Message of the Day: The Power of a Teacher!

Good Morning,

 

A few weeks ago I was looking through my Facebook friend suggestions and I saw a name which caught me off-guard. The last name was that of my 5^th Grade Teacher. When I looked at our mutual friends I saw my sister and a few other school friends. My heart raced as I clicked to ask her to be my friend on Facebook. A day or so later, she accepted my friend request and I went to write a message to her.

 

Now this teacher was not only my 5^th Grade Teacher, but she was my favorite teacher of all times. She was a blessing to me in a time of my life when my parents had been divorced only a few years and money was tight (I received meal vouchers at school, kind of embarrassing back then). My teacher made me feel intelligent and important. So getting back in touch with her again was a joy.

 

She remembered that I was in the class of 1978-9. She even remembered a project I worked on, a report and drawing on an animal called an ‘Oribi’. Of course, me being a thick-headed fool I can be, said no, I did my project the ‘Pronghorn’ instead because it was the fasted land mammal in North America. Over the next day or so, my memories started to sharpen and low and behold, I do remember doing the report just as my teacher had said I did.

 

She had not seen nor heard from me for 32 years and has had hundreds of students before and after me and she still knew that one project I worked on. You can see how she was able to make me feel important.

 

I shared this story with my younger daughter’s 5^th Grade teacher (from last year) of how my 5^th Grade teacher remembered my project from 32 years ago and how I questioned it and was wrong. She smiled and told me that I should know better than to question my teacher.

 

In looking back over my life, this teacher, like many others has been very influential in making who I am today. I remember her above others because she allowed me to shine as a student. She knew how to reach me and make me feel important and intelligent.

 

What a powerful part of our lives a teacher can play. How many teachers can you remember from back in the day who have helped you become who you are today?

 

Maybe take the time to see if they are still out there and if possible, thank them…again!

 

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If a teacher is reading this, please forgive my grammar, I will bring in an apple tomorrow!

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net 

http://learnandgrowdaily.com ß-Cick here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

 

 

 

Message of the Day - Sweet Memories

Good Morning,

 

Today we closed on our old house and are down to one monthly mortgage payment!  Hooray!

 

Yesterday, I brought my younger daughter, Samantha, to the old house for one more visit. She had lived most of her life in that house and was excited to see it one more time. When we arrived I offered to let her go through the house alone, but she wanted the company. So we went from room to room, starting with her old bedroom and going through the house. She seemed excited and shared stories of different things she remembered from the last 10 years.

 

As we left the house, we went to the backyard for a final look and then I remembered something from when I first moved into the house in 2003. Samantha and Stephanie, her older sister, told me that they kept little rocks and shells that they found in a stone tray-like block by the back of the house. Each rock and shell held a different memory. I told Samantha to look in that area and she went over to the stone and saw all of her little rocks.

 

Like prized treasures, she started picking up the ones that she wanted to take with her to the new house. Some of the stones were interesting shapes, some were crystals of some sort and there were a few sea shells. She took each one of these prized possessions and placed them into a small terracotta flower pot which was also sitting on the stone.

 

Samantha asked me how many of her stones and shells she could take. I smiled and told her as many as she wants. So she thoughtfully picked up a few more and then turned to me and said that she will leave the rest for the new home owner.

 

She wanted to leave some of her cherished memories for someone she had never met.

 

I felt warm inside knowing how much of a loving heart that 12 year old has, and how much she cares about others.

 

It also made me think of how we could share our memories with others, as a gift, like Samantha leaving some of her stones and shells for the new homeowner.

 

Shortly I will be calling a cousin of my Mom’s. They have not seen each other for years, so I will give her some of my memories of Mom as a gift to her.

 

Giving memories to others is a free gift, that we can give over and over again to as many people we would like. These gifts are unique to us, because they are our memories. Even if a bunch of people experienced the same event, each would have slightly different memories of the event as they each have a different personality and perception of events around them.

 

When you need to share something with another, why not give them some of your sweet memories?

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net 

http://learnandgrowdaily.com ß-Cick here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

 

 

Message of the Day - Deliver What You Promise

Good Morning,

 

On Thursday I finally received the funds from my Mom’s bank accounts and started the new estate bank account. Once the checks arrived, all worked out well, thankfully!

 

The road up to this event was not so smooth.

 

On Monday (of this week… week 3 of the ordeal) I called Wachovia to make sure everything was good, and you saw that message earlier in the week for that outcome. I then received a call the following day, Tuesday, from the Correspondence Team who asked me for the letter with the public notary. I advised her to look at the many faxes I sent to the bank and low and behold she found they already had it.

 

Then after that was all cleared up, I asked her to overnight the checks in one envelop with a signature confirmation, just like I requested in righting in yet another fax. I also asked her when I would get the tracking number so I could track down the UPS overnight letter. She told me to call customer service that they would know Wednesday afternoon (#1).

 

I called back on Wednesday afternoon and was told that they had no way of knowing the tracking number. She said I would have to call back on Thursday morning at 8:00 AM. Mind you, if all went well the checks would have been sent out at the time I was talking with this customer service representative (#2).

 

So, on Thursday morning I called back yet again and asked if they had the tracking number. They said no, they had no access to it (#3). Three different interactions, three different answers. Is this inspiring confidence in you? Me neither.

 

I then asked them if they could answer one simple question. Did the checks get sent overnight to my address on Wednesday? After about 5 minutes holding, I was told yes. The nice lady told me that she would research the tracking numbers and call me back when she found them.

 

At home Thursday morning, I took the day off from work, I hear the UPS truck pull up and pull out three envelops…and then I am simply handed them. No signature required…. If I had been working that day, these checks, enough to buy a couple BMWs, would have simply sat on my doorstep, alone, for 7 – 8 hours until someone came home.

 

So, I have the checks and I go to my bank to set up the estate account. As I am waiting to open the account I get a call from the nice lady at Wachovia to tell me the tracking numbers for the checks. I advise her thank you for your perseverance, that I had the checks.

 

What a mess. It all worked out in the end, but at each turn I was given different expectations of what was needed from me and what I needed to do next. It was like walking through a mine field, never knowing what is going to turn up next.

 

When you deliver a product or service, if you do not deliver what you promise or at least give consistent expectations to your customers, you will loose their trust.

 

It was at the point with Wachovia that they could have given me the winning lottery numbers and I would not have trusted them.

 

Is this the way you would want your business to be perceived?

 

No, me neither.

 

Deliver what you promise and try to be consistent in the service you do deliver. Each and every time!

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net 

http://learnandgrowdaily.com ß-Cick here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

 

 

 

Message of the Day: Looking Deeper

Good Morning,

 

Today I called Wachovia Bank to find out the status of closing my Mom’s accounts and issuing a check so I can start her estate account and pay her final bills. Three weeks ago I gathered the required paperwork and submitted a request to start this. You have to fax your request to the Correspondence Team, who you cannot reach directly. About a week later when I called to find the status I was told I sent the wrong paperwork and was instructed to send basically the same paperwork (Death Certificate, Certificate of Qualification to be Administrator of Mom’s estate and letter requesting what to do with her funds). The second request went nowhere as well. I had one call with a supervisor who gave me point for point each item I needed, and this still did not fit the bill, I asked for a manager to call me, I am still waiting.

 

Then at my behest, my uncle called a contact at Wachovia who advised that what I was not being asked to send, which I needed to was a letter with my signature on it, with a public notary to confirm I was who I said I was. So I sent this. Then the next day, last Friday I called Wachovia and confirmed everything was in order

 

The first call, this morning, went to a lady who when reviewing the account did not see my name on the account and refused to give me any information. She refused to contact the correspondence team as she said she could not. Note some of the other reps I spoke with did call the correspondence team. I asked for a supervisor, and she said she could not transfer me, but could take my number and have someone call me back. I told her that I am still waiting for call back from last week. I started telling her I had no trust in their customer service and she hung up on me.

 

The second call, ten minutes later, went to a guy who looked over the account and saw that while I was not on the account, there was a death certificate connected to that account. This would mean that their customer was not going to be calling in for her money. He realized that someone was going to be executor or administrator so he put me on hold and called the correspondence team and confirmed everything I had been told on Friday. He then put in a note on the account saying that I was authorized to call in for information on Mom’s account.

 

The first representative followed the script; she protected the integrity of the account information and hung up on the customer when the call started getting heated. This really irritated the customer!!

 

The second representative took the time to look deeper into the account. He also protected the integrity of the account information by not giving out any information until he verified with his own company what I was talking about. He did not irritate the customer, he made the customer happy.

 

This might sound petty, but think about it, a situation like this, which is a legal one to begin with, could end up in a lawsuit. Lawsuits cost time and money and often end up hurting the business’ public perception (especially when there is a dearly departed sweet little old lady whose last wishes were to pay for her funeral and medical bills).

 

When you have an irate customer, take a few extra moments to look deeper into the account notes or whatever information you have. You may find that they are indeed right and what you are reading in the account is wrong. You may also avoid further escalations or worse.

 

I hope I get the second representative when I call back again tomorrow to make sure everything is still moving along.

 

One only can hope.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net 

http://learnandgrowdaily.com ß-Cick here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

 

 

 

Message of the Day - You Can't Fix What You Can't See

Good Morning,

 

My current read is Dave Ramsey’s “The Money Answer Book: Quick Answers to Everyday Financial Questions” (http://www.amazon.com/Money-Answer-Book-Financial-Questions/dp/0849996198). In reading through a section I saw a line that struck me as key to improving our lives. Dave Ramsey said “You cannot fix a problem until you admit you have a problem”.

 

Getting past the common allusions to Drinking and Gambling Problems we can see that there are indeed issues in our lives that we could easily fix, if we knew we had them.

 

Sometimes we don’t see these issues because we choose to ignore them: kind of like guys who get lost and refuse to ask for help for fear of bruising their ego instead of stopping and asking for directions.

 

Sometimes we actually cannot see these issues. For example, being from the northeast I tend to be loud in my speech and walk heavily. This drives my wife Karen crazy. At first when she asked me to quiet down a bit and walk softer, I was caught off-guard. I had no idea I was loud. I knew I talked a lot (and therein laid the problem for Karen). When I stopped and took an introspective look, I saw that I was indeed loud and did clomp around the house. Since that time I have endeavored to correct those issues and in the course of this now see others who are loud and clomp around.

 

When we see problems we can often fix them easily. When we can see them or admit to them.

 

So how do we address these problems we cannot see? Addressing the ones we know about and refuse to admit is a subject for another day.

 

For one, ask a friend or family if they notice anything (try to narrow the area you want looked at down). Choose someone who you know will shoot from the hip. And then be prepared to hear things that may not please you. This is okay, because you will be in a better position to see what is going on in your life that you cannot see.

 

Once you see these issues from the perspective of others, then you can decide if you wish to address them or not.

 

Another approach is to spend some time reflecting on times when you said or did something that others became upset with. Is there something that you do or don’t do that you find causes others to get upset with you? If the answer is yes and you can identify this activity or behavior, you can then decide if you want to address it.

 

Bringing our problems and issues into the open, no matter how we do it, is the best way to give us a chance to correct them.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net 

http://learnandgrowdaily.com ß-Cick here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

 

 

 

Message of the Day - Time is Short, Don't Act Now

Good Morning,

 

Have you noticed that the amount of stuff we can do at any given time is growing in number. We have more ways to distract ourselves today than ever before in the past. We can easily find ourselves volunteering to help others or join a non-profit organization. Then when we are in one, another cause comes up and we feel obligated to join it. Then someone sees how good you are at helping and asks you to take a leadership role. Then another group’s cause catches your interest and you find yourself signing up.

 

I am currently feeling pulled in many directions this summer. I have several groups I am involved in, some of very active and others not so, but one of them has become extremely time consuming while the others are ramping up. All of this while I am working on my Mom’s estate, selling a house and still moving into our new house, etc.. And there are other groups who are looking to sign me up. I had to turn down one group looking for my help, and step away from another. A few weeks ago I went fishing with my father in-law and now I want to fit in some fishing time as well. Oh yeah, and the kids are now going back to school.

 

We can get so involved that our time becomes scarce. At that point the little things we like to do, watch some TV, read, get on Facebook become distractions to all that we have committed for ourselves to do.

 

So how do we navigate these waters?

 

We can start a list.

 

Not a to do list, but a NOT To Do list.

 

By showing some restraint and having even a mental list of what NOT to do, we can free up some of our time. And this is important because we have little time available to us. It may seem like a lot, but time, unlike many things in life, cannot be RE-spent. Once it is used, it is gone.

 

Take it from such sources as Jim Collin’s “Good to Great” and Marcus Buckingham’s “The One Thing You Need to Know” that we can get a lot more accomplished if we learn to better monitor and control our use of time.

 

Do we need to join five different social or networking organizations? Do we need have to sign up for everything that we see on the internet? Do we have to go to every concert we see in town? Do we find ourselves running to the store or logging onto to the internet every time we see a cool commercial?

 

There is nothing wrong taking a day to relax and play video games, or watch DVDs, but if you get yourself committed to doing 10 different things at the same time, you will not have much chance to play or watch with much enjoyment. The more we have to do, the more we find ourselves torn to go in multiple different directions at the same time.

 

Our time is valuable, and let’s learn to better protect it, so we can do those things we like to do, when we feel like it.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net 

http://learnandgrowdaily.com ß-Cick here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

 

 

 

 

Message of the Day - Three Kinds of Shortbread Cookies

Good Morning,

 

This past weekend the Scottish Society of Louisville held an event at a local library and shared information about Scotland, its history, culture and famous Scotsman. As part of presentation we had shortbread cookies laying out for the guests who attended the event.

 

One plate was Walker’s Shortbread, the type you find at your local grocery store for about $3 a box. The second was shortbread cookies from the dollar store and the last was a plate of homemade shortbread (baked by an actual Scotswoman).

 

I watched as the guests hit the table of cookies and wondered which they would devour first. Within a minute, the Walkers were all gone, leaving a half a plate of the dollar store and homemade cookies. After five minutes the homemade cookies were gone and as we cleaned up, we left about a quarter plate of the dollar store cookies with the library.

 

What can we learn from this?

 

The folks went to the best looking, most professionally made product first, the Walker cookies (having the boxes they came from probably did not hurt either). The Walker cookies all looked so detailed and high quality. For the same reason, people started hitting up the dollar store cookies as they were all uniform in color and shape. With the homemade cookies, the shapes were close to the same, but had different shades of color depending on how much powdered sugar was on top. Basically it was an unknown product.

 

Even though the homemade cookies tasted the best by far than even the Walker cookies (they were baked that morning by a true master (yes I’m Jonesing for some more for me!), people went for the looks of the product over the quality. It was only after people started talking about the homemade cookies did they start to go like wildfire. As the unknown became a known quantity, the desire for it skyrocketed. At one point as I was packing up I notice half a plate of the homemade cookies and that’s when the talk started, and few moments later, it was empty.

 

Looks can be deceiving. It is kind of like going to that Mom and Pop restaurant in the middle of nowhere opposed to a McDonalds or a Crackerbarrel or other chain store. You don’t have the familiarity of a McDonald’s menu, but the food is almost always better.

 

Don’t let packaging and fancy delivery fool you. The best is not always what appears to be the best. It pays to ask questions and check around a bit.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net 

http://learnandgrowdaily.com ß-Cick here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

 

Message of the Day - Economy of Communication

Good Morning,

Continuing in my current read, “What Would Lincoln Do?,” there is a section on quality communication. The author, David Acord, shares with us what communication was like in the 19^th Century, where letter writing was the primary method of communicating over long distances. Paper and ink were scarce in some places and you had to refill your pen in an inkwell often. In effect, there was a limited number of letters which could be written, and then you had to find a place to send the mail through, which could be miles away from you.

Acord then asks us if we could only write five letters or emails each day, what would we write?

Think about this. If we were limited to sending just five messages each day (this includes Tweets, Texts, emails, IMs, Faxes, Chats, letters, blogs, phone calls, etc.), what would we send, and who would we communicate to.

This would be a difficult task simply because most of us do not realize how many different times during a day that we send some form of long distance communication. I know I can send anywhere from 100 to 150 emails a day from work and home. IM’s are comparable, and phone calls over the cell, home and work phone number a dozen a day easily.

This means I would have to go from about 300 messages a day to 5.

With just 5 messages to send per day, I would have to think about a few things before I event send the first message. Note, that I would have to think about sending the message (something that has all but been lost in today’s world where long distance communication is a habit).

I would make a list of who I needed to communicate with, and then what I wanted to share with them. Since I would not have immediate interaction with these people, my messages would have to be thought out beyond simple ‘hi’s and hello’s’. I would most likely include a lot of information, but try not to be wordy as I would not want the communication to be too long.

In effect, these 5 communications would be planned out in advance with care, knowing who the audience was and what I wanted to say. The information in the communication would be more focused on the subject at hand and less likely to ramble.

The net result is better communication.

A funny thing about this exercise is that this is something that we can do right now, without being forced to cut down our communications. If we plan out what we want to say, to whom, and with what effect, we can have more productive and informinative emails, letters, etc.

I find that interesting.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net 

<<...>>

http://learnandgrowdaily.com ß-Cick here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

Message of the Day - Learning ways around obstacles

Good Morning,

 

My current read is “What Would Lincoln Do?: Lincoln’s Most Inspired Solutions to Challenging Problems and Difficult Situations” by David Acord (http://www.amazon.com/dp/1402217900/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=153108912&ref=pd_sl_83ws1vrsof_e). It is a book which lists real life situations and uses letters Abraham Lincoln wrote during this life to show how he handled these situations.

 

In a section on giving encouragement, Lincoln wrote a letter to a son of a family friend who was upset at being turned down for admission to Harvard University. Lincoln, President of the United States at this time, wrote the boy and told him that if he kept at it, he could accomplish anything. Lincoln then encouraged him to contact the Dean of Admissions and find out what he could do to make himself a better candidate for Harvard.

 

It sounds so simple, when we fail, if we ask another to help us understand what we did not do right, what we need more of, what we need less of, we may just find out what has limited our success. Yet, we often pass on these opportunities to learn and improve ourselves.

 

If after a job interview, we do not get the job, maybe reach out to the recruiter or company and ask if you can get some feedback on why you were not chosen as a candidate and what they suggest you do to make yourself a better candidate in the future.

 

This can work in almost any area of our lives. We just have to get past the initial fears of confronting others and having others tell us about our failings and weaknesses.

 

It we can suck it up and ask, we may find the right solution to move our lives forward in areas we seem to be stuck in now.

 

When you fail, ask or look around and find out why. Ask questions and be willing to take the feedback, even if it cuts to the bone.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net 

http://learnandgrowdaily.com ß-Cick here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336