - Genesis took an interesting step to encourage us to sign up, with a $1 off your monthly membership per pound lost in your first 3 months!  This - at least for me - was a great Motivate Action tool - both in motivating us to pull the trigger and sign up, and also for clients to sign up for a personal trainer right away!  

Developing People is what great coaches and managers and personal trainers do.  My last great boss from my banking days, Doug Woods, had a plaque on the back of his desk that said something like “It is only as we develop others that we truly succeed in life” - and he lived by it - and it was the foundation of his long-term success as a leader.  When you take it down to an individual level - and especially if you’re not going to hire a trainer - you’ve got to develop yourself as well.  As an employee you must develop your skills to be increasingly valuable to the organization - and as a manager or leader it’s the same!  

Finally, Measure Performance.  For me, I’ve got a few scorecard items on this near-term health journey:   

- 4x / week at the gym, every week.  Only do 3 = 5x next week!

- Target weight of 185 pounds by the end of March = 2 lbs / week on average

- Baselines for pushups in sequence, max bench press and squat, and 50 lb. curls in a minute

For a company, the C-Suite may measure performance by Net Income or Market Share, the Marketing Team by New Leads Generated, the sales team by Appointments Made or New Clients Acquired.  Every individual, each member of a team, each team in a company, each company in a community, every Presidential administration and each and every nation with intentional focus on the most important things - especially when so many voices are screaming “I’m important!”  

That’s the power of the point, and for LoCo Think Tank, the point is building skills and connection in the business community of Northern Colorado, and there’s a pair of events upcoming where you can find these things.  

2nd Annual Next Level Leadership Forum on February 13 - Practical and engaging Workshop focused on delegation as a tool for growth

Founded In FOCO - March 10 - 13 - 3 Full Days of Business & Community - Check It Out!

Thanks for reading, and I hope this blog inspires some reflections and actions focused on the power of the point!  


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