Leesville, LA

The heroes from the 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division were welcomed Saturday as the community and the city of Leesville recognized returning soliders, complete with family activities, a change of command ceremony and the Leesville Christmas parade. The event was appropriately named the "I'll Be Home For Christmas" celebration and parade.

Approximately 4,000 soldiers from the 4-10 participated in the activities, which were highlighted by a change of command and responsibility ceremony. The change of command and change of responsibility ceremony included the passing of colors from Col. Bruce P. Antonia and Command Sgt. Maj. Steven L. Womack to Col. Mario A. Diaz and Command Sgt. Maj. Noe R. Salinas.

The 4-10 deployed to Afghanistan in October of 2010 and began returning to Fort Polk in August of this year. Diaz, who previously attended the National War College in Washington, D.C., said that Leesville's ceremonies showed America's faithfulness to their troops.

"If anyone ever doubts that this nation is great, they need to stand here today," Diaz said.

I agree.

This past week, my team gathered for two days in Leesville, Louisiana, home of Fort Polk, Louisinaa, to celebrate and serve at the historic event "I'll be Home For Christmas" parade and celebration. We were literally going to get our "boots on the ground" to serve those who serve!

On Saturday, we were planning to join with hundreds of others to serve lunch to approximately 3,800 troops plus 2,000 family members. The community was coming together to welcome home these 3,800 soldiers from the 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, who had been deployed to Afghanistan in October of 2010, and began returning home to Fort Polk, in August of this year.

What a great way to celebrate Christmas together as a team - and also to serve the men and women of the United States military.

My team of sixteen will gather at my office in Leesville, Louisiana, in just a few days. I am preparing to share with my team the principles for developing and writing a business plan for 2012 - individually and as a team. Because I believe in the power of a plan and it has become an extremely crucial part of both my own life and my business - I am also passionate about sharing this concept regularly with my team.

Creating a plan – both a life plan and a business plan - has become a non-negotiable discipline plugged into my life. I usually take at least two or three days, either at a business planning event or alone away from work, to work on the creation of the plan.In fact, “planning” has become so much of who I am that any new project that I undertake, any new marketing strategy, etc., I will formulate a “mini” business plan along with a vision statement, specific goals, deadlines for accomplishing the objectives, and action items.

For me or for my team, having a plan is not longer an option. At the core of the creation of my plan, are my convictions, my mission statement, my purpose, my “why”. When a plan begins with that, one can operate their daily plan ON purpose, WITH a purpose, FOR a purpose. And those are the principles I want to share with my team so they will have clarity of vision and a plan with which to operate in 2012.