It's a bird...It's a drone...It's Santa Claus!
Look up, step out from your echo chamber, challenge your assumptions, don't limit your giving to the holiday (and mandatory performance appraisal) season, and tune in to episode 102 of The Energy Detox podcast.
Transcript
(AI training in progress; please excuse any errors)
Well, it's a pretty big time of year for things that are up in the sky.
First and foremost, of course, we've got the big man, Santa Claus, who will be traveling through the sky in just a couple of days to deliver presents. We've also got all those headlines about the drones that are in the skies above New Jersey and headlines about the airplanes that are above all of our heads right now, as a record number of travelers take to the skies this holiday season, we've also got a headline about that guy that flies to the sky once in a while, Superman, because a new Superman movie is coming out in a couple of months, and today, December 19, a highly anticipated trailer for those who highly anticipate such things was released. All that being said, we've also got another headline that's in the news, and that is about bald eagles. Because right now, on the desk of President Biden is a bipartisan bill that will make the bald eagle the official National Birth. And now, if you're like me, you're probably saying is the bald eagle not already the national bird. In fact, some historians were quick to point out that in 1792 or, sorry, 1782 I'm not a historian, regardless of the year about 250 years ago, the bald eagle was already put on the seal of the United States. So why do we need this designation? Does Congress not have anything better to do than to put forth this legislation so that they can take credit for making the bald eagle the national bird? Well, I'll leave that rhetorical question for you to answer, because that's not the point of today's episode of the energy detox.
01:33
The point today, as always, is to take all those various headlines that you might come across this time of year regarding things that are up in the sky and tie them in to things that are relevant to you as a leader in the energy industry. And to do that, I Joe Sinnott, am standing here in the south side part of Pittsburgh in front of the American Eagle Outfitters headquarters, which is also a mere two blocks away from the Steelers practice facility, where they are doing what they can do to try to move past that not so nice loss they had to the Eagles a couple of days ago. All that being said, what's our plan for today? Well, it's to lay out three very simple things that you already know, but that you know, what some of these headlines might serve as a quick, simple reminder so that you can deploy these things that you already know, not just this time of year, but as you move into 2025 and so what are those three things that we're going to step through? Well, one is the importance of looking up, picking up your head, moving beyond the echo chamber, if you will, to find other information that nobody else might have, that you can use to your advantage and to the advantage of your stakeholders. The second reminder, second tip that we'll offer today is the importance of not assuming, again, not exactly a novel idea, but something that we could all use a friendly reminder about once in a while. And the third item that we'll reinforce today, that we've talked about on many episodes of the energy detox is the importance of giving, but not just giving, in the sense that, again, Christmas is a mere couple of days away, but giving that all important thing to those around you, that being feedback. And so with that, let's go back to item number one and expand just a little bit. Why is it important to look up? Well, looking up isn't just important to see if there's birds flying above your head or Supermen or drones or whatever the heck might be. There no the importance of looking up, in the figurative sense, is to make sure that you have your eyes and your ears on things that you might not otherwise ingest, on sources of information and conversations that you might not otherwise have. Now, again, this is not rocket science. This is nothing new, but it's easy to forget, especially this time of year, when you've got the hustle and the bustle that can detract you from you know what, picking up your head, looking around for a bit, maybe going for a walk, and having a conversation with somebody that you might not normally have? This is a great time of year to do that, and to build some of that momentum that you can carry into 2025 so that you can have those conversations again that are outside of your comfort zone, outside of your echo chamber. And a good way to reinforce this, and bringing it back to the oil and gas industry in particular, is the responses that I've seen over the last two days to the LNG report that the United States Department of Energy released because they released a report.
04:23
Not a lot of surprises about the tone of the report, but also not a lot of surprises about the response to that report from various industry groups. Many of those responses leaned on the same standard talking points, true and important as they might be, but not necessarily original, you know. And this is a lot like even some of the talking points that people might say somewhat tongue in cheek about alternate forms of energy windmills in particular. Again, be remiss not to bring up the normal talking point about how many hundreds of 1000s of birds windmills kill annually, and who knows how many bald eagles they kill annually? Again, a valid point. Sure you. But what can you do to move beyond those talking points so that your message, your argument, if you will, is more sustainable than it would be otherwise. Well, again, we're not talking to you so that you can go out and be an energy advocate this Christmas season. But how you can bring that same idea back internally again? What are those conversations that you need to have? What can you do to pick up your head, get out of your Echo Chamber, not just relay the same standard talking points about, well, we'll see what happens next year. I don't know about promotions yet, or, you know budgets are tight, or whatever.
05:28
What can you find that you can give, that you can share with others, that you can gain by having conversations that you know what you might not normally have, by hearing the fears, the concerns, the worries of the people around you that, again, require you to stand up have those conversations and have a genuine interaction, if you will, an intentional interaction with people that you might not otherwise have if you just kept your head down and kept plugging away in a safe, comfortable manner. That being said, let's move on to item number two, because they're all related. Item number two is to make sure that you're not assuming and if you're picking your head up, if you're looking up, if you're seeing what's around you, if you're having those conversations, if you're challenging existing talking points, or, more importantly, asking how you can go above and beyond existing talking points. Well that's a great way to make sure that you're not assuming things. And you know, again, bringing it back to this bald eagle story, there was one quote from somebody, Ed Hahn of the National Eagle Center, and he said, you know, assuming something doesn't necessarily make it so. But again, whether you're assuming that you're on the nice list and not the naughty list, whether you're assuming that enough people around you understand the merits of what you do for a living when it comes to again, if you happen to be in the oil and gas industry producing fossil fuels, whether you're assuming that internally you're respected enough that you're going to be able to survive another year in this industry, in whatever company you're in. Well, obviously those assumptions can be dangerous. I don't need to tell you that, but hopefully this episode can serve as a reminder that you know what. Don't just assume. And don't let others assume that they're in a better position than they already are. Also, don't assume that people are out to get you.
07:16
Also don't assume that people have ill intent, especially people who, again, are outside of your normal bubble, different departments, perhaps different industries, start by assuming positive intent. Now, again, that doesn't mean that you don't need to be on guard against people that are antagonistic or looking for ways to knock you or your team or your company or industry down, but assume positive intent. It's a good way to make sure that nobody's guards are higher than they need to be, that you get more of that open information that is going to prove valuable, and that again, you don't find yourself relying on assumptions moving forward, that again, could come and burn you later on. That being said, let's move on to our third and final item for today, and that is the importance of giving, giving early, giving often, and not just giving this time of year, which again, might designate as the season of giving. And again, what does that have to do with all of this? Well, again, we could bring it back to that first person we said, we'll be up in the sky in a couple of days. That, of course, being Santa, the ultimate giver of gifts. And again. Heck, I don't think we need to move much beyond him. Use Santa as a reminder that you know what you don't just have to give at Christmas time. You don't just have to give this time of year, the feedback that you might be forced to give this time of year if you're a manager, because many companies, of course, are going through their annual performance appraisals. Well, guess what? You don't have to wait for that to go through all the various channels so that it's eventually revealed to your employees in a couple of weeks. No, you can use your phone right now and send a text message or an email or a teams message to somebody give them a short piece of simple feedback right now. You don't have to wait again. You don't have to have them moving forward assuming whether they had a good year or a not so good year. You can do that right now. It doesn't have to be earth shattering. It doesn't have to be any sort of grand piece of feedback, and it doesn't necessarily have to be positive, I promise you, right now you pick up your phone, you think about one person. Heck, it doesn't even have to be from a professional standpoint. Pick a family member, pick a colleague from a past life, pick a friend. Go ahead and shoot them something and say, hey, you know, I just thought of something, and I thought you might want to know this. Every time that you know we talk, you tend to bring up X, Y and Z. And I'll be honest, you know what? I feel like. It's, it's, you know, it's maybe painting you in a bad light. No, I don't think it's that big a deal, but I just thought you might want to know that something like that's going to knock people off their feet. They're going to say, Hey, what's going on here? Are you drinking? Which, again, this time of year, there's a good chance you might be drinking when you send that.
09:53
But either way, ask yourself, how you can give above and beyond and beyond. Again, this Standard Time. Of year, of giving presents, and this standard time of year, of putting feedback in some sort of system that'll work its way through only to be revealed in a couple of weeks. What can you do right now to give something something, to give something to somebody that's valuable? So with that question in mind, with all three of these reminders in mind, allow me again your host, Joe Sinnott, to wish you a very Merry Christmas, to remind you again, to look up, look around, be aware of your surroundings at all times, so that you don't unwittingly miss something that could damage you, your stakeholders, your company, or something even more valuable than all of that. So with that again, Merry Christmas. Hope the rest of your year is great, and I look forward to seeing you again on the next episode of the energy detox.