The $50 Dryer

A client of mine recently shared a story with me. 

  Back in 1980, her family was struggling financially. One day their clothes dryer died and they had very little money to purchase a new one. So she visited the local garbage dump that sold used appliances.  She found a medium size unknown brand dryer for $50. The owner of the dump said he could not guarantee that it would work, however he did state that the people who dropped it off said it was still in fine working condition.

She took their word for it.

That dryer served her family for the next five years. In 1985 the family moved and had to leave the dryer behind. The new family that purchased her home offered $100 for the used dryer; my client denied and took only $50. That same dryer served the new family for the next three years. In 1988 the new family was expanding with three new children and decided they needed a bigger dryer. So they took the used dryer back to the same junk yard. When the owner of the junkyard saw the dryer he said, “I remember that dryer, does it still work?” The new family said “Yes, it works fine.” The junk yard owner gave them $50.

When I first heard this story, several words went through my mind.  “trust” “honesty”  “ appreciation” , even “serendipity”.

When I read it through a couple more times, I had an “aha moment”. The common thread here is actually “leadership”. You do the same…read it through a few more times and you will also have an “aha moment”.

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What is a "Conflictor"?

We all know one:

1. "Conflictors" know something about everything, just enough to be dangerous.
2. Disagree with you on everything, in a passive aggressive manner.
3. Challenge your knowledge, in a condescending manner.
4. Devalues your time, while their time is precious.
5. Tells you others are not team players, while stabbing you in the back.
6. Creates a positive facade, and then is negative about your positivity.
7. A "Conflictor" is always right, and if you try to prove them wrong...you will become mentally exhausted.

Bottom line; a "Conflictor" is a predator. When you are up they will get you down. And will you are down, they will take you deeper.

When a "Conflictor", by no choice of yours, becomes part of your team, family, or social circles...do not try to handle them alone. One on one they will drain you. Bond together with people you trust and eventually the "Conflictor" will get frustrated and move on to other prey.

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The Right Moves

Leaders need to have the right attitude, or the leadership will fall short.
Leadership is giving...inspire vs. require...work done "with" people vs. work done "by" people.

1. Give up on perfection, make it better.
2. Believe you have more in you.
3. Falling is not failing.
4. Never make excuses.
5. Compare up.
6. Train people "who" to be,  before telling them "what" to do.
7. Train on skills;  you can't teach personalities.
8. Do what your best self longs to do.
9. Surround yourself with people who acknowledge your progress and challenge you to do better.
10. Let go of the past, strive to improve the future.

"When looking at four ounces of water in an eight ounce glass, the pessimist will say its half empty, the optimistic says its half full...the leader says-----thank you for the water."

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Are You Boring?

Researchers at the University of Chicago asked students to rate 43 boring behaviors. Here are the top eight. They'll earn you the label of being "chronically boring": *

• Complaining about one's own problems (health, finances, relationships) and not being interested in the problems of others.
• Talking constantly about trivial things, always including unimportant details, and repeating tired old jokes.
• Showing no emotion, failing to make eye contact. and talking in a monotone.
• Seriousness- never smiling, joking, or making light of things.
• Tediousness, especially talking too slowly.
• Low participation. Never joining in conversation and always just going along with what is being said.
• Distracting behavior, including frequent use of expressions such as "you know" and "just saying".
• Self-centeredness. Always talking about your own life, experiences, and interests.

Credo to live by: "Be interested first, then you will become interesting."

*Teamwork notes
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Business Fundamentals...Don't Leave Home Without Them.

From the book, The Last Lecture...author Randy Pausch reflects on his "old school" football coach.

On the first day of practice, we were all scared to death. Plus he (the coach) hadn't brought along any footballs. One kid finally spoke up for all of us.
"Excuse me, Coach. There are no footballs."
And Coach Graham responded, "We don't need any footballs."

There was a silence, while we thought about that...
"How many men are on the football field at a time?" he asked us.
Eleven on a team, we answered, So that makes twenty-two.

"And how many people are touching the football at any given time?"
One of them.
"Right!" he said.
"So we're going to work on what the other twenty-one guys are doing."

Asked yourself the following question:  What are the three basic business fundamentals?
Not sure?  Contact me at bobgambone@bobgambone.com for the answer.



“Copyright (11-26-2011) by Robert V. Gambone Sr.”

I Really Worked Hard at That!

Really?  when you hear someone say that, what does that mean?  I'm sure we've all said it and heard it.

Working hard- does that mean long hours? Sweating profusely? Experiencing physical pain? Maybe becoming mentally exhausted?

Or... It's hard work because I really don't like to do it.

Or...I really do like it, and when I work hard I feel pleasure...maybe even want to reward myself, or expect someone else to reward me?

Is your definition of hard work the same as someones else's definition?  Probably not.

Do you deny yourself hard work? Do you deny that you ever work hard?  I often say, I never work hard because I love what I do...but I can still work hard,  right?

SO...are you expecting an insightful answer from me about what "hard work" really is?

Sorry....that would be hard work.
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Vince

*** Reader's Poll Favorite***

His name was Vince. I met him one day at the Burger King while eating lunch.

Vince approached me and asked, “Excuse me, are you the Store Manager of the new Giant Eagle over there?”

I then introduced myself and Vince went on to tell me his story.

“So are you guys hiring?...I need a job. I am a retired executive from US Steel, my wife passed away about two years ago and my kids are spread across the country.
I fly out every weekend to visit them, so I can work Monday through Friday.
You know I miss working. A man can only play so much golf, I am really getting bored, …I need a reason to wake up in the morning.”

Vince was a tall man, wearing a wrinkled non-matching jogging suit and sporting a 3-day beard. I felt sorry for him, he really looked like he needed a job and the story he told me, well that really seemed a bit far-fetched, so I hired him.

Vince came on board and worked Monday through Friday 7:00 to 11:00am pushing carts and greeting people as they entered the store. He really loved his job; smiling and saying thank you, talking to customers, keeping the place clean, and I felt good because I gave this guy a job.

About 6 months later Cindi, my office manager, came to me, “Bob, the Payroll dept. called and said they need Vince to cash his paychecks.” Well I was really surprised, Vince?...the guy who needed a job so bad, not cashing his paychecks?!
“How many paychecks hasn't he cashed”? I asked Cindi.
Cindi looked right at me and said, “Bob, Vince has not cashed a paycheck since he started 6 months ago!”

I pulled Vince aside and inquired about the paychecks. Vince politely replied, "I'm sorry Bob, did I get you in trouble? I will put them in the bank tomorrow, thank you."

At that moment I realized, I did not give Vince a job, he gave me a life lesson.

"We all need a reason to wake up in the morning"... thank you Vince P.