Lumberjack Lore...

I lay awake for three hours during the night, thinking about leadership.

In hindsight I should have got up and just started writing while my thoughts were clear and lucid. While I had my topics on point, sentence structure sound and strong, a logical stream of consciousness. I couldn’t stop myself from knowing that I definitely wanted to have the word “bullshit’ in the first few lines, prompted by thinking about the intersection of my life experience and standing at the self help section of Barnes and Noble reading synopsis after synopsis about every man and his dog’s point of view on that most confounding, talked about, debated and written about topics. Leadership.

Ever had a bad Teacher? Me either. I have however had numerous examples of how not to teach.

So many leadership books have titles like “The five best ways to recognize a toxic culture”, or similar.

Here’s the rub. I’m no expert. Committed to research, open to criticism, I’m not tertiary trained in this subject matter, nor have I mastered this as an art nor a science. I am however an authority on how to survive twenty years at the pointy end of a career in one of the most dangerous industries in the World. Felling tree’s in a commercial setting. Over the years I learnt all there is to know about what a great leader looks like, and what a poor leader looks like. A teacher both the same.

Here are my top six lore’s that come from a lifetime of conscious observation of traits that are highly sought yet rarely mastered

• reliability

• teachability

• relatability

• collaboration

• communication

• reward (celebrate)

I left high school at the age of seventeen.

No stranger to life in the woods, I was a second generation logger. With a Brother to transition into the industry, the odds as a family that we would not be effected by tragedy trying to earn a living out of this game were stacked against us. As boys, we were literally brought up in this hard working lifestyle and from a young age had already been taken under a wing or two. Big, burly, no nonsense men aware of their mortality, schooled in the laws of survival that were bound up within a tradition of handing down non-negotiable tenets which dictated the way you did things. No beg your pardons! RULES.

Most of these men were, as the saying go’s, “men of few words”. Logging’s not only dangerous, it’s noisy! Communication was often of an unspoken, eye contact, expression, and hand signal nature. The hand signal for “stop” universally understood and effective immediately. It was the first thing you were taught.

The second lesson was that the truck would wait two minutes at the gate, then leave. If you weren’t on board, either make your own way out to the woods or know, implicitly, that you let your team down. Pay docked. Repeat offenses of this nature were a good way to get what in the industry was known as a DCM. Don’t come Monday!

Respect came at a premium. Truly. You had to earn it. But, I learnt you could earn it fast. Just simply do as you’re told. If you demonstrated lessons being handed down and faithfully taught you immediately gained a modicum of respect. Consistency over many years earnt you the full measure.

Certainly my mentors never held anything back if it kept you safe, and a breach compromising either yourself, or worse, someone else, came with an immediate repercussion. A rebuke! You had to get used to rebukes, and sometimes they were frightening. Impactful. Bank it. Move on. Next job! There were never any grudges held, nor were you caused any humiliation, shame nor embarrassment. Unless you did it again! Just don’t act like a fool.

Your work colleagues never really found you out. This work was of such a nature that you either knew how to execute something or you didn’t. If you didn’t you were under training until you did, and then for a period (perhaps unknowingly), under constant observation and/or (knowingly) supervision.

“Smoko” is vernacular for a smoke break. Predominantly used in New Zealand and Australian versions of the English language. In a logging gang it defined two hard earned meals a day, taken together. There was no separate office for the Boss. No closed doors. Stories shared, lots of laughter, and even though dangerous situations were operationally handled as they arose, and they could happen in an instant, these were two formal opportunities during the day to discuss, plan and to deal with any number of issues. Be it safety, production, breakdown, maintenance, communication or relational (social) problems, a weather change, production line pressure requiring a personnel switch, and so on. Or, more often than not, a combination of several of these arisings. If you were in charge, it was a hot seat. The stakes were high.

Experience often had the loudest voice but was not the sole determinant of the outcome. Debate (seriously undertaken) and considered, always contributed mightily to the most constructive outcome. Safety reigned supreme above all else. I learnt that questioning was an important device for extracting information, and that some of these silent giants just needed a clever prod. A nudge towards believing part of a constructive solution was their idea. That though a physical job, the success of which was tagged to tangible outcomes such as tons produced, these men valued acknowledgement, and that their overall job satisfaction came from knowing their knowledge contributed to a positive outcome. That having not only a voice, but vitally, a platform for it be heard and acted upon, was huge in such a dynamic team environment.

Once debated, a decision was made and direction delivered in a clear, concise, decisive manner. Documented and executed. There could be no room for ambiguity.

Listening loudly was a skill. You would simply be told to fuck off if suspected of not paying attention. That hurt! Being deliberately alienated was no fun. But you learnt to learn!

I remember cutting down my first tree at about age seven. While the tree, and the man teaching me (a technique that would over time become deliberately instinctive) how to do it were intimidating, it was the Chainsaw that frightened me the most. A heavy, extremely powerful tool with sharp teeth, it literally bucked in your hand as you drove it! I’d witnessed this rote task done a thousand times, but nothing to this point had prepared me for this rush of adrenaline. I trusted this man, along with others to come, and still do, literally with and for my life. I was in awe, not fear, and they’re different. They taught me the right way. This. Not this. This. Plan your work area. Identify the hazards. Cut your escape route, do your assessment, check it, high side? Make the cuts, look up, use your escape route, keep looking up. It was a self scrutinizing process with potentially fatal outcomes if you got one small part of it wrong, one which you repeated hundreds of times, over and over a day. Over time, consistent exposure towards repeatedly facing your own mortality molds indescribable traits into your character, that away from the felling face manifest into peace and calm. A thankful respite from the cloistering pressure of instinctive reaction to fight or flight. Rest and reflect while, whenever and wherever you can. Observe and listen. Don’t be a smart arse!

I only know this because I did it myself as I grew into the job and in turn, earnt the privilege of teaching. While you taught all you knew from a safety perspective, you never taught all you knew about how to optimally sharpen a saw! It would have been career suicide to have a green horn out cut you. And I know I was the brunt of several jokes when new into the industry, that while this can be one of the hardest techniques to master, crooked cuts, and being timed through a long cut on a large log were rights of passage. Thankfully I never had my chain sabotaged and deliberately put on my saw backwards, nor file turned around, but you had to be able to laugh at yourself as others laughed at you. The work became easy as you mastered this art, and you could let the saw do the work. Be patient and humble. Don’t take offense. Watch (observe others) and learn. Ask questions! In this regard, at least the mentors I had, were genuine with their answers and happy to have at least been asked. Don’t be a know-all!

Its a competitive environment. In a fun way. Feats of production and those who performed them, legendary. But its a production line too. Every role a vital cog in the overall machine, and efficiency was highly valued. You had to pass the product on into the next phase of the process by adding value, meaning, in an optimal state for that next change to happen smoothly. Thank you’s were tacit, but when they formally came, they came top down. Performing your job was the bare minimum required, and often as a team you were required to go above and beyond. A special order for four loads of a particular specification coming in at noon on a Friday requires some special skills to get done. Money talked, but having a real sense of achievement and tangible proof of your endeavors (tonnage) was a language that spoke to feeling like you were part of an ultimate team.

While please and thank you went a long way. So too did a nice cold Beer!

Breakfast with a "Big Mac"

Big Mac lost 90lbs in a year.

While the day to day, week to week, month to month swings imitated the Ivari life path of ups and downs, during the four years Mac and I have been training together he has maintained a consistent level of success against that goal. 

This business affords you the opportunity to meet many vastly and uniquely different people and to appreciate that their goals and aspirations are just as diverse. It's an interesting, challenging, confounding and infinitely rewarding choice and while Macs story isn't unique, it is special.

Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes Mac made the decision to get into the face of the issue and dedicated himself to reinventing his lifestyle chioces as they related to exercise and nutrition.

While he had a background of team sports, specifically rugby, father time had conspired against him being able to continue to play competitively and so transitioning and adapting to other forms of exercise was not an issue as it was already a part of his life culture. He has a strong dedication and work ethic.

The most inspiring aspect of Macs story for me has been his independent willpower and industrial strength discipline and comittment towards nutrition. 

Mac and I have made a regular video blog of the journey called "Breakfast with a Big Mac". You can watch a sample episode of this series on my youtube channel Ivari Fitness LLC. Hit subscribe to continue following Mac's inspiring journey.

This is a written introduction to that series in the words of the man himself. Over to you Mac...

I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes about 5 years ago, my weight had ballooned to 330 pounds, mostly due to lack of exercise and a steady intake of pop and sweets. I immediately began to change my lifestyle, cutting out sweets and pop, eating better, and committing to daily exercise. 

My idea was to slowly gear up the amount and difficulty of exercises, as I knew that if I hit it to hard too soon, with the shape I was in, an injury would be likely. So, I began by walking, grabbing my iPod and headphones, cranking up the Zeppelin, and just heading out. One hour walks daily (in the winter in Chicago) became two hours, then three. My weight began to come down, I was feeling better, so I cut back the walking and bought an elliptical machine for the basement. Soon I was doing two-hour sessions and worked up to the maximum difficulty level of 20 on the hill and random programs (eventually I wore out the elliptical machine and had to replace it). I also began to add in some weight lifting exercises as well, specifically low weights and high reps.

The doctor had originally told me I should lose 50 pounds over the next year, I told him I’d do it in three months. He said that would be great but was an unrealistic goal. It took me 99 days to lose the first 50. I eventually dropped 90 pounds, to 239.5, which was great but really a bit light for my frame. I slowly over the next year balanced out to around 250 pounds, which I feel is really my fighting weight. I was diagnosed as “Diabetes Free” and no longer needed to take any medicine to treat it. My weight has been creeping up lately, and I admit that it is difficult to keep the weight off, but my goal is to always try to hover around 250 pounds, which is where I feel most comfortable, fit, and flexible!

There are two things that people said to me about my weight loss that I am most proud of. The first was my doctor, who told me that he personally had 28 patients with Type II Diabetes and I was THE ONLY ONE of them who actually lost the weight to improve my heath. The rest of his patients struggled with the weight lost and had kept on the meds. The second was my good friend Dan, who joked while watching me in a rugby match that I “looked like I was driving a new sports car around out there”, a comment on my new-found level of cardio fitness.

A chance encounter with Wez, at a vegetable and fruit grocery store (!), led to him becoming my personal trainer. We had met before a few times, as he had been the head coach for several years of my old rugby club (Chicago Griffins), but we weren’t close friends at that time. We had a great conversation about fitness and weight loss, and I mentioned that I was a bit bored with my workouts and they were becoming stale. Once he came on board, and we began weekly workouts, my whole knowledge and experience of exercise changed. He is an excellent instructor and coach, and the workouts he creates for me are always interesting, challenging, and varied. He also is sure to keep my various injuries in mind, and includes exercises to strengthen those areas and avoid further injury to them.

Since Wez has been training (teaching) me, I have added a rowing machine to my workouts, as well as kettle bells and elastic bands, Bosu ball and Swiss ball, and numerous stretching and balance exercises. I also now utilize a chest-strap heart rate monitor, which provides me with a way to determine how effective each workout has been, and to track them in order to chart my progress. Wez has insisted on my only having a single session weekly with him (even when I wanted to go two a week) as that it would be best for me to continue to do my own “homework”, which is my workouts on my own. So, in addition to seeing him weekly, I try to do a variety of some sort of exercise five days a week, sometimes two in a day if I have time. And variety is important to me, so some workouts are weights and stretches, long and short ellipticals sessions, rowing, bike riding (weather permitting), going for walks or hikes, attending rugby practice, and combinations of these activities.     

I often wish I had learned how to exercise like this when I was younger (in my 20’s), I’m sure my rugby skills and overall health would be much better now. 

If you’re interested, here is my advice for weight loss, these strategies helped me:

Eliminate sugary food and beverages (pop, candy, desserts, orange juice, etc.)

    -I haven’t had any pop in years

    -I ate grapes to control my cravings for sweets

Eliminate beer (I did for this for the first few months…)

    -Drinking leads to bad late-night food choices such as burritos and White Castle

Eliminate fast and junk food

-I replaced pretzels for chips and fries, even though they are carbs, the pretzels got me past desiring chips and fries

-Plan to have healthy snacks or fruit on hand so you don’t get hungry and give into fast food, apples travel well and are sweet and filling

-I still zip lock bags of nuts and pretzels to have on hand 

Eliminate/reduce carb intake:

-Only eat “minimal” carbs early in the day, breakfast, or lunch at the latest, never at dinner

-Reduce carbs by throwing away the top piece of bread in a sandwich

-Eliminate ALL potatoes, rice, and pasta

        -Eat a salad with fat-free dressing and a protein for dinner (chicken, streak, pork)

        -If you’re still hungry, have a second serving of the protein

        -I lost a lot of weight eating a large salad and two steaks for dinner 

    Never eat after 6 pm! I mean never!

    Exercise within your limits! 

-Don’t injure yourself which leads to giving up

Write down and track your weight every day.

        -Be patient and stick to your weight loss plan

-Weight loss is an up and down proposition, even if it goes up for a few days, if you stick to your plan, it will come down even more.

-I made up a large graph, and marked my weight loss (or gain) daily, so I had an excellent visual of my progress, which I found was a great motivator

    Write down and track your workouts every day

        -I still do this

-I can tell you the date and type of every workout I’ve completed for years