It's been too long between posts

Here's a recent picture of Mia. She turned 2 on June 13, and she's growing up quickly.

Duplicate Homeowners

We closed on the house as planned on Wednesday, so we are now the proud owners of a new home in Charlotte along with our house in Powell. We'll be traveling back to Columbus the evening of May 2, and will be around until the evening of May 6. If you're reading this, and you want to get together for dinner one evening, just let us know.

Also, feel free to write to us at our new address: 1005 Minden Drive, Matthews, NC 28104. Once we have a phone number (within a week or so) we'll let you know what it is.

Pictures of Our New House

Here are a few pictures of our soon to be new house. The builder is in the process of fixing several items based on last week's inspection and this morning's walkthrough. We will plan to do a second walkthrough early next week (assuming all repairs are made by that point) and still close on Wednesday, April 25. If all the items aren't fixed by then, we'll push the closing date back by a week, but we're hoping we won't have to. We are then planning to come back to Columbus to oversee the movers on May 3-6, and then have our stuff delivered to the new house on May 9. My mom is coming down to Charlotte to help us watch Mia so we can unpack all of our stuff (well, most of it. I don't think we ever unpacked all of it in the last house either).

Less than 30 days until closing

We are officially in contract on the Brookhaven home. We have chosen hardwood flooring for all of the first floor except the family room, neutral carpet in the rest of the house, and tile in each of the upstairs bathrooms. We have an inspection on April 13 (Friday the 13!), and the final walkthrough on April 19. We are scheduled to close on April 25. We'll see how close to that date we end up being. If all goes as planned, we should be able have the movers take all our stuff from Powell to our new house the first week in May.

In the meantime, if you know anyone who wants a nice house on a golf course with a private back yard, please send them over to 3969 Andrew Lake Place :)

Buying a Home in Charlotte (maybe)

We recently put in an offer on a new home in Matthews, in Union County, NC. We should find out Monday whether the offer will be accepted. The house is a new build, and part of the builder's current inventory. While the yard is neither as large nor as scenic as our house in Powell, the home does have an open floor plan, almost 4000 square feet, and we are able to pick our flooring types/colors. The commute looks to be bearable from this location, at least based on the current information I have from others and from driving it myself a few times. Also the community amenities are awesome, the community is new (so we should be able to meet people easily since they are new too) and since Nadya will be home with Mia, it will be great to have access to so much within walking distance.

A link to a virtual tour of a completed version of the home we're buying (but not using the rooms in the ways we'll use them): http://www.jwhomes.com/virtualtours/brookhaven%20essex%20all/essex%20web%20page/brochure.html

A link to the Brookhaven community amenities: http://www.jwhomes.com/Neighborhoods/main.asp?CityCode=CLT&Current=Amenity&Template=Amenity&NeighborhoodID=88

We thought seriously about putting an offer in on another home, in another community, but it would have been about $100,000 more expensive, and would have been the most expensive home in the subdivision (vs. the Brookhaven home which is one of the least expensive in the subdivision). Also, the commute would have been a bit longer. However, the home has a 3.5 car garage, relatively open floor plan, screened in porch, in-wall/ceiling speakers, and a private .8 acre lot that backs to homes in the $2-6 million price range.

The decision was certainly not easy, and we technically don't have a contract on either home yet, so stay tuned. We think we could be happy in either one, so as long as we get one of the two, we'll be happy. Plus, it will be nice to have an estimated timeframe for when we can get out of temporary housing. Can you believe we've passed the 1 month point in Charlotte? We've been here so long that other people I used to work with have left the company and the source of substantial demotivation has been removed.

If you set up a google e-mail account and sign up for google chat, we can chat in the evenings. It's easy to do, and it helps me to stay in touch with what's going on in your lives.

Our house is on the Market

Well, we worked frantically last weekend to get our Powell, OH home ready to be listed. We painted, moved furniture to storage, bought fake plants to add color to some rooms, etc. Basically we became an episode of "Flip This House" or "Buy Me". Thanks to help from Bev, Kevin, Eric, Jen and my mom, we were able to get a lot done. Now all we can do is wait and hope the house sells soon. We've had several showings, with multiple interested parties, and we are hoping to get an offer soon, as that would allow us to rest more easily as we approach the purchase of a home in Charlotte. We'll see how things unfold.

"Day 1" Orientation

Tomorrow I will attend my day 1 orientation at BOA. Sure it's actually day 10, but I've been busy getting integrated into 5 different projects, attending off-site meetings, having 20+ onboarding discussions, etc. I'll let you know how the formal orientation goes. One thing I'm looking forward to is the 1 hour lunch break. During a normal work day, it's tough to find time to eat. If only each work day were like an episode of 24 where Jack Bower doesn't pee, eat or sleep. Then I could get plenty accomplished.

My Office Building

As you can see in the sequence of pictures above, the security guard wasn't thrilled that I was taking pictures of the building I work within. Fortunately, he accepted my explanation that I was taking pictures for nostalgic purposes, and not with any malevolent intentions. Anyway, the first picture is the plaza leading to Chik-Fil-A and a couple other places to eat right outside my office building. It's also the beginning of my two block walk to the parking garage on my way home. The second picture is my office building (there are many other Bank of America buildings, and I'll try to take pictures of those too, at my own risk). I believe the second picture was taken as the security guard was calling his boss on his radio. In the third picture, you can see that I'm just a few seconds away from "a talking to".

Those pictures I mentioned...

I finally got around to uploading a picture of my cube and a picture of one of the private phone areas. As it's midnight, that's going to be the extent of this post. I'll provide more reports of week 2 at B of A shortly.

Bank of America Day 3

Well, you can see that I missed an entry for day 2. I've been quite busy trying to get acclimated to my new role. I now have meeting notices on my calendar for about 20 orientation meetings over the next week or so, along with my formal corporate orientation all day on Monday. Oh, and I found out yesterday that the person who hired me, my manager, has been given the opportunity to lead a 9 month project in China, to gain some global experience. While this is really cool, it also is another bit of uncertainty for me to juggle at this time.

In addition, I was in an all day offsite meeting today discussing the future course of our workgroup (cool to be part of, but a bit scary at the same time, since I may or may not end up liking all the elements of the redefined role, and we've already begun the relocation process). We had a dinner after today's session, which was quite nice and gave me a chance to get to know the team better, but put me back at temporary housing around 7:45pm, just barely in time to give Mia a bath and put her to bed.

The commute is about as bad as I expected, maybe even a little worse. I am still hoping to make effective use of the ability to work from a nearby satellite office at least 2 days per week. It seems that most meetings at B of A happen via teleconference, so that shouldn't be too difficult to arrange (I'm keeping my fingers crossed).

Several of you will be interested to know that my average waking time for the past few days was about 6:15am, and I'll be up tomorrow by about 6:00am in the hopes that I can beat some of the traffic and get an hour of work done prior to the continuation of our offsite meeting.

We fly back to Columbus tomorrow evening, and I'm looking forward to seeing the friends we've left behind.

Day One at Bank of America

Today was my first day at Bank of America, and I am now the proud borrower of a modern-looking cube with ample storage space and supplies, a Dell widescreen laptop, a photoless but functioning ID badge (I'll get my picture taken on Monday during my orientation session), and a variety of documents from multiple meetings during the day. On order are my business cards, cell phone and Blackberry (yes, it may finally be time to bid my Pocket PC farewell for a corporate approved device).

Although it would take too long to share all of my impressions of the day here, I thought it was very interesting that, since we're in a cube-based environment, the company has provided a couple of private phone areas with curtains, in case employees need to make any calls that can't be made from their desks (e.g., sensitive topics).

As for food, the cafeteria, Chik-Fil-A, and Quiznos are all within less than 2 blocks of my building. In addition, one branch of the YMCA fitness facilities is located in my building. Now I just need to develop the willpower to awake at 5am to exercise. I would definitely beat the morning rush hour with that plan. Speaking of the morning rush hour (that phraseology reminds me of something I've often heard Kevin say at work at Nationwide, and I will miss that and other things about the people I've left behind in Columbus), it took me 29 minutes this morning, leaving at 6:55am. This evening was not as good, as it took me 42 minutes, leaving at 5:41pm. Since we are looking at houses another 3-5 miles outside of the city, that would put the morning commute at closer to 40 minutes and the evening commute at 50+. That's certainly something I'll have to get used to, given that my prior commute was 15-20 minutes each way. On the positive side, I will be able to work from a satellite office a couple days per week, and that office is located about 10-15 minutes from the homes we're looking at.

Well, I need to get some rest. I've got many more documents to read tomorrow, and then I need to get ready for an offsite talent management meeting on Thursday and Friday. Oh, and then I'll be back in Columbus with Nadya and Mia late Friday night.

Temporary Housing in Charlotte

Well, we made it to our temporary housing at 3:00am this morning. We left Powell, OH at 4:20pm on Sunday, and made several stops along the way. We drove both of our vehicles to make sure we could fit enough of Mia's toys, our cat, etc. Mia rode with me and Tashi (the cat) rode with Nadya. Both Mia and Tashi did very well in their respective vehicles, but we were slowed down by the snow in parts of Ohio and the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia. When we reached the North Carolina, almost if by magic, all the snow was gone. Today's high temperature in Charlotte was 57, and the highs will be around 7o on Thursday and Friday. It feels weird, considering the fact that two days ago I was shoveling almost a foot of snow off of my driveway in Ohio.

The temporary housing is nice, but certainly not like home. We have 2 bedrooms with walk in closets, 2 full bathrooms, a kitchen, dining area, and living room (all with 9' ceilings). There is also a laundry room with a washer and dryer in the apartment, along with a small porch. Unfortunately, the main building was closed today, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow for our welcome packet. I was, however, able to find the business center to check my e-mail, and I located the fitness area, tennis courts and pool as well.

We had enough time today to unpack the cars, purchase groceries and go to a local park where Mia enjoyed playing on the slides, swings, etc. Tomorrow is my first day at Bank of America, so I need to get some rest. I'll write again soon.

Leadership Questions

In preparation for the start of my new job at Bank of America, I have been doing a lot of reading on the topic of Leadership. I've recently read "The Leadership Pipeline" and several Harvard Business Review articles. Although multiple, sometimes conflicting, viewpoints are presented across the literature, I have captured below a couple things that caused me to ruminate about specific instances of leadership that I have viewed in the not so distant past...

Leadership Characteristics

1. When you become a leader, succcess is all about growing others


2. Leaders have to set the team's vision and make it come alive


3. Leaders establish trust with candor, transparency and credit (i.e., possess integrity)


4. Effective leaders are able to assemble a top-notch staff: A) They are willing to take risks by picking people who are unlike them-and who may even have different leadership styles; B) They are willing to take a chance on untested people if they size them up and conclude they have what it takes; C) They do not feel threatened when they hire someone who is more skilled, better experienced, and smarter than they are

Questions to Ask to Determine Leadership Effectiveness

1. Have you ever known this person to shade, color or withhold information?


2. Does this person give credit to others when appropriate?


3. Does this person stand firm with their opinions or move with the winds of politics?


4. Does this person command the respect and attention of senior executives?


5. Is this person more of a tactical or strategic thinker?


6. Does this person have a vision for the company? Have they demonstrated that they can move the business into new areas?


7. Has the person demonstrated the ability to assemble a good team?


8. Is the person threatened by people who are more experienced, smarter, or better technically?


9. Does the person surround themselves with strong people who will be candid and tell them what they need to know vs. what they want to hear?


10. Is this individual sometimes needlessly interested in certain activities?

If you've encountered instances of particularly good or bad leadership, I'm interested to know if the above items capture the essence of the difference. Share your examples with the world (or, um, the other 2 people who read this blog).

Relocation Snag #1

Well, we were supposed to be traveling to Charlotte this evening to look at a bunch of houses over the weekend. Unfortunately, Mia is just getting over being sick and Nadya caught whatever Mia had. I'm wondering if I need one of those NIOSH approved respirators to ensure that I don't get sick as well. With all of the things that we need to accomplish in preparation for our relocation, every day is important. Fortunately, several of our friends have already offered to watch Mia, help with packing, etc. Now if we can just get organized enough to figure out how to best rely on the benevolence of these individuals over the next week or so. The type of support offered by our good friends in the Columbus area is something that we will miss when we begin our adjustment period in Charlotte. Of course, once we're out of temporary housing and into a home, we'll be eagerly anticipating visitors from "up North".

We're Moving to Charlotte

For a variety of reasons, I've decided to take the Leadership/Organizational Development position at Bank of America in Charlotte, NC. My last day at Nationwide will be February 14 (Valentine's day) and my start date at BOA is February 20. We will arrive at our temporary housing location on February 18. What we need to work out now is whether we can all fit in one car to drive down, or whether I will need to drive while Nadya and Mia fly. The logistics of moving are at least as challenging as managing a work-related project workplan. Anyway, as we progress through the moving process, I'll keep you posted on our thoughts, learnings, etc.

My Dad on the Web

In some additional internet browsing this evening/morning, I located a couple interesting things. First I performed a Google search for my name and found a Michael Zottoli who has a job in internet sales. I sent him a quick e-mail to see if he has any idea if/how we're related, so we'll see...

Second, I performed a search for my dad's name. Several sites came up, but the one listing the major steps in his career, prior to his retirement a couple years ago, was the most interesting, and can be found here.

Relocation? Me? Us? What? Why? To Where?

In each individual's life there are several critical choices they make that influence how large portions of their lives will unfold. Similar to the choose your own adventure books that I read as a kid, each choice is a bit uncertain, although some choices are clearly safer than others. If life were a choose your own adventure book, we could make one choice, and then, if unsatisfied by that choice, choose again. However, life does not work that way, thus our choices are much more stressful than those in the books of years gone by.

Enough of the introductory blah, blah, blah. I am currently at the crossroads of a decision that will impact my career, family life, living environment, etc., whether I choose to take action or choose not to. Sure, I've faced these types of decisions before. For example, the decision to attend college, major in psychology, attend graduate school directly out of college instead of working first, begin working for an Insurance company while still between receiving my Masters degree and my Ph.D., get married a couple weeks after September 11, 2001, and have a child. I think the issue with the current decision is that it impacts so many people other than myself, including my wife and child, parents, co-workers and good friends in the area and in other states, soccer teammates, neighbors, etc. The number of factors to weigh is large, and as I am an analytical and critical processor of information by my nature, it is easy to go back and forth based on which particular components of information are most salient at a given point in time.

I can only trust that whatever decision I make will be the best for my family and I. One advantage of life not being like a choose your own adventure book is that there will be no way to go back and find out whether any other alternative would have turned out better. I need to convince myself that once the decision is made, all efforts should be placed into looking forward instead of looking back.

In the near future, when it is safe to do so, I will communicate my decision to the 3 of you reading this. At that time it will, of course, not be new information to any of you. So why the heck did I write this anyway? Well, it served as somewhat of a stress release during my review of relocation processes, Amazon.com's list of books on relocation, and all the other information buzzing about my head.