Shoes In Africa

I was talking with a friend of mine on Friday who lost his job a couple of months ago. He was telling me that there's really nothing out there for him in his area of expertise.

Most people who are in that situation mope around and complain. But my conversation with Pat was very encouraging for me because he was recounting all of the other opportunities that lay before him. None of them are really in the field he is experienced in, yet he is looking at this situation as very exciting, with a "I can't wait to see what you are going to do God!" attitude.

I shared with him that this reminded me of a story I heard about a shoe company who hired two salesmen to sell shoes for them in Africa. They trained them and sent them on their way with order forms in hand.

About a month later, one of the salesmen returned home with no orders written. He dejectedly told his manager, "There is no way to sell shoes in Africa. No one wears shoes over there!"

Another month went by and nobody from the company had heard from salesman #2. Then a package arrived from him. In the package was a stack of order forms and payments along with a message that said, "Please send more order forms ASAP! No one wears shoes here! The opportunities are endless!"

So what kind of attitude are you going to choose?

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

Philippians 4:8

Half Full Or Half Empty?

A friend told me a story yesterday about two young boys. One was an optimist and one a pessimist. Each boy was put in a room by themselves for four hours.

The pessimist found every toy he ever dreamed of in his room. The optimist was placed in a room filled with six feet of manure.

Four hours later, the door was opened to the pessimist's room. He was found crying. When asked what was wrong, he responded, "I don't know what to play with first!" Then he also whined, "Something might break!"

When the door to the optimist's room was opened, he was found to be happily digging away. When asked what he was doing, he said with an expectant smile on his face, "With all this manure, there's got to be a pony in here somewhere!"

So which one are you?

Customer Service

One of my favorite lines from Zig Ziglar is, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care!" So true.

Walk The Talk has a list of the 10 words that can make a customer feel loved. It is a reminder at how simple customer service really can be. It is also a reminder about how simple it can be to show the love of Christ to others. Notice, I said "simple" and not "easy."

The 10 most important words:
"I apologize for our mistake. Let me make it right."
When something goes wrong, most people merely want to be heard and acknowledged. So listen, apologize, then ask what you can do to make it right.

The 9 most important words:
"Thank you for your business. Please come back again."
Repeat customers cost less than new customers and are often more loyal.

The 8 most important words:
"I'm not sure, but I will find out."
It's ok if you don't know the answer; it's not ok to make the customer keep searching for it. That's your job.

The 7 most important words:
"What else can I do for you?"
Be prepared to go the extra mile, there is less competition there.

The 6 most important words:
"What is most convenient for you?"
Your customers will be pleasantly surprised when you ask what's convenient for them.

The 5 most important words:
"How may I serve you?"
This question reinforces your role in the relationship. Play that role the best you can.

The 4 most important words:
"How did we do?"
Feedback is critical! Your customers have a unique perspective and they appreciate being asked.

The 3 most important words:
"Glad you're here!"
Customers who feel welcome spend more time, more money and are more likely to return.

The 2 most important words:
"Thank you."
Basic manners... but how often do you get thanked when you're the customer?

The MOST important word:
"Yes."
Become a yes person.

Customer service is not a department, it's an attitude.

Positive Attitude

Yesterday I got my haircut by Mari, a good friend of ours who has her own hair studio. I used to work with her and she now handles all of the Lange's hair.

She was telling me about her son Josh (I think he's in the 6th grade) who started school on Tuesday of this week. Josh is an athlete and hangs out with other athletes which is normal for kids of that age.

He was assigned to his home room and when he walked in he saw that none of his friends were in his room. In fact, most of the kids in his home room were not athletic at all and were part of a different crowd. Then he looked across the hall and all of his friends were in the other room slapping high fives because they were together.

He was obviously very disappointed. Mari, who was with him because it was orientation day, said she was heartbroken.

Josh grumbled about it several times over the next few minutes. Then as they walked out the door, Josh said to Mari, "Mom, I think I'll have to bring my football each day to school." Mari asked why he would want to do that and Josh replied, "So I can teach these kids how to throw. I think I'll have to step up this year and be a leader."

What a great attitude!

How often do we grumble about our circumstances rather than just sucking it up and making the best of it like Josh. I think we can all learn from this!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

Houston We Have A Problem

A good friend of mine, Brian Keel, who is CFO at the Toledo YMCAs wrote this recently:

I’ve been reading the book Failure is Not an Option by Eugene Kranz, Toledo native and legendary NASA flight director. While a relatively small part of the book deals directly with the story of Apollo 13 it could be said that the entire book and the entire history of NASA is related to that mission. For all the intelligence possessed by the engineers in Mission Control, for all the technology (advanced for its time) that was at their disposal, for all the courage shown by the crew, it was the training and experience of the people that made the difference between success and failure of Apollo 13.

A pastor friend likened our individual reaction to a crisis or pressure to that of a sponge. What comes out of us when we’re squeezed depends on what we have been soaking in! The Mission Control team soaked itself in training and simulation to be ready for almost any situation. What are we soaking in?

Some of the key components like prayer, corporate worship and Bible study are obvious. But so many of the choices we make every day also contribute to our environment. Do we spend more time with our negative friends or the positive ones? Do we watch TV shows where spouses and children treat each other with respect or do they yell and put each other down?

Soak in the good stuff…. And success will be our only option!

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors.” James 1:2

TGIM

I love to be around people with a positive attitude. I'll bet you do too.

I am blessed to know many who help to pick me up when I'm feeling down. One of those is Pastor Larry. He is the pastor of First Congregational Church in Toledo. He's the type of guy who makes you feel better just being with him.

He sends out a weekly email and I received this from him last week:

I love Mondays and I’ll tell you why…Monday is an opportunity for a fresh start. In my case I dust my desk off…open the blinds and let the sunshine in…and I realize that I have an opportunity for a new beginning. Oh yes, I carry over some of the stuff from last week…but now that I have had a couple days to refresh myself…to worship an awesome God…I’ve gained new strength for a new week.

Can you imagine how hopeless life would be if Jesus had simply said, In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart? No, Jesus said, In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world!

That really fires me up for a new week. As 1 Corinthians 15:57 says, "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." This means, as a follower of Christ, you have victory over death, yes, but it also means so much more than that. It means you can have victory over anything that goes on in this life as well.

I realize that as I say this today, I know that some of you feel like your back is against the wall. You are wondering whether you will ever be able to let go of the fear in your heart. I have wonderful news for you today. It may not happen today…it may not happen next month even…but through the power of Jesus Christ working in your heart and life, you can let go of your fear. Perhaps your prayer should be something like this…I’ll take heart because Jesus has overcome my ______________________________________.

Being a follower of Christ means you can have victory over your fears…your failures…and your future…EVERYTHING!

I love a fresh start!

Larry

It was too good for me not to share. TGIM!

More Choices

" It's not what happens to you, but how you react that matters."

Epictetus

Ray Kroc, Ben Hogan, Wilma Rudolph. What do these three people have in common? They all chose to overcome some incredible obstacles to reach their goal. The obstacles they had were not ordinary, in fact, most told them they could not do it. Does that sound familiar to your life?

A little after I put up my post on Friday about the choices we have in life, I received a link to a 3 minute video about the same thing. It tells a little of the stories of the three mentioned above. Check it out here. I believe it will inspire you.

Change of Perspective

I have a busy day planned today. Just a couple of hours this morning in the office then I have 4 back-to-back appointments which will keep me out all day. As a result, I planned to get up early, work out, spend some time with God and get an early start to my work day.

My plans were interrupted during my prayer time when my son told me that he had gone back to sleep after he had turned off his alarm and he had missed the bus. I needed to take him to school. This only took 20 minutes but it seemed like it was an hour.

I fought off every temptation to tell him how disappointed I was and that this was really "messing up" my plans for the day. God reminded me that not many days go by in which I don't "mess up" His plans. Yet, He still loves me just the same.

After hearing that, I became very thankful that I have such an awesome son that I "get" to take to school. Thank you Lord!

Hire For Attitude, Train For Skill

I was reviewing my notes yesterday from the Willow Creek Leadership Summit I attended in 2005. When looking over the notes I took from the interview Bill Hybels did with Colleen Barrett (President of Southwest Airlines) I was struck by something simple she said.

She said that when hiring someone they do their best to make sure that the prospective employee has a great attitude above all else. In fact she said that they, “hire for attitude and train for skill.” Pretty simple but it obviously works for them (they consistently outperform most other airlines in almost every category).

This is a list of characteristics Southwest looks for in people:

1. Want to serve from the heart
2. Altruistic and caring
3. Sense of humor—take business seriously but not themselves
4. Common sense
5. Make eye contact with others
6. Mix well with others – introduces themselves…

Again, pretty simple and filled with a lot of common sense. Do you know anyone who could benefit by taking on these characteristics? I know that I plan on sharing this list with each of my children as I know it will help them to be not only better employees someday but also better citizens.

TGIF Part 2 - Get To vs. Have To

Yesterday I talked about how we can change the acronym TGIF from "Thank God It's Friday" to "Today God Is First."

I just read an article written by Jon Gordon, the author of The No Complaining Rule, Positive Ways To Deal With Negativity At Work which shares another change we can make in our attitude which can help us to change the TGIF acronym. In the article he talks about an important distinction between "get to" and "have to":

Who knew that two simple words could change one’s mindset, perspective and approach to work and life? Just two words have the potential to enhance joy, productivity, performance and change a complaining voice to an appreciative heart.

So often we say things like, "I have to take the kids to practice." "I have to go to this meeting." "I have to finish this project." "I have to go to work today." "I have to take care of this customer." "I have to share this new information with my team." "I have to see my family this weekend."

We act as if we don’t have a choice. As if we are imprisoned by a paycheck and the expectations of a world that forces us to do things we don’t want to do. But in reality we do have a choice. We can choose our attitude and our actions. We can choose how we view our life and work. We can realize that every day is a gift. It’s not about what we have to do. It’s about what we get to do.

We get to live this life while so many like Tim Russert and my Mom have left this world far too early. We get to drive in traffic while so many are too sick to drive a car. We get to go to a job while so many are unemployed. We get to raise our children, even if they drive us nuts at times. We get to interact with our employees and customers and make a difference in their lives. We get to use our gifts and talents to make a product or provide a service. We get to eat three meals a day while millions of people are starving. We get to work on projects, answer phone calls, serve customers, participate in meetings, design, create, share, sell, lead and suit up every day for the game of life.

Yes, there will be challenges and life isn’t easy, but each day we wake up we get another opportunity to make today better than yesterday and tomorrow better than today. We get to uplift, inspire, encourage, and impact others. We get to live this life. Let’s make the most of it by remembering that life is a gift, not an obligation.

Smile

My son and I did something last night that we rarely do, we went shopping...at the mall! You want to talk about a couple of ducks out of water! We literally had to consult with the mall directory three times to find our way around.

Anyway, I noticed while walking around that many people seemed very rushed. Many also seemed unhappy. I thought how sad this is. Then I realized that this describes me many times when I am stressed and rushed. I know I need to chill out and enjoy the season, but sometimes I just keep making it more difficult than it needs to be and I miss many opportunities to simply smile.

This morning I was reading The Blade and there was an article by Tom Walton about clever T-shirt sayings which made me smile. I thought I would share some of them here so your Monday can start off with a smile like mine did.

"I'm not bossy, I just know what you should be doing."
"Obey gravity … it's the law."
"What if the Hokey-Pokey really is what it's all about?"
"You're starting to make sense. It's time to up my medication."
"I'm not a waitress, but I play one at home."
"Do I look like I'm kidding?"
"Jenius."
"They say I have A.D.D. but they just don't … oh look! A chicken!"
"Keep staring at me. I may do a trick."
"I'm still HOT, it just comes in flashes now."
"Nothing ruins good parenting like teenagers."
"Instant human-Just add coffee."
"What is the speed of dark?"
"Bad spellers? Untie!"
"I'm actually quite pleasant - until I wake up."
"Sometimes I wonder, why is that beer truck getting bigger? Then it hits me!"
"Still young enough to know everything."
"Always being right is an awesome responsibility."
"I childproofed my house, but they still get in."
"Organized people are just too lazy to look for things."
"Ever considered being a mime?"
"Take my advice. I'm not using it."
"Why be difficult? With a little more effort, you can be impossible."

There. Now you're ready to tackle your week...with a smile!

Positive Thinking

I am a pretty positive person...at least I think I am. Before I became a Christian, I loved positive thinking seminars. You know, the conferences where speakers would get you fired up to go out and conquer the world.

I know many Christians who look down upon positive thinking. They think that is for those who don't know God and that it is all fake. They think it is worthless to attend one of these events. I believe that is short sighted. Positive thinking alone will not take care of anything by itself, but it will help you in almost every case...and it certainly is more productive than negative thinking!

Zig Ziglar agrees as he writes:

Just what can positive thinking do? To be candid, some people have given positive thinking a bad name. I can't stand to hear some gung-ho individual say that with positive thinking you can just do "anything." If you think about that one for a moment, you recognize the absurdity of it. As a ridiculous example, I'm a positive thinker, but I could never slam-dunk a basketball or perform major surgery - or even minor surgery - on anyone and expect that person to survive. Nate Newton, the 300-plus pound lineman for the Dallas Cowboys, is positive, optimistic and outgoing but he'd be a complete failure as a jockey or a ballet dancer.

It's safe to say that positive thinking won't let you do "anything." However, it is even safer to say that positive thinking will let you do "everything" better than negative thinking will. Positive thinking will let you use the ability which you have, and that is awesome. It works this way. You can walk into a dark room, flip on the switch and immediately the room is lighted. Flipping the switch did not generate the electricity; it released the electricity which had been stored. Positive thinking works that way - it releases the abilities which you have.

The student who hasn't studied and prepared for the test won't be helped by "thinking positively." However, positive thinking will help the student who has studied and prepared by "releasing" the stored knowledge when the questions are asked. To express it in a different way, knowledge breeds confidence; confidence breeds enthusiasm; and enthusiasm is an important key to being and doing more with your life.

Buy the positive approach to life and I will SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

Philippians 4:8

Positive Attitude

We just returned from vacation in Englewood, Florida. I know this shows our lack of intelligence--Florida in August...but it was amazing. Very relaxing. Great family time.

One morning I was walking with my oldest daughter Kristin along the beach. Because of the storms they have had, there was a lot of seaweed washed up on the beach (you can see a little of it in the above picture).

As we walked along watching seaweed being brought in and taken from the beach by the tide, I asked Kristin, "I wonder what it would be like to be a piece of seaweed, wondering if you were going to be left on the beach or brought back out to sea."

She said, "It shouldn't matter. Either way you would be by the ocean!"

Now that is a positive attitude!

Make it an awesome week!

That's Not My Job!

I have seen pictures of things like this before but I had never witnessed it first-hand. On the way home from a pool party yesterday, my family spotted this on the side of the road about a mile from our house. So, at their insistence, we turned around so we could get a closer look (and snap a picture or two).

I don't know much about painting lines on the road but I do know that I really appreciate the people who do it (especially when it's dark and rainy)! Maybe there are rules in place that state they are not allowed to move things out of the way while they are painting; however, I think that is a pretty slim possibility.

Don't you find this incredible? Painting right over roadkill? Not only is it gross, but it just says, "I don't care about my job or doing my job well."

I hope we all can take a different attitude. After all, you never know who is watching and who you might impact by doing your job well!

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.
Colossians 3:23

Attitude of Gratitude

A man is leaving one town and headed for another. Before reaching the town he encounters a fellow sitting roadside and asks him, “What’s it like in the town ahead?” Are the people friendly? Is the economy good?”

The fellow answers him with questions of his own—“What was it like in the town you just left? Were the people friendly? Was the economy good?”

The traveler snapped back, “Of course not, you fool. That’s why I’m leaving. The people were dumb and cheap and bad to do business with and the economy was awful.”

The fellow said, “I see. Well, I have bad news for you. The town up ahead is just like the one you left.”

An hour or so later, another, different traveler comes along, encounters the same fellow sitting by the side of the road, and asks him the same questions about the town ahead. Again, the fellow asks him, —“What was it like in the town you just left? Were the people friendly? Was the economy good?”

The traveler smiled and said, “Why yes, everybody was kind and friendly and generous and the economy was quite good.”

The fellow said, “I have great news. The town up ahead is just like the one you left.”

This story is so true. Our attitudes really do determine our altitude. I don't think there is a more powerful attitude than having an attitude of gratitude.

Zig Ziglar, had this to say about gratitude in this short article.

Smile

Is this picture awesome or what!

It reminded me of two things. One, of how much God loves us.

And two, of something we can do each day to make us more effective leaders. It is something I have never seen written in a leadership book. It is something that is not taught in any leadership classes. Yet it can be very powerful.

The thing we can do to help us be more effective leaders is simply to smile. Try it. You'll find that it will help you to be a more positive leader and it will help others want to follow you more.

Attitude

I recently read something by Chuck Swindoll which is probably not new to anyone, but I believe it to be so true and I thought I would share it:

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, gifted ability, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace from that day. We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing that we can do is play on the one string that we have, and this string is attitude. I am convinced that life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it. And so it is with you…WE ARE IN CHARGE OF OUR ATTITUDES.

What You Think, You Are

It is the first day of school today for my two youngest kids. My daughter, was up this morning getting ready and all she was doing was complaining about how her day was going to be horrible. Her jeans were making her hot, school was going to be so boring...

I don't think she is going to have a very good day.

It reminded me that we all have a choice each day about how the day will turn out for us. We can look at each of our circumstances with a positive attitude or a negative attitude - a glass is half-full or half-empty attitude.

What are you going to choose?

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4

It's all Good

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

A couple of days ago I told you I twisted my ankle on a hike in the Smokies. I have taken a couple of awesome hikes since then - today to Rainbow Falls shown above.

The hike was very strenuous going up as we climbed about 1,500 feet in 2.7 miles. The way down was obviously much easier - however that is when a lot of injuries happen as we have a tendency to lose our focus.

On my way down today, I was thinking frequently about my ankle sprain from earlier in the week and was much more cautious than normal. I also thought that this was a way God was using a bad thing (my injured ankle earlier in the week) and making it good (helping me to be more cautious and possibly preventing a serious injury today).

Pretty cool!

This same thing can be used in our work lives as well. Think about a seemingly bad thing going on right now. God promises us He will use that for good.

Better Than Good

I love Zig Ziglar and his enthusiasm for life. One of my favorite sayings of his is "I'm doing better than good!" Here he shares with us how we also can be better than good:

People frequently ask me, “How can I know when I am doing better than good?” I thought about that question and came up with 15 ways to measure yourself. Take a look and see what you think:

1. You are doing better than good when you clearly understand that failure is an event, not a person; that yesterday ended last night, and today is your brand new day.

2. You are doing better than good when you have made friends with your past, are focused on the present, and optimistic about your future.

3. You are doing better than good when you know that success (a win) doesn't make you, and failure (a loss) doesn't break you.

4. You are doing better than good when you are filled with faith, hope and love; and live without anger, greed, guilt, envy or thoughts of revenge.

5. You are doing better than good when you are mature enough to delay gratification and shift your focus from your rights to your responsibilities.

6. You are doing better than good when you know that failure to stand for what is morally right is the prelude to being the victim of what is criminally wrong.

7. You are doing better than good when you are secure in who you are, so you are at peace with God and in fellowship with man.

8. You are doing better than good when you have made friends of your adversaries, and have gained the love and respect of those who know you best.

9. You are doing better than good when you understand that others can give you pleasure, but genuine happiness comes when you do things for others.

10. You are doing better than good when you are pleasant to the grouch, courteous to the rude, and generous to the needy.

11. You are doing better than good when you love the unlovable, give hope to the hopeless, friendship to the friendless, and encouragement to the discouraged.

12. You are doing better than good when you can look back in forgiveness, forward in hope, down in compassion, and up with gratitude.

13. You are doing better than good when you know that "he who would be the greatest among you must become the servant of all."

14. You are doing better than good when you recognize, confess, develop and use your God-given physical, mental and spiritual abilities to the glory of God and for the benefit of mankind.

15. You are doing better than good when you stand in front of the Creator of the universe and He says to you, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Think over each one of these 15 ideas and see how you can incorporate them into your life so that you truly are better than good!