Man in the Arena

Theodore Roosevelt's speeches were masterful works of art. I can only imagine what it must have been like to hear this great man speak. One speech in particular has always struck a cord for me. Given in 1910 at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, this speech's official name is Citizenship in a Republic, but it is more commonly known as "Man in the Arena". In the speech Roosevelt tell us to not worry about failing, to not care about what critics may say, but instead to just go out and do. All that matters is that you try your hardest and you have nothing to be ashamed of.

Below is an excerpt of the most famous part of the speech:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

For me this speech always rang true, and gave me comfort when things didn't always work out the way I wanted it to. Make sure your face always has a bit of dust, blood and sweat on it.

To read the whole speech, you can view it here at the Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt.

For anyone interested in learning more about the life of Theodore Roosevelt, I would highly recommend Edmund Morris's trilogy. I have yet to read third installment, Colonel Roosevelt, but if it is at the same level as the first two parts (The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex) it will be a good read.

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Photo: Theodore Roosevelt by John Singer Sargent, 1903

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenship_in_a_Republic

Sal's On Oakland Website Live

For the cost of one haircut, I helped move my long-time barber, Chris, into the digital age! Salsonoakland.com is now live! The site has a simple structure and the content focuses on services provided and what the difference is between a traditional barbershop and stylists. The design of the site does not use any stock photos- everything is taken from pictures I took at the shop.

I am still working on the Yelp site, but should have that complete soon. It will be interesting to see if this brings in some additional customers. I will have a posting soon on why every man should go to a barber.

Thanks to both Adam and Chris for their help on this project!

Personal Code of Ethics - Part 4 of 4

As a way to understand my perspective, I will be doing four short pieces on my personal code of ethics. This code is how I try to live my life both personally and professionally. This is the second of these installments. Click here to read the first, second and third.

Never Promise Something You Can’t Deliver
Being reliable is something we should all strive for. I’m of the mind that there are very few things you can’t figure out, but in the cases where something just can’t be done, you need to be honest with that so you can move on to what is the next best alternative. If you under-promise and over-deliver, everyone wins.

Never Take Credit for Something you Didn't Do
Although some may say they don’t need or want acknowledgement for their successes, I frankly do not believe this. Everyone enjoys being recognized for their hard work, and everyone deserves it. As a team leader, it is critical to make sure everyone gets the credit they are due. A person who hogs the spotlight and either actively steals credit or even just let people assume they played a bigger role then what was reality will eventually be found out - usually at the most inopportune time.

I believe one of the best testaments to an outstanding leader is how fast their employees are promoted to higher profile job. If the boss is always taking the credit, then it becomes very hard for the employees to progress. This is why this tenant is critical to anyone who wants to be a leader.

So this is the conclusion of my code. I hope that it will help put my posts in a better context.

Personal Code of Ethics - Part 3 of 4

As a way to understand my perspective, I will be doing four short pieces on my personal code of ethics. This code is how I try to live my life both personally and professionally. This is the second of these installments. Click here to read the first and second.

Never Set an Opinion or Idea in Stone
One of the saddest result of our current gotch-ya culture is the negative perception revolving around a person who changes their mind. I find it highly ironic that multiple television networks with millions of viewers spend hours a day "debating the issues", but if a pundit would say that after careful consideration of the ideas from the other side, they had changed their mind, they would losing standing and credibility with their viewers and peers and maybe even their jobs.

Instead being looked at as character flaw, I would argue the opposite. Changing your mind shows a person who is willing to swallow their pride and change course when needed. This isn’t to say you should be like a leaf blowing in the wind, but digging your heals in and resisting any change is not constructive. We should be encouraging reflection.

Always Share my Honest Opinion, Even if it Won’t be Well Received
I admit this is probably the part of the code I struggle with the most, because I don’t like making people upset unless it is necessary, but being honest with those around you is an important trait for a person both professionally and personally. If you aren’t willing to share your opinion - especially if you think a choice being made is wrong - you have no business criticizing it afterwards.