(Time to read this Blog is about 3 minutes)

Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:  
   “Get rid of bullies, negative, angry people and saboteurs.  They’ll destroy your culture, your business and your bottom line.  When you allow these negative people to stay, top performers leave and mediocre employees stay and take ‘I don’t give a damn’ pills.”
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   What are you doing to make sure your Team members know that they’re appreciated?
    
   In a recent Blog, Relationship Coach Dr. Les Parrott stated, “Feeling neglected or unappreciated in your marriage hurts deeply.”
    
   For us as business owners, leaders and managers, it’s also important to remember that feeling neglected or unappreciated at work also hurts deeply.  What can you do to make sure that your Team members are recognized, appreciated and celebrated?
    
3. The ‘Cranky Corner’. Some things make me ‘cranky’.  Right now, it’s the expression ‘working people’ when used to refer to front-line or production employees. The implied assumption is that business owners and managers are not ‘working people’…that somehow they get paid for doing nothing…for not
    
   This is a huge insult to all the people who start and work their tails off to grow a business, often risking everything to create something, to employ humans, to serve customers, while trying to keep the bank manager happy.
    
   They often work 60-to-80-hour weeks, under great pressure, making hundreds of critical decisions every day about marketing, finance, pricing, inventory, quality, the customer experience, the litter in the parking lot and how to deal with employees who don’t even show up, or who quit without notice.  Stop telling me that these are not ‘working people’!
    
4. Target US is closing 9 stores because of constant, organized theft. US retailer, Target Stores, closing 9 of its locations in Portland, Oregon and New York city because constant retail theft makes it impossible for these stores to be profitable, and it’s unfair to put staff and customers at risk.  This is another sad indication of the general breakdown of law and order and respect for property and people in our society.
    

5. Shameless Promotion: 

   If you or your Industry Association have a Conference coming up in the next 12 months, perhaps we should talk. As a thought-leader on management, marketing, staff engagement, value delivery and profitability, I deliver bottom-line business insights in a way that informs, energizes, engages and inspires. 

   To quote one recent attendee, “Best, most real, insightful and entertaining management session I’ve attended in 30 years.  Bring this Cooper guy back!”

   Our most requested topics are:

   1.  “Accelerate Your Business…the ‘straight goods’ on how to sell more, manage smarter, grow your bottom line…and have a life.”
   2. “Winning the Talent Wars…8 essential steps to attracting, leading & engaging a top-performing team.”
   3.  “Implement Or Die…how to improve clarity, commitment, urgency, accountability and profitability in your business.”
   4.  “Vision Critical…how to manage, innovate and thrive in a very different tomorrow!”
   5.  “Succession Planning & Exit Strategies…preparing your business and yourself for the most important financial transaction of your life!”

   I’m happy to chat about possibilities at 416-252-3703 in Toronto…or by email at donald@donaldcooper.com . 

    

Now, to this week’s important topic:

Important business and life insights from a Cab Driver:  

Note:  This wonderful article was sent to me by a former client and current ‘Blog Fan’. 

I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport.  When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was that it was polished to a bright shine and the driver was smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks.  He quickly jumped out to open the back passenger door for me.

As I slipped into the back seat, he handed me a laminated card and said, ‘I’m Wasu, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk, I’d like you to read my Mission Statement.’

Wasu’s Mission Statement:

‘To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible, in a friendly environment.’

I was blown away! Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As Wasu slid behind the wheel, he said, “Would you like a cup of coffee?  I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.”

I said jokingly, ‘No, I’d prefer a soft drink.’

Wasu smiled and said, “No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water, and orange juice.”

Amazed, I replied, “I’ll take a lassi since I’ve never had that before.”

Handing me my drink, Wasu said, “If you’d like something to read, I have Good Housekeeping magazine, Reader’s Digest, The Bible, and a Travel + Leisure magazine.”

As they were pulling away, Wasu handed me another laminated card, “These are the stations I get and the type of music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.”

And, as if that weren’t enough, Wasu told me that he had the heater on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for me.

Then he advised me of the best route to my destination for that time of day. He also let me know that he’d be happy to chat and tell me about some of the sights or, if I preferred, to leave me with my own thoughts.

I was totally amazed and asked him, ”Wasu, have you always served customers this way?”

Wasu smiled into the rear-view mirror.  “No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. During my first five years of driving, I spent most of my time whining and complaining like all the other cabbies do.  Then, I heard about power of choice one day.”

“The power of choice”, he continued, “is that you can choose to be a duck or an eagle.”

“If you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself.  Stop complaining! Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.”

“That hit me as being true. I was being a duck.  I was always quacking and complaining.  So, I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle.  I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers.  The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy.  So, I decided to make some changes.  I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.”

“I take it that has paid off for you,”  I said.

“It sure has,”  Wasu replied, “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income.  This year, I’ll probably quadruple it.  My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on it.”

Wasu made a different choice.  He decided to stop quacking like a duck and start soaring like an eagle.

How might you make a different choice and have an ‘eagle life’?  How can you stand out, amaze and delight your customers…and everyone around you?  What might that look like and when will you get started?

That’s it for this week…

Live brilliantly!       

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.