365QOD- Day733

“Do you want me to smile on a Monday?” – Actual question posed to me

My answer is no.  I can not make you do anything.  You are an adult and have control of yourself.  If you do not want to smile then you will not.

I believe that Mondays are critical to team effectiveness.  I put on my best smiley face on Mondays.  Why?

Spring of 1993 I suffered four major setbacks that each occurred on a Monday.  I was responsible for several shops and all of the equipment in them.  On Monday morning I would show up before 7 and the technicians would tell me how they needed my help to troubleshoot a machine that they had been working on all weekend.  I would spend the day and at the end of the day the machine was still not fixed.

Demoralized I went home to open my mail and discover that I had been rejected from another Ph.D. program.  I would then shower and get ready to go teach my first engineering class. 

After this had happened for four weeks in a row, I remember lecturing in front of 75 people and one of the students, David Zajakala, asking me if I was all right.  He pointed out that I am not the same guy that started the class. It dawned on me that I had let these Monday experiences affect my teaching. 

It was that night that I made a wow to myself to never have a bad Monday.  I realized that it affected not only me but other people around me.  I chose positivity, especially on Mondays.

Today’s question is:

“How do you begin your Mondays?”