September 11 - Guest Matthew Creek, Clear Mind Consulting
September 18 - Russ Perry
September 25 - Mark Menasci
October 2 - Herb Stokes
October 9 - Jake Ulrich

Board Nominations
We had our second week of nominations.  Charles Hultstrand nominated Bob Busch.   Carole Weishaar had to decline her nomination.  There are three positions open.  The nominees are:  Jake Ulrich, Chuck Hultstrand, Don Ellis and Bob Busch.  Board speeches will be presented on September 18th.  Elections will be held on September 25th.

Membership Update
Adam Dekavallas came as a guest today.  He now works with Gus at AnDek Financial.  When Gus is traveling, Adam will attend MABE in his place.

Mark Howard has resigned from MABE.  He read Mark's email resignation to the group.

Other Items
The board has discussed how do we properly thank guest speakers.  It was recommended giving them a gift from a MABE member.  For instance, Don Ellis brought in a gift certificate for the Landmark.

You are welcome to invite a guest to next week's meeting with our guest speaker.

We are planning a guest breakfast on October 9th.  Think about who you would like to invite.  It doesn't have to be a potential member (although that would be nice). 

How do you manage your "stuff"?

Joe Zingale - He and his wife agreed she would handle the small decisions and he would handle big decisions.  There have been no big decisions so it worked out well.  On the business side, he has a hard time delegating because things don't get done the way he thinks they should be done.

Sandro Menasci - A friend made a similar arrangement with his wife.  She made all the decisions inside the house and he made all the decisions beyond the curb.

Nick Mawrenko - If Joe is satisfied, then it is great.  If he is not, then a change is needed.

Guy Sawyer - Sometimes you have to learn to be satisfied.

Joe Zingale - It is not a matter of being satisfied or not.  I am just overwhelmed.  I work more than I want to.  I love what I do but my personal time suffers.  I would like to semi-retire but I don't know how to get there when I work as much as I do. 

Sandro Menasci - Let others do the work and work with them to do it right. 

Gus Dekavallas - I was overwhelmed with paperwork before I hired Adam.  You get to a point where you have to bite the bullet and hire someone to help you.

Adam Dekavallas - When they encountered this in his business, they learned they had to hire "leaders".  Its a perfect storm.

Carole Weishaar - Most of us are type A personalities.  In order to delegate effectively, you must first have confidence in this person and then you have to give ownership to the task and the outcome.

Dave Lathrop - How many struggle with the daily emails and voicemails?  What about the pile of notes you accumulate?  Your inbox?

Guy Sawyer - Since I don't have an office staff I have to organize my own special way.  I need to keep my family from moving my things around.  I can never find where they moved it to.  It is a pet peeve of mine.  It is a lack of organization on my part.  I need to "be like a grown up" and handle things better.

Chris Curran - I have trouble focusing on the task at hand.  As I am getting the kids ready for school I am thinking about a phone call I need to make at 9am.  When I am on that call I am wondering if I packed the kids' lunches.  I don't know if it is a problem.  When I sit in church on Sunday morning and thinking about the football game...that doesn't bother me.  When I am in the middle of a deposition and thinking about something else...that is problematic. 

Greg Stewart - Sometimes the economy can change your life in ways you never expected.  The volume of business I was used to between retail and voice work kept me unorganized.  Since things have slowed down I have become too organized.  I liked it better the other way.  Its OK to be a little less organized.

Steve Chilton - I think the conversation is going deeper into personalities.  I know people that have no ambitions but are very contented.

Dave Lathrop - It is a way of being.  Contentment can be a way of being.  Disorganized can be a way of being.  Because we don't know any other way.  Fact or Opinion?  There is value in questioning the way you do things. 

Teamwork...hmmm...Interesting concept.