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.

Goals

We are quickly closing in on the end of the first month of 2009...can you believe it? This is typically the time when New Year's Resolutions begin to crumble, if they haven't already. I hope that is not the case with you!

I know some people who are not fans of resolutions. I think they believe they are empty promises. They believe goals are better. I think resolutions get a bad rap.

Here is what dictionary.com says resolution means:

1. a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after voting, by a formal organization, a legislature, a club, or other group.
2. a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.
3. the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.
4. the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose.

Those definitions sound anything but empty to me. A resolution to me looks to be a pretty firm goal. In any event, I think resolutions are a good thing. They are setting the bar high at the beginning of the year...or at any time of the year.

Zig Ziglar recently had this to say about the importance of setting your sights high:

In one of our major universities a professor of economics gave a test to his class. The test had several sections of questions, each of which contained three categories of questions. He instructed the students to choose one question from each section on the test. The first category in each section was the hardest and was worth 50 points. The second category in each section was not quite as hard and worth 40 points. The third category in each section was the easiest and worth only 30 points.

When the students had taken the test and all the papers had been turned in, the students who had chosen the hardest questions, or the fifty-point questions, were given A's. The students who had chosen the forty-point questions were given B's, and the students choosing the thirty-point questions, or the easiest questions, were given C's. Whether or not their answers were correct was not considered. Understandably, the students were confused and asked the professor how he had graded the exam. The professor leaned back and with a smile explained, "I wasn't testing your knowledge. I was testing your aim.

"I believe it was Browning who said, "Your reach should exceed your grasp, or what's a Heaven for?" Langston Hughes wrote, "Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die then life is like a broken-winged bird that cannot fly." Yes, we need those dreams or, if you prefer, a vision. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said, "My people perish for lack of vision." Helen Keller was asked the question, "What would be worse than being blind?" She responded that it would be infinitely worse to have 20/20 eyesight and no vision than to be blind but have that vision.

In the declining years of his life, Albert Schweitzer was asked, "How goes it with you, Dr. Schweitzer?" The aging medical missionary responded, "My eyesight grows dim, but my vision is clearer than ever." Think about it. Develop your own dream, your own vision, and I'll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

The 5% Difference

Tom Ziglar, proud son of the great speaker and author, Zig Ziglar, had this to say about his dad and the way he approached life on his blog recently:

I am sure you are familiar with the headlines “make this your best year ever!” So how do you make 2009 your “best” year ever?

I think you can learn a lot from how Dad would prepare his speeches. He would invest hours and hours studying (for many years at least three hours every day) and then he would spend three or four hours preparing for and “fiddling” with his next speech. What amazed me is that his next speech would appear to me to be just like his last speech, but if you listened closely there was always a slight change.

No matter how good the reviews from his last talk, Dad always tried new things and customized the next talk. Without realizing it, Dad was benefiting from the 5% difference. Every speech, short or long, was always about 5% different and new from the previous one.

Some of the changes became permanent while others only got prime-time once.So how do you make 2009 your “best” year ever? Determine the three or four things that you do that have the greatest impact in your personal life and your professional life, and every day study how you can make them better, and then put in an extra 5%. Now you have set a new standard for yourself! As the shampoo instructions say: Repeat!

Simple things that demonstrate The 5% Difference
1. Write your spouse or child a love note
2. Go one more minute in your workout
3. Prepare three minutes before your big phone call
4. Get to work ten minutes early
5. Trade a bad food choice for a good one
6. Write a list of seven things you can do this week, and then do one each day

The Magic Pill

Tom Ziglar, Zig's son, recently wrote this regarding how to truly improve:

It seems that when it comes to improvement, almost everyone is searching for the Magic Pill. Give me something I can take, something that I don’t have to think about or even believe in, that will work. And it better be a “one and done” Magic Pill, because if you are talking about commitment or work, don’t even talk to me.

The truth is, the Magic Pill does exist, but unfortunately it is not a pill. It’s called accountability. Crazy as it sounds, being held accountable to what you have committed to do actually works! The problem is, if you agree to being held accountable, that means you have agreed to Personal Responsibility. Yikes! Now that is completely out of the question! How can you actually suggest that people should take Personal Responsibility for what they have agreed to do?

That is a great question.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the Truth At Work roundtable groups that have started in NW Ohio and SE Michigan. These groups are extremely powerful because each member, in essence, has a built in board of directors who can advise them in their business and personal lives.

One of the most powerful parts of these roundtable meetings is the accountability portion. Each member shares one thing he/she would like to start doing or stop doing in their personal lives and in their business. Then a fine is determined for each. So, if they are not able to accomplish their goal, they must pay a fine (or some other penalty) which goes into a fund that will be given away at the end of the year.

Have you ever had a goal to lose weight? Have you ever told someone else that goal? If you did, I bet it helped you to achieve your goal. That is why Weight Watchers is so effective.

So if you truly want to change, find someone to hold you accountable.

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

Failing Forward

Have you ever been around someone who says, "I'm not good enough yet to do that"? Or how about, "He does it so much better than I can, so I'll let him do it"?

I know many such people and I in fact have been like this at times. Perfectionists.

Being a perfectionist can be crippling. If we buy into the lie that "if it can't be done perfectly, it shouldn't be done at all" we will never do anything.

Those who are very good at something have obviously failed many times in order to perfect their craft. The only way you will get better is to do something...now--even if it is not that great. You will eventually get better. And in almost every case, something done poorly is worth more than something not done at all. Someone once told me that the key to growth is to Fail Forward.

Here is what Zig Ziglar says about this topic:

Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Doing Poorly

Chances are superb that when you saw the heading of this article you did a double-take and thought to yourself, "That is ridiculous!" But, let us think together and I believe you will agree that the observation is correct. Look at it this way: If you were to quit any endeavor because you did miserably on the first try, your life would be infinitely poorer. Think of it this way: When you watch sports professionals, whether golf, tennis or any other sport, play near-perfect games, you probably stand in amazement. What you're watching is an individual who has literally hit thousands of golf balls, or tennis balls, many of them poorly, and has taken hundreds of lessons from teaching pros to improve his or her game. They understood from the beginning that if they were going to play good golf or tennis, they would play a lot of poor games along the way.

The same applies in every area of life. Most sales professionals probably blew many sales before they became consummate professionals. They understood that every call, whether they made or missed the sale, was a marvelous learning experience. They understood that if it was worth doing, it was worth doing poorly - until they learned to do it well.

The same can be said of the exceptional teacher or the master chef. Each undoubtedly made many mistakes along the way, but they considered those "mistakes" learning experiences. So, whatever your endeavor, just remember that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing poorly until you can learn to do it well. Buy that idea and I'll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Know It All

There is an African proverb which goes like this:

A wise man never knows all, only fools know everything.

I have mentioned before that all of us are leaders--we are all influencing someone, someplace. Because all things rise and fall on leadership, I feel we should be on an unending pursuit to learn how to be better leaders and to be better at whatever we do.

Here is a great story Zig Ziglar shared with me in a recent email:

Dr. John Maxwell of San Diego, California, says that the average person influences 10,000 people - either for good or bad - in the course of a lifetime. That means all of us are difference-makers.

Miss Amy Whittington would certainly qualify as one who directly and indirectly influenced thousands of people. At age 83 she was still teaching a Sunday school class in Sault St. Marie, Michigan. She learned that the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago was offering a seminar to teach people how to be more effective teachers. She literally saved her pennies until she had the necessary money to buy a bus ticket. She rode the bus all night to attend the seminar to learn new methods and procedures so she could do a better job.

One of the professors, impressed with her age, enthusiasm, and the fact that she had ridden the bus all night to attend the seminar, engaged her in conversation. He asked her what age group she taught and how many were in her class. When she responded that she taught a class of junior high school boys and there were 13 in the class, the professor asked how many kids belonged to the church. Miss Whittington replied, "Fifty." The professor, astonished that this little lady taught over 25% of the church youth, responded, "With that kind of record we should have you teach us how to teach." How right he was!

I hasten to add that people who are already good at what they do are far more likely to work at getting better than are those who are marginal performers. What kind of impact did Miss Amy Whittington have? Eighty-six of those boys she taught in her Sunday school class through the years ended up in the ministry. Can't you just imagine the thousands of people she directly and indirectly impacted for good? She truly was a difference-maker. You are, too, so make it a "good" difference!

One Bite at a Time

Do you ever get overwhelmed by projects that seem too big? I know I do.

I once heard someone ask, "How do you eat an elephant?" He then responded, "One bite at a time!" Obviously that is a great metaphor for life, especially when it seems overwhelming.

I recently received this tidbit in an email from Zig Ziglar on this subject:

There's an old saying that "by the mile it's a trial, and by the inch it's a cinch." The reason the saying is old is because it's good, it's valid. If it were not, it would be dead and buried. For 24 years of my adult life, by choice I weighed well over 200 pounds. I say "by choice" because I have never "accidentally" eaten anything, so when I choose to eat too much, I have chosen to weigh too much. Every choice has an end result.

Twenty-two years ago I decided to do something about my weight and physical condition, so I got on an exercise and sensible eating program. Until then my idea of exercise was to fill the tub, take a bath, pull the plug and fight the current - and I know you'll agree that's not much of an exercise program! It took me 10 months to lose the 37 pounds I needed to lose. During that period of time I also wrote my first book, See You At The Top. It is 384 pages long and was the eighth best-selling hardback of the '80s.

Let's explore what I just said. Losing 37 pounds in 10 months meant that I lost an average of 1.9 ounces per day. Writing a 384-page book in 10 months meant that I wrote an average of 1 1/4 pages per day. You raise positive kids in a negative world, build a beautiful relationship with your mate, become a top-performing student, a world-class salesperson, or a top executive or educator not by a few mammoth leaps but by the daily, disciplined application of doing something every day to reach your objectives in life.

Decision Making

Have you ever had a tough decision to make? Has it been easy to do? If you are like me the answer is "no." I sometimes struggle with little decisions.

One of my favorite speakers, Zig Ziglar shared some great advice on how he makes decisions:

If you find it difficult to make decisions, or you worry that your decisions are not good decisions, or you lack the confidence to make decisions in a timely manner . . . you're not alone! Many people express their concerns about their decision-making abilities. But if you ask them, "What's your routine for making decisions?" they often will tell you they don't have one. Truthfully they do, but they don't recognize it, or they don't like it. Their decisions are based on SOMETHING, and if they stop and think about it they'll discover what it is. However, it's much better to purposefully and thoughtfully develop your decision-making system, and then follow it whenever you need to make decisions.

If you ask Zig Ziglar how he makes decisions, he'll tell you that he follows some basic rules. Here they are, in his own words:

1. If I'm really tired, I don't make significant decisions (except in emergencies).

2. If someone is pressing me to decide something "right now," unless an immediate decision is critical, I say, "If I have to decide now, the answer is no. After I have had a chance to catch my breath and review the facts, there's the possibility it could be yes." Then I put the ball back in his or her court and ask, "Do you want my decision now, or should we wait?"

3. I like to determine the maximum benefit of a decision, assuming that everything goes my way. Then I ask, "Suppose nothing goes my way? Suppose this doesn't develop and materialize as I expect it to? What is my maximum exposure? What would I lose?"

4. For significant business-related decisions, I run them past my advisors. These people are successful in their businesses and professions and have a considerable amount of knowledge, experience, and wisdom, all of which are musts in the decision-making process. I get their advice and follow their recommendations, with good results in most cases. If the decision is too minor to involve my advisors but I still want input, I get my family together to look at the pros and cons.

5. I like to pray about my decisions. I ask God to help me see the truth of my motives and to lead me in the way I should go. If I'm about to make an unwise decision, I simply don't have peace about that decision, and I consequently act on that feeling of unease. I ask myself, "How will this decision affect all the areas of my life--personal, family, career, financial, physical, mental and spiritual?" Obviously, not all decisions affect all areas, but if the decision involves a financial reward but also carries considerable family sacrifice, for example, I think carefully as to whether what I give up is compensated for by what I gain. One final note: Prioritize your decisions. Some are more urgent than others!

Responding

I am a big believer that all circumstances work out for good, even if we can't see it at the time. In fact one of my favorite bible verses tells us this is true if we "...love God and are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) In other words, God never wastes a hurt.

Zig Ziglar wrote something along these lines that was too good not to share:

When you respond to life, that's positive; when you react to life, that's negative. Example: you get sick and go to the doctor. Chances are good that after an examination he or she would give you a prescription with instructions to return in several days. When you walk back in if the doctor starts shaking his head and says, "It looks like your body is reacting to the medicine, we're going to have to change it," you probably would get a little nervous. However, if the doctor smiled and said, "You're looking great! Your body is responding to the medication," you would get excited and feel much better. Yes, responding to life is good. Reacting to the incidents of life is negative - and that's bad. The next example validates that fact.

Today there's much turmoil in the job market and many people are losing their jobs through downsizing, mergers and takeovers. This creates some unusual "opportunities" for many people. One positive from this is that in the last five years, according to the Wall Street Journal, over fifteen million new businesses have been created, well over half of them by women. Interestingly, very few of these women had any marketable skills and all of them had great financial need. Most of the new businesses were "trust" businesses, meaning that the women collected the money before they delivered the goods or services. The Journal comments that virtually none of these women have been prosecuted and jailed for failure to deliver on that trust. That's exciting!

Many of these new businesses - possibly most of them - would never have been started had not an unfortunate event occurred in these people's lives. When those events did occur and needs became obvious, these women chose to respond and there's little doubt that many of them are better off now than they were before the "tragedy" took place.

The message is clear: If you will respond to life instead of react to it, then I've got a much better chance of seeing you AT THE TOP!

Choices

As many of you know Zig Ziglar is a favorite author and speaker of mine. He has a way of saying things that make the complex understandable including this regarding the choices we all have in our lives:

Our success in life is determined by the choices we make. You are going to be making choices that will determine your success as you learn to manage yourself and others. To be effective in making proper choices, you must understand the difference between reacting and responding.

Let’s say you go to the doctor, who then gives you a prescription and tells you to come back the next day. When you go back, if he looks worried and tells you he needs to change the prescription because your body is reacting to the medicine, you’re probably going to be concerned. On the other hand, if he tells you your body is responding to the medicine, you’re going to smile because you know you’re on your way to recovery. So, to react is negative and to respond is positive – the choice is yours! It’s a fact that you can’t tailor-make the situations in life, but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations before they arise.

There are some things that are simply not going to change. If you were born white, you’re going to stay white. If you were born black, you’re going to stay black. I don’t care how much thought you give it, you’re not going to add a single cubit to your height. You’re not going to change when you were born, where you were born, how you were born, or to whom you were born. However, you can choose how you will respond to all of life’s circumstances. All of life is a series of choices. Realize that every choice we make, whether it is good or bad, has consequences! You can choose to get drunk tonight, but when you do, you have chosen to feel miserable tomorrow. You can choose to eat properly today, and when you do, you have chosen to be healthier. All the circumstances in your life will not be positive. You must choose to respond to both the positive and the negative.

As a leader in your organization others can tell a lot about you by how you respond, or react, to the little nuisances that crop up in your day as well as the big obstacles that come along. Lead in such a way that causes others to make wise choices and benefit from those choices.

Comparing to Others

I wrote in one of my last newsletters about feeling like I did not belong on my college basketball team. We had some great players on our team and I sometimes felt like I didn't measure up. I went on to write that we all have gifts and we are to use them to serve God. We are not to compare ourselves to others (which I was doing).

Well, I am in beautiful Marco Island, Florida this morning and I am preparing to speak at a prayer breakfast for a hardware convention. At dinner last night the organizer mentioned to me that past speakers at this event have included Zig Ziglar and Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.

I had those feelings all over again...those feelings of "So why am I speaking here? I can't measure up to these giants."

As I prepare for this morning I am taking my own advice. I am going to do the best I can and do it for God.

Someday I'll

I love reading stuff from Zig Ziglar. He always seems to make some great points in ways that even I can understand. Here is another one...

One time we were keeping Timmy, a young cat with a long, fluffy tail for our granddaughter, Sunshine. Somehow he went missing and we spent a considerable amount of time and energy looking for that cat before he was found. That's typical. Most people pull out all stops to recover a pet or a treasured relationship. We would "do anything" to change some things or to have them back.

Question: Doesn't it make sense to pay more attention to friends, relatives, and families whom you love? Are you really too busy to make the phone call, drop a note in the mail, get together for a meal, go for a quiet drive or a long walk, and invest a little time to show that love? Question: Why don't you just make the time?

I don't have a definitive answer, but I believe that in most cases it's more a question of procrastination than of deliberate neglect. We work at a frantic pace and come home to relax. Before we realize it, we've spent several hours relaxing in front of a television set that presents us with programs that make us no happier, healthier, nor give us greater peace of mind.

Don't misunderstand; I believe some TV can be good and can offer company and comfort to shut-ins. But those things are not as important as spending time with those we love and cherish. Most of us plan to do exactly that "someday." But "someday I'll" is a seductive mistress. Deep down we know that our actions this year will parallel our actions of last year and catch us falling back on the old saw of, "I'll call you later," or, "Why don't we get together for lunch?" etc.

Solution: Do it now. We have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow or even an hour from now in our own lives or in the lives of those we love. However, we do know that if we take action now to reinforce or mend some of our relationships, we'll look back with gratitude and say to ourselves, "You know, I'm really glad I took the time."

Message! Spend time with those you love. One of these days you will say either, "I wish I had," or "I'm glad I did."

Leave it on the Field

I love what Zig Ziglar says when asked if he is retired:

"I'm not retired, I'm refired. I'm not gonna ease up, let up, shut up or give up until I'm taken up. As a matter of fact, I'm just getting warmed up!"

That is the way I want to live my life. Kind of like the football player who is utterly exhausted after a hard-fought game--he feels like he left it all on the field.

On Friday afternoons I sometimes feel like I am running out of gas. On those occasions, I know I have had a productive week. I feel like I have left it all on the field and given my best effort.

If you didn't have to work for your current boss, would you work harder? If God were your boss, how productive do you think you would be? Guess what? God is your boss even if you report to someone else at work. We are commanded to work with all our heart for Him no matter what we are doing.

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

Heart

I love to watch people who have passion for whatever they are doing. I don't care if it is mopping the floor in an ice cream shop or spreading fertilizer on someone's lawn, if their heart is in it, I love that.

I've even caught myself t times saying, "I don't agree with what they are saying, but at least they are passionate about it."

It all has to do with heart. Zig Ziglar has this to say on this subject in his book Something to Smile About:

Some things cannot be measured, and the heart is one of them. I think of three former NFL football stars. Mike Singletary, according to the experts, was too short and his 40-yard speed was not that great. However, they could not measure his heart and they did not measure his speed for the first five to fifteen yards, and at that distance he was exceptionally fast. As a result, when a running back broke through the line of scrimmage . . . Singletary was able to stop him in the first couple of yards. That made quite a difference.

Emmitt Smith's 40-yard speed was not earth shattering. . .but again, the experts could not measure his heart nor the burst of speed he was able to generate the instant he touched the ball. As a result, he was able to break through the hole at the line and pick up five to eight yards on a consistent basis and frequently break for much longer runs.

Jerry Rice is the other classic example. His 40-yard speed also was not record-breaking, but his commitment to excellence was not measurable. Videotape of Jerry Rice shows him running stride for stride downfield with a defensive back until the pass is thrown to him. At that point, Jerry turns on the afterburners and frequently leaves the defensive back well behind.

There's something here for all of us to learn. We can measure I.Q., speed, strength and a host of other things, but the will to win and the commitment to excellence will enable a person of average ability to excel. So, use what you've got, including your heart.

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

A Little Extra Effort

The workers who painted the line above obviously did not go the extra mile. Zig Ziglar had this to say about this in his book Life Lifters:

I wonder about the many things we could do if we didn’t know that we couldn’t do them. Many people never make a serious effort to achieve worthwhile objectives because they assume they can’t reach them.

Here’s a story that demonstrates what even a little extra effort can produce. Sir Walter Raleigh attended a prestigious boarding school when he was a youngster. He was an excellent student and wanted to be number one in his class. However, one lad always finished ahead of him, so he determined to discover the secret. Each night when he prepared for bed, he looked across the grounds that separated his room from that of his competitor and noticed that his candle was still burning. One night he noticed that the other boy studied only about fifteen minutes longer than he did. After that, Sir Walter Raleigh studied an extra twenty minutes every night. At the end of the year he was the number one student.

I’ve often wondered how many students miss out on a college scholarship because they did not study an additional twenty minutes each day. Research shows that over 98 percent of all scholarships are either academic or hardship, so some deserving students miss out not because of lack of ability, but because of lack of effort. Many times people grow frustrated because promotions or raises don’t come as fast as they think they should, so they jump ship when just around the corner the promotion awaits.

I have often used the phrase “and then some,” pointing out to my audiences that you should keep every promise, and then some; give your clients or customers everything they expect, and then some; give whatever you do an honest effort, and then some. I first learned those words from former secretary of state James Byrnes, who used that phrase when someone asked him to explain his success in life and in the political arena. I believe that little extra effort – that going ahead from where they are to do the best they can with what they have, and then some – is what separates the successful from the would-be successful.

Message: When you go the extra mile, you are seldom delayed by a traffic jam.

Survival Tactics

Zig Ziglar recently wrote the following:

The giraffe is the largest mammal that gives birth while standing up. I don't speak "giraffe," but I can imagine what the baby giraffe must think when he bounces on the ground from that great height. He just left warm, cushioned quarters in which all his needs, comforts and security were provided. Now he finds himself bouncing off (comparatively speaking) hard, cold, unwelcoming ground.

Almost immediately thereafter, a new trauma occurs in the baby giraffe's life. As he struggles to his knees, Mama Giraffe gets busy "persuading" him to stand up. She does this as he wobbles to his feet by giving him a swift kick to prod him to faster action. No sooner does he reach his feet than Mama delivers a booming kick that knocks the baby giraffe back down. . . . I can well imagine the baby giraffe thinking, "Well, make up your mind, Mom! First you kicked me to make me stand up. Then you kicked me back down!" . . .

That process is repeated several times because Mama Giraffe loves her baby. . . . Mama Giraffe knows that the only chance for survival her baby has is to be able to quickly get up and move out of harm's way. Yes, kicking the baby up and down seems like a strange way to show love. But for a baby giraffe it is the ultimate expression of love. Caution: That approach definitely won't work in the "people" world, but the principle will. Real love is evidenced when you do what is best for the other person, whether or not they appreciate it at that moment.


I thought how much we can learn from this in many of our relationships: with employees, with children, with our spouses and with our friends. Is there anyone you need to show real love to by speaking the truth in love?

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 5:15

Judgment

I heard Stephen Covey talk about an incident when he was on a subway on a Sunday morning. It was very peaceful until a man and his three children got on his car. They began hitting people's newspapers, making lots of noise and disturbing everyone...everyone except their father.

Stephen said he became very angry at this man for not doing anything. He said he was furious.

Finally, he had enough and he asked the man to control his children.

The man sheepishly said, "Oh, you're right. I'm sorry. I guess they aren't sure how to react to the news they just heard. We are coming from the hospital and they just learned their mother has died."

Stephen said his entire demeanor changed in an instant. Instead of being angry, he immediately was filled with compassion for this man and his children.

I often think about this when someone treats me poorly or cuts me off in traffic. I have no idea what is going on in their lives so I need to cut them some slack.

Zig Ziglar wrote something about a similar topic - go here to read more.

Planning Your Day

With one of my consulting clients, I am trying to teach the sales team the importance of planning their next day before leaving the office. So it was great to see Zig Ziglar write this:

If I were to ask the question, Would you like to improve your productivity dramatically without working any longer or any harder? chances are pretty good that you would say, "That would be nice! I’d be more effective and I’d probably get a raise! I might even have more fun in the process."

Question: How many of you, on the night before the day you were going on vacation, sat down and wrote out a list of the things you wanted to be certain to do before you left work the next day? Chances are extremely good that most of you would say you had done that. And most of you would also admit that you managed to complete more than twice the number of tasks you complete on a normal day.

Now think about this for a moment: If planning your job on the day before you go on vacation increases your productivity, doesn’t it make sense that if you were to spend a few minutes every day before you start your work day contemplating what is really important and what you really need to accomplish, that you would have the same great results? And the chances are excellent – definitely better than good – that this process will attract favorable attention, probably leading to more job security, perhaps a raise, and maybe even a significant promotion.

To read the rest go here.

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!