The Art of Success

We just celebrated my step son's sixteenth birthday and this morning I also realized that I've ran my own business for just over sixteen years. I've had my ups and of course my downs. I've had many clients who have taught me many things and have had many clients who have learned many things from me.

There are several things however that I've come to know over the years that is essential to success. It is really not how much education you have, it is not how much experience you have, or really that much about who you know or where you've been or what you've done or even what you've seen that really makes the difference.

I've come to the conclusion that success, at least for me comes as a result of only a couple of things. First, my belief in God. No matter how rough life may appear to be and no matter how many obstacles have been thrown in my path, He is always there for me, cheering me on, telling me it will be okay, holding my hand and sometimes even carrying me on his shoulders.

Secondly, I come to realize that nothing is by chance and everything has a reason, it may make no sense now but eventually it will.

Third, you can't walk in the dark and expect not to trip and fall. What I mean by this is that so many people I have met, have no clear goals in life, no set path or direction, no long term objectives. To me, this is like walking or running in total darkness. It is so easy to decide to make some goals in life and turn those lights on so you limit the chance of tripping or falling or getting lost.

Fourth, you need to decide to be successful. My wonderful wife has the most patience of anyone I know and besides being the most beautiful woman on earth, she is the most tolerant and understanding person I have ever met. Many times I would tell her, just wait, we will be fine, things are going to be great one day and she would just smile and say yes, I know, I believe in you. As a child I learned to do without, we grew up on the eastside of Cleveland in a not so nice area and I learned to appreciate many things and always told myself when I saw someone who had become successful that someday I will be like that.

Fifth, the best way I can explain this is by the following quotes:
“The worst day in a man’s life is when he sits down and begins thinking about how he can get something for nothing” – Thomas Jefferson

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work” – Thomas Edison

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today” – Abraham Lincoln

“Excellence is doing ordinary things, extraordinarily well” - John W. Gardner

Basically, nothing is easy. You want something, you will have to work for it.

Sixth. Make work fun. “Some of the worst days of doing what you like are much better than some of the best days doing what you hate” – Frank Besednjak
If you enjoy your job, the odds of success are so much greater.

Seventh. Jack Welch once said "Accept things for what they are, rather than what you wish them to be". Many people cannot accept what is real and live in another dimension of a faux life. Totally ignoring what is clearly in front of their face, living in a land that does not exist and refusing to face reality. The biggest obstacle in most peoples lives is the unwillingness to deal with the truth.

Last. Always maintain absolute integrity . . . “If you have integrity, nothing else matters.  If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters.  - Alan Simpson

So there you have it. It worked for me.

Texting at Work

Seems like everytime I present a workshop and start discussing employee performance, the subject of texting and cell phones enters the conversation. There are a variety of views on the matter, but all agree that it does have an impact on productivity and performance.

Here are some statistics:
52% of Americans use text messaging
72% of all teens text daily
80% of all text users believe they get a faster response when texting than from emailing, phone or voicemail
26% say that they have opted in on receiving text message marketing information
42% of 18 to 34 year olds say they would choose to receive alerts from businesses they frequent
9.3 billion text messages were sent during the last half of 2008
Over 800 billion text messages were sent during the first half of 2010
Sources:
http://www.qwasi.com/news/tag/text-message-statistics
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1572/teens-cell-phones-text-messages


Even I am so accustomed to texting that is has become my preferred method of communication with friends, family and a few business acquaintances. I find I get a faster response, takes me less time and most of all, I don't have to carry on a conversation and go through all of the formalities of a proper greeting, ask how you are etc. I simply state my purpose and within a minute, get a response.

I see no problem whatsoever allowing employees to text each other during the workday. This encourages communication, teamwork and is faster and easier than calling each other. It is quickly becoming the preferred method of communication and attempting to stop it will be very difficult if not impossible. You may even want to consider a method to text customers regarding any change in status of their scheduled service or installation visit. For example a service technician may want to text his next customer letting them know he is completing one job and will be arriving shortly. I would recommend however, that you script this for them and give them the words to use. Some phones use auto-complete and I have encountered some embarrasing situations when you hit the wrong keys and pushed send to only find that when I wanted to send "Hey, want to meet at the state fair later today" Went out as "Hey, want to beat the stale fart laker today?" So try to reduce the margin of error by using predetermined messages.

So what about some rules for the workplace, how do we handle the employee who is constantly texting? What is recommended as a policy? First, I suggest you provide phones that do have texting capabilities and tell them to leave their own phones or devices at home.
Here are a few suggestions:1. Your policy should include that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES is texting permitted while driving on behalf of the employer or in an employer-owned or reimbursed vehicle. 2. Here is an example of a PERSONAL COMMUNICATION DEVICES POLICY: The use of privately-owned personal communication devices during working hours may present a hazard or distraction to the user and/or other employees. Consequently, privately-owned personal communication devices may only be used during non-working time. This includes, but is not limited to, cell phone calls, texting, checking emails, etc.
Failure to comply or continued abuse of this policy will result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.