Randy Cantrell is the founder of Bula Network, LLC - an executive leadership advisory company helping leaders leverage the power of others through peer advantage, online peer advisory groups. Interested in joining us? Visit ThePeerAdvantage.com
We appreciate all the kindness, the thoughts and prayers. Thank you!
Fear will help you prioritize on the fly faster than anything I know. Fear of loss. Fear of suffering. Fear of watching a person you love endure hardship.
Fear can create instant focus. If you’re like me, Fear has his hand on a switch not available to most emotions. The switch that controls distraction and obsession. BAM! In a flash, Fear flips that switch and my life has a clarity that no amount of money could have provided mere seconds earlier.
I’m going to try to learn more from this experience.
The challenges are simple to list, but figuring them out, well…that’s gonna take a lot of work.
1. How can I better manage my own ability to focus? Can I gain greater command of it?
2. How can I be more appreciative, thankful and compassionate?
3. How can I better serve others who are suffering? What actions can I take, what words can I say, what steps can I take to soothe the suffering of others?
4. How can I be more mindful, more aware, of what other people may need – in that moment? What cues should I look for?
As with most challenges and trials, I suspect this one has the capacity to make me better. It’s up to me to use it wisely.
No podcasts, no videos, no posts, no Twitter, no Facebook, no Skype.
I’m going to be quiet for awhile. This post and this video explain why.
Ry Cooder is among my all-time favorite musicians. On a record called Bop Til You Drop he recorded this song.
Trouble you can't fool me I see you behind that tree
Trouble you can't fool me trying to get the ups on me
Trouble you can't fool me I see you behind that tree
You want to jump on me
We can all sing that song.
Life knocks us down, drags us out into the back alley and kicks our butt. Regularly.
Joys are offset with sorrow and sadness. Thankfully, sadness is then overcome with joy, laughter and good times.
Life is not a tranquil lake…always. Sometimes waves beat on us and fear grips us.
Who can deny that troubles make us better? Watch the Biography channel sometime and you’ll see a story of tough times, challenges and adversity. And you’ll be reminded that you’re watching the story of a famous name! Fame, wealth and prosperity often emerge from tragedy.
Our own success – measured however you choose to measure it – is often the result of muscles we strengthened during tough times.
If you’re suffering right now, press on! If you’re not, press on, but be prepared. Trouble is right behind that tree waiting to jump on you.
As another favorite musician sings, “We’re all just one phone call from our knees.” *
For a little more than a week I’ve been (more frequently and fervently) on my knees praying for the health of my wife of 34-1/2 years, Rhonda. I recorded this on Thursday, June 7th. As this post publishes on Tuesday, June 12th, we’re in a hospital where she’s having surgery at the hands of a doctor she’s worked for – for 15 years. That’s a whole ‘nother story.
As always, I owe you a big THANK YOU for giving me your time and attention. I know how valuable they both are.
Hold a good thought for Rhonda this week — please.
* When trouble comes I think we belong on our knees. And yes, I do have a man-crush on Mat Kearney. And he knows it. Even if he doesn’t acknowledge me.
My love affair with books didn’t fully engage until late in high school. Well, that’s when it began. During my first semester of college it was full-blown. It’s been relentless ever since.
Before that reading was a favorite thing, but not books. Magazines. I loved Popular Science. Audio. Stereo Review. High Fidelity. Rolling Stone. Melody Maker.
Peppered in there somewhere were a few sports biographies, historical biographies and Mad Magazine’s Snappy Answers To Stupid Questions, Vol. I and Vol. II.
It dawned on me – don’t ask me what took me so long – that my reading habits are terrible.
One, I juggle too many books at one time.
Two, I suffer too much book envy.
So I’m going to attempt to change a few things. What about you? What do your reading habits look like?
I was very sad to learn that Jim passed away. I’ve enjoyed his work for so long now it just seems strange that the world is now without him. I never met him, but through his work – I loved him.
“Everybody knows themselves when they see Herman,” he once said. “We all think we’re so different and we’re not.”
I discovered Herman at some point in the mid-1970’s. I don’t recall the year, but I was in high school. Back in junior high I fell in love with single panel cartoons. Herman was my first real favorite.
I wanted to be a cartoonist. When I was in junior high I did a class project that involved interviewing somebody who is in a field you’d like to pursue. The only cartoonist available happened to be a fellow who cartooned for the city’s newspaper. I remember my mother taking me up there to talk with him. He had gone to art school with Charles Schultz of Peanuts’ fame.
I drew pretty constantly throughout high school and into college. Friends in high school thought some form of art, perhaps cartooning, would be in my future. Others figured it’d have something to do with speaking. Go figure.
At some point in my college years, the dream died. I didn’t personally know any cartoonists and it seemed a very impractical life. I don’t know if I had the talent for it or not, but no matter — I quit. Selling stereo gear produced an income that only my friends dad’s could relate to. I was making more money than any of my buddies, and like many men of my generation, I fell into a career that seemed more to choose me than me it.
I continued to love great cartoons, but didn’t find too many of them funny or entertaining. Jim Unger’s work stood out. I could look at his drawings and laugh…before I ever read the caption. For me, the great cartoons begin and end with the drawing. The caption is just there to make sure we’re all on the same page. Understanding what we’re all laughing or smiling about.
More smiles and laughter have filled my life thanks to the work of Jim Unger. I’m glad he didn’t quit. And while I’m saddened by his death, I can’t help but look at these people who lived in his head and smile. Thankful that he had the talent and tenacity to show them to me.
Sometimes I laugh out loud.
Sometimes ’til I cry.
P.S. Here’s today’s Herman, released earlier this morning. Smile!
Your customer has many faces. Here are just three.
“Let me tell you what this $#@! just said.”
He was telling me about a customer who was complaining. The complaint, according to the business owner, was unfounded and unfair.
I listened. He explained – from his point of view – the circumstances leading up to the complaint. He was fuming about it.
As he read the email from the customer he said, “Here, I’m sending it to you right now.”
I got it while we were still on the phone. Now, I’m reading along as he’s continuing his tale. He’s as angry as I’ve ever heard him. It’s compounded, I suspect, because he’s got two major projects he’s trying to complete and this interruption was unexpected. Life can be pleasant like that…sometimes!
These are common conversations for me as I try to help business owners solve problems. They lament how inconsiderate customers are. Irritated that customers are abusive, mean and too demanding. Anybody who serves customers is subject to the temptation.
Now back to the conversation.
I said, “It appears to me you’ve stepped in it.”
“What?” he said.
“It looks to me like you’ve messed up and now you’re mad about it,” I replied.
“Are you kidding me?” he barked.
“Wait a minute,” I continued. “Let’s step back and look at this a bit more closely.”
We then walked through the real events leading up to what this owner perceived as a “nasty” email. Turns out the email really wasn’t that nasty. Nor was it mean-spirited. The email was an expression of extreme, ongoing frustration. After 10 minutes of walking through the events the owner paused and said, “I’m such an idiot.”
“No,” I said. “You’re just stuck inside your business with your problems, worries and fears. Meanwhile, your customer is stuck with his own worries, frustrations, problems and fears. He’s worried you’re not going to complete this deal on time and that he’ll have egg on his face. Your job right now is to call him – not email him – and reassure him that you understand how he’s feeling. Apologize for whatever you must and guarantee him he’ll be happy.”
For over 35 years I’ve given that same advice because it’s in my fabric. Customer service is a major priority for me. Nothing has mattered more. Nothing.
Some years ago, while leading a retail company I had a sign constructed and hung in the store that simply said,
“Extraordinary Service. No Excuses!”
It caused near mutiny among the troop who wrongfully thought that I was setting them up for a no-win situation.
“How can we possibly live up to that?” they objected.
I explained it to them. I’ll explain it to you in today’s show. This is the first in a series on customer service. We’ll start with what I believe is foundational to superior customer service. Communication.
P.S. Read this post by Ron Burley. It appeared a few hours after I recorded this episode. Then, a few hours later…I noticed this post by Mikal E. Belicove, entitled “What a Trip to LAX Taught Me About Customer Service.” Proving once again that great minds do indeed think alike, and often at the same time (well, at least on the same day).
In 1973 the Texas Rangers drafted a left-handed high school pitcher from Houston, David Clyde. Due to many circumstances beyond his control, his career was derailed by abusive ownership and management. Not yet ready for the major leagues, he was thrust into the spotlight in hopes of driving up fan attendance to a struggling baseball franchise that had just moved from Washington, DC to Arlington, Texas. He burned out. Physically. When a pitcher’s arm goes, he’s useless to his employer.
David Clyde is the poster child of “what could have been” in baseball circles. Just another sad story of a person put into a bad circumstance.
Andy Stanley has a leadership podcast that I listen to. Last week Andy talked with Joel Manby, CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment, about his new book, Love Works. In the interview, Joel talks about having been the North American CEO of Saab. One Easter Sunday he got a call from the Global CEO of Saab, calling him on the carpet for poor financial results. His boss demanded he get on a plane and fly to Sweden immediately. Upon arrival he was berated in front of all his peers.
From major league sports to corporate boardrooms to family living rooms – there are countless people stuck in situations that are holding them back. Preventing them from what’s possible. Catapulting them toward the land of What-Could-Have-Been.
I hope you’re not among them, but if you are — there’s hope. You can do something about it. You must do something about it, starting today!
