All posts by kelli@kellihuff.com

Lesson from Santa and a too bright sun

Life lessons

All I wanted was a cute picture of the kids with Santa. You know, the one with the classically jolly Santa with a twinkle in his eye, my perfectly groomed offspring looking in the same direction towards the same camera, loving smiles on their faces. This, so that I could prove to myself and the world that I had it all together. Look at how precious we are.

Why this was so important to me, I have no idea, because we don’t even do Santa. We don’t NOT do Santa, we just generally don’t make a big deal of Santa. This wasn’t an intentional decision we just tend to focus more on the history of St. Nick and the birth of Jesus. But Santa’s cool and I wanted a cute picture. The perfect picture. And this is what I got of the two of them. Hello sun.

photo 3

But you know what? It’s alright because we ran into some really good friends and that was a surprise and awesome!

photo 4

photo 1

So thanks, Santa and that glaring sun, for reminding me what’s really important this season. Grace, love and Merry Christmas!

photo 5

An 8 year old’s list of gratitude

Life lessons

We are abundantly blessed. We have our freedom. We have family, friends, food and a home. Access to education and healthcare. We can worship without persecution.  We have 1000s of cable channels and can wirelessly stream movies to our phones. To our phones, people. We’re blessed. So when our son starts in on how he has nothing to do, nothing is good enough, that he is bored and frustrated and mad and wah wah wah I lose it. I send him to his room and tell him he can’t come out until he lists all for which he is grateful. This is what he came up with and it’s pretty good. So as we are heading into this season of Thanksgiving I thought I would share. And challenge each of you to stop for a moment during all of the busy and think about  your blessings. They’re all around us.

So here it is, an 8 year old’s list of gratitude:

  1. Food
  2. TV
  3. Mom
  4. God
  5. Dad
  6. Bed
  7. House
  8. Games
  9. Toys
  10. Friends
  11. Family
  12. Sister
  13. Freedom
  14. Hats
  15. Stores
  16. Love
  17. Karate
  18. Basketball
  19. Grass
  20. School

I made the top three! Sorry, Dad. And God. Better luck next time.

trey

Culture vs. Morale

Culture

I’m working on my notes for a session on organizational culture I’ll be facilitating and thought I’d take a moment to share my predominate thought here.

Culture and morale are not the same thing.

They are certainly related, but it’s a mistake for leadership to treat the two realities as interchangeable.

A company’s culture is characterized by the attitudes, behaviors, world-views, values and perspectives of its employees. It’s the innate self of the organization.

The morale of a company reflects the feelings of the employees at a particular time.

Generally, an establishment with high employee morale will also have a strong culture.  But strong cultures can withstand dips in morale. More negative cultures may have moments of employee satisfaction, but it’s not sustainable.

If you’re interested in participating in this conversation join us at the Austin Leading Ladies Power Hour and you can check out more of my thoughts on corporate culture here.

star-wars-motivational-poster-office-morale

A new day

Human Resources

Today I’m doing something I haven’t done in more than a decade. Start a new job.

As I step away from Y&R Austin, I have terrific memories and friendships that mean the world to me. There are work accomplishments, of course, but when I look back at my 13 years on Mars, it’s the people I think of most. We say “once a martian, always a martian” and it’s true. I’ve already been drafted to plan the next SMEX happy hour. A duty I’ll take very seriously, I promise you.

And it’s for people that I’m doing what comes next, serving as a HR and operations specialist at Gateway. I’m excited about being able to use my talents in a way that will make a positive impact on our city and beyond. And this move will also give me the opportunity to consult with partner companies in the communications field and non-profit environments. Firsts can be scary, but a few butterflies never hurt anyone. In fact, it’s what often makes us fly.

Love-Your-Job-Typography-Design-Posters-Quotes-27

 

When wrong teaches us right

Life lessons

Picture day was this week at the kids’ school. We’re blessed they get to attend a great charter and part of the deal is that they wear uniforms. But on this day, picture day, they got a free dress pass. This is huge. Epic. It was a Wednesday and they could wear whatever they wanted. FREEEEEEEEDOM!

But let’s not forget about the picture part. Mom didn’t necessarily want them picking out their own outfits. And let’s be honest. I’m really not concerned about them. I’m thinking about him and the likely ensemble of a Darth Vader t-shirt and camo shorts my son would choose. So I did what all Love & Logic parents do… I bribed him. I told him I would give him $2 to wear the shirt of my choice. Which he quickly and gladly agreed to. Success! Right?

Wrong. My kid sold out his heart’s desire for a lousy 2 bucks! And I set him up for it! It all flashed before my eyes and I see him as a rising business executive making crass and unethical decisions because back when he was 7 his mom showed him to value the dollar over conviction. So I immediately regret this transaction and tell him that if he truly feels led for Darth Vader to join him in his 2nd grade photo, then by God, no amount of money should influence him. But it was too late by then. The dollar had won. I had won. And I felt terrible. Still do, but life is a lesson and I learned mine this time.

So parents, hang in there. We’re not always going to get it right. In fact, I think some of the best lessons come from when we get it wrong.

walking

They don’t look like they’re doing too bad, right?