Leadership and managing energy in a way are joined at the hip. Without one the other doesn’t exist. For me managing my energy is key to feeling balanced and to handling the day to day myriad of difficult issues surrounding the management of an exploding business. I have found that exercise is the means to manage my energy. Three days a week I venture on a cross country 10k run. This puts me in a framework, both body and spirit, that provides me with the clarity to see solutions and new visions.

Not long ago on one of my treks I had an unusual experience. I had been thinking about how interesting it is to be in the yellow pages industry at a time of unprecedented change. I wondered about the staying power of the physical hard copy yellow pages. Technology as we all know has taken us by a storm. It has changed the way we communicate and our buying habits. What we are seeing today we never would have imagined 20 years ago. Should we believe a millionaire that the hard copy is dead? Or, should I seek a new career? These were my circling thoughts when suddenly

I saw the hard copy yellow pages of the future.

It was a strange experience. I was being given a tour. But what I saw was so simple. I suppose Opra Winfrey would call it an Aha moment. As I was running on the spot at a major intersection hoping the vision wouldn’t leave before I posed my questions some jerk rolled down the window of his car to make a comment on the length of my shorts. Didn’t he know something very serious was going on? Well I suppose in all fairness to him I must have appeared as odd and over anxious about crossing the street. How do you explain to someone that you are in the midst of a mind blowing vision and that you had to keep running?

The whole point of this entry is to say that to those of you who think Bill Gates knows it all and that the yellow pages hard copy is dead well all I can say is this. relax. It is true that there is a temporary lack of creativity in the yellow pages industry but the hard copy is far from being a relic. The old Telco mindset is moving on (though there will be a little fighting) and new players are emerging with models and products that meet the needs of the new feisty consumer. We are in the midst of a shake down which is redefining value. True value is measured not just by the head but by the heart.

For almost a century the walking fingers have had great strength and resilience. They have provided hope and filled dreams for billions of people.

At a recent industry conference I had the opportunity to wear a flowing floor length yellow satin dress trimmed in the walking fingers. The smiles and conversations with strangers were all part of the remarkable experience of being inside the brand. One lady on the elevator told me with tears in her eyes how the yellow pages had changed her life. The yellow pages I learned are truly about trust, reliability, comfort and fun. But most of all the experience they deliver is very personal.

I suppose you could tell Opra Winfrey when you next run into her that I had two Aha moments this year. In the meantime, stay tuned for the walking fingers dancing in Paris  (that is if I can find a dancing partner!)