Stuck between mediocrity and excellence

Growing up as a kid, I used to read a lot. My mom used to drop me off at the public library and I would read as much as I could. As long as I can remember, I used to dive deep into mysteries or any book where there was a detective trying to solve a case. Encyclopedia Brown, The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew (I'm all about diversity), Sherlock Holmes (over and over) - I read them religiously. Now I'm a big James Patterson, John Grisham, and Patricia Cornwell reader. I also like Tom Clancy. But he just writes a lot of pages and it's really hard to finish one of his books after a few airplane rides. Knowing that's how I grew up, it's interesting to me that I'm in the line of business that I'm in. Business problems are business problems and it's hard to really create good stories off of ho hum business problems. Revenues are stagnant. Costs are high. Profits are down. There are only so many themes you can go with. The interesting stuff is the drama in the boardro...

"If it wasn't for [insert name here], this would never have happened..."  It's this statement, with variations at times, that helps me define whether I, or someone else, has added value or played an integral part in a sale or significant accomplishment. I'll be honest with you. There are some days where I ask that question about myself and all I hear is crickets. Such is the life of being stuck in the middle where you get pulled in multiple directions and are expected to do everything well all at the same time. I can't complain though. It's the try before you buy period where the firm is evaluating how much you can handle. What I've learned though is that there are times where you have to take credit and undergo a self-promotion campaign to make yourself relevant in front of the right people. For example, a great friend from business school called me about an opportunity in his company (Fortune 500, well-known organization, any consultant would love to...