Care

If YOU really CARE about your customers you will succeed.

No matter what business you are in or what you do for a living - if you truly care about your customer it will show through and that will be how you succeed and that is where you feel a sense of accomplishments.

If you are like me I know the difference from someone who is just putting on a face or trying to act all sweet and syrupy and someone who really cares about his product.

I have little patience for those that seem to not even have the time to look me in the eyes and talk to me not at me or if I am on the phone I can tell in minutes if I am speaking to a robot type person or someone who is actually listening to me.
Especially if I am paying for a service or a product.

Do me the common courtesy to at least act like you care.

In our business we have people moving all their belongings, their memories. And they pay good money to move, they deserve our attention and our drivers provide that.
I have seen them in action and I am so proud to witness it first hand.

It's the little things as well as the big things that they appreciate and remember.

A professional shows them within minutes- I gotcha here - you are in good hands.

It is not a huge secret or very hard to succeed... JUST CARE.

10 Things Leaders Should Never Do

What causes executives and business leaders with great potential to self-destruct? Their own behavior.

 

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If you ask 10 CEOs, board directors, and VCs about the most preventable causes of failure for executives and business leaders, you'll probably get 10 different answers. Most will focus on lack of skills, capabilities, or experience.
In reality, the answer has nothing to do with abilities or experience. It's all about behavior.
Now, I'm not talking about the kind of failure we all experience over the course of our careers. In competitive markets, failure is inevitable. It comes with the territory. We gain confidence from success, but we gain wisdom from failure. It's a good thing.
I'm talking about failure that's preventable, that never had to happen, that's intrinsic to the individual, not a result of outside forces.
These are behaviors that executives and business leaders should always avoid. They don't just diminish your leadership ability, your presence, your credibility, your reputation. They will come back to haunt you and, ultimately, be your undoing.
Kowtow to the status quo. Granted, there are examples where the status quo works fine. If you're in the candy bar business and you've got a successful brand like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, you're probably good for a few decades. If not, inertia is your enemy. If you find yourself saying, "That's how we do it here," you're in trouble.
Whine. Few behaviors are less leader-like than whining, making excuses, pointing fingers, or playing the blame game. It shows a serious lack of maturity, self-confidence, respect, and accountability. And it's a very bad sign.
Deceive. The more comfortable you are being genuine, speaking your mind, and being straight with people, the better. Strive to be the best version of you, not someone or something you're not. Deceit is a slippery slope, and once you start down that path, sooner or later, it will come back to bite you.
Act like a dictator. I don't care how high up the ladder you are, you are not the boss. We all serve others. CEOs are appointed by their boards. Business owners have customers. The minute you start behaving like some sort of supreme leader, you can kiss your success goodbye.
Make empty threats. Confident, competent, mature leaders never make empty threats. It's tantamount to a child throwing a tempter tantrum. It destroys your credibility. Be decisive. Do what you say your going to do or don't say it in the first place.
Crave power. I'm always surprised when people who should know better talk about power like it's something to strive for. It's not. It's healthy to seek achievement and wealth. That's how we measure success. It's also how we grow companies and take care of our families. Power is for politicians and bureaucrats. In the business world, if you crave power, it will end badly.
Ignore the truth. There will always be weak-minded yes-men who sugar-coat the truth and tell you what you want to hear. But if you hire and listen to them, that's the same as looking in the mirror and seeing what you want to see. It's living in denial. And it's one of the most common causes of leadership failure.
Make commitments you don't intend to keep. Executives and business leaders who say what they mean and mean what they say usually have a bright future. And while some may achieve some measure of success by blowing smoke up people's you-know-what's, in my experience, it never lasts.
Be grandiose. I've seen and known lots of CEOs with grand visions for their companies that were not supported by anything remotely credible or logical and had no chance of succeeding. Their egos are so overinflated they think their magnificence alone can make it happen. Funny thing is, it never does.
Do what you know is wrong. Whether it's sacrificing principles for greed, cutting corners, or failing to do the right thing out of fear of repercussions, as with deceit, it's a slippery sloop. You might get away with it once or twice, but it will catch up with you. John Lennon called it "Instant Karma." I've seen it in action. It's real; believe me.

More on Emotions from our Road Warrior-

EMOTIONS,and Sensitivity to what we may think is derogatory comments,can be a major problem when dealing with issues.......I just ran into this,it seams someone I hold DEAR,read into a comment I made(was referring to me,20 years ago)and thought I was talking about him....We all need to develop some sort of scar tissue,not let anything get under our skin...UNTIL,we figure out what,when,where and how.....At that point,WORK IT OUT....Communicate,Negotiate,FIGGURE IT OUT.....There's too many problems in our industry to let EVERYTHING bother you...Slough it off and try to find ANYWAY,to make it work...IT'S WHAT WE DO!

Emotions

When you are stressed and over worked emotions can ride high.
I get that, and I understand it.
I certainly have been there.
From what I see and what I have experienced when we do not address a issue or something that bothers us it just festers and grows and that is where the real damage is done.

This week I had several instances where people either blew up and got very angry or were very hurt and ready to quit and in all cases I think it was because they just did not talk things out or they had past feelings with a person and never confronted them.

Like I said I can see it more plainly because I try to look at all sides, and because I have been there myself I can see it better too.

The shame of it is I see all good hard working people that make life more stressful for them selves because they choose to ignore a problem rather than address it calmly and head on.
Sure, I know that sounds so simple and it is not always that easy.
You need to stop and get control of heart rate and be willing to hear out the other person and maybe even concede a point or two but what is the other choice?
Ignore it?
Let it fester?
Talk about that person or the incident with others and just get more angry?

Choose the time that is right and if at all possible try to arrange a face to face if not pick up the phone. Email should be your last resort, it is not the right venue to air your concerns.

Try to remember that in the grand scheme of things these are hard working middle class workers like yourself that just want to go to work and make a living so they can pay the bills and go home to their family.
By biting at each others ankles and stressing each other out we do not help anyone.

If you address it early and head on you may be able to find neutral ground and begin a bridge. Try looking at their side, at their life and where they are and what they might be going through.
Trust me, we ALL have our cross to bear.

What have you got to lose except YOUR burden or YOUR stress.

Talk..we are all in this circus called life together and we are all just visiting.

Emotions can get the best of you or they can help carry you.
Like everything else in life the choice is yours.

10 Things Leadres Must Learn to Do

10 Things Leaders Must Learn to Do

You can get away with a lot and still make it in this world, but there are some corners you simply can't cut.

 

 

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Business leaders don't exist in a vacuum. Success is always relative to the competition. You may have a great product, service, concept, strategy, team, whatever, but if it doesn't rise above your competitors in a way that's meaningful to your customers, you will ultimately lose.
That's rule number one in business: There are no absolutes; everything is relative to the competition.
You can get away with a lot and still make it in this world, but if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, executive, or business leader, there are certain things you simply must learn to do.
The first is to stay on top of the competition. Here are nine more. Try to cut corners if you like, but I'm telling you, it won't work.
Learn from experience. Experience is the best teacher, hands down. Not just your own experience, but insights others share from theirs, as well. Former Intel chief Andy Grove was a mentor to Steve Jobs. Jobs, in turn, advised Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Experience is like an enormous cascading waterfall, an endless source of wisdom and knowledge.
Prioritize and delegate. According to VC Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures, a CEO should focus on doing just three things and delegate the rest: "Set and communicate the overall vision and strategy of the company; recruit, hire and retain the best talent; and make sure there's always enough cash in the bank." Your three things will differ, but still, the fewer things you focus on, the better your chances of getting them done.
Act on smart decisions. This may sound simple, but strangely, it's where even successful leaders are most likely to fall down. They get lazy, take shortcuts, listen to yes-men, fall for BS, overreact to a single data-point, or fail to act at all. It's the single most preventable cause of leadership failure.
Engage key stakeholders. A CEO's key stakeholders are customers, employees, and investors. Yours are probably different. No matter. You must engage them on a regular basis. Tell them what they need to know and give it to them straight. Ask leading questions and really listen to what they say. Motivate them. Yes, I know it isn't easy to do all that, but that's what it takes to be the boss.
Promote the winners and fire the losers. Every organization has employees you can't afford to lose and those you can't afford to keep. Learn to identify them. Promote and motivate the former and get rid of the latter. It's called weeding and feeding. The result is a beautiful organization.
Pay attention to the numbers. If your customers love your products and services, your employees are effective and engaged, and you're doing a good job running the business, it will show up in the numbers. Income statements and balance sheets provide key metrics on the health of your business, especially year-to-year comparisons.
Troubleshoot tough problems. Business life is full of really tough problems and difficult tradeoffs. There are product issues, technical issues, organizational issues, customer issues, the list goes on and on. You don't have to be Socrates, but it helps if you're a critical thinker who gets deductive reasoning.
Never give up; never surrender. Courage in the face of adversity, perseverance, stick-with-it-ness, these are qualities that every great leader I've ever known had. They never quit. Granted, there are times when they probably should have and didn't, but on balance, they still came out ahead.
Negotiate effectively. I've heard loads of people say they hate to negotiate, but I've never heard a CEO say it. It's one of the most fundamental aspects of business. Think of it as a challenging game of strategy. Personally, I find it to be surprisingly invigorating and fulfilling.

TOP 9 TRAVEL TIPS

My top 9 travel tips

July 3, 2012 by Paulo Coelho

 

I realized very early on that, for me, travelling was the best way of learning. I still have a pilgrim soul, and I thought that I would use this blog to pass on some of the lessons I have learned, in the hope that they might prove useful to other pilgrims like me.
1. Avoid museums. This might seem to be absurd advice, but let’s just think about it a little: if you are in a foreign city, isn’t it far more interesting to go in search of the present than of the past? It’s just that people feel obliged to go to museums because they learned as children that travelling was about seeking out that kind of culture. Obviously museums are important, but they require time and objectivity – you need to know what you want to see there, otherwise you will leave with a sense of having seen a few really fundamental things, except that you can’t remember what they were.
2. Hang out in bars. Bars are the places where life in the city reveals itself, not in museums. By bars I don’t mean nightclubs, but the places where ordinary people go, have a drink, ponder the weather, and are always ready for a chat. Buy a newspaper and enjoy the ebb and flow of people. If someone strikes up a conversation, however silly, join in: you cannot judge the beauty of a particular path just by looking at the gate.
3. Be open. The best tour guide is someone who lives in the place, knows everything about it, is proud of his or her city, but does not work for any agency. Go out into the street, choose the person you want to talk to, and ask them something (Where is the cathedral? Where is the post office?). If nothing comes of it, try someone else – I guarantee that at the end of the day you will have found yourself an excellent companion.
4. Try to travel alone or – if you are married – with your spouse. It will be harder work, no one will be there taking care of you, but only in this way can you truly leave your own country behind. Traveling with a group is a way of being in a foreign country while speaking your mother tongue, doing whatever the leader of the flock tells you to do, and taking more interest in group gossip than in the place you are visiting.
5. Don’t compare. Don’t compare anything – prices, standards of hygiene, quality of life, means of transport, nothing! You are not traveling in order to prove that you have a better life than other people – your aim is to find out how other people live, what they can teach you, how they deal with reality and with the extraordinary.
6. Understand that everyone understands you. Even if you don’t speak the language, don’t be afraid: I’ve been in lots of places where I could not communicate with words at all, and I always found support, guidance, useful advice, and even girlfriends. Some people think that if they travel alone, they will set off down the street and be lost for ever. Just make sure you have the hotel card in your pocket and – if the worst comes to the worst – flag down a taxi and show the card to the driver.
7. Don’t buy too much. Spend your money on things you won’t need to carry: tickets to a good play, restaurants, trips. Nowadays, with the global economy and the Internet, you can buy anything you want without having to pay excess baggage.
8. Don’t try to see the world in a month. It is far better to stay in a city for four or five days than to visit five cities in a week. A city is like a capricious woman: she takes time to be seduced and to reveal herself completely.
9. A journey is an adventure. Henry Miller used to say that it is far more important to discover a church that no one else has ever heard of than to go to Rome and feel obliged to visit the Sistine Chapel with two hundred thousand other tourists bellowing in your ear. By all means go to the Sistine Chapel, but wander the streets too, explore alleyways, experience the freedom of looking for something – quite what you don’t know – but which, if you find it, will – you can be sure – change your life.

Stand for something

If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything.

Stand for something good, do not allow others to pull you down. Be better than that.

You will be tested daily and things will go wrong and your patience will be tried. But know that and be ready for it. Do not allow them to win.

Kill em with kindness.

It is easier to deal with the negative when you know that you are doing the right thing and that you stand for honesty and for hard work and for helping others... no matter what.

Stand up.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwdOUW2abqI