Message of the Day - The juxtaposition of pride and accountability

Good Morning,

 

There is questionable quality in work produced and quality of service performed in many industries today. It is very frustrating being the customer and recipient of shoddy work, but it can also be very frustrating for the leadership of the teams who deliver the subpar performance.

 

As I was pondering this thought this morning, two separate ideas popped into my head. Two different areas, taking pride in your work, and being accountable for your work jumped out at me. And while each of these areas seems separate and unrelated, they may in fact be tied together.

 

Have you ever noticed someone doing work that was less than stellar? You know, work that is more like someone randomly slapping sandwich toppings on a sandwich and wrapping the mess up and handing it to you without even looking at you. Or maybe talking to a call center and the agent seems to have no interest whatsoever in helping you.

 

What is missing is taking pride in their work. Pride that what they do is the best that can be done. Not everyone can be the best in the world, but everyone can do their own personal best. One agent who really impressed me took my call after I had had several months of botched calls from this company. This agent said ‘I will fix it, I know what you have been through, but I will make sure you are taken care of’. He glowed of pride in helping me. And yes, he did resolve my issue.

 

Then on the other side, have you ever noticed someone who drops the ball on something they were supposed to do? Something that they are responsible for, but take almost no initiative to ensure the job is completed, even remotely in the way it should be. It’s the classic ‘its not my job’ syndrome.

 

On the one side, folks are not taking pride in their work, and on the other, they feel little or no reason to be accountable for their work.

 

When we start to take pride in our work, like ensuring the best email message we can write, or completing the task the most efficiently we know how then we improve the quality of our work. With that pride comes confidence and the support from others.

 

When you bring your car in for repair, do you go to the nearest repair shop? Or do you go to one that you know does a good job. And at that location where they do a good job, don’t they seem to take pride in their work? When these same people, who take pride in their work do make a mistake, more often than not, own up to it and take responsibility to fix the error.

 

And when others ask you who you use for your car repairs, who do you recommend? I bet is usually the people who take pride in their work and do a good job.

 

One way to improve quality in any line of business is to find a way to get the staff to take pride in their work, to know that it has value and means something (as a manager, TELL THEM). When people take pride in their work, it invariably improves, so will their accountability, and in the end, the quality of the enterprise will improve.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net   ß Check out the cover of my upcoming book, “Learn And Grow Daily!”

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

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Message of the Day - Goals with Action

Good Morning,

 

I just finished Lee Iacocca’s book “Where Have the All the Leaders Gone” and I was very pleased with it. Initially I was afraid it would be a political rant, but the book mostly focused on the issues facing our nation and the leadership attributes necessary of people who would best address those issues. It truly was a great read; the book quickly drew me into it.

 

Toward the end, Lee Iacocca talked about a mistake he made when he retired. A mistake many of us make in our lives as well. He had a goal of relaxing or just ‘taking it easy’. This did not work out so well for him as he sputtered about in retired life with no real focus.

 

This does not work out so well for others either. In fact, when you go from an active lifestyle to one of basic inaction, your body seems to sense it is time to shut down and a lot of people die a few years after retirement. That is a frightening thought.

 

What Lee Iacocca learned was to set a goal with actions in it, to have something to DO within his goals. What he turned his attention toward is the Iacocca Foundation and finding a cure for Diabetes. Being a member of that club, I am a fan of anyone who can help find the cure.

 

The larger point is having the goal with actions built into to. That is, what do you want to DO? ‘To relax’ is not a goal, it is a by product, it is also a state of being. Maybe a better goal for someone who is retiring is to ‘visit all 50 states’ or spend 10 hours a week helping in a soup kitchen, volunteer at their church, or otherwise giving back to the community.

 

Don’t short-change yourself by making such general goals without having a plan to achieve them. Focus on specific action based goals to help you achieve those larger goals.

 

For example: ‘When I get home from work today, I want to de-stress’ is a very general goal and from my experience not one that we often achieve. Maybe make the goal: “When I get home from work, I am going to do my chores early, and after dinner, I will lounge on the couch with a good book. This will help me de-stress’.

 

Don’t you see how the second goal, being more specific and ‘action oriented’ (doing chores early, sitting on the coach, etc.) is easier to realize. It is a roadmap to a destination, instead of just the destination without a map on how to get there.

 

For larger goals, like retirement, these actions are often called strategy, or strategic planning. No matter what we call them, we really need to do them.

 

We need to put actions into our goals to ensure our likelihood in achieving our goals.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net   ß Check out the cover of my upcoming book, “Learn And Grow Daily!”

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Message of the Day: Happiness In = Happiness Out

Good Morning,

 

Have you ever seen someone who was obviously upset (eyes glaring, face redder than normal, hands trembling, etc.) and when you ask if there is a problem or if you can help in any way, you get a “I’M FINE!” growled back at you?

 

Do you think those folks are happy at that moment? Neither do I.

 

Do you think that their telling everyone they are fine or happy will result in them becoming happy? Neither do I.

 

Happy thoughts make for happy people. Angry thoughts make for angry people.

 

One of my challenges is getting caught up in angry thoughts every now and then. I have become better at stopping myself before I put myself into a foul mood, but I am far from 100%. These angry thoughts could be from mentally role-playing out a situation in my mind to see how it may turn.  

 

For example, if I am going to be speaking with an associate about a situation which I know is a stressful one, I will often role play out the scenario in my mind several times to see what outcomes play out. Then I take note and react to these. It helps me be prepared for different situations. Sometimes during those mental role-playing sessions, I see the conversation getting heated. Then instead of stopping and reflecting, I mentally react to the situation in a more heated manner and it can get my all riled up. It is almost like having an argument in your mind.

 

Those angry thoughts do not help for a happy mood. In fact, I need to mentally ‘Cancel’ those thoughts as soon as I sense them or it will kill my good mood. I do mentally say ‘Cancel’.

 

When I want to change my mood from negative to positive, I think happy thoughts. (I know, sounds goofy, be hear me out). I think about my wife, my kids, my friends, my work, those people I help, the Lord, His scripture I read that day or sermon I recently heard. All of these help me get myself centered and back into a good mood.

 

To get into and maintain a happy mindset, we need to keep putting happiness into our mind. Happiness In = Happiness Out.

 

Anger in does not produce happiness (some folks say they thrive on pain and anguish of others, and well, I would rather avoid those folks when they feel this way).

 

To get into a happy mood, think happy thoughts. Put happy reminders where you work, photos, phrases, the Bible, whatever it takes to remind you of those things which make you happy.

 

The more you do this, the happier you will be.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net   ß Check out the cover of my upcoming book, “Learn And Grow Daily!”

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

 

 

Message of the Day - Are You Sitting On The Sidelines In Your Own Life?

Good Morning,

 

My current read is Lee Iacocca’s new book on leadership called “Where Have All The Leaders Gone?” (http://www.amazon.com/Where-Have-All-Leaders-Gone/dp/1416532471) where he starts off lambasting the government and corporate leaders of the day of what have they been doing? It is both intriguing and very scary in seeing the perspective and information he is sharing.

 

Early on in the book Iacocca had a quote which caught my attention:

 

“If I’ve learned one thing, it’s this: You don’t get anywhere standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action.”

 

That profound statement has a lot of value.

 

Life is going to happen to us no matter which way we live it, opportunities will be given to us, and we must decide to take them or not, and if we do not decide, the decision is made for us.

 

We can sit in the boat of our life and float aimlessly where ever it takes us, or we can get out the paddles and row ourselves toward the opportunities we are given. Better yet, learn and grow daily, and eventually you can pull out an outboard motor and speed up your progress toward the destinations in your life.

 

Life is a participation sport. Situations in life come at us daily, and decisions need to be made, or they will be made for us. In some cases that is fine, but on the important topics, I would like to be the driver of that boat, rather than a passenger.

 

Our lives are too important to allow others, who often know little to nothing about our wants, desires, dreams, etc., to pull the strings on our lives. In many cases, with the laws of the land, or the company handbook, etc., there are rules we must follow and decisions which are made for us. When we do get an opportunity to choose an action or path for ourselves, it behooves us to take it.

 

You will get to destinations in life, but wouldn’t it be better to arrive at those destinations due to our own actions and decisions, and not what others have decided for us?

 

At the end game of our lives, do we want to be able to say ‘yes’ I took the opportunities presented to me in my life, I made the decisions that led me to where I am today, good or bad, or are you more comfortable just sitting back and letting life come at you, and taking as it comes, not making decisions and floating down the river on the prevailing current, never quite knowing where you will end up, or why?

 

Personally, I cannot be that passive, when opportunities are presented to me, I will make a decision, but that is me.

 

The decision is yours, take action in your life, or be a passenger or sit on the sidelines and let others play the game of your life for you.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

 

 

Message of the Day - Is there really an Average anything?

Good Morning,

 

My current read is “The Undiscovered Self” by Carl G. Jung (http://www.amazon.com/Undiscovered-Self-C-G-Jung/dp/0691018944). The first section talks about how society is built up on the overall average of its members, but that is not a true reflection of one individual. Sounds deep, I know. Jung gives a good example.

 

If a pile of rocks has an average weight of 148 grams per rock, you would be hard pressed to randomly pick up a rock and have it weigh exactly 148 grams.

 

What is average anyway? We can describe it, but have we every really seen it. Have you ever had a time where someone introduced you to ‘The Average’ person? Has anyone ever said this is the average German Shepherd, or this is the average baseball?

 

If rules and regulations are made for the average person, and well, we cannot find one of them, then what do we do?

 

This means that the rules and regulations that make up our organizations, our communities, our laws, etc., are made up for the sum total of their members, and may, in fact, not represent a single individual based on their own personal needs.

 

Here is another analogy; can you ever find a temperature in your office which is acceptable to everyone in the office? The temperature could be set to 65 or 70 degrees, or in some cases 72 or 75 degrees. Each of these temperatures are fine in general. Of course there will be folks who only feel comfortable at 80 degrees and others at 60 (offices which can set different temperatures by cubical will be the wave of the future).

 

 

This means we have to be more accepting of our organizations and the vastness of differences within our communities. Everyone is different and even though we have rules and regulations for everyone, there will be those who will seem to not fit in or care to follow the rules, and that could be okay.

 

Our rules and guidelines should be opened up and be scalable (to a point) to cover the needs of the individual, and not the average person (who may not even exist).

 

We should also be accepting of the differences of each person as their interests and beliefs will deviate from what is considered average.

 

In looking at this whole situation again, maybe there is nothing truly average at all.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net   ß Check out the website to see the cover for my book, soon to be available!

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

Message of the Day - Achieving Organizational Goals and You

Good Morning,

 

I remember the movie ‘Starship Troopers’ every now and then, and this weekend, after a conversation with my wife, Karen, I remembered the basic training Sergeant in the movie who when asked if he wanted to join the efforts to save earth on the front lines, responded that he would have to take a demotion to Private to do this. How many people would willingly take a one, or two step demotion to get a job done these days?

 

At the end of the movie, you see the good guys captured one of the leaders of the enemy, and when you finally get to see who the person who got the job done was, and it was the Seargent who was now sporting the rank of Private.

 

Even though this is a work of fiction it tells us an important morale story. The mission is more important than the position or rank you hold within your organization.

 

It is the people who get things done in organizations which are the bread and butter and the pillars of success for those organizations. It could be a leader or it could be a front line team member who rolls up their sleeves and consistently gets the job done. It does not matter who they are, or what position they hold, the important thing is achieving the organizational goals.

 

I am reminded of one of the vision statements of Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield which said ‘My company comes first, my unit comes second, because nobody wins unless the company wins’.

 

So you are successful at what you do, and your team is on fire with top results, but if your organization as a whole is faltering, your work is almost worthless. What do you do? Find out what you can do to help. It may not be your position, or your job, but it is the goal that needs to be achieved for the organization to succeed or even to survive.

 

You can learn many new skills by stretching yourself to help other units in your organization, and this helps you grow to better yourself which then better helps your organization.

 

Another story along these lines was a professional baseball player who had the record number of home runs for the year who approached the team owner for a raise. The owner said ‘NO’ that they could  have come in last place with him or without him.

 

This baseball player should have turned his attention on helping his fellow teammates to be better players so that the team could have placed better than last place. Then he might have been considered for a raise.

 

What activities or goals are our organizations looking to accomplish that we could help with, even if it is not our role?

 

How can we help achieve our organization’s goals?

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!

 

 

 

Message of the Day - When Bad Becomes Good

Good Morning,

 

There are times in our lives when we do things that we wished later on that we never had done. There are events in our lives which we feel we would be better off if they had never happened to us. There are people who caused us pain and suffering which we hoped that they never did. Sometimes we are those people who caused the pain and suffering to others.

 

Life is full of times when things we say and do don’t come across as we intended. I remember working in a hardware store in Seaford, NY, Henry’s Hardware, when I was a Junior in high school. We had a discount for Senior Citizens and special folks which we called ‘Number One’. When we bring a customer to the cashier we would say, they are ‘Number One’ and they would get a 10% discount. That seemed like a nice thing for our customers.

 

One day I was working the front register in our house wares department and an elderly lady came to the register and I told her that she is eligible for the Senior discount. She smiled at me and gladly accepted the 10% discount. I felt so good helping that customer that I repeated the same thing to the next lady in line, except she was in her 40’s…. I ruined her day. I am pretty sure that I never saw her at our store ever again and all I wanted was to give her a discount so she would be happy like the first lady.

 

There are people who do a lot more than that to hurt others, and I am guilty of this as well.

 

The good news is that it can be turned around. We can all learn from our past and do good to help others. Does doing good automatically absolve us from what we did in the past, not necessarily, but that should not stop us from trying to help others and be a good guy.

 

In addition, when we take our experiences where we brought pain to others and learn from them and turn it around to be a blessing to others, our help becomes even more powerful. Think about Saul of Tarsus for one who made such a transition. Fictionally, there is Riddick from the movies ‘Pitch Black’ and ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’ who is the villain who turns around and becomes the good guy. A very cool one at that…

 

With the experiences we have, we can do a greater good for others, knowing what is like having caused pain in the past. Not that I am recommending you go piss off your coworker or next door neighbor just to get experience in trying to apply this message.

 

Knowing what it is like to cause suffering is a motivator to help us find ways to not do those things, and try to find ways to bring happiness to others. In some cases this is a continual challenge, like in marriage, but it is worth the challenge.

 

It is okay to have been bad (and stopped being bad), when you turn it around and become a force for good. Pay your dues and keep fighting the good fight and we will have more do-gooders in the world to help us make it a better place to be.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

PS: If you know others who may enjoy this message of the day, please pass this message on or invite them to receive them themselves by sending a request to me. If you wish to stop receiving these, please also let me know. Thank you!!!