Roland Keenan (1950-2015)

Today, in honor of my Dad's birthday, I will say a few things about what he taught me. And how these things make me a better person to work with.

My Dad died from Pancreatic Cancer in 2015.. diagnosis just a few months before that.

He is affectionately known as "Papa" by all his grandchildren.

When your dad grew up with 8 brothers and sisters, with 2 shirts and 1 pair of pants, and left home when he graduated high school to work for Santa Fe Railroad while living in a nearby motel until he could save money for better days... he has some useful things to teach.

"Get up tomorrow and put one foot in front of the other"

In many ways, I see this advice as pure stamina. And it has taken me all these years to see it that way. My dad was faced with so many headwinds in his life and headwinds his family faced that he leaned into.

He would say, "There no reason you shouldn't be upset. Of course this situation is upsetting. But when you're done, you need to get moving." It is a stamina that is easier to see in the rearview mirror--both when looking at his life and mine. No matter what is in front of you, get up, start doing what you can. Then get up tomorrow and do it again.

I remember so many times in my work life having setbacks. I have had many leaders early in my career telling me that I couldn't succeed. One leader told me, "What are you even doing here? You seem to be focused on doing great things. I just need to you to sell things."

I have had stumbles in my performance--just not hitting the mark the way I expected myself to... or the way my organization expected me to. My dad's words were in my subconscious "put one foot in front of the other.." as I just got up and tried again the next day.

If nothing else, the stamina of being in the game, staying in the game... brings opportunities you can't possibly see coming. You just need to make sure you are there with your head held high.

"If you can work, work"

I have a few stories of how this has sunk into my subconscious as well. One stands out to me from 20 years ago.

I was in the office in the early 2000's and had been feeling pretty awful for a few days. At the time, I was making 100+ cold calls each day and my sales numbers were where they usually were... between 200-250% of my goal as we entered into the final few days of the month. I finally decided to run to the Urgent Care Center down the street--it was only a mile away so I could be there and back without much time off the phone.

Diagnosis: Pneumonia

The doctor said it was pretty bad and if I had trouble breathing in the next 24 hours I should go to the ER.

My thinking: Well, I will just get these antibiotics down and try to rest when I'm not working (I had 3 of my 6 kids by that point so thinking how I would play with them while laying on the floor lol).

I went back to the office and told my manager, "I just found out I have pneumonia so I think I will just finish my calls and probably leave an hour or two early." He looked at me kind of shocked and said, "Dude. Just go home man."

I finished my calls.

"Figure it out"

This is a lesson in resourcefulness that all of my kids have definitely embraced. They even laugh about it sometimes about how "resourceful the Keenans are" and even tell stories about their friends proclaiming the same about them. Those Keenans.

My dad went from doing pretty well at Santa Fe Railroad, to struggling to keep the job as the industry was going through changes that resulted in lots of layoffs and a lot of squeezing of employee payrolls. So there were times as a teenager that I was contributing my own earnings ($3.35/hour!) to the household needs. We had to be resourceful about almost everything.

In my work life, this makes me a very creative executive. I just don't see limits. To me, limits in what I can create with customers (at first as a sales guy, now as a CRO) are simply a record of what has been done already. They have nothing to do with me. I have somewhere I need to take the client and we will make that happen. It will happen one way or another. It is not a battle cry. It is where I am taking you.

What I Would Tell My Dad About This Today

I'd have a lot to say about his lessons as they relate to my personal life for sure.

For my work life, I'd boil it down to this.

STAY WITH IT: Too often, those I work with, work near, or work for see timelines, obstacles, and set backs as elements of some new direction--should I turn left? Should I stop? Was this the right decision? Keep going. The path reveals itself only when you are moving forward.

WORK IS JUST LIFE: My dad told me if I can work, I should work. I have translated that into life in general. If I can live, then I live. Yes, I should take care of my health. And I do. However, I can do a lot. Pesky things with my health, my state of mind, life stressors... they are always around. If they are not completely blocking me from working, then why throw up an artificial barrier to moving forward? I am not alone--a lot of people depend on me. If I can do the work, you'll see me there.

FIND A WAY: My favorite part of Sales/BizDev/Client Strategy is that every issue, obstacle or problem I encounter is self-inflicted. I look at it, then look backward to see how I created that for myself. Then I don't do it again. And in the present, I find a way. Because I am headed to my destination... I am moving toward the vision I set with my client. Things that make it harder are inevitable. And therefore, those things are just things. And I can figure it out.

Love you Dad.