Time to Turn a Page

As you know, I have been privileged to run one of the best utility companies in the country for more than 9 years.  Daphne Utilities has been a great place to manage and its future is bright  That's saying a LOT since the accomplishments we have achieved together in the past are truly significant:  
- Recognition from both The Wall Street Journal and Inc. Magazine for our winning workplace practices
- A bond rating of AA- since 2009 (even more significant considering the dire financial situation they were in prior to 2005)
- Multiple "Awards of Excellence" from the US EPA (water quality, customer outreach and environmental programs)
- Numerous "Best Operated Plant" awards from multiple trade agencies
-Multiple awards from the Mobile Area Council of Engineers including "Engineering mMnager of the Year" and
 "Engineering Project of the Year"
- Published articles in more trade publications than I can count
...and so much more!

However, it is time for me to move on and explore a new road. On September 1, 2014, I join the incredible team at Algae Systems as their Vice President of Operations and Market Development. We are treating wastewater as a resource, cleaning it of nutrients that can harm the environment using algae, which is then harvested and converted into carbon-negative crude oil and leaving only clean water. This process can truly have global significance and I extremely excited about applying my talents to helping this company achieve remarkable things!  It's exciting stuff and I am ready to get started! 

For those of you who I speak to regularly and especially those of you for whom I support with management support and presentations / training sessions, please know that this work is something that I am absolutely continuing!  Please feel free to reach out to me if you need my assistance in any way. I am here to support you and the building of great teams at your place of business!

Till then, wish me Godspeed on my journey.  I ready to get started!  Excelsior!l

Download Link for ACE2014 Presentation

Thanks for attending my presentation at the American Water Works Association Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE2014) in Boston, Mass.  If you’d like to download a PDF of my slideshow with notes, please follow the link below.  As always, if I can be of any help to you, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

DATE:            Thursday, June 12^th  ( 9am )

TITLE:             “So I Have a Great Financial Plan…NOW WHAT?”

OVERVIEW: Even the best financial plan still means taking more of your customer’s money.  If you have not proven your worth to customers long before this, you will likely get pushback from angry crowds at your public meetings which will make your oversight bodies very reluctant to pass the rate increases you need.  Here are some low and no cost ways to begin communicating value to your customers now so that they recognize your worth when that critical day arrives to ask for their support!

DOWNLOAD LINK:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yrs2dttpvg1h7eu/MCELROY%20-%20%20IVE%20GOT%20A%20GREAT%20FINANCIAL%20PLAN%20NOW%20WHAT%20-%20ACE2014%20with%20notes.pdf

If you would like more information on the presentations I can provide you and your organization to help you achieve remarkable results, please download my Press Kit at the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ahsce4ympox07c/McElroy%20Press%20Kit%20-%20MAR%202014.pdf

First, Solve The Problem

This is not really surprising but the plan almost never went like clockwork.  Something always happened. Team members got captured.  People suspected a trap and had members of the team locked up.  Equipment broke.  The weather changed.  Wildcards were thrown at them all of the time. 
What made the team great, however, was their response when things did not go perfectly.  

When plans went awry, the IMF Team focused first on solving the problem, not pointing fingers at who was to blame. 

If Rollin Hand got locked up, the team didn’t waste time trying to explain why they were not at fault for him getting caught.  That would not have been productive.  Instead, they immediately looked to solve the problem first.  “Blame Allocation” was never part of the Mission.

At a later time, after the crisis had passed and the Mission completed, I am sure that Phelps had an after-action review so they could figure out exactly what happened so they might avoid it again down the road, but not in the middle of a crisis.
 
ACTION:  What do you or your staff focus on when bad things happen?  Is your first thought to accomplish the mission or save yourself?

 What about your Team members?  Do they waste time making sure everyone knows who is to blame, rather than just completing your mission?

What are you going to do to change this in not only yourself but in your team as well?

Over-Communicate the Mission

Nearly every Mission: Impossible episode began Phelps briefing them on their mission.  Why was it important to do this?  Jim Phelps cared deeply about his people and knew that the best way to have then be successful in the mission was for them all to know and understand the mission…the whole mission, not just their little sliver of it.  He never knew when he or any one of the other team members might be hurt or arrested during the mission and everyone needed to know and understand the specific missions of everyone else in the team so that they could pick up the slack should one person stumble or fall.

He took the time to go over every detail so that each person was comfortable with what the goal was, how their actions helped ensure victory, what was going on around them and what contingency plans had been made. He answered their questions and stayed with them until everyone was comfortable with their understanding of the larger task at hand.  Hearing this level of planned detail helped assure each Team member that the plan was sound.  It wasn’t enough that Phelps knew the mission… the entire Team needed to see the big picture to ensure success.

At your utility, it’s not enough for you to be the grand puppet master and the only one to know the whole picture.  If you want your entire team to be successful in the long run, they need to understand how their part of the mission supports every other part of the mission.  They must see where they fit into the bigger picture.  How the mission of your utility is NOT to have a maintenance department…or a pump operation.  It’s to serve customers in such a way that they see and deeply appreciate your value over the long haul. 

It is important that your people understand the mechanics of the big picture.  For instance, if they want a pay raise, it is important to know that customers fund this with their bill.  Unhappy customers can raise enough objections to stop a rate increase dead in its tracks and can, therefore, stop the funding mechanism of a pay raise.  This is why remarkable customer service is so important to even the most junior field worker at your utility.  Don’t they deserve to know this important fact?  Have you taken the time to explain this to them or are you just assuming that they know?

If you truly care about your people and truly care about winning, you will take the time to over-communicate the mission in detail with YOUR team.   

ACTION:  Use every opportunity to communicate the big picture to your people.  Ensure that they understand their role in your overall success.

Links to UMC2014 Presentations

I just returned from the Utility Management Conference in Savannah, Georgia where I had a fabulous time presenting to two groups there.  

First was a session on the need for Media Training for utility executives.  The following links will provide you notes on this session:

Media Training Slideshow w/ Notes

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4mvpfhtqd0kspq2/McELROY%20-%20Media%20Training%20-%20Panel%20Discussion%20UMC2014.pdf

Media Training Manuscript

https://www.dropbox.com/s/15a5mdw6oeerwv8/McElroy%20-%20Media%20Training%20-%20UMC2014%20MANUSCRIPT.pdf

The second was a session on performance management entitled "How to Deliver Oscar-Winning Performances at Your Utility".  The following notes will give you an overview of this session:  

Oscar-Winning Performaces Slideshow w/ Notes

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xbnja4u1v2ish35/UMC2014-%20Oscar%20Winning%20Utility%20Performances%20rev%201.pdf

Oscar-Winning Performance Manuscript

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pofrt72g6l1crdu/McElroy%20-How%20to%20Achieve%20Oscar%20Winning%20Performance%20UMC2014%20MANUSCRIPT.pdf

Do you need a dynamic speaker at your next event? I can help!  Here is a link to my Press Kit:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ahsce4ympox07c/McElroy%20Press%20Kit%20-%20MAR%202014.pdf

CONTACT INFORMATION

Personal Website – www.robmcelroype.com
Company Website – www.daphneutilities.com
LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/in/robmcelroype
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/robmcelroype
Blog – www.goodenough-isnt.com
Email –

Company - rob@daphneutilities.com
Personal - rob@robmcelroype.com

Phone -  wk: (251) 626-2628  - or -   cell: (251) 689-5020

Let Them Do Their Job

One of the things that Jim Phelps did very well was to allow his team to do their jobs without micromanaging them. 

Willy was an expert at logistics.  Phelps didn’t dictate how Willy was going to set up a fake hotel or hospital in the middle of a hostile country.  Willy was an expert at this and Phelps let him do his job.

Barney was an electronics expert and engineer.  Phelps didn’t tell Barney what brand of listening devices to use.  Barney was an expert and he let him do his job.  

Rollin Hand was a master of disguise.  Phelps didn’t dictate to him what brand of disguises to buy or how to apply them.  He was an expert in his field and he let Rollin do his job.

Remember also that there was a lot at stake... on "Mission: Impossible", Phelps was warned that every mission carried with it the risk of being "caught or killed".  On top of this was the fact that a failed mission could have led to the outbreak of war (including nuclear attacks!) Despite this, Phelps was smart enough to let his people do their job every time.  He didn’t dictate their tools or methods.  He judged them for their results. 

The last time I checked, nuclear war has never been the likely result of a water line break or a sewer spill.  If you think about it, you will realize that there really is time to let your people take ownership of their work and do their jobs without excess micromanagement from you.  They need a little time to think through the process, to plan a course of action, to gather the proper materials.  If you make all the decisions for them, then they will never learn on their own.    

What is YOUR job as a manager?  

- To establish what success looks like.  

- To communicate this to your people. 

- To let them do thier job.

- To judge them for results.

- To work with those who can be improved.

- To replace those who fail to deliver results consistently.  

You have PLENTY to do without doing your people's jobs for them. Stick to what is your and leave them to do what is their's.  

ACTION:  Let you people do their jobs and judge only their results.  This is the way to both win and build ownership amongst your team.  

Let Them Know That They're Important

If your people are truly valuable and important to you, you should take active steps to let them know that they are so.  One of the ways we do this is by giving them our time and respecting them while we are meeting with them.  There is nothing that communicates disrespect quite like taking a call on your cell phone or checking email in the middle of meeting with your people.  Don’t do it!  (Unless you really are Jim Phelps and people are calling you regularly asking they should cut the red wire or the green wire to diffuse some time bomb, it is likely that you are not nearly as important as you think you are.)

Your people deserve to meet with you undistracted.  Turn your monitor off on your PC so that you won’t be tempted to glance over at those pesky email pop-up notifications.  If your phone rings, don’t even check it to see if its “important”.  Just reach into your pocket and turn it off.  If your people ask you if you need to take that call, just say, “No, I’m helping you right now…when we are done, I can call them back and help them later.”

If this just seems impossible, then try this cutting edge smartphone app that almost no one seems to know about.  It’s called “voice mail”.  Apparently, if you don’t answer your phone, your phone will answer itself, take a message for you and will play it back to you anytime you want it to!  AMAZING! (You really should try this!) 

ACTION:  Show your people that they are important to you by honoring the time you spend with them.  

Every Team Member Is Important!

In the Mission: Impossible TV episodes, there were many times when the mission required the Team to simulate a large political reception…or a fully manned submarine… or a fully staffed hospital.  There is just no way that the 4 or 5 people who were part of the "main team" were going to pull this off.  When this happened, Mr. Phelps turned to outside repertory companies to help him fill the temporary staffing needs he had.  These people were critical to the success of the mission even if they were not named members of the Team.  The failure of these people to do their job well could have easily led to the failure of the mission as a whole.  Because of this, Mr. Phelps, I’m sure, went out of his way to let these people know they were valued and key parts of the overall success plan.

They were, in effect, temp workers.  Contractors.  Part-timers from a staffing agency.  Yet, it seems obvious to us that Phelps would have been foolish to treat them poorly because, even though they had no major part in the mission (such as a speaking part), they could easily cause the mission to fail should they be any less than perfect in what they were doing.

Is this really any different than the temps, contractors and part timers that we employ routinely today at our companies?  Obviously we need the temps working for us to be just as perfect in their jobs so that our “missions” are equally successful!  If you treat temps like they are expendable, isn’t it likely that they will not be working to the peak of their ability and will, in all likelihood, develop a bad attitude that will be noticed by a customer (who will have no idea that this is “only a temp”.)  We must find ways to remind them that they are part of our Team.

How do we do this?  In my past, I have worked for chemical plants that made a point of telling the 15-20 contract workers that worked for them that they were NOT invited to the company picnic because “they were just contract workers”.  Did the money this plant saved on a few hot dogs and glasses of iced tea really make up for the markedly depressed enthusiasm these workers felt at such a slight?  Hardly!  At my utility company, we make a point of inviting everyone who works for or with us to every function we hold…lunches, holiday get-togethers, awards dinners…everything! 

Treat everyone on your team like they are, in fact, on your Team… BECAUSE THEY ARE!   

ACTION:  What are YOU willing to do to ensure that the temps and part-timers working for you do not cause your mission to fail?  (And “firing them after they have allowed your mission to fail” is not really a viable answer.)  How can you make each one of them feel needed and vital.  Finding the answer to this question can determine the success of your entire mission!

WEFTEC Behind Me...and An Update to My Website!

 

I just returned from WEFTEC, the largest water and wastewater trade show and educational conference on the planet!  I was honored to speak three times at this year's conference.

On Monday, Oct. 6th, I was the kick-off to a whole new program session at WEFTEC entitled "Meet the Experts".  This small and informal gathering is intended to give various speakers a chance to network with a smaller group and allow for extended discussions on various utility related subjects. 

During this session, I presented a VERY scaled down version of my "MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE" talk and then just had a relaxed conversation with the group gathered to hear me.  It was really a fantastic experience and I am sure it will be something that WEFTEC repeats in coming years!

On Tuesday, Oct. 7th, I alond with Jim Caudle (my plant manager) and Melinda Immel (top-notch engineer from Volkert) presented a talk on our headworks upgrade project entitled "Restoring Lost Capacity Through New Technologies". 

On Wednesday, Oct. 8th, I spoke to the elected officials / decision-makers track on "How to Deliver Oscar-Winning Performance at Your Utility Operation".  This session was open to all decision makers and management staff associated with the utilities industry and uses lessons I have gleaned from popular movies we have all seen to build great organizations.  (Anytime I can put all of those hours I've spent watching movoes at the house to work actually helping me develop a great utility, that's a great day in my book!)

I have also completely revamped my personal website so please stop by there if you have a minute: 

www.robmcelroype.com

 I have multiple ways to connect with you via this site so please reach out and make a connection!  I am more than happy to help YOU do something great in our industry...or business in general!

Get Them What They Need

GET THEM WHAT THEY NEED –  Imagine you are on the "Impossible Missions Force" from the classic TV show MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE.  Jim Phelps, your team leader, arrives to brief you on the mission.

“Okay, this will be a tough mission but I am sure you’ll pull it off.  The first thing you need to know is that each of you needs to be in Munich in the morning.  Now, if you’ll recall, we’re over budget at the moment so I had to cut out all of the travel funds to keep us in the black… so you won’t be able to buy any plane tickets…but you still need to be in Munich in the morning.

When you get there, you’ll need to show a expertly-made fake IDs with your secret alias names on them at the border.  They had better be perfect or the Immigrations Officer will have you arrested.  Now, I know I cut out a Documents Expert from the staffing budget for this year but I am going to try and plan for one next year…but you still need your new IDs for this trip.

Oh, one final thing… when you get there, the most crucial part of the mission is to precisely measure the distance to the target within less than 12 inches from over 2 miles away.  This is absolutely critical...that's why we always use our laser range finder.  Oh, but if you’ll remember, it broke a few weeks ago and the repairs were going to be over $800!  We’re a little short of funds until we get more in a few months so I haven’t been able to get the range finder repaired.  But you guys have been doing really good estimating (guesstimating?) your ranges lately so I am confident you’ll do find this time, too.  Now get out there and have a great mission!”   

How many of you would think that you were being set up for failure?  You would be absolutely right!

If you fail to get your people what they need at your utility, you are setting them up for failure…and your team knows it.  How do you think that affects morale?

“Getting them what they need” might mean a tool…but it could just as easily mean training…or enough people to do a job right…or it could mean support from upper management when a tough but right decision needs to be made like laying off a bad worker who might be related to someone high up in the company.  Your people deserve the tools to do their job right.  The only thing left to be decided is whether you will provide them…or set your people up for failure. 

ACTION:  Get your people what they need to be successful.  It is the only way for them to attack the mission with the confidence it takes to win.

Listen to the Team's Feedback

LISTEN TO THE TEAM’S FEEDBACK-

The one thing Jim Phelps did during his mission briefings was to listen a lot and let others answer the big questions.  “How will we get out of the prison once we have the General?”  “Well, Cinnamon, that’s where’s Barney comes in…why don’t you brief us on that Barney.” 

Even more than that, the IMF team often asked pointed questions like, “Do you really think you can convince him that you are his father, Jim?” 

They sometimes had to point out facts like, “That’s a time delay door.  It will take three minutes to open once we have input the code.  Your timeline won’t work as is.”  Phelps never got angry with the feedback he received.  He used it to refine the plan and allow others to feel more of a part of the overall success.  In addition to this, the act of listening to his people's concerns helped build faith in the plan as a whole.  This was vitally important in completing the mission because people who feel they are sent out to fail, usually do.  Likewise, people who have confidence in the plan and confidence in the person who scripted the plan, often succeed.

If your staff meetings and company meetings consist mostly with you talking about what you want to talk about, something is wrong.  Are you listening?  Are you sharing the stage?  Are you letting other people own their parts of the mission?

If you get angry when people question your plan, you are stifling valuable input that can make or break your mission.  Is it more important that you never be questioned?  Or is it more important that your mission be a success?

ACTION:  Listen as much as you talk and always be receptive to the feedback you receive.

A Great Conference in Arkansas!

I was very honored to be a featured speaker at the Arkansas Water / Wastewater Managers’ Association at their Annual Conference which was held this year at the Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, MO (close to Branson).  The Lodge was incredible!  It all looks strangely familiar…until you realize that it is a Bass Pro Shops property and then everything makes sense!  (It’s like sleeping inside a Bass Pro Shops… and that surely has to be more than one person’s fantasy!) 

The conference was fantastic as well!  I delivered a few words on the opening night meet and greet and then spoke four times over the next two days to the group.  The Association picked out a few great topics from my catalog: 

-  Good Enough Isn’t Good Enough Anymore

-  How to Turn Your Utility from Kitchen Nightmare into a Top Chef Operation

-  The Importance of Delivering WOW Service to a Captive Audience

-  Engineers Are From Mars, Utilities Are From Venus

If you’d like a copy of my press kit including my catalog of presentations, you can download it here:

https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D7090779_708_968637608

The crowd was very warm and engaging.  Thanks to all of you who made it a great conference!  We even got to take in a show in Branson…the Haygoods!  I didn’t know what to expect but came away thoroughly enjoying the entire night and, as if it needs to be said again, those Haygoods are one talented bunch!  I did bring running shoes with me as I am working on losing weight again with summer here (and I’ve lost 25 lbs so far!)  I had no idea that the ground was going to be as hilly as it was!  Where I am from, 30’ in elevation is a mountain!  This little jog in the afternoon turned out to be one of my toughest workouts!

If you are a water or wastewater professional in Arkansas, please look into joining the Arkansas Water Wastewater managers’ Association.  That is one top notch group and really appear to have their act together!  They can probably help you further your own career path in our industry as well.

Here’s a link to their website:  http://www.arkwwma.org/

Bring The Team Together

 

The IMF Team began every mission by meeting together. At the end of each mission, they always left together.  There is a very important reason why this happened.  No matter how good we each are, we cannot get the job done alone.  We need help from others and we, in turn, must let the others on our Team understand that we are there to help them whenever they need it. 

This goes back to the old saying, “We will either win together or we will lose together.”

Imagine if the IMF team came back from a failed mission and Mr. Phelps had said, “Well, MY part of the mission went well.  In fact, I think if you look back at my performance, you’ll see that I did not make any mistakes whatsoever.  Barney might have screwed up… or Cinnamon… or Willie… If anyone failed, it was one of them, not me… so I guess you can just put this down as a win in MY dossier, Mr. Secretary.”

It is imperative to understand that success will only come when we act as a proper TEAM.  At my company, Daphne Utilities, we constantly say, “We’re One Utility…not a bunch of people who coincidentally have the same logo on our shirts.”

If you are not actively working to bring your Team together… If your Team is fractured…

If your Team is not focused first and foremost on helping the entire Team to win together…

…then you and your Team are planning to fail.  Period. 

ACTION: What are you doing to bring your team together?

NEXT POST: What key activity should happen when you are bringing your Team together?

 

Pick Your Team For Skills

One of the most famous scenes from the Mission Impossible TV show was Mr. Phelps scanning through dossiers as he put together just the right team.  For the mission to be successful, Mr. Phelps knew that he needed specific kinds of people with specific skills to do specific tasks. 

This seems obvious, right?   If the mission required someone to carry a 300 pound suitcase through a building without it looking heavy, then Willy Armitage was the person selected because he was the strongest man alive.  It didn’t matter if supermodel Cinnamon Carter had worked for the agency longer or had great acting skills, she would not possess the key strength needed to get the job done.

If the mission required an electronics expert, then Barney Collier was the person selected because he was a brilliant electronics engineer.  It would not have mattered if Rollin Hand, the Master of Disguise, had more seniority… or could imitate any voice… or was an escape artist.  He did not have the key skills needed to get the job done. 

How are YOUR team selections made at your company?  Are you looking at the skills needed? Or are you simply looking at rather meaningless things like seniority?  For instance, if you need to hire a manager or supervisor, the skills you need to look for are the ability to lead and manage people, to bring people together and effectively represent the company to their team.  Seniority alone does not address these key traits that are vital to mission success. It may be less troublesome for you take the easy way out and promote the person who has worked at the company the longest (so that they don’t file a grievance because they were clearly in line to get that job) but it does NOT get the job done. 

No one said Jim Phelps job was easy.  No one said your job as a company manager was an easy one either.  But if we are going to do our job properly and accomplish our mission, we need to do it right…and promoting people without the skills to do the job is NOT how we successfully complete our mission. 

ACTION:  Select ONLY for skills and stand behind your decision.

Be Open To Something Unique

 

One of the things that made the IMF so successful was that they never approached problems the same way as everyone else did. 

For instance, on one mission, the Team was required to get a document out of a safe that was impossible to crack.  They had one of the best safe-crackers in the business helping them and, after reviewing the plans and specs for the safe, had to tell Mr. Phelps that it was impossible to break into.  Phelps’ reply was to tell the team, “Of course it’s impossible to break into this safe.  That’s why we’re not going to break in…we’re going to break out.” 

Phelps figured out that, if he could just sneak a man into the safe (hidden in a large suitcase), then it would be easy for that person to get the document and break out of the safe once he had access to the tumblers for the lock and all of the other electronics from the inside of the door.  He was right, of course, and the team accomplished another “impossible” mission simply by NOT approaching the problem the way everyone had always done it before.   

At our utilities, we hear the phrase, “That’s the way we’ve always done it,” a lot.  This phrase has stopped innovations from happening since the dawn of time.            Our utility used to have a real problem with sewer spills.  When I asked how we stop them, everyone said that we can’t stop them… it’s impossible because we cannot force people to change what they do in their own homes (like pouring oil and grease down their drains) which cause sewer spills.  We refused to accept this answer and instead launched a Used Cooking Oil Recycling and Biodiesel Program coupled with a major customer outreach effort.  By capturing the public’s attention in a way not tried before, we have reduced sewer spills in our system more than 70%!

What is stopping progress and innovation at your company?  Push back HARD every time you get an answer like, “That’s the way we’ve always done it.”  There is very likely a new and unique way to solve the problem that is different from the way you’ve always done it.  

ACTION:  Challenge assumption!  Blaze your own path!  Find new and innovative ways to solve problems…there are plenty of them for you to tackle!

 

Decide Upon a Plan

There is a specific order that Jim Phelps goes through to accomplish the mission. 

Do you ever think there was an episode where Mr. Phelps said, “I think I’ll just grab a few random people, fly to Europe and see if we can wing it.”

The first thing he did was to decide upon a plan of action.  This is crucial.  He saw what he needed to accomplish by the end of the mission and backward planned, step by step, how to get from where he was to where he needed to be.  By breaking the plan down into small enough steps, each one of them could be accomplished easily.  Together, they accomplished the mission others thought was impossible. 

At our utilities, we can do the same thing.  Close your eyes.  Picture the perfect utility in your mind.  Now open your eye and realize that you are not there yet.  Then make a conscious decision to do what it takes to get you to that vision of perfection that you had in your head. Backwards plan from “perfect” all the way back to where you are today. 

For instance, if you need funding for a major upgrade, a rate increase might seem impossible to pass in this economy. To accomplish this, you might backwards plan in this manner:

To get additional funding, pass rate increase.

To pass rate increase, gain support of Board (and the politicians that make up your Board).

To gain this support, lower pushback from the public.

To lower pushback, communicate value effectively to customers.

To communicate value, actively engage customers.

To engage customers, increase customer service and the public presence of utility.

To increase customer service, lead by example to show all employees that customers should be treated with great respect and care, instead of as interruptions in our work.      

To increase public presence, visibly support activities that the public embraces.

As you can see, none of these steps alone seems “impossible”, yet together, they enable you to accomplish a seemingly impossible task!

ACTION:  What is your plan to get where you need to be?