Promise Keeping / Spring Breaking

Promise Keeping / Spring Breaking

Two days ago, the ferocious, unending winter rains here suddenly stopped.

It’s hard to describe the jarring change between one freezing, rainy, windy, disgusting day and a sunny, warm day.

Imagine close to 3 months of near-daily rain.

The buildings here are made to be specifically colder inside, given the crazy heat in the summers.

So for most of these 3 or more months, we all sit inside, shivering or over-heating, drinking soup or tea or hot cocoa (first-world problems, indeed), complain about the mold and having to put on a coat, take an umbrella, drive through the small floods on the roads.

Thank G-d for the rains, all the same. This is what fills up the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).

Indeed, as Jews, we start praying for rain on Shemini Atzeret (this year, it fell on… October 7th) until Passover arrives.

Rain is a HUGE blessing.

But like many blessings which we take for granted, or which have a double edge, we don’t appreciate them much (or enough) in the moment.

Much as we say that there are no flowers without excrement (proverbially and literally), it is even more so for water.

So here we are, spring has sprung, so to speak.

There are wildflowers everywhere.

Can’t wait to see them in full bloom in the fields outside Haifa.

As it often happens in pairs, I’ve recently been disappointed by one party and incredibly impressed by another.

Both have to do with breaking - or keeping - promises.

One of my projects in the last few months has been building a PR function for a university here (a Global Top 100 university).

After I managed to wrestle PR from under Marketing, I was promised a budget and runway to build a real English PR department.

I created a strategic plan, detailed budget, the works.

Wanted to hire people, etc.

Suddenly, they refused to renew the contract of my one team member.

Simply based on personal animus, since she does excellent work.

And they weren’t shy about their animus, even in front of me, which was disgusting enough.

So I’m the only one left.

Ok, bizarre, but I’ll deal with it.

I asked to be put in touch with a marketing agency that was enlisted by Marketing.

I was gaslit a few times, then finally put in touch, for the purpose of designing the President’s Report.

Suddenly, I was informed by the Head of Marketing (my former boss, now peer) and the current boss that the design would be decided without me.

WTF, people. It’s my project. Hell no, that’s unprofessional.

I wrote a strongly-worded, but professional email to both.

The next morning, I got a letter from HR.

Which is the precursor to a sham hearing to get rid of me.

Pathetic, disgusting… predictable.

I was warned from the start about high turnover in this department and specific function, about the two-faced machinations, etc.

Here I was, victim to them.

They apparently hired an agency behind my back… to replace me and to follow my own strategic plan for a department.

Without, of course, saying a word to me, just going through the motions to make me believe, in really bad faith, that I had the chance to build something great from scratch.

Disgusting and disappointing behavior by full-of-themselves academics, but also far from surprising.

I just saw what they did to my colleague.

Typical small-stakes academic bullshit.

Academics pretending to know what the hell they’re doing.

One massive, broken promise, broken in the worst of ways.

Ok, so set that aside.

Earlier this week, one evening, I cooked dinner and asked our girls to clean up, meaning to put the dishes away.

But there was also loading the dishwasher.

So I asked the older one to do both. She did the minimum (cleaned her own plate) and left (not to pick on her, that’s expected), but didn’t want to load the machine.

The younger one came to clean up her plate.

I pushed her and said, it would be nice for her to do the loading.

Unexpectedly, rather than give an excuse, as always, she promised to come back after brushing teeth and do what I asked.

I didn’t expect anything.

She usually forgets and I have to remind her.

All three of them do, even the oldest one.

But you know what?

She actually did come back.

She actually did load the dishwasher and launched it.

The first time, with a bit of instruction.

But she actually KEPT HER PROMISE.

I know it seems like a nothing, but for me, it was a HUGE deal.

She’s a conscientious kid (the older one is also, usually, was probably just tired, and the youngest one is, well, 3).

I took her aside, told her I was incredibly proud of her.

I said, for me, when someone actually keeps their promise, it’s a HUGE elevation in my eyes of this person’s character.

How rare is it, these days, that someone (hell, ANYone) actually keeps their promises?

Who even makes promises anymore? Demurring, deferring, denying, delaying - anything but promising and delivering.

And of those that promise, how many actually keep it?

I don’t even mean work-related things.

Just simple, personal responsibility.

Attention span has never been shorter.

All of us have seemingly never been busier.

There’s a war going on.

Everyone was miserable because of the winter.

And here was my kid, actually following through.

No, my job here isn’t nearly done.

But I have to take a moment and savor what I see.

—

Other interesting things are springing up.

I signed up as the U.S. Country Manager of an Advisory Board company, Boardio.

I’ll be helping even more startups (HR Tech, EdTech, Healthtech) Go To Market effectively in the U.S.. 

Here’s the full announcement.

→ If you are a startup looking for top advisors and investors ready to help you start and scale your sales and marketing, finance and operations - and of course, to make key executive hires - PM me, let’s talk.

→ If you are already advising companies on any of the above and have a large network, reach out about becoming an advisor on Boardio’s platform.

Let’s Go!

I’m also working on another exciting partnership to help those same startups access capital, top-shelf help with sales and marketing, finance and operations, to be announced soon, G-d willing.

Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, make more promises to people you care about - and then keep them!

No bigger WIN-WIN-WIN.

Love y’all.