Located in downtown Greenville, SC, Fireforge Crafted Beer is a locally-owned, small-batch craft brewery, taproom, kitchen and pleasure garden focused on ever-changing beers inspired by the people, places and culinary palates they love.
In addition to a range of in-house brewed beer, Fireforge offers wine, cider, non-alcoholic drinks, shareable snacks, sandwiches, house-smoked BBQ, charcuterie boards and desserts. The menu is seasonally-inspired and locally-sourced. On Friday and Saturday evenings, enjoy local, regional and original live music.
Driven to create with passion and serve with enthusiasm, the Fireforge team is on a quest to deliver the greatest beer-centered experience to each guest.
I‘ve been trying to think about the idea of Sincerity. Specifically how sincerity relates to being a leader. You can talk all day long about what you’re going to do, but until people see you doing it, they won’t believe you.
Or believe in you…
Have you ever heard of the term “lead by example?”
Leading by example is surely the best way to be a great leader. But to do that you have to be truly sincere in your belief in what it is you’re doing…
There is a great story about sincerity — as it applies to Leadership from the book Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield.
The book is about Spartan warrior culture. He tells the story of King Leonidas and his 300 spartans who fought and died defending their homeland against what is said to have been thousands and thousands of Persian invaders.
There is a chapter about a lesser known part of the story; when the king and his army of 300 arrived at the spot where they would be having the battle the next day, there were remnants of what was once a defensive stone wall or battlement. The King ordered his men to rebuild the wall as quickly as they could so they could use it for themselves.
These guys knew that the overwhelming size of the invading Persian army, which numbered in the millions against the Spartans’ 300, would be rendered useless, because the width of the land at the pass of Thermopylae was much smaller, and would only allow a small portion of the Persians to present themselves at once time — thus the Spartans would be able to match man for man at any given time the Persians’ numbers. The trouble was there used to be a wall there, but it had been destroyed in a previous battle unbeknownst to the Spartans.
His captains and sergeants began to discuss and plan on the best way to rebuild it. One said that the wall should be as tall as two men, one said that it should be short but wide, while another argued that it should have firing positions for their bowmen. Meanwhile all the other Spartans just sat around and watched their leaders argue and fight over the “best” way to do it…
In seeing his men in disarray and lacking clear leadership, King Leonidas himself walked over to one of the piles of rocks and just started picking them up and pilling them back up to form a wall. When his Spartans saw what he was doing, they all cheered “AROO!” (which is the Spartan war cry) and they all fell into the work right along side their king. Every last one…
King Leonidas never stopped, even when he saw his men working and as the pile started to resemble a real wall he said to them;
Nothing too fancy, men. For a wall of stone will not preserve us, but a wall of warriors shall.
If you truly believe in what you are doing then show those around you that you sincerely believe it is the right way to do it by acting on it instead of just talking about it.
Aim to inspire first and you will win the battle whatever it may be.
This is that great passage about leadership from the book Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfieldso you can read it as written here. It picks up a rather crucial moment when the 300 lead by King Leonidas arrive at the famous pass of Thermopylae known as the “Hot Gates”.
Simultaneously work was begun on rebuilding the ancient Phokian Wall which blocked the narrows [of Thermopylae]. This fortification, when the Spartans arrived, was little more than a pile of rubble. Leonidas demanded a proper battle wall.
A wry scene ensued as various engineers and draughtsmen of the allied militias assembled in solemn council to survey the site and propose architectural alternatives. Torches had been positioned to light the Narrows, diagrams were sketched in the dirt; one of the captains of the militia produced a drawn-to-scale blue-print. Now the commanders began wrangling. The wall should be erected right at the Narrows, blocking the pass. No, suggested another, better it would be set back fifty meters, creating a “triangle of death” between the cliffs and the battle wall. A third captain urged a setback distance of twice that, giving the infantry room to mass and maneuver. Meanwhile the troops loitered about, offering their own sage counsel and wisdom…
King Leonidas simply picked up a boulder and marched to a spot. There he set the stone in place. He lifted a second and placed it beside the first. The men looked on dumbly as their commander in chief, whom all could see was well past sixty, stooped to seize a third boulder. Someone barked: “How long do you imbeciles intend to stand by, gaping? Will you wait all night while the king builds the wall himself?”
With a cheer the troops fell to. Nor did Leonidas cease from his exertions when he saw other hands joined to labor, but continued alongside the men as the pile of stones began to rise into a legitimate fortress. “Nothing too fancy, brothers,” the king guided the construction. “For a wall of stone will not preserve us, but a wall of men.”
What I find most inspiring is that leading isn’t about telling people what to do, being the one in charge, or simply authoring all the plans. It’s about doing first so that others can see and learn.
Setting the example for your team. Keeping the bar high, by your own personally displayed example of work and ethics. It is one thing to have a ton of experience and share that with the people you work with or work for you but it’s another thing entirely to sit back while others labor and toss out direction without the implication that you are willing and able to dig in too.
Starlitt is a focused, inspired and driven entrepreneur. It was an enlightening conversation as we explored both the creative and analytical sides of her continuing story.
Talking with Sherard and learning what media literacy really is and why is it so important that we understand how media (social media) affects us and shapes our perspectives and beliefs.
You look at the calendar, packed full of meetings, and wonder how in the world you’re going to get everything done today. And tomorrow looks just as busy.
Or maybe you glance at your phone to see it’s 4:30, and you feel a sense of dread knowing you have deadlines to hit and not enough time. So, you’re looking at another night of work when you’d rather be doing anything else.
If these scenarios sound familiar, get in line. All of us struggle with protecting our time. It’s easy to get caught up in meetings, emails, and the million other things that pull at our time and attention every day. Things that ultimately rob us of the opportunity to do focused work.
And while we all want to do better work, at the end of the day, most of us desire to work less.
We want to spend less time in meetings and more time with our families, or doing things we enjoy.
And for those who are self-employed, commanding your time means earning more income.
If you’re saying to yourself, “there’s gotta be another way,” you’re right. It takes a lot of practice and even more discipline, but here are a few ways (and there are many more) to protect your time and calendar.
Don’t Go to Meetings Without an Agenda
If you think about unstructured meetings you’ve attended, you can picture the 10-15 minutes of idle conversation, the flurry of late arrivers, and technology issues that can derail things before the meeting even starts.
If that happens three to four times per day, you’ve now lost 300 minutes per week. Throw in unnecessary discussion points that cause a meeting to run long, or worse, create another meeting, and you’re losing hours each week.
When organizing a meeting, always bring an agenda with discussion points to facilitate the conversation. And if you’re attending a meeting where no agenda has been created, reach out to the organizer and ask for one. By following a structure, meetings will be more productive, and you’ll walk away feeling like it was time well spent instead of looking for something to clear your headache.
Side note on those catchup conversations that often happen in the first 10-15 minutes. They’re not a bad thing unless they disrupt the reason you’re meeting in the first place. It’s a good idea to build in time for those conversations on your agenda. You’ll connect with colleagues and clients and still have time for an effective meeting.
Protect Your Productive Hours
Disruptions are a leading cause of feeling like you’re not getting enough done.
It’s also just how life is sometimes. Errands need to be taken care of, kids dropped off (you get the idea).
So with all of these things in mind, it’s essential to protect your most productive hours; whatever time of day that may be, put it on your calendar. Block it off. And when someone asks you to meet during that time frame, suggest meeting later in the day, or catching up via email. It’s okay to set boundaries and say “no.” In fact, if you’re going to protect your time, it’s a must-do.
Use Technology as a Force for Good
We’re not going to talk about your phones being a distraction. Instead, we’ll make the argument that between your phone, and a few other resources, technology can be a powerful tool in the fight to protect your time.
Most smartphones have a downtime or focus mode. Think of it as a gatekeeper of your time. Set up a focus period to dive deep and avoid emails or notifications.
It’s almost too easy to send a video meeting link and have a conversation.
Instead of having a check-in to ask a question that could spiral into a longer meeting, consider using recording apps like Loom or BombBomb.
You can share your screen, ask questions, and offer your thoughts without the need to schedule a meeting on already busy calendars.
Another benefit to these recording tools: they give you and the person you’re speaking to time to think.
They can also rewatch the video, providing everyone with more time to solve a problem or think through options without giving immediate feedback.
The Community Has Good Advice
Protecting your time is an ongoing practice. Sometimes you’ll crush it, and other days, time may crush you. The most important thing is to evaluate if how you’re spending your days is keeping you on a path to achieving your goals.
These few tips only scratch the surface of how to protect your time. And we’re not the experts in the room. Our members have some good ideas too, which you can read right here.
