Creating Leaders…or Not……

Thoughtful content alert. If it is one thing that you get during a career in the military, it’s a lot of discussion about leadership. It’s also a big topic for college programs, business seminars, and at least millions of pages in books and other written material. One of the questions often asked is about born leaders versus teaching leadership and while that generates plenty of conversation, that isn’t actually the point to this post. Leadership techniques can be taught and there certainly can be late bloomers when it comes to taking on a leadership role and succeeding. On the other hand, there are people who are not suited to leadership. At least, not suited to being effective leaders that can create and/or sustain a productive environment that has minimal drama. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with not having the type of personality that lends itself to leadership. The initial problem comes in when such a person is placed into a leadership position. The second and more difficult problem is when that individual is unaware that he or she is not suited to leadership. I don’t plan on dwelling on all the ramifications of that and the complications that inevitably ensue.

No matter how one of these situations occurs, it tends to end badly either through the constant loss of personnel, a loss of effectiveness, finally having to release the failed leader, and in extreme cases, the business itself not surviving. (Okay, really extreme is workplace violence, but that definitely isn’t a topic I’m going to discuss.) The secondary point here that even though what often draws people to leadership roles is more money, if someone isn’t suited, they aren’t suited. If you are ever in a position to hire someone for a leadership role, while past performance is an indicator of future performance, so is length of time in a job. If someone has held multiple leadership jobs for three years or less, that’s something to question. In some cases, it’s the nature of a business where projects end or movement is required because of wide geographical needs. Barring that, however, you have to wonder about the frequent changes. The reality is that in today’s environment, former employers are often reluctant to give adverse information and you might have to couch questions like asking about employee turnover under that person. On the flip side, if you are a person who doesn’t feel comfortable in a leadership role, that’s okay. Maybe you even try it once to see and you realize that it isn’t for you. There’s nothing wrong with that and not wanting a leadership position doesn’t indicate a lack of ambition. It can, instead, be a matter of valuable self-awareness.

You Just Never Know Who You’ll Meet…..

Artist Monique Richter Working on a Mural

Artist Monique Richter Working on a Mural

Goodness, the past few days got away from me. Saturday was spent doing a couple of different things, one of which was attending the grand opening of the Islamorada Brewing Company that I’ll post about later. In the process of this, there was a muralist working on the back wall in what will be the main brewing area. We happened to catch her when she came off the ladder and what a fascinating discussion it turned out to be. Monique Richter of Facebook https://www.facebook.com/richter.art.7, has been a water lover all her life. She currently captains for a private yacht and specializes in murals. In taking a peek at her Facebook page, the “About” section provides more detail and I’ll give you a peek if you want to check it out.

“Many local artists look to the water for inspiration, but few have gone to the lengths — or indeed, depths — Monique Richter has in search of creative guidance.

Armed with an innate love of art and an enviable skill with a wide range of watersports — surfing, wakeboarding, wakeskating, freediving, and spearfishing — Monique has traveled extensively to feed an insatiable passion for her chosen muse. She’s traveled as a professional wakeboarder for competitions all over the world, to places like Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Europe, the Caribbean, and South and Central America, and recently worked as a first mate aboard a sport fishing boat that through the British Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, and Cuba”

It was a delight talking with her and I’ll post later this week about the actual Brewing Company and how much fun that was.

Not Exactly Being A Proud Mama……

Victory Road Piece

Victory Road Piece

For those that have seen this clip of a peek at the rehearsal for the upcoming Bowen McCauley Victory Road performance 10 & 11 April at the Kennedy Center, I apologize for being redundant. I say this isn’t exactly a “proud mama” post because it isn’t about our son dancing in the show as much as it is about Lucy Bowen-McCauley, the founder of the dance company and how this show came about.

If you happen to be new to the blog (and welcome if so), our son entering the world of professional dance came as a very big surprise and not without a number of concerns. He is both a member of the dance company and also Ballet Master for the Fairfax Center for Ballet Arts where he teaches.

Lucy is quite possibly the most astute individual that I personally know when it comes to how to keep a small dance company going strong for almost twenty years now and win continuing accolades within the region. Aside from her sheer talent and a driving passion, one of the things that she does is incorporate live music into her performances, even if it’s a single instrument such as a cello. She has also forged relationships with local symphonies and the dance company will sometimes be a part of a symphony’s program. Victory Road is the other side of that coin where she collaborates with a band that has a following. She choreographs pieces to their music and thus fans of the dance company and of the band attend the performance. Jason and the Sorchers have a wide appeal (apparently) and they were excited enough to want a longer show than she usually does. It has been over a year in the making and we are really looking forward to it. Here’s the link to the preview: https://vimeo.com/121897980

Not The Beginning of A String…….

I promise that I am not going to do “Proud Grandma” moments as routine posts. This, however, is one of those moments since the arrival of Amelia Margaret did come with an element of humor. The actual due date was March 25, yet everyone who had been through this knows that due dates are not always the most accurate predictions. Notwithstanding those who schedule a delivery, the “on or about” is the best you can do and lots of first babies tend to be a week or two beyond that. Not surprisingly, this week was supposed to be prep for the kids getting all those last tasks taken care of and son had a premiere piece in which he was to be performing on Saturday night, the 14th. Hubby and I both had dual obligations on the 14th that meant we had to be out of the house by 7:00 a.m.; me not to return until after the evening event and hubby to only dash by the house to change clothes and join me for the evening event.

So, as we prepared for the Friday afternoon/evening obligation that we had, we were startled to receive the telephone call that the kids were on the way to meet the doctor at the hospital. Ah, not a serious complication, but moved the timetable up. I kept the cell phone close by and around 9:30 I texted to just say give a call no matter the time. The call came at almost 11:00 p.m., the actual birth at 10:14 p.m. on yes, Friday the 13th. And there goes the preparation, not to mention the not quite able to juggle other schedules and thus Saturday was a bit of a scramble with trying to communicate. At any rate, things did work out, everyone is fine, and Amelia apparently wasn’t the slightest bit concerned with the stir she caused.

Amelia Margaret's Early Arrival

Amelia Margaret’s Early Arrival

 

 

 

An Interesting Sauce……

Our Publix has a food tasting booth and when I saw the sign of pork tenderloin in tomato-ginger sauce, I was skeptical. The women assured me it was good and I was quite surprised when I tried it. Now, it is a spicy sauce, although you can tone it down some. We did use it on pork, but it will work equally well for chicken or seafood.  There is one other thing though. I am putting the recipe for the sauce in, but how you want to use it can vary. For example, the method they were using at the store was to sauté the meat, then do the sauce and cook the two together for a relatively short time. We prefer to either roast, grill, or braise our pork in order to have it more tender than a quick sauté. So, if you wanted to braise with this sauce, what I would suggest is to do all the ingredients expect the tomatoes, increase the broth by 1/2 cup, braise the meat  for however long you like, then add the tomatoes and cook for another 5-6 minutes. Okay, here’s the sauce itself:

1 can diced tomatoes, 1 c diced onions, 1 lemon (1 tsp zest; 1/4 c juice), 1 c chicken broth or stock, 1 tsp ginger paste (in a tube in the produce aisle), 2 tsp hot sauce (that can be adjusted to taste), 1-2 tsb olive oil, 3 tsb chopped parsley (optional), 1/4 c white wine (optional)

Heat pan to medium. Soften the onion in olive oil for 3-4 minutes; add all other ingredients and stir thoroughly. Cook uncovered on medium for 5-10 minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened. Pour the sauce over grilled fish, chicken, or pork.

If cooking the sauce with pork, chicken, or fish filets, salt and pepper the meat, brown it in olive oil for 2-3 minutes on each side, remove it from the pan and set aside. Proceed to make the sauce as above and put the meat back in the pan after all the other ingredients are thoroughly stirred together. Cover, cook for 5-6 minutes and check thickness of sauce. If you are cooking shrimp, wait and put the shelled, deveined shrimp in for the 5-6 minute cooking time. Otherwise you risk overcooking the shrimp.

 

Art and Cars……

R.JacksonArt working on a piece from a photo

R.JacksonArt working on a piece from a photo

In the actual category of “thinking outside the box”, Natalie Prieto and Carlos Franco of the Children’s Art Gallery at Cauley Square are hard to beat. They can find ways to incorporate art into almost anything and they are completely devoted to making life better through art in many mediums.  So, Natalie goes into Armstrong Ford in Homestead to buy a car. In the way that happens, conversations flow during the process. As luck would have it, Armstrong Ford has a large covered area where they do special promotions throughout the year such as holiday sales and so forth. Well, if you can do that, why not an art exhibit featuring cars?

On Saturday, March 7th, the artists and car guys came together and it was an excellent combination. Painting and sculptures were on display, the local artists were available to talk with people, and I’m not sure how many unsuspecting customers dropped in and were surprised to find themselves in the middle of an art exhibit. If you haven’t been to Cauley Square lately, do stop in and see what all is going on. (http://www.childrensgalleryartscenter.org)

Forgot to get the artist's name on this one.

Forgot to get the artist’s name on this one.

Tree Houses, Sort Of…..

“Tree House Masters” on Animal Planet is not a show that I watch regularly, but I do tune in sometimes when I have the television on out of habit. I have to admit that I had never given much thought to elaborate tree houses even though one will occasionally make the news for one reason or the other. The guys on this show are pretty amazing. Now, while the tree houses are in fact in or around trees, for the most part they are cottages that incorporate trees. These definitely don’t fit the image of the backyard kind of thing that dads put together in a few weekends.

An episode this afternoon was what the architect/builder referred to as the lowest to the ground tree house he’d ever built and it had to do with following a long intriguing looking curving rock outcropping. The end result on each show is an incredible variety that reflect both imagination and some pretty tricky building techniques in many cases. After all, when you are elevated, you want to make sure the structure will remain intact. I don’t know if they’ve built any in hurricane-prone areas and I don’t know if building codes account for such things. The other thing that I’m certain of is that these tree houses aren’t put together on a tight budget. I can certainly also understand their allure.

Amazing Talent of Youth……..

I should have asked hubby to take a few photos, but neglected to do so. With three back-to-back events Friday evening through Saturday, my brain wasn’t working as well as it should have been. Homestead Community Concerts (part of Homestead Center for the Arts) will close out their season March 22d with Legends of Motown, but on Saturday, they had a very special event. The three top place and two honorable mentions in the first annual Music Scholarship Competition performed at a gathering, followed by dinner. These students ranged from age 12 to 18 and watching them was as good as listening to them. Their stage presence was excellent across the board and one can only imagine what the younger students will be like in a few years.

Two violinists, two cellists, and one pianist demonstrated their talent with classical selections and one unique piece which was a number composed by the student’s mother. Both of his parents are composers and professors at the Frost School of Music. Not surprisingly, all the students began playing when they were quite young and their devotion to music was evident in the confidence they displayed. Perhaps there were errors that a trained musician might have heard, but for the rest of us, it was delightful to listen to them play. (http://www.homesteadconcerts.com)