Lynn Baber… for love of God and horses

Category Archives: Business Excellence

Customer service, marketing, business coaching blogs.

Why is being simple so complex?

July 29, 2010

Everyone has an Achille’s heel; a stumbling point they continue to jam their toes into time and time again. One of mine is simply forgetting to be simple. I won’t share the details of my week, but assembled these quotes on simplicity to remind myself and to entertain you. Enjoy.

Simplicity Quotes

If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.~Albert Einstein

We humans lost our simplicity as we become more educated in worldly things. – Lynn Baber, Amazing Grays, Amazing Grace

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. – Annie Dillard

Horses and children, I often think, have a lot of the good sense there is in the world. -Josephine Demott Robinson

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope. – Winston Churchill

Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated. – Lou Holtz

Educators take something simple and make it complicated. Communicators take something complicated and make it simple. – John C. Maxwell

Lynn traveling in the simpler days.

They criticize me for harping on the obvious; if all the folks in the United States would do the few simple things they know they ought to do, most of our big problems would take care of themselves. – Calvin Coolidge

Like many intellectuals, he was incapable of saying a simple thing in a simple way. – Marcel Proust

My pitching philosophy is simple – keep the ball way from the bat. – Satchel Paige

Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read. – Leo Burnett

And on that note, I hope that Mr. Burnett would consider this post simple and fun to read.

Have a wonderfully blessed and simple day!

Also posted in Christian Relationships, For the love of Horses, Understanding Life – 0 Comments

Author multi-tasking…

July 13, 2010

In about an hour I will be driving my little bittersweet orange jeep northwards. For the next two days I will be learning a new skill: book narration.

The audio version of Amazing Grays, Amazing Grace will be produced this summer. First it has to be recorded and then the publisher’s pros from Tate Out Loud will do their magic.

55,000 Words

The audio version is 25-30,000 words shorter than the print version of the book. But still… that’s a lot of words!

Authors, be careful when you write that new book. If a major part of your message is about relationship… be prepared to learn a new skill. I was all set to have one of the professional narrators do the audio book until a long time friend pulled me up hard and said,

“I thought your message has always been a personal one. Even when you were a business consultant, didn’t you always say that ‘All business is personal’?

Uh. Yes, I did…do.

“Isn’t your message one of relationship? So, who should be narrating Amazing Grays?”

Well, he was right, of course. So the professional narrator was canceled and I was scheduled to do the audio book. The time has finally arrived. I am off to learn another skill that authors today may find handy.

Horses are usually easier than being an author.

Free Download

If you have a print copy of Amazing Grays you will be able to download a free copy of the audio book when it is released. If you don’t, well, just keep in mind that the audio version is about 20% shorter than the print version.

Check out the new review on Amazon.com (CLICK HERE). If you are curious about what’s in the book, click on the book cover on the right column of this page to Search Inside on Amazon.

Baber is keeping all the horses, dogs, and cats company until I get back. Y’all be safe until we meet again!

Also posted in Christian Relationships – 0 Comments

The need to prune…

June 29, 2010

The art of pruning involves removing what is perfectly healthy and setting it aside to allow what remains to become stronger or to restore to health what is ailing.

I say ‘art’ because pruning is not an exact science. One must make a correct assessment of the state of the whole before beginning to snip and discard. Of equal, or greater, importance is the inspired vision of how pruning will lead to the ultimate goal.

Vision

Discernment

The ability to correctly assess and generate vision is a combination of both gift and experience. As with any artistic endeavor, natural talents combine with study and hard work to both create vision and be able to share it with others.

Painters must discern the line where one stroke of their brush ends and another begins. Horse trainers must discern the moment where pressure of leg or rein is effectively applied or removed.

Judges must discern where the rights of one citizen end and another’s begin. Christians must discern where to apply a message of “an eye for an eye” and when it is best to “turn the other cheek.”

Contradiction

To the uneducated or unenlightened two things may appear to contradict one another when in fact they do not. This is why Oswald Chambers so rightly cautions us to “not judge what we do not understand.”

Is it a contradiction that a rider should put pressure on the reins to stop their horse and they should put pressure on the reins to continue forward with more effort? (Collection)

In scripture and in most any other endeavor that requires higher level instruction there will exist an apparent conflict of basic concepts to those without the necessary education or enlightenment that provides discernment.

Instant vs. Long-Term Reward

Pruning a tree may reduce today’s beauty in favor of a more vigorous long-term result. Culling the least productive from a herd of horses or cattle enhances the ultimate health and profitability of the herd.

In organizations, whether for profit or not, it is sometimes necessary to ‘cull’ the least productive in order to achieve the mission of the enterprise. Your best sales person may cause more disruption in the ranks that they are truly worth. The very popular figurehead of your company or church may actually be a rotten apple behind the façade seen by the public.

Government

One of the greatest challenges faced by citizens of the United States in 2010 is culling those in our government who may provide us with benefit today but will ultimately lead to our economic and societal demise.

If the electorate does not correctly prune now, the ‘tree of freedom and prosperity’ will eventually die. The disease of ‘judging what is not understood’ has sapped the energy of our nation. Elected officials make laws about an economy they do not understand.

Judges set boundaries that determine who enjoys freedom; improperly removing freedoms from one in order to give it to another. Our government is no longer able to correctly identify what our picture looks like today and set a vision for the future that may be shared with all.

Time to Prune

It is time to prune officials who either inhibit or prevent a return to health for our ailing ‘tree.’ It is time to accept that short term rewards must be sacrificed for long-term survival. Only wisdom and vision can prune correctly.

Will this tree live?

Our government is in the process of systematically plucking every new leaf that tries to unfurl in the sun and lopping off each foundational limb of our national tree.
What to cut? When to cut? Be very, very careful into whose hands you place the axe. Once too much has been sacrificed, death is assured – only the time of it remains in question.

Source of Wisdom

Our founding fathers knew the source of wisdom that never fails. If you are worried that I’m heading to the Bible, you’re right. If you don’t want to go there with me, take the exit now.

“If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” (Matthew 5:30)

The Source of Wisdom

In all things, wisdom, judgment, vision, and discernment are given as gifts by the Holy Spirit and nurtured and hammered into sturdy tools through education and experience.

One purpose of this verse is to teach us to prune. It goes against our natural intellect to discard what is healthy at the moment. Our natural gifts and vision won’t get us out of the problem in our nation today. Only the gifts and vision of our new nature as heirs to the kingdom can properly guide the hands on the pruning axe.

Fellowship

Both our nation and faith were founded on fellowship; “We the people” and the brotherhood of Jesus Christ. The gifts of the Bible and the Constitution provide sufficient instruction for wise and visionary people as they prepare to prune.

Let’s work together.

Also posted in Christian Relationships, Politics - the real world – 2 Comments

Are you going the wrong way? Three options…

May 20, 2010

There are millions of people in the world today who wonder if they are on the right path. The scenery doesn’t look like they thought it would and the fear of being lost begins to grow.

Lost?

Is your life going wrong? Has your career taken you to an undesirable or unfamiliar place? Are your relationships becoming closer – or more distant?

Three Options When You Get Lost

When you’re driving along in your car and you realize you’re on the wrong road, what do you do?

1. Stop and turn around – then backtrack until you return to familiar surroundings.
2. Begin scouting alternate routes, turning off onto other untraveled paths looking for a way back to the right one.
3. Keep going even though you know the path you’re on won’t get you to your destination of choice.

Insanity

The definition of insanity frequently repeated is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result.

Choosing the third option means you have accepted your error and choose not to correct it. Many people will stay on the wrong path and hope a higher power will step in to rescue them.

Not. For those who travel the wrong road in innocence help may arrive. For those who purposely continue in error, well – you’re on your own.

Choose the Blessing

It can be frustrating when you have to backtrack. But there is also opportunity. Another lesson learned – you have eliminated at least one error you won’t be repeating. Those who are most successful in any endeavor choose best between the first and second options.

Should you stop and turn around, or scout new territory? Everyone has a level of risk they are comfortable with. We’re not all meant to be Lewis and Clark or to walk on the Moon. Know who you are and know those with whom you travel.

The folks who are perennially on the wrong path are those who refuse to leave it. You can’t course-correct until you change directions.

Blake Hannah Photography

Happy trails. Even the unfamiliar can hold great beauty.

Also posted in Christian Relationships, Understanding Life – 0 Comments

Tips for initiating conversation with strangers….

May 13, 2010

Just sent a response to an ‘aspiring journalist’ who is doing a piece on first impressions and strategies for starting conversations with a stranger. It occurred to me if I was sharing with him then I might as well share with you, too. After all, relationships all begin at the beginning and what else is important except relationship? So here are eight suggestions…

1. No one is more valuable than anyone else. There is no need to be intimidated by folks that have more money or celebrity than you do.
2. Using the same conversation opener that everyone else uses is a deal killer. The idea is to get a response and to be memorable.
3. Choose your time wisely. Don’t try to begin a conversation when the other person is obviously in a deep discussion with someone else. You will only be interrupting and will make a really awful first impression.

OOPS... wrong first question!

4. The best time to initiate a conversation is when the other person is either alone or looks like they need to be rescued from someone who doesn’t know how to conduct themselves properly. You have the opportunity to step in and save them. That way, if done well, you gain extra points.
5. Learn to recognize basic body-language signals; open vs closed; receptive vs non-receptive. In real estate location is everything. In conversation and making a first impression, timing is often the most important element for success.
6. Ask a great first question. The question needs to be original, not too personal, and about the person you hope to engage in conversation. If not overdone you might begin with a small compliment followed by a creative question. Once asked, LISTEN to the complete answer and look for a clue that leads to a great second question. The signal that you have successfully started a conversation is when the other person asks a question about you. Don’t offer any personal information until it is requested or is truly relevant to the subject – and the subject is, the other person.
7. If you have no idea who the person is, but just want to meet them, find a question about their appearance or voice. Anything that is visible. If you know who the person is, be prepared with background information. If they are well known they will not want to have to bring you up to speed.
8. It is better to get out of a conversation early and leave the other wanting more than to wear out your welcome the first time. Again, pay careful attention to body language. When the other person’s eyes start to wander or look over your shoulder, get out with grace and speed.

Any other suggestions we can add to the list? Please share!

Also posted in Christian Relationships, For the love of Horses, Understanding Life – 0 Comments

Were you successful yesterday?

May 10, 2010

Was yesterday a great day, or did it end up on your list of those that ended in frustration or failure?

Was Yesterday a Success?

Defining Success

The definition of success I use is “achieving an established goal.” The trick, of course, is to properly select your goals. If your list of daily goals reads more like an epic poem than a short recipe, you probably book considerably more days of failure than success.

Who is Most Vulnerable to Failure?

Those who most frequently fail are those who try the hardest to succeed. People seldom fail who seldom try.

Natural leaders and entrepreneurial types are most vulnerable to daily failure. They are ambitious to a fault; the fault centered in setting impossible goals on a daily basis. These gifted folks often lose sight of the speed bumps directly ahead as they focus exclusively on the top of the mountain they intend to climb.

Climb one step at a time. Blake Hannah Photography

The Recipe for Success

Baking, as opposed to cooking, requires strict adherence to the recipe. Not being precise when measuring and adding ingredients out of order leads to failure. Success is much the same. In both baking and success the key is maintaining proper balance as each new ingredient is added.

Adding too much of a favorite or more impressive ingredient will cause your pastry to flop, and setting goals that put you out of balance will do the same to your day. And, as days add up, the flops combine in continuing failure.

Establish Balance

Each successful day is the result of balancing the proper ingredients:

Caring for family and daily chores
Learning and forward movement (climbing upward)
Maintenance: not backsliding as you add to achievements attained.
Contemplation, vision, and planning for tomorrow’s climb
Rest

Perseverance

The tortoise won the race by slow steady forward movement. The rabbit made flashy sprints and bursts but became distracted. Set goals that take care of the business of your life, then seek to obtain just one or two more steps up the mountain every day.

Some days your goals will concentrate on preparation and maintenance, not gaining elevation. The circumstances of your life are like weather changes on a real mountain.Some days it would be just foolish to try and climb when conditions are completely unfavorable.

No Success in Playing Solitaire

Take care of important relationships. There is no true success in playing Solitaire.

Learn something new or achieve one more step each day.

Don’t lose past wins. Include time in your day to maintain achieved skills and contacts.

“A” is for Apple

As a child you could not learn to read until you mastered the alphabet. You could not master the alphabet until you learned the letters. Like the rest of us, you began with “A” is for apple. Set your daily goals in the same way. If your goal for today is to read “War and Peace,” you are destined to fail if you have not mastered “A” is for apple.

Be realistic. Be successful. Every day.

Also posted in Christian Relationships, For the love of Horses, Understanding Life – 4 Comments

Leaders don’t negotiate…

April 29, 2010

…and neither do I when it comes to dogs, horses, or children. And to make my final point before sharing my dog story of the day; God does not negotiate either.

A Puppy’s Ego

Anyone who believes that a dog or horse has neither an ego nor personality has obviously never spent much time trying to create a relationship with one or the other. Dogs are naturally wired to live in a pack and horses come pre-programmed to be in herdship with others. Where each ends up in the order of relative importance within the pack or herd depends on their ego and personality.

Squeak and B.C.

Six months ago we were blessed with a new addition to the family when a stray mini-Aussie puppy wandered onto the place. Finding no owner we kept the cute little furball. As time has passed her ego has grown quite handsomely and she is trying her best to be the top dog – and not just among the other dogs, but top dog of the house itself.

Not.

The Peace of Mealtime Shattered

We have had multiple dogs for decades, the number topping out at seven until the older ones passed on and we ended up with merely three. Then Squeak, the mini-Aussie puppy arrived.

Mealtime for dogs in the Baber home has always been quiet and orderly. No matter the mix of dogs at the time all waited patiently until their turn came. Squeak appears to have missed the memo about peaceful mealtimes.

Waiting Politely for Treats

The same training method doesn’t work for every dog, horse, or child. I have already been through a minimum of three different approaches to helping Squeak learn patience and manners at mealtime. She gets boisterous, excited, and annoys her siblings. Actually, she annoys us too.

Recognizing The Need for Intervention

What had been working beautifully was adding a requirement that all dogs had to sit and stay patiently as each step of meal preparation was performed. Squeak was doing well, learning “stay” as the days passed. If any dog rump rose from the floor, meal prep stopped until all returned to their correct place.

This morning, however, Squeak got all ramped up before getting to breakfast and simply refused to focus on me, much less sit patiently. As the other three waited I gave Squeak three chances to adjust her attitude. Didn’t work.

Did I mention that leaders do not negotiate?

A short leash was snapped to little Squeak’s collar and she remained at my side as I fed the others. She then accompanied me to my study as I continued my morning routine. She was not pleased. How sad. (Can you tell that I wasn’t too concerned?)

Squeak knew the rules. She decided her opinion was more important than mine. She made a direct challenge to my authority and intervention was required. Please note I did not say punishment. In this instance the intervention was an abrupt change in activity meant to break the process presently underway in order to make a point.

The point was no negotiation.

Squeaker Dec 09

The Result

Once Squeak got over her concern and unhappiness at being restricted to a leash without breakfast she settled down, lay quietly at my feet and put her head down. The other dogs filed in one by one, also laid down and settled in for a morning nap.

Only then was it time to return to the breakfast spot. The leash was removed and I asked Squeak to sit quietly. It took a couple of requests before she complied. Not good enough.

Until Squeak sat patiently, relaxed her posture, focused on my face, and stayed put in proper response to my hand signal, there would be no breakfast. Within ninety seconds she was happily munching her kibble.

God is no Pushover

So, to restate the point made at the beginning of today’s post, if you think God will negotiate with you when your opinion differs from His – well, be prepared for the leash and time to reflect. Great leaders are faithful to those who follow, and He is the best leader.

Also posted in Christian Relationships, For the love of Horses, Understanding Life – 2 Comments

Are you a Horse Whisperer?

April 21, 2010

Taking a new book on the road is much like beginning a career as a horse trainer. The most frequent question strangers asked in my early days as a trainer was, “What type of training do you do and would I know any of the horses you’ve turned out?” Once I give my thirty-second synopsis of Amazing Grays-Amazing Grace, the most frequent question I get now is, “Are you a horse whisperer?”

Horse whispering

A Horse Whisperer is…

It took me a little while to formulate an answer I am comfortable with. There has been so much celebrity attached to this term as a result of movies, books, and trainer self-promotion that I was reluctant to hop on board that very crowded bandwagon.

Until I figured out that it was really wonderful that this wagon of whisperers was so densely populated. Now I immediately answer the question, “Yes, I am.” But – I quickly add that ‘horse whisperer’ is now a generic term for any trainer who works from a foundation of relationship with the horse; where lessons are based on leadership and followership, security and affection – in essence, herdship.

For Love of the Horse

Horse whisperers love horses and all things equine. We recognize that any failure of the horse is but a mirror image of our own failure to properly communicate or lead. Horses bless us with simplicity. One of the chapters in Amazing Grays, “Keep It Simple”, seems to appeal to many readers as they consider their relationships with horses, God, children, and spouses.

Horse whisperers don’t just speak quietly, they listen. It is impossible to listen if we are talking. Seems pretty simple, doesn’t it?

What drives people to live with, study, finance, and make the commitment required to be in relationship with a horse?

Love.

We’re All Horse Whisperers

An article written by top clinician Richard Winters came through my email inbox a few minutes ago about correcting horses that are barn, gate, or arena sour – or those who are herd bound to a buddy. I had written a nearly identical piece last month.

Why do I mention this? Because it further reinforces my own personal discovery. Truth is truth. The fundamentals of leadership and great relationships are the same, no matter the details.

Like Christianity and politics, there will always be specific hills of disagreement, but we don’t live there. We build relationships upon the broad plains of shared belief.
Let’s all stand together on that wide, solid foundation built upon love of the horse – every one of us who is blessed to be a horse whisperer.

Also posted in Christian Relationships, For the love of Horses, Politics - the real world, Understanding Life – 0 Comments

Health Care Reform…

March 24, 2010

As you know, health care ‘reform’ is now the law of the land. For the most part you won’t find me making political arguments anymore, and this really isn’t one either.

The New Law is a Bad Law

Did that sound political? It isn’t. The way in which it entered into the legal code of the United States was shameful. When police collect evidence in an illegal fashion, where the rights of a citizen were violated, the evidence is rightfully excluded from consideration – everything connected to the illegal search is thrown out as being ‘fruit of the poisonous tree.’

The vast majority of citizens are in favor of health care reform. I’m one of them. However, the manner in which this law passed violated the rights of the citizens. For Pete’s sake, the bill passed through the use of coercion and outright bribery.

Do you think any reasonable judge would accept a jury’s verdict if he or she knew full well each juror’s vote was either obtained as a result of a bribe, or from being subjected to rubber-hose torture until they cracked? Our justice system won’t let such tactics be used on inmates at Guantanamo Bay – why is it acceptable as a method for our Congress men and women?

A filthy pig in a poke

Politics As Usual

Those who perpetrated this disgraceful action use ‘politics as usual’ as their excuse. How many of us had parents who didn’t buy the argument, “But, the kid down the street gets to do it!” I may have tried it once, but the backlash was enough to preclude me ever trotting out that poor excuse again.

Shame on these people, elected to represent us, sworn to protect and defend the Constitution, who have offered such a transparent excuse for their bad behavior.

Even Children Know Better

Most of you have seen the commercial where a little girl is asked if she would like a pony. She happily reaches for the toy pony offered. The little girl next to her is asked if she would like a pony. She nods her head enthusiastically and an absolutely adorable pony, mane bedecked in ribbons, sporting a little girl’s fantasy saddle and bridle, walks out from behind a barrier.

The first little girl looks at the pitiful toy in her hand and says, “You didn’t say I could have a real pony.” The announcer said, “You didn’t ask.” The tag line for the commercial is that even a kid knows that such a case is just wrong.

Washington DC has done the same thing to the citizens of this nation. Just as the first little girl isn’t guilty for falling into the trap, so the folks who ardently believe in true reform aren’t guilty of colluding with the powerful in Washington.

Let’s stand together, each citizen, no labels allowed – and demand that Washington DC operate openly and with the integrity required of public servants.

What About Reform?

The only question should be. “What reform is best for the country?” It should not be an issue of power, and it can’t be a quest to make everyone kings. There is no way to give everything possible to every one. But, that’s the promise of the Washington power structure that is, in the cold light of day, just a pig in a poke.

And unlike the toy given the first little girl in the commercial, this is a real pig – and one that just wallowed in the foulest mess any pig every waded into. The way it’s shaping up, there isn’t enough fresh water left in the United States to get this filthy pig clean.

PS: I happen to love pigs, and my apologies to all the real pigs who do not deserve to be lumped in with the Washington crowd.

Also posted in Christian Relationships, Politics - the real world, Understanding Life – 0 Comments

Three ways to make a great impression…

March 18, 2010

Everyone wants to be memorable and make the most of meeting others. After all, we only have one chance to make that first impression. Did you know that you only have 3 – 7 seconds to make a first impression?

Make a great first impression.

Three Positive Ways To Be Memorable

There are some people we remember for a long time, but not fondly. Here are three ways to make a positive impression on someone else. Whether you meet someone at an event, online, or as they read something you wrote – one of these tips may help you stand out from the crowd.

Tell a good story.
Ask a great question.
Offer a fact no one knew

There it is. Have a great day – and be wonderfully memorable!

Also posted in Christian Relationships, Understanding Life – 2 Comments