The Cigar Principle
Since Labor Day is this weekend, I thought I’d share a leadership principle that fits the holiday spirit. This is a principle that permits a great opportunity for enjoyment but also the same level of opportunity for personal growth and development. Intrigued? I call this the “Cigar Principle.” Simply put, the principle is “Never rush a good cigar.” I learned this principle when first introduced to cigars, good ones, by a client, many years ago. This was the same client who introduced me to drinking good scotch, but that’s another story.
Now, let's get this out of the way right up front. Simply reading this article will NOT violate your organization's Tobacco Free or No Smoking Policy, contradict your Wellness Plan commitment, or be hazardous to your health. Okay, that last one may be questionable, as what you read will hopefully cause you to change some of how you think and behave--and I suppose that could arguably create some level of challenge. However, my experience is that the behavior that you will be encouraged to consider will actually provide health benefits. So, all in all, please proceed with an open mind and no initial guilt.
Now, it's not debatable that tobacco use can be hazardous to your health. Even though you should not inhale cigar smoke, a cigar is still a tobacco product, so be aware that over-indulging is not encouraged. At the same time, as you are about to read, cigar smoking can be put to very good use. My experience early on was that, in moderation, smoking a good cigar provides an opportunity to provide you with the relaxing enjoyment of the cigar as well as additional benefits. This includes personal development and leadership growth benefits, I’ll explain how. And, at the end, I will list some of my favorite good cigars, recognizing that cigars, like wine or scotch, vary greatly in depth and character and impact. This means that each of us develops our own taste.
I learned right away that smoking a good cigar is not unproductive time, not if you truly allow yourself to enjoy that cigar. That enjoyment alone is sufficient to provide value to the time that you give yourself to relish each puff. But, the reality is that slowing yourself down while you enjoy that cigar allows your mind to set aside the constant barrage of influences that create a sense of urgency and hinder today's opportunities to ponder, consider and develop new thoughts that have value. This slowing down creates opportunity for self reflection, developing options for solving issues, mental rehearsal of upcoming interactions and more. This goes beyond the simple enjoyment value and, in my experience, is the added value in never rushing a good cigar.
I felt it incumbent on me to pass on the personal value that I have experienced from this principle --not only those who like to regularly enjoy a good cigar but have trouble rationalizing the time spent, but also to those who find it difficult to intentionally set aside time for themselves and allow their thoughts to process, develop and grow. We live in a world of urgency, high speed technology and around the clock access. The effect of this on many of us is that we lose the time to actually stop, think, process then move forward. Instead of time to be proactive, we are in a constant reactive state…to the next email, text message or cell phone call. I won’t include twitter because that’s outside my generational aptitude. If you think about it, the current pace the world in which we live actually compounds the value of the Cigar Principle by creating opportunities for us to step out of the urgency flow, even if just for a bit.
Make no mistake-- there are detrimental effects to continually succumbing to this ongoing flow of urgency. One effect is that we often tend to act before we are ready to do so, before we have considered all of our options or really prepared to the step we are about to take. A second effect is that we don’t maximize our learning opportunities. My experience is that we can gain a lot by both victories and losses, but frequently move on too fast to learn the lessons that exist. For instance, we get a “win” in a situation then immediately move on to the next challenge. The pace around us shoves us forward to fast to review and reflect on the challenge that we have just overcome or the battle that we have won. So, one tactic that I have adopted is intentionally using the Cigar Principle as a means to enjoy those victories. Does that mean I’m simply having a “victory cigar”? Kind of, but not really—I use the time to consider how the victory was achieved, what I can learn and efficiencies that can be gained in dealing with the next challenge. Is there an enjoyment in relishing the win? Absolutely there is enjoyment, but there is added, practical value gained as well. And, as many of us have realized, there are usually just as valuable lessons and reflections that can be taken from the losses that we go through.
There’s an actual term that I found fits what can come from slowing ourselves down to really think through a situation or matter. This term is “tactical patience.” The definition is forcing ourselves to wait until we determine the best opportunity for success. The term is not mine; I heard it while watching the movie “Captain Phillips” several months ago. The Navy Seal commander had his snipers hold fire until they had their bests shot at their targets. You’ll have to see the movie to see the result. My point is that “tactical patience” is usually a learned skill—and my learning process taught me that the Cigar Principle creates an intentional time to exercise tactical patience. See the options, weigh the pros and cons then execute in that window that provides my best opportunity to nail my target. Success!
So, how do you put the Cigar Principle into actual execution? You have to be intentional; don’t expect it to just happen. Here are the critical steps that I take…
Set aside a specific time. This means you may initially need to mark the time as an actual appointment on your calendar; otherwise, you may tend to give up that time for something that appears more important. Give yourself a solid hour…first to unwind then to relax then to actual process whatever thoughts you have chosen.
Identify a critical issue or two that require contemplation. Purposefully doing this at first means you will truly work through that issue or situation to a point of resolution, or at least some options. These results will help you realize the value of the time spent, beyond that of the personal enjoyment. Like it or not, most of us tend to put value on being able to demonstrate an actual result, e.g., I figured out how to address this employee issue.
Find a spot that allows you some quiet and solitude--plus, doesn’t get cigar smoke in the house.
Let relevant folks know that you will be “off line” for a period of time. Of course, this means also setting aside your cell phone, iPad or whatever else you use to access, or get accessed by, others.
Select a good cigar…which all depends on taste. Recognizing there are literally hundreds of cigars to choose from, here are a few of my favorites with a few comments on strength, but I did skip the “tastes of oak and leather, hints of cherry mixed with sunset, aroma of fields and the gym” types of descriptions you can read on-line. I did, however, list these from least to most expensive…
Brickhouse: considered one of the best value cigars available, smooth and not too strong, a great place to start
Oliva V: medium strength and also great value
Alec Bradley Tempus: medium to strong flavor, rich taste and wonderful aroma
Padron 1926: strong, smoke only while sitting down, consistently one of the highest rated cigars
Opus X: one of the top of the line cigars, will definitely be worth the time it takes to smoke
A beverage, adult or not, is optional; however, I have found several that increase the enjoyment experience.
Commit to making it happen!
Re-energize then get ready to move again.
And, because I know some of you think this way, document or diary critical thoughts, solutions or reflections that hit you while you are enjoying the time…but wait to do this until after your cigar is out!
By now, I expect many of you have likely considered that the “Cigar” aspect of this principle could potentially be replaced by “Wine”, “Beer” or some other enjoyable endeavor. While I won’t disagree with that, there is one unique aspect to the Cigar Principle that sets it apart…many, if not most, people don’t care for cigar smoke. So, while others will want to share a glass of wine or a pitcher of beer with you, smoking your cigar is an individual endeavor and many others won’t want to sit in the smoke while you enjoy. While this sounds a bit selfish, the reality is that the cigar time becomes your time and can be put to valuable use. My experience is if I am listening or interacting with others, it is difficult to pay adequate attention and try to think through the issues or situations that I want to process; a good cigar, provides what I call the “smoke buffer” to help alleviate that difficulty.
I’ll look forward to hearing feedback from those of you who take a step and make at least a trial effort to execute this principle. My personal return in such execution has been very positive, as intentionally setting aside a time in a relaxing and enjoyable endeavor consistently allows me to clear my head then ponder and process through the various challenges that have come along. I will hope that you too will find time to sit back, relax then light up that good cigar and discover the enjoyment and value of both the cigar and the time you allow yourself.