Agendas

Everyone has their own agenda
You should have your own agenda and goals but it should include hurting others to obtain them.
In business I have witnessed people willing to back over anybody in order to obtain their goals and they always seem to justify their deeds for the overall good when it really all about them.
It is the main thing I still observe and struggle with because I see it and I see them for who they are but have difficulty breaking through to make a difference.
I get most angered when I witness the collateral damage because of their selfishness, so many people fall in line knowing full well that they are following people that clearly have a different agenda and one that they do not agree with or have differences with but they quickly learn to keep quiet or else they will be labeled a troublemaker.
When good people with good intentions become quiet and are afraid and they fell they do not have a voice it sets up a very negative situation for all and is counter productive to advancing the over all agenda.
When you feel voiceless and you stay in environments that beat you down rather then build you up you then begin to die a little every day.
Life is too short to allow other people and other people’s own selfish agenda to have you die a little every day ... speak out- stand up and live ! Live your truth , your agenda !
Your agenda should be to always want to learn every day and to appreciate the people and the opportunities around you and to help others and take the time to live every day not die a little every day.
The choice is always yours.

Thank You for Your Service

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

— John 15:13

Memorial Day was first observed as Decoration Day in 1866 to commemorate those who died in the War Between the States with the placement of flowers as grave decorations. It is a day set aside in deference to American patriots who pledged and gave their lives to support and defend the Rule of Law enshrined in our Constitution.

Our nation’s founders clearly understood that the burden of sustaining liberty would be calculated in human sacrifice. As John Adams noted, “I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration [of Independence] and support and defend these States.”

Since our nation’s founding, more than one million American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen have paid the ultimate price in defense of our nation, and it is their final sacrifice that we honor with solemn reverence today. 

Thank a living veteran for his or her service, visit a Veterans Cemetery and leave a flower at a grave, attend a parade, explain the meaning of what today means to the younger generation, observe a moment of silence and remember how lucky we all are to be living in a country where our freedom and security has been given to us by those who have served and those who made the ultimate sacrifice and continue to do so today. 

Veterans, thank you for your service.

TEAM

Everyone loves being part of a TEAM

Most of us enjoy sports, and playing team sports always holds special memories.

Bonds are made that last a lifetime.

As leaders we should always try to make that our goal in our workplace, when you are able to create and believe and be a part of a team you will do great things and you will make bonds for a lifetime.

Pretty special!

Below are lyrics from Kenny Chesney’s song- The Boys of Fall - he describes that special feeling of being part of a high school football team -

When I feel that chill, smell that fresh cut grass

I'm back in my helmet, cleats, and shoulder pads
Standing in the huddle, listening to the call
Fans going crazy for the boys of fall

They didn't let just anybody in that club
Took every ounce of heart and sweat and blood
To get to wear those game-day jerseys down the hall
The kings of the school, man, we're the boys of fall

Well it's turn to face the stars and stripes
It's fighting back them butterflies
It's call it in the air, alright
Yes sir, we want the ball
And it's knocking heads and talking trash
It's slinging mud and dirt and grass
It's I got your number, I got your back
When your back's against the wall
You mess with one man, you got us all
The boys of fall

Forever Young

May God's bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay
May you stay forever young

Forever young
Forever young
May you stay
Stay forever young

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you

May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay
May you stay forever young

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift

May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
And may you stay
May you stay forever young

Forever young
Forever young
May you stay
May you stay forever young

Nice

It is nice to be nice ...

I work best, and only, with nice people. 
If people aren't nice it doesn't matter how smart they are; they won't get hired by me. 

Besides, life is too short to spend time with people who drag you down.
 Nice people also make for better teams and in turn better businesses; because they often give unconditionally, which makes others feel good and thus earns them more influence; more influential people means more informal leaders and stronger teams.

A smile can change your day and your attitude and you will be amazed at how it effects the people around you, people can actually see your smile through the phone.

It doesn’t cost anything and it makes you look so much more appealing - Smile !
And BE NICE ! 

It’s My Job

In the middle of late last night I was sittin' on a curb
I didn't know what about but I was feeling quite disturbed
A street sweeper came whistlin' by
He was bouncin' every step
It seemed strange how good he felt
So I asked him while he swept

He said "It's my job to be cleaning up this mess
And that's enough reason to go for me
It's my job to be better than the rest
And that makes the day for me"

Got an uncle who owns a bank he's a self made millionaire
He never had anyone to love never had no one to care
He always to seemed kind of sad to me
So I asked him why that was
And he told me it's because in my contract there's a clause
That says "It's my job to worried half to death
And that's the thing people respect in me
It's a job but without it I'd be less
Than what I expect from me"

I've been lazy most all of my life
Writing songs and sleeping late
Any manual labor I've done purely by mistake
If street sweepers can smile then
I've got no right to feel upset
But sometimes I still forget
Till the lights go on and the stage is set
And the song hits home and you feel that sweat

It's my job to be different than the rest
and that's enough reason to go for me
It's my job to be better than the best
and that's a tough break for me
It's my job to be cleaning up this mess
and that's enough reason to go for me

It's my job to be better than the best
and that makes the day for me

Lyrics by Jimmy Buffet 

Real Leaders

Weak leaders measure success by money, position and power.

Strong leaders measure success by the difference they made in other people's lives.

The secret to the success of my own career was to hire good people, trust them to do their jobs, and bring out the best in them, not the stress in them.

Good people need little to no management. They need support, clarity and encouragement.

But most of all they need leaders who care.

If you don't care about people, you don't deserve to be leaders.

Truth

The breast of truth stands forward,
The gaze of truth is straight,
Truth has neither fear nor doubt,
Truth has patience to wait.

The words of truth are touching,
The voice of truth is deep,
The law of truth is simple:
All that you sow you reap.

The soul of truth is flaming,
The heart of truth is warm,
The mind of truth is clear,
And firm through rain or storm.

Facts are but its shadows,
Truth stands above all sin;
Great be the battle in life,
Truth in the end shall win.

The image of truth is Christ,
Wisdom's message its rod;
Sign of truth is the cross,
Soul of truth is God.

Life of truth is eternal,
Immortal is its past,
Power of truth will endure,
Truth shall hold to the last.

Muhammad Ali

Prepare

Prepare-Organize- Always have a Plan B (and a plan c)

I believe in the “pay me now or pay me later” principle. Either way you are going to pay, so best to spend our time and energy in preparation because if you do not, you spend twice the amount of time trying to catch up. We all know that the moving business has two seasons, slow and all out crazy. Knowing that you need to prepare in the slow to prepare for the crazy. Everything is habit, so get into good habits.

 Look at our process and what you do and when. You should always be looking at two weeks away to start to identify your possible tough moves and a week out you best have had laid some plans because the rest of household goods world is looking ahead and setting their crews and drivers, Next is 24 hours before that load date, have you looked at the estimate and reconfirmed space & availability? You need to stay out in front or it will mow you down and by July 4th you will be completely stressed- start early! Set your table for the day and the next day. 

The moving business has a peak of approximately 16 weeks, so suck it up and put the time in and organize because if you do not put the time in and care about your part of the move, you will ultimately pay the price and feels stressed and unsatisfied. 

Pay me not or pay me later

Care

Care

Anyone can learn the moving business and how to pack or load or assign a move or ask a customer questions, but the one thing that is difficult to teach is the most important ingredient to succeed, is that is to care! You need to fundamentally care. Care about that person and family that are moving their house and memories and family. Care about that person that is setting next to you and working with you. Care about wanting to learn and to do your very best. Care about the person on the other side of the phone. If you truly care, you will be self-motivated to learn every day and learn from your mistakes. You will make mistakes, that is OK, that is part of the process of learning, just be sure to always look at your side and what you could have done better in the process. Remember, the only person you can truly change is yourself. Take control, take ownership- Care. 

The Moving Business

On your mark, get set…go

The summer in the household goods moving business is like a mad dash. The gun goes off in the beginning and everyone criss- crosses around the country to get all set up before the next school season. To say it is a challenge would be a huge understatement.

The household goods moving business is unique because so many people touch one move, and for the move to successfully, everyone needs to do their job and do it well. It begins with that first contact with the person moving to set up a survey to estimate the weight on their move and to confirm all pack, load and delivery dates. While that is going on, the shipper is dealing with banks and realtors, probably on both ends of the move. Then a quality agent near the origin address needs to be assigned and packers need to pack all the dishes and wardrobes and assemble and disassemble. Then the loaders need to show up on load day and carefully load everything and pad them so they can safely make the journey to the new home. Once arrived an agent close to the destination address needs to help unload and unwrap and place all of the belongings to where the family moving wants it in their new home. 

During that process, drivers need to be sure that their tractors and trailers meet all of the federal requirements along with watching the hours that they are working and driving to adhere to federal regulations. The loaders and ISN loaders need to complete proper inventories to account for everything and the condition that everything is in when it is loaded and again when it is all unloaded. 

WOW!

 Now just wash, rinse and repeat about 100,000 times and that is the household goods moving business in the summer. 

Which Side are you on ?

You might be a young man with the mountain in his step
In search of El Dorado, but you haven't found it yet
Or you might be an old man with his whole life at his back
And you can hear eternity whispering down the track
Or maybe you're a woman, or just about to be
And you can feel the generations swimming in your sea
But you know that it's coming, as surely as the dawn
The battle for the future, baby, which side are you on?


Which side?
The corporations attacking
The natural world - drilling and fracking
All done with the backing of the craven and corrupt
Or the ones who fight
For the Earth with all their might
And in the name of all that's right
Confront and disrupt

There's a restlessness out in the street there's a question in the air
How long if this theft goes on will our country still be here?
People know the game is rigged even as they play
They see their expectations slowly slip away
They've got subsidies for billionaires, there's a bailout for the banks
A monopoly on medicine, and a sale on armored tanks
The whole damned country's being sold - out that revolving door
Between Washington and Wall Street like it's one big Dollar Store


Which side?
The bankers and their special friends
Who rob you time and again
Who like to pretend they're the only game in town
Or the people who
Hope with everything they do
They can build something new
And turn this world around

Who owns the elections? Who profits either way?
Who ends up with all that money politicians pay?
To be the fearless leader, to put themselves across
To be the one entrusted with the profit and the loss
You try hard to believe that when you cast your vote it counts
But elections are won with money in ever larger amounts
Take the money out of politics and maybe we might see
This country turn back into something more like democracy


Which side - which side are you on?


Lyrics by Jackson Brown 

Opinions

Opinions- we have our own opinions
Here’s the thing about opinions, it is only welcomed when asked for and even then it may be shut down or cut short, so when do you voice your opinion?
If you continue to just shout your opinions against the wind and when unwelcome then your voice will simply not be heard or will just anger the other side.
So what to do ? If you do not voice your opinion you feel as if you are not doing your duty or you start to feel as if your opinion does not matter and from there you start to feel as if you do not matter.
You should always hold true to your opinions, to your voice , in order to be heard and hopefully conduct real change you need to also develop the most important tool of listening.
Listen and then listen some more and read between the lines , watch for body language and pick your spots before you intervene. You may even be best to sleep on it , just like you should never bang out a angry reply on email, it is ok to write it but minimize it and sit on it before you send it because after a few hours you will reread it and maybe decide to say it differently or maybe not at all at that tome.
Same thing when holding a conversation, you may be best to zip it and think about it more before you jump in, once words are spoken they are awfully hard to pull back.
Opinions are important, they are your views and you should always feel as if you have a voice but choose your moments and mostly remember unless they ask you directly they may not be ready to hear other opinions at that time.

Relationships

Business and Life is all about relationships.
It does not matter what business you are in or what profession or title you may hold it is all about your relationships with those around you. As we advance in technology people seem to think that taking the time to actually know and care about those around us may not matter or is time wasted.
At the end of the day people want to work with people they trust and people they like , getting to know the people around you and sincerely wanting to help them is not just nice or the right thing to do it is good business.
When you begin to know down the walls and create relationships your job will seem less like a job.

Love and Ego

Everyone loves to be loved

Everyone also has an Ego

Both are issues when speaking the truth and with seeing the truth.

We do not like to ruffle feathers or take a chance on making to a “not nice” list so we shy away from speaking out so we end up just going along, the problem with that is it eats away at us and hurts our chances of helping in the process and in growing in our jobs.

On the other hand because of our Ego we do not like to hear honest observations , especially when they are counter intuitive to our “ plan” or our thoughts so we may push back or shut those out that speak out.

If you truly want to lift that weight off your shoulders then be very sensitive to people around you that want to help and want to speak up and give their thoughts - it is a very good thing to encourage involvement and discussion.

Work on recognizing your weaknesses, both your ability to speak truth and your inner most ego and your fostering of true discussions. 

People can look but never really see and you can hear but never really listen.

Innocence

Thank God for kids and grandkids!
If you are blessed to have kids in your life enjoy every minute and try to relive that happy and loving innocence , when you watch them play and learn and look at every day with such wonder.
Yes our job as adults is to help teach our children but in essence we can learn so much from them.
Kids don’t care about politics or race or religion or money they see other kids and just want to play and laugh and learn.
Children’s love is unconditional and trusting.
Somewhere along the way we adults lose so much of this splendid love and passion to just live, to just be and to have our only goal for that day to be to love and laugh.
If you have kids in your live please dial it back and take the time to observe life through the eyes of a child.

Decisions

I have never made a life decision solely on money.
Money cannot be your only goal and your compass, - are you happy ? Can you contribute? Are you adding to your quality of life ? Can you help others?
Those are the questions that you need to ask yourself.

Yes, you should watch your dollars and live within your means and want to do better but I was in a senior meeting one day and we went around the room as asked what our personal goals were and as we went around most said family, kids, spending more time with loved ones but when we came to one senior member he said “ to make as much money as humanly possible “ - the room went silent for a few seconds because we were flabbergasted to hear some one articulate out loud that was their one major goal in life. And sure enough that person rose through the ranks and makes a lot of money and has a huge house and boat and lots of “ stuff” and he is also very much disliked and no one respects him and business wise he is leading the business to ruin and as a business they loss the path of profit and growth mostly because a business takes on the character of the leadership.

My daughter loves to learn and has worked hard to gain her masters and her PhD in education, she always wanted to teach and is an amazing teacher, through her education she moved from the classroom to the head office in the department of education and was doing an amazing job at that but she missed what she really loved- teaching , helping young people and reaching out to those that may not have the same opportunity as others. She left the office job and is back in the classroom and loving life. She did not make her sole decision on money, power or titles and I am so very proud of her.

My decisions helped me lead the life that I wanted and through that my reward is watching my kids grow and put what they have witnessed into their every day lives and now with their own families.
Treat others with respect, love your family with all your heart and do not ever make money your God,
There is so much more in life that you cannot measure with a bank account or the size of your house and the amount of your toys.

My daughter Jillian is the young woman on the left with the sunglasses and here she is taking her class on a field trip on a hike up a mountain and loving life !