ADAPT

Far too many managers are “one-trick-ponies.” Early in their careers they had success with one management style and now use it regardless of the situation. The result: They fail to get the most out of their team because they simply lack the skills necessary to handle the complexities of managing people.

The best managers realize that to be truly effective they need to deploy a variety of management styles depending on who they're dealing with and what they're trying to accomplish. They know that a "one size fits all" approach to leadership just doesn't work.

Knowing the business is one thing, managing people is something totally different.

THE YEAR WAS 1988

US PRESIDENT: Ronald Reagan & George H. W. Bush

 HEADLINES: US birth rate is highest since 1964 ~ Terrorist bomb causes Pan Am 747 crash over Lockerbie, Scotland ~ US Navy Warship Vincennes mistakenly shoots down commerical Iranian Airline 655 ~ More than 1/3 of Yellowstone National Park is destroyed by fires ~ Earthquake in Armenia kills 60,000

TIME MAGAZINE MAN OF THE YEAR: Endangered Earth

 POPULAR TV SHOWS: Roseanne ~ A Different World ~ Empty Nest ~ Dear John ~ ALF ~ L.A. Law ~ Matlock

SONGS: Bad Medicine ~ Dirty Diana ~ Every Rose Has Its Thorn ~ Got My Mind Set on You ~ Grovy Kind of Love ~ Hold Onto the Nights ~ Kokomo ~ Look Away ~ Love Bites

SPORTS: Champions include Los Angeles Dodgers (baseball), Washington Redskins (football) Edmonton Oilers (hockey), Steffi Graf and Stefan Edbery (singles at Wimbledon Tennis)

 COST OF LIVING: Granulated Sugar 1.09 per 5 LBS. ~ New Car $10,432 ~ Gasoline .91 per gallon ~ Eggs .69 per dozen ~ Bacon 1.85 per pound ~ Ground Hamburg 1.25 per pound ~ Fresh Bread 1.08 per loaf ~ Postage Stamp .25 ~ Average Rent $420 ~ Movie Ticket 3.50

 POPULAR MOVIES: Rain Man ~ Mississippi Burning ~ A Fish Called Wanda ~ Bull Durham ~ Biloxi Blues ~ Die Hard ~ Beetlejuice ~ Who Framed Roger Rabbit ~ Big ~ Great Outdoors ~ Crocodile Dundee II ~ Twins

From a rookie driver...

From a newbee....a 20 year old learning the business..

I chose the moving business because of the driving opportunity. I drive in the military and wanted a job that I was able to do the same. 

-The most challenging move to date would be the move with the most damage. Knowing the customer was upset I did my best to keep them happy through out the unloading process. 

-So far the greatest challenges would be not snapping in bad situations. Like in the summer when guys were going off on each other or doing things that clearly shouldn't have happened. 

 

Why did I choose the Moving Business..

My story..

1)      Why did I choose the moving business?

I had a young family at the time, married 4 years, I was 28 with a two year old daughter. I was working for Honeywell dispatching their servicemen for all the major hospitals and schools in New England. Before that I managed a retail store when I was 21 for 3 years. I left retail when the "Blue Law" the Blue Law prevented retail store from opening up on Sunday, once that went away Sunday was just another day to work. Having a young family I believed in Sunday being a family day, I still do.
Honeywell was a very good job but I worked in East Providence and their main Headquarters was in Minnesota. All though my supervisors were very nice and they appreciated my work I felt like a number, like the people that truly make the decisions for promotions and who stay and who goes were in Minnesota. They did not know me, or my work ethic. I preferred to work for a family business, I do not mind working hard but I prefer that the owner at least knows me.
I saw a help want in the newspaper for Paul Arpin Van Lines, after I did some investigations they looked like what I was looking for, a major headquarters located in R.I. and family owned.
I interviewed with David Arpin and he was very sincere and said all the right things, that was back in 1985 and I have been there ever since.

    What has been my most challenging move to date? and

    What were the greatest challenges during the move and how did I overcome them?

A few years later it was Mother's Day and I was having breakfast with my wife and now two children when David Arpin called my house. He had said that a customer that was suppose to move the day before out of R.I. found his number and called him at home. The driver planned had mechanical problems and never showed up. Mind you this was well before cell phones and the Internet.
He asked if I could help, I asked for the customer's number and said that I would figure it out.
I knew the hotel that the drivers stayed at when they were in town and knew of a road driver that was there. I called the hotel and asked him if he would help. I then called a local driver and asked if he would help and if he had access to a truck. Both men were on board and even brought one other man to help. The four of us arrived at the residence with two hours and loaded the truck and brought it back to the warehouse. The customer was very appreciative and thankful as they had to be out before Monday. It was great to see people come together to help each other. As it turns out I would learn that is what the moving business is really all about.- People caring and helping each other.

Why I chose the Moving Business.....Cheri

From Cheri Childs, owner of Silicon Valley Moving in CA and past agent of the month...

I was introduced to the moving business by my husband Joe.  In 1990, Joe started Elite Moving with a old 1968 International straight truck.  His first truck was purchased from my father, who was President of our family owned trucking company, Pozas Bros Trucking.  During Elite’s infancy, I ran the office while attending college.  I used to make frequent box deliveries to our local customers, then learned the sales and estimating aspects of the business.  This is what I love!!  I enjoy meeting people, conversing about their family and connecting with them especially when moving is such a personal service.   As the company grew, we changed the business name to Silicon Valley Moving & Storage and became an Agent for Arpin Van Lines in 2002.

As an owner of a small business many hats are worn which means every day is different and can sometimes bring new challenges.  I have grown from the challenges and have learned to be pro-active and prepare for plan “B” to avoid any pitfalls. I recall an office move for one of our local Fortune 500 customers.  The plan was to move approximately 200 employees in three phases over a period of three months.  At the last minute, we were requested to move all employees within a single day and starting after 5 pm.  Given a single day’s notice, we were able to successfully accomplish this by pulling additional labor from different sources.  It was stressful pulling it all together but was able to do so from past experience and being creative.  The move went fantastic and our account was extremely happy.

Cheri Childs is co-owner of Silicon Valley Moving & Storage, a nationwide and International provider of moving and storage services located in San Jose, California. www.siliconvalleymoving.com

Why did you choose the Moving Business..Maggie

From owner of Hirte's Transfer in Minnesota....Maggie Wood

Why did you choose the moving business?

Plain and simple…I didn’t.  The Moving Business chose me.

In October of 2005 my ex-brother in law called me and asked if I could come into his work and cover the phones for the day, he worked at Ace World Wide, an agent for Atlas Van Lines.  I was a bartender at the time and happened to have the day off.  I said “what the heck!”.  I had never heard of Ace World Wide or given any other moving company a passing thought.  That one day changed the course of my life.

I interviewed for the coordinator position having no idea what I was doing but sure that I really wanted to give it a whirl.  I was told that the job was offered to someone else with more experience.  That should have been the end of that.  Instead I called everyday for 2 weeks until the GM just wanted to get rid of me.  He put me through 4 interviews and finally hired me.  I had myself a CAREER! 

I fell in love.  Between the challenge, the chaos and the diversity, I was never board.  I spent every free minute I had trying to learn the “lingo” and the business.  More than one driver was subjected to me calling them “rubber ducky” and saying 10-4 after everything!

A few years and a lot of hard lessons later, the opportunity arose for me to purchase Hirte Transfer.  It was a dream come true.  All I miss is the paycheck!  I have been extremely lucky to have so much support and wonderful mentors. 

What has been your most challenging move to date? and

 What were the greatest challenges during the move and how did you overcome them?

Each move poses its own challenge, but I think the worst one was a 22,000 lbs shuttle.  WI-MN.  Should have been a walk in the park.  The driver at the time decided that he didn’t like the way the customer was looking at him (yes it was that ridiculous) and the customer called me and told me that he, plain and simple, did not like this driver.  Always willing to be on damage control, I thought I had the situation under control.  Apparently that was not the case and I received a call that the driver was sitting inside the truck, not willing to move.  I drove 2 hours out to the job site and there was the driver, sitting in the truck.  It was raining and miserable.  I spoke with the customer, told him we could replace the driver but it wouldn’t be until tomorrow and that was not an option for this guy.  Being the Momma Bear that I am, I doled out a nice balance of “shut-up-an-do-your-darn-job” and “aww, you poor thing!  You are right, this customer IS being unreasonable for wanting his belongings to arrive in one piece”.

Moral of the story…Drivers have bad days too!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas and may God bless you and your family.

Take a few moments to tell someonr\e that you love that you love and appreciate them.

And remember our men and women in uniform.

ENJOY !