The Indispensible Person

During the worst days of the Civil War, President Lincoln would often get away from the summer heat of Washington by riding up to a telegraph office on a cool hill north of the city. The telegraph was the first great technology of the revolution in telecommunications that over time developed into communications satellites and the Internet. The President would sit in the telegraph office receiving the very latest reports from the battle field.

One night a telegraph message came in detailing yet another Union army calamity. Confederate Calvary had surprised a Union camp near Manassas, Virginia, and captured a brigadier General and a hundred horses. With the telegraph operator watching, Lincoln slumped in his chair as he read of the latest setback. Moaning slightly he said " Sure hate to lose those one hundred horses."

The operator felt obliged to ask, " Mr President, what about the brigadier General ?"

Lincoln replied, " I can make a brigadier General in five minutes, but it is not easy to replace one hundred horses."


NO PERSON IS INDISPENSABLE

Vincent

Be yourself -

One of our most famous artist in the world was Vincent Van Gogh -

Vincent was laughed out of school.

People thought , as did he, that he would never amount to anything.
He had no friends and was very lonely his entire life.

He painted and drew over 2000 pieces that today are worth in millions.

He is studied by artist every day throughout the world.

Many think he suffered from epilepsy that back in the 1800's was not even recognized so many thought he was insane.

He continued to do what he knew and what he loved.

Two local places

Two local places I visit to keep prospective near by are Benny's and Little Miss Cranston .

Benny's is a local store that has everything from tires to candy and bikes and paints etc- The managers that run that store always seem to busy to talk to you or even look at you. They bark orders to the people that work there.
They remind me that even though you may hold a title or in charge of things outside the walls of your business who cares. Within those walls they may have " power " and they may feel important but in the overall they are simply people with a title and outside those walls it does not give them any more power than the next guy.

Little Miss Cranston is a local diner. I stop there sometimes for breakfast or lunch. They have a counter that you can sit at and tables. I am normally alone so I sit at the counter. I always take note on how happy the waitresses are and how the dishwasher comes out every 5 or 6 minutes to gather his dirty dishes. They all do their job and seem to get along and always have a smile. They remind me that it does not matter how much money you make or  how fancy your job may be it is how you act in your job and how you treat others.

We all get wrapped up in ourselves some times, I think that it is natural but every so often try to look around and notice others outside your work place.

 Which person are you ?

1961

1961

• President Kennedy advises all "prudent families" to have a bomb shelter.
• The DNA genetic code is broken.
• The IBM Selectric typewriter is introduced.
• The United States launches its first test of the Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile.
• Construction of the Berlin Wall begins, restricting movement between East Berlin and West Berlin and forming a clear boundary between West Germany and East Germany, Western Europe and Eastern Europe.
• The Vietnam War officially begins, as the first American helicopters arrive in Saigon along with 400 U.S. personnel.
• "Barbie" gets a boyfriend when the "Ken" doll is introduced.
• Russians send the first man into space.
• John F. Kennedy becomes the 35th President of the United States.
• President of the United States John F. Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
• The longrunning soap opera General Hospital debuted on ABC.
• Baseball player Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hits his 61st home run in the last game of the season, against the Boston Red Sox, beating the 34-year-old record held by Babe Ruth.
• Adolf Eichmann is pronounced guilty of crimes against humanity by a panel of 3 Israeli judges.

Who are you fooling ?

This week I watched a fellow employee move from desk to desk and stand around and chat and complain to anyone who would listen.

What they were complaining about I have no idea but if I was to add all the time wasted that day by this individual it would at least half their day.

So while they were on our payroll they stole a half a day's pay.
That is the way that I look at it.

It is grossly unfair to all the other employees that keep their heads down and work a full day.

The crazy part is these people that spend the day bitching about work could be so much better at their job if they actually worked at their job.

I have seen dozens of these type people come and go and they just don't ever get it.

They think they are getting something over on management or their employer but who are they ultimately fooling?

Do yourself a favor- if you are getting paid to work than work- If you do not like something than work the system to try to change it. Think of what YOU can do to help change things. If you can not think of any solutions or think the problems are to big for you than choose the right moment and your words and meet with your manager or supervisor. Always to try follow your complaint with a suggestion.

Trust me people see and note the people that are truly working and those that are here to just make time go by and the more they spend time visiting others the less time they have to actually work.

It is noted and eventually those people are just a name that we try to remember years later after they are let go.

Who are you fooling?

ENJOY THE RIDE

I hear the wavesSun beatin' down on my shoulders

It's a near-perfect day -Wishin' I wouldn't get any older

They say that it's gone before you know it

Quiet your mind
Soak it all in
It's a game you can't win

Enjoy the ride

I feel the change Goin' on all around me

It's strange How I'm taken and guided- Right where I end up right I'm needed to be


At the end of the water -A red sun is risin'
And the stars are all goin' away

And if you're too busy talkin'

You're not busy listenin'

To hear what the land has to say

Quiet your mind

NICE TO KNOW

In the past week we had to reach out to a couple of drivers to assist us in some challenging deliveries.

In both cases our owner operators were there for us and more important they were there for each other.

In one we had a challenging delivery on a Government services delivery in downtown DC- it was a Sunday and we wanted to be sure that we had the best help possible- we had a very good driver already planned on the delivery and we asked another driver- John Southall to help because he was in the area. Even though it looked like Sunday would of been John's only day off in a while and agreed.
Our driver Mark and the customer was sure glad to have John on the job.

The other was on the other side of the country- we had a huge VIP and a 30,000 lb account move being delivered in southern CA- we called our driver extortioner- Skip Austin for his assistance. And just like John - Skip has been working and running hard but he agreed to head south to help our driver Rich.

As we all know labor on the road is always challenging, to say the least, so to have two top flight drivers head the delivery teams on both these jobs was a huge help.

It is just good to know that there are still people out there that care and that help each other.

Thank you John and Skip...and of coarse Mark and Rich.

Thanks for helping and for restoring our faith in each other.

1960

1960

• Sprite is introduced by Coca-Cola.
• In Greensboro, North Carolina, four black students begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Although they are refused service, they are allowed to stay at the counter. The event triggers many similar nonviolent protests throughout the Southern United States, and 6 months later the original 4 protesters are served lunch at the same counter.
• Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• After a two-year stint, Elvis Presley returns from Germany.
• President Dwight Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1960 into law.
• The Beatles begin a forty-eight night engagement at the Indra Club in Hamburg, West Germany.
• Cold War trivia: Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a table at a United Nations General Assembly meeting, protesting discussion of Soviet Union policy toward Eastern Europe.
• The Polaris missile is test-launched.
• "The Flintstones" who were often compared to "The Honeymooners" air on television.
• France tests its first A Bomb in the Sahara desert.

1969

1969

• Neil Armstrong walks on the moon.
• 624 pairs of panty hose are produced.
• After 147 years, the last issue of The Saturday Evening Post is published.
• The Woodstock Music and Art Fair is held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre farm near Bethel, N.Y. August 15th- 18th. Thirty-two acts performed outdoors in front of 500,000 concert-goers
• At the Academy Awards ceremony for films released in 1968, a tie between Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand results in the 2 sharing the Best Actress Oscar; Hepburn also becomes the only actress to win 3 Best Actress Oscars. The film version of Oliver! wins Best Picture.
• The film Easy Rider premieres.
• Project Apollo: The Eagle lands on the lunar surface. The world watches in awe as Neil Armstrong takes his historic first steps on the Moon and erects first flagpoles in outer space to fly the American flag
• Members of a cult led by Charles Manson murder Sharon Tate, (who was 8 months pregnant), and her friends Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, and Jay Sebring at Tate and husband Roman Polanski's home in Los Angeles, California. Steven Parent, leaving from a visit to the Polanskis' caretaker, is also killed. More than 100 stab wounds are found on the victims, except for Parent, who had been shot almost as soon as the Manson Family entered the property.
• The Manson Family kills Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, wealthy businesspeople who live in another section of Los Angeles.
• Monty Python's Flying Circus airs its first episode on the BBC.
• The pilot episode of The Brady Bunch, starring Robert Reed and Florence Henderson, airs on United States TV.
• Wal-Mart incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
• The Children's Television Workshop's educational television program Sesame Street is premiered in the United States.
• John Lennon returns his OBE to protest the British government's support of the U.S. war in Vietnam.
• The Manson family "hippie cult" is charged with the Tate-LaBianca murders.
• The Altamont Free Concert is held at the Altamont Speedway in northern California. Hosted by the Rolling Stones, it is an attempt at a "Woodstock West" and is best known for the uproar of violence that occurred. It is viewed by many as the "end of the sixties."

TRUST

To truly trust a person and to know that someone FULLY trust you is one of the greatest rewards we get in life.

It is also one of the hardest rewards to achieve.

To accept someone for their false and misgivings and to look past them is a big part of it.

We all come with some baggage.

 I always say that if you have enough time to have someone lay down on the therapist couch long enough you can always start to see why they may be defensive or apprehensive or why they are who they are.
We all live through things that have happened to us in the past and growing up that effect how we react to things and who we are.

That is why we need to just accept people for who they are.

If their personalities is that much far right than yours than limit your time with them but try not to hate them or belittle them.

Remember we ALL have our positives and our negatives.

So in order to truly trust someone you need to accept them for who they are.

The cool thing is when you do that there is a very good chance that it will come right back to you.

Why is something so easy....so hard?

And that is our reward.

SUNDAY

Take time this weekend to get the family together for an old-fashioned Sunday dinner.

Whether you plan a midday or early evening meal, slowing down with good food and good company is a grand way to celebrate the importance of family.

Gather the family

Sunday dinners are meant to be multi-generational.

 This means grandparents and toddlers, teenagers and baby boomers sit down at the same time in the same place and break bread.

Make sure the family knows that you are planning a weekend get-together. Call those who live elsewhere, tweet or email, or post a family notice on the bulletin board or refrigerator door. Be specific as to time and place.

Make it clear this is a family affair -- not a major party or minor potluck supper. If you want help with the meal, be sure to ask for it. Your sister, cousin, or mother may offer to bring a salad, dessert, or freshly baked bread. Let them!

An Afternoon Meal

In the old days, Sunday dinner was at two or three o'clock.
 There's good reason for this timetable. It frees the morning for cooking, browsing in farmer's markets, bicycling with the kids, going to church, or household chores.
When it's time for dinner, the afternoon hour means there's time to relax and enjoy the day before it's time for Sunday night, pre-work-week rituals.
If you prefer, an early evening meal is equally rewarding. If any family members have long drives, however, earlier in the day is usually preferred.

I am training them for you

We once had a driver that with us and he did a absolute marvelous job in front of the customer. He did all the hard stuff and figured out how to dissemble and move a lot of very big and odd pieces in his time and knew how to load a trailer with the best of them.
 He was very good at the moving part.

The challenge was he spoke to everybody else as if they were his servants.
 He spoke down to them and was very condescending. Everyone from dispatchers to agents and other department's in the building.
When I ask him was he acted that way he told me that- he was training them.

I told him that was not his job and the method in which he was using, even if he did mean well, was alienating him with most parties.

I can never understand how some people just do not get it. You have to work with the same people and will have to speak to them again some where down the road. Don't you want friends and someone that will help you.

Unfortunately this man built up such a negative reputation that no one wanted to speak to him much less go out of there way for him.

The real sorry part is he never did see that. He felt if he picked up the couch and wrapped it nice and loaded it correctly and got it to where it was suppose to go on time and without damage that he did his job.......and he did but he left out a another big part of what would make him successful.... all the other people that he had contact with.

You can not sustain success all by yourself. No matter what you do or what line of work you are in - you need others to maintain that success and to grow and to continue to learn.

Even if the learning is just how to speak to others.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

After much thought I absolutely believe that it all comes down to RESPECT-

In business, in your relationships and in life- respect is what you need and unfortunately what I view as starting to disappear.

Growing up in the late 50's and 60's I was taught to respect my elders and to respect the law and certainly my parents.

I see it more and more in just my every day. Rather it's someone who just decides to park in that handicap parking spot even if they are not or throwing garbage out a car window or just listening to conversations around me there is a loss of respect.

Sitting on the beach the other day was a young group of people next to me probably in their early 20's and they were cussing up a storm and talking about events that were not meant for where they were. There were a lot of very young kids within ear shot- respect-

 Once I was sitting waiting for my wife in Dunkin Donuts when this oversize Ford 150 pulls into the spot right in front of the door of the Dunkin Donuts where there was there huge yellow diagonal stripes showing a no parking spot. Out jumps this guy in his thirties and keeping his truck running jumps out of the truck to enter the Dunkin Donuts- respect-

All these type people think the world resolves around them.
They could care less about rules or the people around them.

We would all have better relationships and get along so much better if people would simply respect each other and the world around them.

PIZZA

While I was sitting in a pizza place the other day I observed a man ordering a small pizza to go.

He appeared to be alone and the cook asked him if he would like it cut into 4 pieces or 6.

He thought about it for some time before responding.

"Just cut into 4 pieces; I don't think I'm hungry enough to eat 6 pieces."

SERVANT LEADERS

The biggest challenge for servant leaders

 Two things can keep even the best executives from becoming true servant leaders. “One is false pride—when you think more of yourself than you should. When this occurs, leaders spend most of their time looking for ways to promote themselves. The other is fear and self-doubt—when you think less of yourself than you should. These leaders spend their time constantly trying to protect themselves.”

Surprisingly, the root cause of both behaviors is the same, “The ego.

It's just part of the human condition. Any time I hear someone say that their ego has never gotten in their way, that they are never prideful and never experience self-doubt, I usually say, half jokingly, ‘I'll bet you lie about other things too.’ We all have things that take us off track.”

 It's very powerful when people can share their vulnerability and be more authentic and transparent,”

“Ego is the biggest addiction in the world.

 So many people think of their self-worth as a function of their performance plus the opinions of others. But that's a dead-end deal. When your self-worth is somewhere ‘out there,’ it's always up for grabs.”

SERVE OR BE SERVED

Look Inside to Begin Your Leadership Journey
Best-selling business author Ken Blanchard believes leadership is an inside-out proposition.

"Leadership is a transformational journey that starts with self leadership. It begins by asking yourself a tough question: 'Am I here to serve, or be served?'" According to Blanchard, your answer to this question will reflect a fundamental difference in the way you approach leadership.

If you believe leadership is all about you, where you want to go, and what you want to attain, then your leadership by default will be more self-focused and self-centered.

On the other hand, if your leadership revolves around meeting the needs of the organization and the people working for it, you will make different choices that will reveal a more "others-focused" approach.

These two diverse leadership methods will yield very different results in terms of what employees experience.

THE PIANO

IMAGINE,a concert grand piano......1200 pounds of main piano body,on the piano board.....At origin in Phoenix,Az. With NO steps,AND 4 guys,it was no problem.Then the customer(an ABC News Executive)tells me it(at 12 feet 6 inches)it will not fit in the elevator at destination.....DANG!

17'th floor,wide stairway,BUT,17 FLIGHTS?LEMME SAY IT AGAIN....17 FLIGHTS?.....

I did not know of any Saint Paul,Mn.condos that were that tall....NIGHTMARES all the way up there....How am I going to handle something that heavy,UP 17 FLIGHTS? I was ready to hire 6 guys,just for the 3 hours it would take for that one piece.....Only when I called the shipper 24 hours before,there had been a snow storm that dumped 4 feet of snow and their top floor condo,the roof fell in,.So now,EVERYTHING(thanks you weather GOD)is going into a ground floor 2 bedroom,self storage in the same complex..I don't have to mess with the piano..

I (yes this is years ago) took 2 guys out to residence with me,expecting 50 feet and no stairs for the drop of 17,000 lbs,only to find out that he got permission to place 1 thing upstairs.....YUP,the piano....

I don't remember the numbers from back then,but it was like $2 for every step after the first flight,and 17 flights,with a turn between each,,the dollars for it was like $900.Way to good to pass up......I remembered seeing a sign for the U of Mn.4 miles and thought why not call the athletic dept...

FOOTBALL,players,STEROID abusers,1 eyebrow,no neck,LINEMAN......I called and got 6 of the biggest guys I ever stood beside for $50 per.....They had beer money and RAN up those stairs...After the second flight,I got on the elevator,they still beat me to the condo.....WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER!

This was from our driver extraordinaire Skip

It was just not my time

It was  2004 and a typical summer season in the moving business , I was driving to work in morning and as usual I was thinking of all the things that I had to do. Have you ever been driving to suddenly realize that you have been driving? You have no idea how you even got to where you are? Especially on the way to work and the way home. You kinda go into auto pilot and day dream or you recount the days events in your head not even realizing your surroundings.

Well I guess that is what happened to me this morning in 2004.

I was on the road to Arpin just like hundreds of days before that and my thoughts must of wondered off, I took the curve and the next thing I remember was coming to and shaking my head to try to clear my head, my emergency airbags has deployed and it was kinda smokey.
I was driving a new Ford Focus at the time and I never wore my seat belts but this new call would ding every 30 seconds if they were not clicked in so I was wearing it that morning. Thank God or I am sure that I would not be here today.

After I was able to focus I got put of my car and noticed skid marks in front of me when I followed them quickly with my eyes they led me to a flat bed tow truck about 20 yards from me. He was side ways and pushed up against the fence on the sidewalk. I stumbled toward him and when I reached his cab he got out shaking his head, asking what had just happened.

He seemed OK and then I noticed that he had a forklift on the back of his flatbed.
We called 911 and while we waited we were trying to piece it all together. It happened so fast.
It seems as though when I took the curve I swayed into his lane just as he was taking the curve in the opposite direction.

As I walked back to my car I noticed the front completely pushed in, the bottom brake peddle was pushed in and up, I noticed on the way to the hospital that my leg was bleeding and when I lifted up my pants I saw where the brake peddle hat hit my bone and started cut in , it could of easily have taken my foot completely off.

Before the police arrived a fellow employee stopped to see if I was OK and he ended up taking me to the hospital, my first thoughts was actually to call my daughter because at the time she worked up the street from Arpin and would be passing my now totalled car on the way to her job that morning. I did not want her to panic so I called her on the way to the hospital.

It seems like once I did call her I was able to breathe and it was at that time that I started to feel muscle aches and noticed the blood.

After all that I was fine, a little shoulder and rib injury and a cut leg but overall for hitting a flat bed truck with a forklift on it doing probably between 40 and 45 mph I was blessed....

It was just not my time.

TWO WAYS

When it gets busy, when things around you seem like they are in traveling in high speed, when things get stressful - you have two ways to approach it.

You can self reflect and try to change what you can
or
You can blame others and yell and push back at the people around you.

In any circumstance the only person you can ever really change is yourself.

Even at that YOU only have so much control.

So many things will control your environment and your surroundings. All you can do is to try to rationally look at the situation, access it and do your best.

Unfortunately I think it is human nature to first look outwards and blame or say I can not do this because of .....(fill in the blank).

Do what you can, even it means going at things in a different direction or rethinking your approach.

You can only change yourself,....... look in the mirror.

What does this have to do with drivers

I have posted many blogs on several topics, education, kids, leadership.

I have been asked - what do certain topics like education have to do with drivers?

That may be the mind set of most people on drivers. Almost like they are some kind of neanderthal.....
Drivers DO NOT JUST DRIVE.

They are businessmen.

Businessmen with families and children.

Drivers have to manage and train....daily,

They have relationships, children and loved ones.

I have the utmost respect for drivers, they have to juggle all they do and their families and all while driving hundreds of miles every week if not daily.

These post and topics are just as relevant for our drivers as they are for all of our agents and business people throughout the country......maybe even more...

Oh yea and because that driver sacrifices every day by being away from his family I am able to have a job along with hundreds of other office personnel.

We are all spokes in the wheel and we need each other, the driver needs the sales men and women to sell jobs so that he has work to put on his truck, you need operations to plan and customer care reps to speak to the customers and the accounts, you need the registration clerks to file and billing and accounting to do their jobs so that the driver can get paid properly and timely for his hard work, we need our agent family to sell work, help with providing labor when we roll into their town, we need our people in safety to provide our Federal Government with all they need so that we can travel the highways safely and legally, from the gentlemen who handles our mail to the clerk who files a folder.....we are all needed and a part of the process.

IT IS ALL CONNECTED...WE NEED EACH OTHER.

The biggest difference is I go home each night to my family while our drivers are driving to their next assignment and prepare to walk up a new set of stairs and introduce themselves to another stressed person having to move all of their personal belongings.

GOD BLESS ALL OUR DRIVERS

EDUCATION

Education begins the moment a baby hears her mother's voice and realizes the voice is her mother's.
Babies need nurturing and structure.

 They need a place to be safe and in which to grow and learn, with parents and families watching, correcting, and above all, loving them.

Children need to be taught early in life what is expected of them and how they must never shame their family.

They must be taught to mind their adults. If a kid isn't spoken to properly, read to, taught numbers, colors, time, how to behave, how to tie their shoelaces, and know the difference between right and wrong, he will be miles behind by the time he reaches the second grade.

Education begins at home and is the foundation for your children for the rest of their life.

It ain't brain surgery

It ain't brain surgery.

Every person in an organization has value. and wants that value to be recognized.

Every human being needs appreciation and reinforcement.

The person who cleans your office at night has no less value than the President, VP or manager.
They deserve a thank you, a kind word, let them know their value.

How did you start? What was your first job?

Mine was washing dishes at a Newport Creamery. I took my job serious and wanted to be the best and fastest dishwasher. I had a blast doing it actually and met many friends.
To this day when I go to a Newport Creamery I always take notice of the dishwasher coming out of those swinging doors and I remember when, times were certainly simpler then.

When you start thinking that you are better than others because of your rank or standings you begin to fail.

It ain't brain surgery.........

EARN IT

Here is a simple quote that I fully support and believe in-

IF YOU TAKE THE PAY, EARN IT.

ALWAYS DO YOUR VERY BEST.

 EVEN WHEN NO ONE OS LOOKING.

YOU ALWAYS ARE.

 DON'T DISAPPOINT YOURSELF.

ANOTHER EXCERPT

Here's another excerpt from Colin Powell's book- It worked for me-

It is human gesture that counts.

 Yes, medals, stock options, promotions, bonuses, and pay raises are fine.

But to really reach people, you need to touch them. A kind word, a pat on the back, a "well done," provided one-on- one and not by mob email is the way you share credit.

It is the way you appeal to the dreams, aspirations, anxieties, and fears of your followers.

They want to be the best they can be; a good leader lets them know it when they are.

COLIN POWELL

The following is a excerpt from Colin Powell's book- It worked for me-

I encouraged all my subordinate commanders and staff to feel free to argue with me. My guidance was simple: " Disagree with me, do it with feeling, try to convince me are right and I am about to go down the wrong path. You owe that to me; that's why you are here. But don't be intimidated when I argue back.

A moment will come when I have heard enough and I make a decision. At that very instant, I expect you to execute my decision as if it was your idea. Don't damn the decision with faint praise, don't mumble under your breath- we now all move out together to get the job done. And don't argue with me anymore unless you have new information or I realized I goofed and come back to you.

 Loyalty is disagreeing strongly, and loyalty is executing faithfully.

The decision is not about you or your ego; it is about gathering all the information, analyzing it, and trying to get the right answer.

 I will still love you, so get mad and get over it."

EGO

For such a small word it has so much to do with your every day....EGO.

As I enter my latter half of my work career I am trying to look back and have a overview of the present. I am trying to learn and then trying to articulate what and why people react the way they do.

So many decisions and walls are made and built due to ego.
Most people have have a tough time letting things go or get very defensive.
It all gets in the way of learning and progressing forward.

In the end it should not matter who was right only that you all learn from the situation and think of ways to make it better.

It seems to me that people's ego always gets in the way. And for those that can not forgive and forget it is even worse. They usually create a wall and their answer then is to just work around the person or persons that they may have a difference of opinion with.

Nothing could be more wrong.

By heading the issue head on and talking honestly you can and will find a bridge and in the discussions will ultimately learn things. Maybe looking at it from another side is exactly what you need.

I find that in the heat of the moment it is difficult but in retrospect you usually can see the other side and by doing so find a solution and better process.

As adults living in the adult world you would think that this is a easy lesson but I truly believe that it our major problem in politics, business as well as in our society.

I fall prey to my ego just like everybody else but as I learn more and grow older I am trying to let it go more and simply forgive and learn from it.

I notice especially when the heat is on and the pressure mounts people have a tendency to look outside them selves to point blame or to find a crutch, I guess it is human nature.

Take a breath and look back at situations when you have a calm head and always try to find a bridge and a better way. You will be the better person for it.

(Easier said then done)

Why you do what you do

To the supervisor of Mr. Les Green,

During my recent move, the packing, loading, delivery, and unloading of my family's belongings was supervised and executed by Mr. Les Green.  The reason I'm writing this email is to highlight the professionalism, respect, diligence, and proficiency demonstrated by Les throughout.  Not only did he make me and my family feel comfortable about an otherwise stressful situation, his supervision of two separate crews ensured that they also created a very pleasant atmosphere for me and my family.  In addition to the personal touch that Les provided, his professional performance is the finest I've witnessed during the conduct of over 10 PCS moves throughout my 19 years in the military.  It is my sincere hope that Les be recognized for his efforts as it only serves to elevate the status and reputation of the entire Stewart Moving Company.  Furthermore, Les should be heavily considered for more leadership opportunities in the future, as I'm certain he would excel.  If you have an questions or require any amplifying information regarding this email, please don't hesitate to ask.  Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter.

r/s LtCol, United States Marine Corps

Some quotes on Dealing with People

You must look into other people as well as at them.

Kind words are the music of the world.
Arguing with a fool proves there are two

Success in life, in anything,
depends upon the number of persons
that one can make himself agreeable to

Let us believe neither half of the good people tell us of ourselves, nor half of the evil they say of others.
Never lose a chance of saying a kind word.

A good word is an easy obligation; but not to speak ill requires only our silence; which costs us nothing.

HAPPY 4TH

Variously known as the Fourth of July and Independence Day, July 4th has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution (1775-83). In June 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies then fighting in the revolutionary struggle weighed a resolution that would declare their independence from Great Britain. On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later its delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 until the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with typical festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues

LOOK AT PEOPLE

My father in law is now in his 70's and is retired.
He worked full time since the age of 16, sometimes working two to three jobs at a time.
I have never met anyone who worked with my father in law that did not say what a nice man he was.
He was a man who not only was a good employee but a good leader.
I was at a party just the other night and a lady was saying how nice he was to work with and work for.

His secret was really no secret.
He looked at people and not around them.

No matter who you were he gave you his undivided attention and showed you that he cared.

If more people would take the time to care and look at people you would find that you not only gain friends you will be a better person and actually do better at your job.

Look- care- take an extra minute.....

How do you want people to remember you?

YOUR LIFE IS NOW

See the moon roll across the stars
See the seasons turn like a heart
Your father's days are lost to you
This is your time here to do what you will do

Your life is now your life is now your life is now
In this undiscovered moment
Lift your head up above the crowd
We could shake this world
If you would only show us how
Your life is now

Would you teach your children to tell the truth
Would you take the high road if you could choose
Do you believe you're a victim of a great compromise
'Cause I believe you could change your mind and change our lives

Would you teach your children to tell the truth

This is your time here to do what you will do

John Mellencamp-- Your Life Is Now Lyrics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4KUmm0XsLY