Jason Howell Company

Washington, DC Snow Scene: From the vantage point of Jason's windshield.

I have lived in the Washington, DC area for over 20 years now but I had yet to fully “experience” the adventure that is uniquely our own:  being stuck in traffic for say, more than 3 hours because of snow.

This isn’t to say that I have never slid into a ditch or gotten into a car accident because of the weather.  Just last year I had the opportunity to learn that 4WH is a lot different from 4WL (the difference being crashing or not crashing).  What I learned from this little show of “Thunder Snow” is that life is an adventure and sometimes the joke is on you.  I also learned that if you look around most people have it worse.

Even in a calamity, getting out and pushing a red Honda Civic out of your turn lane makes life better for everyone (even if she had just taken her emergency break off, we would have all been home about 30 minutes earlier).  Her success was hours.  This was Patriotic Development™ for the real world.

My full trip yesterday was five minutes short of 8 hours from Reston, VA to Arlington, VA (a trip that on a rough day, usually takes 30 minutes).   I found out through the wonders of shared experience i.e. Facebook, that I don’t own yesterday’s record however for worst commute.  So far that dubious distinction belongs to a friend – once removed – clocking it in at 13 hours.  My back already feels better.  My commute began innocently enough with what appeared to me as a run of the mill snow shower outside of Reston Town Center at about 4:15 pm.  Eventually I learned that was a brewing “white out.”  By 5 pm I was still on Reston Parkway.  Still full of vigor and a full tank of gas, I spent most of that squandered 45 minutes counseling someone on the phone about the magic of:

• Accepting the things you cannot change (like the pace of traffic)
• How you can’t change what happens to you, but you can change how you react to it
• How everything happens the way it is supposed to happen (i.e. “for a reason”)

By 7 pm I was counseling myself (with the very same words).  This was my opportunity to live through my own advice while I was being challenged by “things I could not change.”  The picture attached to this posting is one of many taken from my car while completely stopped.  After a few phone calls on my trusty Droid X I had to start rationing its use to conserve power.  In addition to having already purchased an extended power battery for my phone, I did have a car charger but I had shorted that electric socket (don’t ask) nearly 2 years prior.  This unfortunately also shorted out my car stereo that I’ve neglected to fix.  I was left alone with my thoughts save the intermittent phone call from family that I was forced to cut short each time (for fear of being totally cut off from the world).

Washington, DC looks different at night, in the snow.  The water puddles under bridges look like a scene from an abandoned inner city ally rather than the underpass of the future metro in bustling Vienna, VA, home of Tysons Corner Center luxury.  By 9 pm frustration set in and by then I decided to start tracking my mental transformations.  My observance of myself is rooted in the reality that as a Motivational Speaker I believe that motivation, leadership and anything you are trying to teach others, you must first learn to teach yourself.  I figure one day someone’s going to ask me about “Anger Management.”  I will be prepared.  At about 1o pm I found peace.  Like Morgan Freeman near the end of 1994′s Oscar Nominated Shawshank Redemption, I no longer cared if I got “let out.”  At 10:19 pm music fills my thoughts much like Tim Robbins’ Andy Dufrane character while he’s locked into solitary confinement.  Don’t worry, I’m not giving the movie away if you haven’t see it.  If you haven’t though, do so soon.  C’mon, it’s been nearly 20 years!  Oh wow..

10:45 pm ushers in the humor of watching that red Honda Civic.  At the time I didn’t know if I realized or cared that she was a big part of the reason my lane couldn’t move.  She was merely entertainment on a desolate night where the call of hunger as well as nature, had already been ignored for hours.

By the time I had made the U-turn onto Rte 123N, I was filled with will.  I knew now my mission and that was to merely keep moving, no matter what.  No matter what.  I didn’t actually know where I was headed but I knew where I was going:  away from being stuck.  Sometimes in life that’s all you need to know.  I was taking action in a parallel direction of I-66E and though I wasn’t on the road that I knew would take me directly home, home wasn’t my mission.

How many times have you chosen to just go instead of standing still?

It was now just past 11 pm though I wasn’t taking notes anymore, I was actually driving…at top speeds of 15 mph!  When I ran into Glebe Road, I knew that somehow my sojourn would be over soon.  By midnight I was in Arlington, minutes away from home.  Never had an IHOP looked so good (you know the one on N. Stafford Street off of Fairfax Drive).  I stepped out of the car at about 12:10 am.  I was relieved mentally and minutes later, physically.

The lessons I learned or re-learned from last night’s storm are the same ones I shared in the bullet points at the beginning of this article.  I also learned how much of a relief just moving in the right direction can be, even if it’s not exactly the one you planned or the one you “know.”   Sometimes it’s just more important that you make a decision, and go.   Thank you D.C., I’ve learned so much.

Jason Howell is the author of AMERICA: Still the Land of Opportunity, Always a Home for the Brave.” For more insights on success in business and in life, pick up your copy today. Also, be on the lookout for his new book on Patriotic Development™ coming this Spring/Summer (2011).

ARIA Hotel & Casino at CityCenter

This past weekend I had the opportunity to learn, laugh and lead along with about 200 of my closest friends.  Thank you Las Vegas and ALPFA.

ALPFA is a national leadership organization for Latinos that I have been a member of for over 4 years.  Almost immediately, I joined the Washington, DC board of Directors and this past October 1st, I became President.  Last weekend 200 volunteer leaders representing 40 cities across the United States joined together for a leadership summit and some fellowship.  It was yet another wonderful experience.

Admittedly I didn’t join ALPFA 4 years ago with the intention of becoming one of its leaders.  I was then a Recruiter in the Accounting and Finance industry and ALPFA was then known as the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting.  As my parents are both from the Caribbean, they let me in.

My goal was to recruit from the fastest growing demographic in the country.  What I found were a group of inspirational people leading a cause greater than themselves individually.  I didn’t know it then, but I was forming my beliefs around the concept of Patriotic Development™ and ALPFA was becoming a part of me.  ALPFA officially began in 1972 as the American Association for Hispanic CPA’s but it evolved over the next 30 plus years.  By the time I joined in 1996 the acronym expanded to included Finance professionals.  Over the past 2 years, the organization has broadened to include all Latino business professionals seeking excellence in the global workforce.  Officially, ALPFA’s mission is to:

“Create opportunities, add value and build relationships for its members, the community and its business partners while expanding Latino Leadership in the global workforce.“

How we do that is often the subject of our Leadership Summits.  I am always overwhelmed by the volunteers, of which I am one, from across the country.  We spend our time working on a mission so encompassing that it sometimes blurs the line of the work we actually paid for versus the work we do for ALPFA.  That is of course what happened to me.  To my chagrin, I never “placed” anyone from ALPFA over the 3 years I was a Recruiter and now that I am self-employed those blurred lines continue to be scribbled.  As a board member for ALPFA I have seen the benefits of people who have found themselves growing in skills they are unable to hone in their jobs.  Through a combination of soft and “hard” skill development, ALPFA has given many the opportunity to find within themselves what they know, but have been unable to articulate, in their professions.

ALPFA as an organization with merely 17 full-time employees is typically on the cutting edge of business.  Change is not only constant, it is unspoken virtue of the organization.  When the brand new City Center of Las Vegas was being built some years ago, ALPFA was the first organization to sign a multi-year contract (hence our presence at the Summit this year…and next).  That’s a silly example to share but it is indicative of the CEO, Manny Espinoza, and his constant drive to lead the “..premier business organization for expanding opportunities to Latino leadership.” This past week I offered Manny the opportunity to write the Forward to my book and he accepted.  Thank you Manny.

Since when visiting Vegas the only question people are willing to ask is “Where did you stay?” I figure it only fitting that I share a link to the ARIA here.  They were especially accommodating so the “plug” is warranted.  Should you have any questions about ALPFA please don’t hesitate to ask.  As for questions about Las Vegas, well, you’re on your own

Jason Howell is the author of AMERICA: Still the Land of Opportunity, Always a Home for the Brave.” For more insights on success in business and in life, pick up your copy today.

"I don't own a mower but you do." Jason Howell (circa 13 y.o)

During the good ole days I was too young to work.  At least that’s what Fairfax County said to me.   In 1987 you had to be 14 y.o and 8 months and have your school sign off on a work permit.   So add just over 13 years old I decided to mow lawns to make money.

I didn’t think much about this decision, in fact, I am not sure how I came up with the idea.  My family had just moved back to the United States and though we lived in a lovely area, we didn’t own a lawn mower.   I just new I wanted money and the only way I could figure how to make it was providing a service for which I was skilled.  So on weekends I knocked on doors and asked to mow the neighbor’s laws -and most people agreed.  I think only one person asked where my mower was but it didn’t matter to them or anyone else -they were homeowners so they had to have mowers (and they did).  I made my first honest dollars those days mowing lawns and one day when I cleared out  an entire backyard of leaves, debris and some rubble I learned an even more important lesson – if you decide to work harder than expected you will be rewarded sooner or later. The following is a short anecdote and a few lessons learned from making decisions quickly.

One day I walked over to a neighbor and as was typical, asked to mow her lawn.  She agreed but asked whether I would like to make some extra money raking up the back yard.  I happily responded “Yes,” sight unseen.  The job took me the better part of a day, all the way into the dusk.  Exhausted, I went up the homeowner and was paid just a few dollars more than a lawn job.  I was disappointed but so happy to be finished that I just walked home and took a long shower.  When I got out, the doorbell rang and there was my neighbor with another $10 bill.  She hadn’t realized how much of the yard I was going to clean up (i.e. all of it) and gently asked me to take what amounted to nearly double my pay.  I gladly accepted.

What my lawn mowing “business” -it only last one Summer until I was old enough to work at Toys R’ Us – illustrated were a number of decisions that I made which have become a basis for the times I have succeeded in life.

1. Faced with a challenge (lack of money) I decided to focus on what I could do
2. When given an opportunity to work harder (clean up the backyard) I decided to accept, “sight unseen”
3. Offered a reward below what I thought I deserved, I decided to show grace rather than contempt
4. When humbly offered an additional $10, I didn’t gloat but expressed my appreciation

Deciding to “decide” at all times is difficult to do when we feel trapped (no money, no job), overworked, undercompensated or cheated.  Certainly we make decisions all of the time but rather than always being led by emotion we do ourselves a favor by taking a breath and just choosing what we know to be “right” for that moment.

• At 13, no one would give me a job so I made one
• Without a product (lawn mover) I used the only thing I had -my ability to serve
• When an opportunity arrived, I was ready and I “over delivered”

Some of you are wondering how to deliver value in a way that will get your boss, your clients or maybe even your family to notice.  Some of you have been “trying” to do so but haven’t succeeded…yet.  How about this:  just decide to be better than you have ever been in everything you do.

Watch what happens.

Jason Howell is the author of AMERICA: Still the Land of Opportunity, Always a Home for the Brave.” For more insights on success in business and in life, pick up your copy today.