Without a shadow of doubt the educator that had the most impact on my life was Professor Amy Sweetman at LACC . She opened my eyes to a whole new world and she will always be one of my all time favorite people.
Amy took it upon herself to teach all of her classes about relationships. It was in her Psychology 1 class that she introduced me to “The Missing Piece Meets The Big O”. One of the best relationship books – ever! It seems like only yesterday when Amy was in front of the class flipping the pages and reading the text out loud. When she got to a certain page she stopped, smiled and then repeated real loud “Markus, some had too many pieces missing! Markus, some had too many pieces missing! Markus , some had too many pieces missing!” At the time I was dating Anne who I eventually married. Almost every paper I would write about her so Amy had lots of knowledge on how toxic our relationship was. Unfortunately, like most people in LOVE, I was blind! Amy even came to the wedding and gave us the book as a wedding present. Too me it was the best gift we received. Thing is, I am still learning the lesson Amy was trying to teach me all those years ago. And I am still learning it the hard way!
To help you understand here is the book on video although I like the book itself so much more.
Amy is such a gorgeous person and I have so many fond memories I actually wrote far too much to post. Stories of the Power House on Christmas Eve or her asking me to teach Psychology 43 one semester! I even wrote how we both took the class to skid row one thanksgiving. The best thanksgiving of my life was that day! I wrote several pages before I realized that I was starting to get blisters on my fingers and there was no way I was going to post it all.
What prompted all this, and I guess I’ll have to publicly say that I am now grateful for social networking, is I found Amy using Facebook’s friend finder last week. It goes through and checks your contact emails and BAM, there she was! I so miss her…
Amy sent me a link to a book she wrote and published and you would not believe the smile I received when I looked at her webpage and saw it was based off the Big O. It just seemed like it was meant to be. What’s even cooler is The Jagged O Scholarship Fund she started to help those who choose to take the road less traveled – the road of service to others in need! You cannot find a better educational cause then that. Please visit her site and help support this very worthy cause.
Today I went to Jiffy lube to get my 3,000 mile checkup. As I pulled in one of the workers walked up to my car so I lowered the window to speak with him. He simply asked “how can I help you?” Of course, the big kid inside me responded, “I’ll have a Big Mac, large fries and a coke!” No reaction and the Jiffy Lube guy kind of looked sad. I figured I better explain the joke so I said “this is jiffy lube, I came here to get my oil changed, just trying to have some fun.”
Still with a very sad face he said, “ya I know, it is just we are out of oil.” WHAT! Jiffy Lube out of oil! My very first thought was what a great blog post this is going to make! Then I started to think of where can I find another shop since I always go to this one. I said “are you serious? Where can I go to get my oil changed?” There was a long pause and still an even longer face. He then smiled and said, “I am just playing with you. We can change your oil.” It was funny because he got me good and I know I had it coming.
Then he told the manager what went down and the manager came to me and said “that was funny, I’m going to give you $10 off for being such a jerk!” We all laughed and as I was walking to my car the manager told me some dumb joke that I won’t repeat here.
Even though rather crude, all the employees today had excellent customer service. I am sure it would be different in a restaurant setting (except Ed Debevics ) but this was a garage and I unquestionably left happier then when I pulled in.
I love to throw fish and have fun at work. It makes the day more enjoyable and really helps to inspire creativity in a team. How do you make the day more interesting? Do clients, customers, co-workers, vendors and the people you have contact with feel happier after spending some time with you?
This past Friday I had an amazing yet extremely exhausting day. I was up at 3:30am to make a first flight out, yet when the plane hit the runway we had to turn back due to mechanical failure. After they switched planes the arrival was delayed about an hour which caused another issue. After landing we waited 45 minutes for them to find a gate. While sitting on the tarmac the plane was a sauna and my sports coat was literally soaked.
I had a day full of executive meetings and by the time I returned to the airport I was beat and HUNGRY! Right after getting past security I noticed a Burger King. A cop walked by and I asked him where he eats. He handed me an airport directory and stated he brings his own food. I put the directory in my pocket, looked to my left, then my right and went and got me a Whopper with cheese. I really wanted something GOOD to celebrate a really great day, but a Whopper was “good enough”.
After I ate I decided to walk a little. Right around the corner was one of my all time favorite restaurants that are nowhere to be found in the Midwest. Ahhhh, I was full! Then the thought hit me, I settled for good enough! If I had only put a little effort into my meal search I would have found a much better choice only a few feet away. I had the time - but I was TIRED!
Most people just settle for good enough out of lack of knowledge or they just don’t care. The rest of us either run out of time, resources or energy which is exactly when we need to go the extra mile. Once again I learned that good enough seldom is.
What tempts you to give up and settle? And what drives you to keep going?
A-dizzle sent me this great photo. Actually, with my sense of humor, this would be a perfect choice, although they might have picked a better name for you normal folks.
Back in my college days my TV professor said that there is some accountant in Reseda who has bought all the latest editing software for his kid and that kid is a wiz at editing. As adults we will never be able to compete unless we specialize and make a name for ourselves as a dialog editor, action editor and so on.
When video cameras were placed in the hands of the consumer all of a sudden a bunch of self-proclaimed professionals were born. If you asked for a shooter with experience all would raise their hand as they have shot their cousins wedding or tapped Christmas morning when they first opened the camera box. Those of us that had some experience would laugh to ourselves because there was a vast difference between a novice and a pro.
Today, that distance is gone. With professional equipment becoming more affordable, more channels of distribution like YouTube and current.tv, and more training available like the Travel Channel Academy or current’s free instruction pages the novices are now the pros.
Fox was the first to stumble on the low cost production of reality TV with the show COPS. With Network TV grasping for air things are changing fast. There is a big concern that offshoring is taking jobs. That concern is real, however, in the TV Industry our jobs are not going to India! Its little Jimmy down the street uploading his videos for free that is changing everything.
I inadvertently found these clips on YouTube of Connie Podesta, which is kind of appropriate since I was accidentally introduced to her teachings this summer. I was in a bookstore in Alabama looking for anything on CD by Brian Tracy that I could bless one of the pastors at Canaan Land with. The only thing the store had was “Leadership: Motivation & Inspiration from Today’s Top Success Coaches”. It looked really good and I had a long drive back so I bought two. I believe I have listened to her CD more than any of the others and they are all good!
It’s called “How To Be The Person Successful Companies Fight To Keep” and worth the price of the 14 CDs alone. One little nugget that just sticks with me is she makes the comments “why are difficult employees difficult? Because they can get away with it! They get their way because nobody wants to be around them.” Such a true statement! It is a form of manipulation we learned as kids. Isn’t it funny we are all just big kids. Anyway, I have had a few high-end HR people listen and THEY feel it is the best coaching available on the subject.
These videos don’t really do her justice and hopefully someday I will be able to hear her live. Hey, I just found both the audio to these videos and the leadership package CD on audible.com – the link is here
Connie Podesta: Life Would Be Easier Without Other People
Connie Podesta: Why People Have Affairs (bad title since this clip is about character)
Connie Podesta: Attracted to People For Our Own Weaknesses?
Last night surfing channels I noticed the History Channel was playing “Dirty Harry”. I know it is an old movie but doesn’t it dilute or confuse the History Channel brand? Are they hurting for viewers? Will playing an old movie help ratings? Who made this decision? Of course, today music channels never play music along with all the other theme specific channels so maybe it does not matter. Any programming can be played on any channel. Seems the job of network programming is soon to be like the weatherman gig – even when you are wrong you don’t get fired! Where can I apply?
Ok, this could be a continuation of a post I did some time ago titled: “Test your website –often”, because if people would actually check their websites on a continuing basis none of this would happen.
Actually I was not even going to write this post, but as I was gathering a little information from a few sites I ran into several issues:
• Schedules listed - outdated now by 8 months (several sites)
• Weekly video announcements - outdated now by 5 months
• A news feed listing the most current news from LAST JUNE!
• Many dead links with many resulting in dead crucial functions
• Many missing photos on many sites (I love the little red x)
No matter how good you think you are – check and then go check again. The internet is all interconnected (duh) and things change in a nanosecond. So what you thought was fine and working properly today may be broke tomorrow.
Since you never get a second chance at a first impression there are two very simple solutions:
• Develop a quality control process and run it often
• Don’t have content on your site that you have trouble updating
To be completely honest here the real problem is knowledge, laziness and indifference. People either do not comprehend how important an internet presence is on perception; or they just don’t care.
Ps. Before I get a bunch of emails from all of you that ask me to post more often- I am including myself in the above.
1. PRECONTEMPLATION: You can’t see any problem, have no intention of changing your behavior, you deny having a problem, and you don’t want to change yourself, only the people around you.
2. CONTEMPLATION: You have a desire to stop feeling so stuck. You acknowledge that there is a problem, struggle to understand it, and begin to think seriously about changing it. You can visualize the destination and even how to get there, but you’re not ready to go yet and still far from taking action.
3. PREPARATION: You plan to take action and are making the final adjustments before beginning to change your behaviors-cutting short the preparation stage, i.e., quitting cold turkey, lowers your chance of success.
4. ACTION: You modify your behavior and your environment. This is the busiest period and requires the greatest commitment of time and energy.
5. MAINTENANCE: You work to consolidate the gains you’ve attained and struggle to prevent relapses. Maintenance is a tremendous challenge that requires a strong, long-term commitment.
6. TERMINATION: This is your ultimate goal. You will no longer be tempted by bad behavior and you will have the confidence of being able to cope without fear of relapses.
After being laid off from his last job, George Brown knew exactly which company he wanted to work for next, but every time he called, the Personnel Department told him the company wasn’t hiring. So George sprang into action, and another Guerrilla job-hunter was born.
George printed business cards that were round, slightly larger than normal, and very colorful. On the front was a picture of a pizza with a circle-shaped message: “Win a Free Pizza”. The flip side of the card gave his name, email address and telephone number along with the promise of a pizza for the first person to get him an interview with the company.
Dressed for an interview, George stationed himself at the entrance of the company and handed out cards to anyone who would take them. He kept this up for a couple of days and became the topic of conversation at the company. One manager figured that anyone who would go to so much effort deserved an interview. One extra large pizza later, George Guerrilla Marketed his way to the job of his dreams at very little expense, and the company is more profitable because of it.
A few months back I wrote a post about how great my dry cleaner is, and because they have such amazing customer service that I forget how much they charge. Well, because of my surgery and my now trying to save every penny they have not seen me in a month.
I just received a call from them and I was shocked. They are sincerely concerned about my surgery and why I have not been in to see them. It was not a sales call; the lady was very genuine and extremely compassionate. I felt like I was talking to family!
Staying on topic of my original post the best and most cost effective marketing is sincerely caring for others – not just those close, but everyone you come in contact with. People can sense superficial. There is a saying in Hollywood that if you can fake sincerity you’ve got it made! It is kind of scary how many people do fake it. Teach your frontline people - receptionists, greeters, call center prayer partners, ushers, cafeteria servers, everyone who has contact with people, to go beyond a handshake and a smile and dig a little deeper. Take the time to coach them on how to be real and your organization is guaranteed to grow.
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