When this blog started out Alethes (our company) had 400 loan officers and 70 corporate employees. That started changing in mid to late 2008. Along with the mortgage industry's whoas, we've had our own; some due to what's been imposed on us, other self-inflicted.

Googling through the archives you'll find a maturing format in this blog. It was originally titled "Focus and Reflection," and there was a great deal of focus and reflection, but not near enough inside-the-box THINKING and BEHAVING. We, or at least I, talked a lot about leadership, but not near enough about following, and there were some unhealthy passive-agressive agendas among those on my leadership team. And we talked and acted out too much outside-the-box thinking.

Hopefully, I've learned a lot and will use this knowledge to change. I'm patiently working each day to learn where I'm going with my life, and my business. Still plenty of hurdles and slamming doors to deal with, but what doesn't kill you, will make you stronger. There are alot of opportunities out there for the survivors and I just need to remember that changes need to be s l o w .

Besides, if it does kill me, I'll be in heaven!

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The postings on this blog will vary in nature. Some can be very direct, others a “positive attitude” message. It is often a mixture of numbers, thanks, where we are at, some possibilities of the future, and/or uh ohs. I regularly attempt to draw myself and others to the past; from there we learn from our mistakes and victories.

While many of the original posting were primarily about corporate specifics, the intent will be to push and pull more from the overall culture of Alethes and include branch agendas.

One of my disciplines is Vulnerability; this, in part, means transparency and is a behavior for living out the core ideology of our Mission and Value Statements. At times, I’ve been accused of disclosing too much, but, I want you to trust there is little I'm holding back. If I have facts, and I deem them appropriate to disclose, I talk about them. I’ve been as vocal about the facts and changes as legally possible. I will always separate the facts from the speculation.

With the consistent industry changes, I'm constantly running scenarios and considering possibilities. While most never come to play, some have. I've also said, many times, "I don't know."

I look back at the many changes at Alethes and some of the announcements I've made don't seem so harsh, today, but they were hard at the time. And we've had some real surprises and disappointments. All-in-all, some have called it a cleansing while others have thought of it as a "purge."

I'll just say it has been a real growth experience and while I would rather have had better results, I'm personally a better person because of it. Alethes' mission statement says that we will glorify God and looking back I can see how we did not do that very well in a lot of ways. Now, in the tough times I'll have to concentrate on how to lead well and glorifying him. My manual for that is the Bible and specifically the book of 1 Peter.

To that end....