Before you read this post you need to know two things:

1. I am an optimist.

2. This entire narrative is true; no hyperbole.

July 4^th was the last day of our week’s vacation at my son’s new home on the Morris Reservoir near Noblesville, Indiana. Just before heading home, we took a boat ride. (We had taken our pontoon to my son’s home on the lake, as he does not have a boat.)  About 30 minutes into our ride, the motor quit.

“Murphy’s Law” had commenced.

We discovered that the engine would only restart after it cooled and would then only run for about 1 minute. It took over an hour to get back to the boat ramp. We took the boat to the marina for repairs. Summer is busy, so it was a three-week wait to even look at the motor. Once they were able to work on the motor, they found that it needed a part that is no longer made, so it was sent to a rebuild shop in Tennessee – another 4 week waiting line. Once the part was made, we had to wait for installation. We got our pontoon back on September 20, the last day of summer.

But this is not the story; this is a sidebar to the “rest of the story….”

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It’s all about Leadership and Team.

Oxenrider is an uncommon name, a Fourteenth Century trade designation. My ancestors were road builders using teams of oxen to move trees, earth and rocks for road construction. Just as modern day highway contractors are often seen in their pickup trucks, my ancestors rode their teams of oxen to their work, carrying the tools of their trade; thus, the name and my affinity to this quaint metaphor and the icon created for this blog. You could say leading and working with teams is in my “DNA.

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