Category Archives: Inspiration

Hall of Fame- Integrity

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Hall of Fame Integrity by: Jon Gordon

A few weeks ago I attended the Cornell University Athletic Hall of Fame dinner where 11 new people were being inducted and honored. For the record, I was not one of them. : )
As I sat in the audience and listened to the honorees give their speeches, the stories they told contained lessons that went far beyond sports and I knew I had to share a few of these gems with you.
Kate Varde, a record setting softball player who graduated in 2004 didn’t talk about herself. She talked about her teammate Joanne Keck instead. Kate said, “As I look out at a room full of accomplished athletes, I’m aware that we all understand the sacrifices we make in pursuit of a common goal, but when that sacrifice threatens our personal success it is often much harder to act with the dignity and poise expected of us. An example of this is when I came to Cornell as a freshman and was chosen to start over a three year starter, Joanne Keck. I earned this spot because of my success with a bat, not a glove. It would have been natural for Joanne to treat me with anger and resentment, but instead she was the first person on the field to celebrate with me when things went well and the first person to pick me up when I was down. She showed the strength, selflessness, and grit that exemplify what true class looks like. Even when it was clear that we were competing for the same playing time, Joanne was a mentor to me. She advised me about the intricacies of the position despite how it might impact her personally. If I hit an important home run, she would be the first person lined up to congratulate me and celebrate the victory. When I made an error, she would be there to pat me on the back and tell me to keep my head up. She was a true leader that put the team first and reveled in our team”s success.”
David Eckel, a cross country track and field champion, shared a story from the fall of 1955 that took place during the Heptagonal Championship in Van Cortlandt Park in New York City. David said he led most of the race with his Cornell teammate Michael Midler right behind him in second place and Doug Brew from Dartmouth about 60 yards behind them. With about a mile left in the race David and Michael took a wrong turn and headed on a path away from the finish line. Doug Brew saw them going the wrong way and shouted to them, “You are off course! You are off course! You are going the wrong way!” David and Michael quickly got back on the right path and finished in first and second place while Doug Brew finished third. That year Cornell won the individual and team championship and if it wasn’t for the integrity of Doug Brew it never would have happened. Years later David and Doug still keep in touch and Doug said he never regretted it. He felt it was the right thing to do and that the Cornell guys would have done the same thing for him.
When I asked Kate Varde why she talked about Joanne Keck she said, “I have always felt that the true team leaders are the people who exert the same effort without the glory; the players who are enthusiastic and engaged in the success of their team regardless of whether they set foot on the playing field. Teammates like Joanne are a big reason why I am here.”
David told me he spoke about Doug Brew because he knew his induction to the Hall of Fame might not have happened if it wasn’t for the integrity and help of his competitor. Doug Brew could have easily let his competition go the wrong way and become a champion. Instead he became a champion of integrity.
Ironically on a night that was all about honoring the achievement of the individual it was clear that making it into the Hall of Fame requires the Hall of Fame Integrity and selflessness of others. And while very few of us will get elected to a Hall of Fame, we can all choose to live with Hall of Fame Integrity and receive the greatest prize of all – the gift of knowing we did things the right way and made a positive difference.
-Jon

 

 

LOVE ONE ANOTHER

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TGIM!  A message from a local Clergyman.

 

Love One Another
December 2, 2014

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope that I don’t sound like an old curmudgeon, but it seems I went to school back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth! I know that some say that dinosaurs and human beings never coexisted, but it sounds good. Besides, what do you do with those old movies like “One Million B.C.”?

In my grammar school, the sisters prepared a well-defined curriculum. In seventh and eighth grade, we would have four days of religion, but on Fridays, we would have a class on Christian courtesy. As a young boy, I would think, “what a waste of time.” Everything in this class was just going to be a rehash of what our parents taught us at home. Of course, the sisters emphasized that courtesy was a sign of respect for God’s greatest creation – man and woman – and Jesus elevated that dignity by becoming one with us. Therefore, it was extremely important that we reflected this in our behavior toward others: respect for God and neighbor. Our actions said something about our appreciation for others and ourselves.

Today, I would like to propose that all schools reinstitute Christian courtesy or civic (civil) courtesy. It seems to me that simple manners have been lost. How many of us fail to hold a door open for someone struggling to enter a store or a restaurant? When was the last time you saw someone offer their seat on public transportation to an elderly person or a pregnant woman? I am sure that most of us have experienced people cutting in line or jumping to the front because they feel their time was more important than yours. Of course, the terms “sir” and “ma’am” have all but been lost to the common vocabulary for decades. They have disappeared along with words like “please,” “thank you” or “you’re welcome.” It is now almost a shock for someone to be polite.

We could blame this phenomenon on the loss of the sacred, the destruction of family life or even a lack of simple humanity. It is an obvious fact that if I don’t respect others, how can I expect others to respect me? With our increasing technological society, human contact may diminish. Maybe it’s time to teach how one expresses respect through actions. Therefore, it’s very important that we know how to act when we encounter someone in the flesh. We do know that Christ would want us to treat each other with respect as brothers and sisters and, PLEASE, LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Christ at the Core,

Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee

 

 

NEVER EVER EVER GIVE UP

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TGIM

NEVER EVER EVER GIVE UP.

T E A M.

Former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, who was portrayed by Mark Wahlberg in the “Lone Survivor” movie, spoke to the University of Alabama football team before their victory over then-No. 1 Mississippi State.

“If you are part of something that your whole livelyhood depends on another man… that’s where that bond comes in… rely on each other, sacrifice for each other…if you are going to walk thru me you better bring help, because I got my boys right here helping me. ”

Please click to watch.

https://vid.me/e/GE6c?autoplay=1&loop=1

 

 

– Joel Fleischman.  Joel is Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply.  (drexelteam).   You can follow him on twitter:  @JoelmFleischman.  He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.

SHELLY

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TGIM!

THANK GOD IT IS MONDAY!

Most days I stop at the local McDonald’s for coffee.  While I love and support local coffee shops as much as I can (they are a lifeblood of small communities) the McDonald’s drive-in is a few blocks from my house and a quick and cheap way for me to get my caffeine fix in the morning.

For many months my normal routine was interrupted by the lack of service I received at my McDonald’s each morning.  In fact it really drained me some mornings.  The routine was lifeless and worse than a transactional service.  I stopped on an average of 5 days a week within 20 minutes of the same time and always ordered the same thing.  You know you would think after awhile I would get a thanks or a smile or SOMETHING.  Nothing.  It even became a game for me.  OK, someone will say at least “Hi” to me.  Come on, I can do this!   I would say an extra smiley, GOOD MOOO-RRRNING.  Zilch.  Nadda.  They would say, “please pull ahead to the second window.”  They would look right thru me like I didn’t even exist.  Every. Time.

And there was one person, she, whoever she was, that was worse than all of them.  She hated her job.  She hated me.  She hated something.  Because, wow, I could feel that negative blow right into my vehicle.  No matter what I did, she hated it!

She was like the Soup Nazi of my morning.

I even told this story to some Drexel fellow team members.  And one said, “Have you ever asked her, her name?”   I said no, but I would try, even though I had little faith in that.  She was the coffee nazi, nothing will work.

Even though I have a wide comfort zone, it still took me four or five times to muster up the courage to do it.

And then I did it.

I finally pulled up, took a deep breath, and did the following:

“Hey, we do this every day.  I should at least know your name, and you should know mine.  My name is Joel.”

She then SMILED and said, “My name is Shelly.”

We shook hands awkwardly and I thought.  Hmmm… that was odd.

The next day it happened.

SHELLY SMILED WHEN SHE SAW ME AND SAID GOOD MORNING.  AND SHE LOOKED AT ME.  NOT THRU ME.  AND I SAID, “GOOD MORNING SHELLY.”

AND THEN THE SAME THE NEXT DAY.  AND THE NEXT.

One day she even stopped me to talk to me about the lunar moon.  She pointed it out to me.  She cared about me.  And I her.

And you know I probably wasn’t looking at her either.  It had to start with me.  It has to start with us.

And that’s what we are here for.  To connect with people.  Even people you have no connection with.  And life gets better.  1% each day.

– Joel Fleischman.  Joel is Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply.  (drexelteam).   You can follow him on twitter:  @JoelmFleischman.  He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.

COMFORTABLE IS A SCARY TRAP

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TGIM!

Comfort is a scary trap!  That favorite chair or couch of yours is a trap; it’s a death sentence.  God did not create you to be a sloth.  Your current customer base and current role here is a trap!  \

While balance is important and at times you need to put the race car in the shop, doing it too often can cause you to stall and never get back in the race!

You must keep grinding and change and grow OR ELSE!

It is easy to assume our customers will be around forever and we can always ride our “horses.” We might even complain about them, or get sick of them, you know those darn top customers are so “needy.” (Oh my gosh do I cringe at that last sentence.)

The top 20 accounts in each location make up 80% of our business.

We should never take them for granted.  We need to be grateful for them and thank them as often as we can.  Our job is to watch out for them, protect them, and take care of them.

In fact, we might even be friends with these top customers; we might get super comfortable… THAT’S THE TRAP!

***

However..  no matter how busy we are, you can never stop looking for new customers! Customers die, go out of business, shrink, change their business model, or sometimes we lose all or portions of their business to our competition if we get lazy.  (Thankfully that happens about as much as a Democrat agreeing with a Republican).

Stay with me here…

I will PROVE IT TO YOU.

This is the TURNOVER OF CUSTOMERS on our TOP 20 ACCOUNTS from 2008 until now. That’s only 6 years:

Campbellsport has 12 new accounts out of 20 since 2008

Berlin has 12 new.

Kiel has 15.

Brookfield has 17 NEW and that is from 2010!

70% of our TOP 20 ACCOUNTS WERE NOT IN THAT GROUP IN 2008!

If we would of got comfortable in 2008 until now, we would all be working for someone else… Drexel wouldn’t exist.  Even if it’s not comfortable … it is necessary to always be on the lookout for new customers.

How will we survive and thrive in 6 years?  Good chance it will be from finding new customers and staying uncomfortable.

 

– Joel Fleischman.  Joel is Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply.  (drexelteam).   You can follow him on twitter:  @JoelmFleischman.  He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.

5 Ways to Be Happier at Work

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Happy Monday. TGIM!

 

Another excellent take from Jon Gordon.  I swear this is not simply a re-paste of Jon Gordon’s work.  It just that him and I align quite often.

 

5 Ways to Be Happier at Work

Here are some strategies to be happier at work. We can choose to fill our days and the rest of our year with positive energy!

Monday

Focus on “Get to” instead of “Have to” – While driving to work focus on what you “get to” do instead of what you “have to” do. With gratitude realize that you don’t have to do anything. You get to go to a job while so many are unemployed. Gratitude floods your body and brain with emotions that uplift you and energize you rather than stress hormones that drain you.

Tuesday

Don’t Expect your Boss, Co-workers and Customers to Make you Happy – Realize that happiness is an inside job. Our happiness has less to do with forces outside of us and more to do with what’s inside of us. The way we think about work, feel about work and approach our work influences our happiness at work. For instance, just by making yourself smile you produce more serotonin in the brain-which makes you feel happier. You’ll also be happier when you focus on what you are giving instead of what you are getting.

Wednesday

Don’t Seek Happiness – Ironically if you want to be happier don’t seek happiness. Instead share your strengths and decide to work with passion and purpose and happiness will find you. The research shows that people are most energized when they are using their strengths for a bigger purpose beyond themselves. Whatever your job, decide to bring passion to it and find purpose in it. I’ve met bus drivers, mortgage brokers, janitors and fast-food employees who are more passionate about their jobs and happier than some professional athletes making millions of dollars. Every job will get mundane and “old” if you let it but purpose and passion keep it fresh and make you happier.

Thursday

Focus on Excellence instead of Success – When you focus on success you can easily fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others, looking over your shoulder, feeling envious, playing office politics, and competing against coworkers instead of collaborating. However, when you focus on excellence you measure yourself against your own growth and potential. You strive to be the best you can be. You simply focus on getting better every day and this makes work more meaningful and rewarding.

Friday

Celebrate Together – While we shouldn’t depend on others to make us happy, by building a positive team or support group at work we will be happier. So instead of expecting others to make you happy, you proactively create the positive relationships that enhance your engagement, productivity and happiness. One great way to do this to huddle with your team/group at the end of the week and have each person share their accomplishments, victories, and great moments of the week. This will produce great feelings on Friday that inspire you and your team to come back to work and make a difference on Monday.

HOW TO GET MORE DONE

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How To Get More Done Each Day

Original post  HERE.

ID-100138959-2Productivity is everything in business. Being more productive leads to more promotions, more pay, and more personal satisfaction. Here are seven simple and direct methods from your friends at Dale Carnegie Training of South Carolina that you can use today to get more accomplished:

 

Work Harder — Work harder and concentrate with greater intensity on your work. You can focus single-mindedly and discipline yourself to work without interruption, diversion, or distraction. You can work harder than anyone else, which is a secret to great success.

Work Faster — Work faster and pick up the pace. You can develop a faster tempo. You can move more quickly from place to place and from job to job. When you combine working harder and working faster, you can get more done in a single day than most people get done in a week.

Batch your Tasks — You can batch your tasks. You can do a series of similar jobs together, taking advantage of the learning curve.

Do More Important Things — Make a list and rank which duties are important.  Also, look for ways TO ELIMINATE tasks.  Many tasks we do might not actually be important any more.

Do Things You’re Better At — Do things at which you excel. The better you are in a key skill area, the more you can get done, and at a higher level of quality. Because you are better at these tasks, they will be easier for you, so you will get them done with less effort, and you will have more energy as a result.

Make Fewer Mistakes — To get more done, you can make fewer mistakes. You can take the time to do it right the first time. You’ve heard it said, “there is never enough time to do it right, but there is always enough time to do it over.” One of the best time management techniques is to do it right the first time, even if it takes a little more effort and concentration.

Simplify the World — You can simplify the work by reducing the number of steps necessary to complete the task. This makes the job simpler and easier to get done.

I HAVE COME TO THE FRIGHTENING CONCLUSION

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I have come to a frightening conclusion

I am the decisive element in the workplace.

It is my personal approach that creates the climate.

It is my daily mood that makes the weather.

I possess the tremendous power to make

a life miserable or joyous.

I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.

I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.

In all situations, it is my response that decides

Whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated

And a teammate humanized or de-humanized.

If we treat co-workers as they are, we will make them worse.

If we treat co-workers as they can be,

We will help them become

what they are capable of becoming.

— Joel Fleischman

 

Inspired by Johann Wolfgang Goethe

100 DAYS

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THANK

GOD

IT’S

MONDAY!

 

TGIM.

Today there are exactly 100 days left in 2014.

Soon you will be singing with John Lennon, “Another year over and what have you done?”

 

But today friends it’s not too late for your 2014 to be awesome.  You can change the course of your history today.

Let’s not lose focus- let’s stay the course- and be incredible.

 

Focus on: THE PROCESS.

Fill out the right paper work, double check your work.  Focus on the details.

We call it “best practices” for a reason.  Trust your TEAM.  Trust the PROCESS and do it.  Part of our core values: DEVELOPMENT, WINNING ATTITUDE, COMMUNICATION, ACCOUNTABILITY,  TEAM WORK and RESPECT are all about the PROCESS.

FOCUS ON: THE CUSTOMER (both internal and external).

Sometimes your customer is internal…it is the person sitting next to you helping you do your work.

Do not take them for granted.  Tell them thank you.  Take a moment with them.  Listen.  Care about their needs.

 FOCUS ON: THE SALE.

 

For you that are in sales:  Your quote bins are full, jobs are in process, 100 days until the “finish line” of 2014.

In 100 days… there will be time for distractions, there will be time for looking into new products, worrying if the person doing your orders uses the right cologne, wondering it’s only your orders that get delivered to the wrong spot, wondering if the vendor we buy from actually screws up your order on purpose

… you can fix all this during a five degree day with blowing winds, low daylight and 12″ of snow to plow.  That is not today.  Today go sell something!

 

FOCUS.

**************************************************************************

 

If you want to dig further in the rabbit’s hole…this is from Jon Gordon.

Sea Turtles… and Distractions that
Lead Us in the Wrong Direction

As I ran on the beach the other day I noticed that certain areas were closed off by fences and signs that said “Sea Turtle Eggs.”

I remembered reading that female sea turtles swim to shore between May and August to dig nests in the sand and lay their eggs. Months later, the eggs hatch and the baby turtles follow the pure light of the moon back to the surf.

In a perfect world, the pure light of the moon guides every turtle back safely to the ocean.
However, as we know, we don’t live in a perfect world.

Sea Turtle hatchlings instinctively crawl toward the brightest light. On an undeveloped beach, the brightest light is the moon. On a developed beach, the brightest light can be an artificial light source emanating from restaurants, homes and condominiums along the coast.

Unfortunately, these powerful artificial sources of light often attract the hatchlings and cause them to move in the wrong direction when they are born.

Rather than follow the pure light of the moon to the ocean the sea turtles follow the wrong light to a disastrous outcome.

It occurred to me that we humans face a similar challenge.

Rather than follow the path we were meant to follow, unfortunately we too often are distracted by things that move us in the wrong direction.

Technology, online games, too much time on social media, bad habits, addictions, stress, busyness and meaningless distractions lead us astray.

Instead of following the pure light of perfection we allow bright and shiny artificial things to sabotage our journey.

So, what about you?

Are you following your priorities and pure light to the right destination or are you allowing artificial distractions to lead you in the wrong direction?

Are you following the path you were meant to follow or are you letting meaningless things keep you from being your best?

The great news is that unlike sea turtles we have the ability to think, adapt and change direction when we realize we are following the wrong path.

We can tune out the distractions and focus on our priorities and let the pure light lead us to an ocean of possibilities and a great future.

-Jon

 – Joel Fleischman.  Joel is Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply.  (drexelteam).   You can follow him on twitter:  @JoelmFleischman.  He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.

 

The “IT” factor

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TGIM! THANK GOD IT’S SORT OF A MONDAY ON A TUESDAY

You’ve met them.  You hang around some of them.  Quite often you can tell they have it in the first 30 seconds you meet them.

Football is upon us and it’s used often there:  That player has the IT factor.

We all see it here at our work place too.  The people that work here, the people we work with.   They are our top team members, top sales people, our leaders at any position.

We all want to have it, yet what is “it” exactly?  How do you get it and do you get more of it?

 

The people that have “it” all share these 3 common ingredients:

 

1.  They are Organized

They dress professionally.  Their vehicles are clean.  They answer their e-mails and voice mails promptly.  Their desks are clean.  They take a certain PRIDE in being organized.  Being organized is a focus, it is simplifying your life.  It’s de-cluttering your brain, your office, your vehicle, your life.

 

2.  They Enjoy The Game.

The people with “it” are fun to be around.  They don’t complain.  They listen.  They have great emotional bandwidth when things go wrong, they don’t freak out over something they have no control of.  The are simply CONTAGIOUS with good energy.  They realize if they are going to be here, they might as well be here in a positive mindset and be committed.  They worry about others before they worry about themselves.  They help.  They serve.  They always have time for you.  Not because they have to, but because they WANT to.   No problem is too big for them or too small to dismiss.  They do it for a bigger purpose then themselves.  They know there is no end to the game and in fact the game, the process, doing things correct and complete EVERY time is more important than the final score.   They know the final score will be their journey.

 

3.  They Block & Tackle

Blocking and tackling wins games, always has, always will.  It’s the most important part of any football game.  No 8 year old dreams of blocking and tackling.   But it won’t ever be discussed as headline news.  It’s boring.  If you watch a game on TV or live it’s really hard to even tell who’s good at it.  They get all the blame if things go bad and no recognition if their team wins.  But the people with “it” do it with all their heart when no one is even watching.   Not only that, they look to improve on it.  Yep, they look to improve on blocking & tackling.  They know the rest of the game will take care of itself.  They trust the process.  They do what they can, they block and tackle.  And if it makes sense, they change where they block and tackle for the good of themselves and the team.   I have met people that their goal with team blue was to “make it”, so some day they did not have to block and tackle any more.  That is not a goal.  That is quitting the game.  It is searching for the finish line that doesn’t exist.  Those people never had “IT” and never will.

 

“IT” never gets easier.  You just get better.

 

 

– Joel Fleischman.  Joel is Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply.  (drexelteam).   You can follow him on twitter:  @JoelmFleischman.  He has provided solutions for builders and their clients since 1996 and a whole bunch of other stuff that you probably don’t care about.