My vacation in July wasn’t the “kick back and relax” type . It was , however, a vacation from the daily, weekly and monthly office to-do list. From my perspective, vacationing with young children makes it so easy to move those lists to a place that is both out of sight and out of mind. That “putting away” is what allows me to recharge and return refreshed to my professional responsibilities.

The steps certainly add up while allowing my two year old granddaughter to explore the aquarium “on her own.” I stayed just 1 or at most 2 small steps behind her and was always there when she turned to check. Her joy in the exploration and my focus solely on her might be exhausting to some but I believe the focus required with her is what gives my professional battery time to shut down and recharge.

Add in my then three month old grandson and several wonderful hours holding him. Bonus time with my nearly seven year old great nephew playing with the gaggle of children at the birthday party and swimming in the pool. A birthday visit from another nephew and his family and I left that brief vacation fully recharged and maybe a little physically exhausted. How refreshing was your most recent vacation?

Have you rescheduled a meeting with a prospect lately? In my business, that could be an individual seeking help in their career search or a potential new company client. What were your reasons? In a personal contact intensive business it’s easy to decide you need to stay, as my old boss Pete Wolfe used to say, “closer to the $$” and move on from your plan.

You know, that well-crafted annual plan broken all the way down to monthly, weekly and even daily goals you promptly filed away. It was designed to further existing relationships and build new ones. Instead you consistently cancel meetings and calls, especially with new introductions where you can’t see how this ever turns into a return for you.

I’m so glad I didn’t cancel the breakfast with Steve Stolz, then an executive with Sara Lee during their relocation of Food Group Headquarters to Cincinnati in the early 2000’s. He was referred as an individual as he was considering exercising his option to exit the company and simply wanted advice about Greater Cincinnati executive employment market conditions. From what we thought we knew the recruiting for the team at Sara Lee was done. I could have told him over the phone that Cincinnati is typically a very resilient market but post 9/11 there were relatively few executive level finance openings. After our breakfast he shared they really needed help with as many as 20 critical accounting and finance roles and “was I interested?” I contained my outward excitement and we negotiated a multiple hire fee agreement and filled 15 of those positions over the next 9 months. Many more examples I could elaborate on – First Financial Bank, National City Bank (now part of PNC), Panini North America, Michelman, Inc., TGW International and more.

The lesson I strive to keep in mind – take the call or meeting, be available to help someone regardless of their ability to engage you on an assignment and there will be a return on your investment.

The photo is from April 17, a first meeting for me and my granddaughter with her then less than 24 hours old little brother.

So when did common courtesy become so uncommon? You just finished the annual review (employer or employee), bonuses and salary adjustments will be in effect by March 15. The company had a good year and the “lift” you see or feel will last for a while – if you’re lucky all the way to May 1. So why is turnover trending upward before June 30?

Limited recognition is often cited as the most common reason for leaving an employer. Not in your standard exit interview – too much “feeling” to discuss in that setting. People feel undervalued and underappreciated and it’s not because of your salary and benefits. Competitive salary and benefits are a “ right” each employee expects. The key to retention and performance is consistent recognition of a job well done. Many of you are now thinking “this is going to get expensive”, but it doesn’t have to! Some of you are also thinking “this is common sense”. I agree, but common sense is all too uncommon and far from common practice!

The best recognition programs recognize real and desired performance and result in frequent recognition awards. When your employee handles a particularly difficult situation especially well – recognize it now. Follow the Golden Rule – think how you would like to be treated in that moment and you will understand the importance of the seemingly simple, but often forgotten, sincere thanks for a job well done.

This sounds easy, so why don’t we do it? Give me some practical advice you say? Here’s an easy one. We all have a “to do list”, whether on a post it note or your Evernote app (I love this app). Everyone in your organization who has even a single employee reporting to them (directly or indirectly) should put their reporting employee’s names on that “to do list”. Cross the employee’s name off the list each week only when you have found a genuine reason to recognize their positive performance. Thanking people in person too “touchy” for you? Write them a note – yes handwritten, this is supposed to be your personal touch, remember? When others wrote notes of thanks, congratulations or encouragement to me they always found their way to a file I still maintain. I believe I still have every note I ever received from a parent or child for coaching a team or leading a Cub Scout adventure. My mother had every sympathy card her family received when my Uncle Bill Dierker was killed over Leyte Island in the Philippines on November 1, 1944.

Follow this practice for three months and it will be a hard habit to break – but if you’re anything like me, please keep the list, it works!

I was committed to writing more in 2023. Yes, I did mail a birthday card with a heartfelt note to each of my 8 living siblings and a couple of hand-written letters to friends. However, this is my first “From My Perspective” since late 2022 so I’m changing from a month-end deadline to the first Thursday of the month. We’ll see how long that works but something had to change!

One thing I have done is stay in touch with family and friends. Sharing pictures via text and WhatsApp of my granddaughter who is now nearly 18 months old, checking in with friends (often by text) about their health or the health of their parents and family members. My old school self often felt guilty about not being more personal and calling but maybe , just maybe, a “meandering” call with me isn’t what someone needed that day. Maybe it matters to them to know they were thought of.

Today, Thursday January 4, 2024 marks the 6th anniversary of losing a close friend. Tom Regensburger was a classic all-around good guy. Many of his friends and family used Tom’s passing to commit to staying in better touch with their friends and family. Don’t wait for grief to motivate you – commit to reaching out to those you care about. Electronically or personally doesn’t matter – just get started and see where it leads.

Now is always the right time to recommit to good habits. I’m recommitting to New Year’s Resolutions. I hope your New Year’s Resolutions are still intact but if not, I’m encouraging you to recommit to yours.

Excerpt from Posthumous Award of Army Air Medal to First Lt. William C. Dierker, the older brother of my mom, Betty (Dierker) Hagerty: “Ordered to make an observation flight on 1st of November 1944, the plane piloted by Lt. Dierker, on taking off from the field, was attacked by Japanese “Tonys” and forced into a cocoanut grove, resulting in a crash where he was fatally injured.”

An article from the May 1945 issue of the Marine Corps magazine Leatherneck mentioned my Uncle Bill and this encounter in an article citing the bravery of the Marine observers and Army pilots of these flights over the front lines and often deep into enemy held territory. The mention closed with “Three Marines from a passing truck convoy braved a second strafing attack to cut the fliers from the wreckage, but death beat an ambulance to the side of the victims.”

The volunteering part you ask? I’ve had the pleasure of being a board member since 2004 at St. Margaret Hall, A Carmelite Sisters sponsored long term care facility. My father, Bob Hagerty (WWII veteran of the 712th Tank Battalion and Korean War veteran tank commander), was lovingly cared for by the Sisters and staff during the final months of his life prior to passing February 16, 2002. I’ve had the chance to meet so many wonderful residents and have so many meaningful encounters that convince me the rewards of volunteering far outweigh the “sacrifice.” I knew very few of my Mom’s childhood friends and she really never spoke at all about losing her beloved brother Bill. One afternoon at St. Margaret Hall I encountered a new resident Pat (Grannen) Jacobs and learned she had grown up across the street from my mother in Norwood. It still makes me shiver to recall her saying – “I hope you won’t mind me mentioning this, but I still remember looking out our front window when the sedan with the Army Officer and a Chaplain arrived to tell your grandparents that their son had been killed-in-action over the Philippine Islands. Your mother was several years older than me but always so kind to us younger girls and it hurt me to know how sad she must have been.”

I believe one of the best ways we can honor our veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice is to continue to give of ourselves to our own community in whatever way we find most meaningful.